Photo is of a completed ShadowFX static-dissipative (ESD) carpet installation in an electronics manufacturing and assembly facility.

5 Ways to Save $ on an ESD Floor - Without Settling For a Floor That’s Ugly or Doesn’t Perform

10 min read, 4 min videos

No matter how you slice and dice a project, an ESD floor is a major investment. For most specifiers, buying smart while saving money is a critical strategy, mandated from above. The sixty-million-dollar question is always, how do you invest judiciously – i.e., use money wisely without ending up with a product that forever looks like a compromise or provides borderline performance?

In other words, how do you value engineer an ESD floor, without ending up with a dud?

The simple answer is twofold: buy a quality floor and beware of hidden costs baked into the project. Unlike some low-budget materials that look ugly and/or provide temporary protection that wears off over time, a quality ESD floor will look great, last years, and consistently perform within specifications. Investing in a quality floor may not save money upfront, but will save over the life of the floor with less frequent replacement, lower maintenance cost, and reliable ESD protection.

Another way to buy smart is to consider and budget for hidden costs, in subfloor prep, installation, and material choices – as well as for expenses associated with evacuation and lost or delayed production. These costs, more than most, can knock a real hole in your bottom line.

Here are five ways to get the ESD floor you want while keeping undue costs under wrap:

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1. Choose a flooring product that you can install directly over your old floor.

The labor involved in tearing up and disposing of an old floor can add significantly to the cost of a new floor. Not to mention the costs if you discover that the old floor contains regulated substances such as asbestos, requiring hazmat disposal. Choosing a material that can be installed directly over an old floor can eliminate demolition and potentially reduce the 5 to 8 dollars per square foot that demolition adds to the cost of a project.

ShadowFX Shape with mergeable dye lots and non-directional installation

While thin-mil and soft-surface materials certainly have their place in the flooring world, these materials telegraph even subtle imperfections. Glue-down floors require subfloors that are smooth, flat, clean and dry. To cover a damaged or imperfect floor – cracked tiles, ragged surfaces, spalled concrete, etc. – choose a floor like GroundLock Extreme with enough thickness and rigidity that the old floor essentially disappears. Depending upon the condition of the old floor, ESD carpet tile may also be a good choice.

If you’re a commercial tenant investing in leased property, glue-free carpet tile and GroundLock interlocking tile can often be installed directly over the old floor and taken with you when you leave. Both floors will stay put as long as you need them to. If you change locations, they can be picked up and reinstalled in a new space. That’s a saving!

The labor involved in tearing up and disposing of an old floor can add significantly to the cost of a new floor. Not to mention the costs if you discover that the old floor contains regulated substances such as asbestos, requiring hazmat disposal. Choosing a material that can be installed directly over an old floor can eliminate demolition and potentially reduce the 5 to 8 dollars per square foot that demolition adds to the cost of a project.

ShadowFX Shape with mergeable dye lots and non-directional installation

While thin-mil and soft-surface materials certainly have their place in the flooring world, these materials telegraph even subtle imperfections. Glue-down floors require subfloors that are smooth, flat, clean and dry. To cover a damaged or imperfect floor – cracked tiles, ragged surfaces, spalled concrete, etc. – choose a floor like GroundLock Extreme with enough thickness and rigidity that the old floor essentially disappears. Depending upon the condition of the old floor, ESD carpet tile may also be a good choice.

If you’re a commercial tenant investing in leased property, glue-free carpet tile and GroundLock interlocking tile can often be installed directly over the old floor and taken with you when you leave. Both floors will stay put as long as you need them to. If you change locations, they can be picked up and reinstalled in a new space. That’s a saving!

Background image is a photo of a completed ShadowFX static-dissipative (ESD) carpet installation in a call center facility. In the foreground at the bottom are two boxes. The top is a bright blue and includes the StaticWorx logo. The second is a dark blue-gray and includes the text in white: "ESD Carpet Designers Love"
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Background image is a photo of a completed ShadowFX static-dissipative (ESD) carpet installation in a call center facility. In the foreground at the bottom are two boxes. The top is a bright blue and includes the StaticWorx logo. The second is a dark blue-gray and includes the text in white: "ESD Carpet Designers Love"
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2. Choose a floor that is impervious to moisture.

Eclipse Glue Free (GF) Conductive Rubber with Factory-installed adhesive backing (impervious to moisture)

Moisture in the subfloor, with proper mitigation costing $2.50 to $7.50 per square foot, can add thousands or more to the cost of a new floor installation. Even facilities in arid desert areas like California or at high elevation in places like Colorado can be affected by subterranean vapor emissions that, without proper moisture mitigation, can turn adhesives into a sticky, oozing mess. A simple ASTM 2170 moisture test will determine if vapor will be a problem and should always be performed before installing a new floor.

Materials like GroundLock Extreme and Eclipse Glue-free (GF) rubber are impervious to moisture. This means either floor can be installed directly over a subfloor with moisture problems with no negative effect to the flooring material. While both materials are more expensive than some other products, the time and expense spared by not having to install a moisture barrier can save a bundle and you end up with a premium product.

Eclipse Glue Free (GF) Conductive Rubber with Factory-installed adhesive backing (impervious to moisture)

 

Moisture in the subfloor, with proper mitigation costing $2.50 to $7.50 per square foot, can add thousands or more to the cost of a new floor installation. Even facilities in arid desert areas like California or at high elevation in places like Colorado can be affected by subterranean vapor emissions that, without proper moisture mitigation, can turn adhesives into a sticky, oozing mess. A simple ASTM 2170 moisture test will determine if vapor will be a problem and should always be performed before installing a new floor.

Materials like GroundLock Extreme and Eclipse Glue-free (GF) rubber are impervious to moisture. This means either floor can be installed directly over a subfloor with moisture problems with no negative effect to the flooring material. While both materials are more expensive than some other products, the time and expense spared by not having to install a moisture barrier can save a bundle and you end up with a premium product.

Photograph showing contractors installing GroundLock Extreme interlocking ESD tile over GroundBridge conductive underlayment
GroundLock installed over GroundBridge conductive underlayment

3. Choose a floor that can be installed directly over an imperfect subfloor.

Cracked, crumbled or green concrete? Concrete contaminated with bond-breakers from tilt-up construction? Repair or replacement of a damaged or imperfect subfloor can set a project back weeks if not months. When calculating the cost of a new floor it’s easy to overlook the time and expense of subfloor repair and wind up behind schedule and over budget.

Not all flooring materials can be installed over an imperfect subfloor. As you would with installations over an old floor, look for new flooring materials like GroundLock Extreme with enough thickness and rigidity to lay flat and camouflage any imperfections beneath the surface. The trick is to select flooring materials that are both dimensionally stable and more than 5 millimeters thick.

Background photograph is StaticWorx President Dave Long holding a GroundLock Extreme ESD interlocking tile. In the foreground at the bottom are two boxes. The top is a bright blue and includes the text “Static Shorts With StaticWorx: Right from the den” and the StaticWorx logo. The second is a dark blue-gray and includes the text in white: “GroundLock Interlocking ESD Tile: The Fix for Problem Floors”
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Background photograph is StaticWorx President Dave Long holding a GroundLock Extreme ESD interlocking tile. In the foreground at the bottom are two boxes. The top is a bright blue and includes the text “Static Shorts With StaticWorx: Right from the den” and the StaticWorx logo. The second is a dark blue-gray and includes the text in white: “GroundLock Interlocking ESD Tile: The Fix for Problem Floors”
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4. For operational spaces, choose a floor that can be installed 24/7.

One of the highest costs of installing a new floor in an existing space is evacuation and lost production time. While stakeholders may recognize these costs, they are often – incorrectly – considered a fixed reality no matter what floor is used. Because these costs are rarely included in the planning or bidding processes they are omitted from the true cost of the project. Yet moving in and out of a space and lost production are crucial to a company’s bottom line. In fact, in 24/7 call centers moving and temporary relocation often exceeds the entire cost of a new floor. What if you didn’t need to move at all?

Conceptual drawing showing ShadowFX carpet tile being installed in a public safety call center
Conceptual drawing showing ShadowFX carpet tile being installed in a public safety call center

Materials like ShadowFX ESD carpet tile can be installed as a floating floor using TacTiles, requiring no adhesive, which means no odor and no drying time. GroundLock Exteme interlocking tile is also adhesive-free and is so quick and easy to install that many facilities choose DIY installation; like ESD carpet tile, GroundLock can be installed over almost any subfloor. Eclipse glue-free (GF) conductive rubber is self-adhering and impervious to moisture. All three products – ShadowFX carpet tile, GroundLock Extreme interlocking tile, and StaticWorx Eclipse GF rubber – can be installed 24/7 with no disruption and no downtime.

5. Choose carpet tile that doesn’t show wear patterns.

Because some carpet can wear poorly in walkways, call centers with moveable chairs, and production areas, people sometimes hesitate to use carpet, particularly in these high-traffic spaces. In addition to wear and tear, repair tiles can be hard to match with originals, requiring the facility to maintain significant amounts of attic stock to be used in case of repair. Some low-budget carpet starts to look worn after a year and begs for replacement by three to five. This adds significantly to the cost of a product with a moderate initial price point.

ShadowFX Treez with non-directional installation

Carpet tile styles installed in random, non-directional patterns create a monolithic floor that is quick and easy to install, allowing for lower installation costs, and hides wear and tear, extending the life of the carpet. While the upfront cost of a quality product like ShadowFX ESD carpet tile may be a little higher than some less expensive carpet tiles, its longer life cycle translates to lower costs in the long-term. Mergeable dye lots mean individual tiles can be replaced without worrying about matching older lots. Should a tile be damaged, it’s easy to lift and replace individual tiles without tearing up the entire floor. With GroundBridge conductive underlayment and TacTiles joining the tile edges, you get an adhesive-free installation 24/7 with no downtime and without vacating the space. 

With random non-directional installation and mergeable dye lots, the floor is quick and easy to install, lowering the cost of initial installation, and individual tiles are easy to lift and replace without looking like a repair was ever made in the first place.

Because some carpet can wear poorly in walkways, call centers with moveable chairs, and production areas, people sometimes hesitate to use carpet, particularly in these high-traffic spaces. In addition to wear and tear, repair tiles can be hard to match with originals, requiring the facility to maintain significant amounts of attic stock to be used in case of repair. Some low-budget carpet starts to look worn after a year and begs for replacement by three to five. This adds significantly to the cost of a product with a moderate initial price point.

ShadowFX Treez with non-directional installation

 

Carpet tile styles installed in random, non-directional patterns create a monolithic floor that is quick and easy to install, allowing for lower installation costs, and hides wear and tear, extending the life of the carpet. While the upfront cost of a quality product like ShadowFX ESD carpet tile may be a little higher than some less expensive carpet tiles, its longer life cycle translates to lower costs in the long-term. Mergeable dye lots mean individual tiles can be replaced without worrying about matching older lots. Should a tile be damaged, it’s easy to lift and replace individual tiles without tearing up the entire floor. With GroundBridge conductive underlayment and TacTiles joining the tile edges, you get an adhesive-free installation 24/7 with no downtime and without vacating the space. 

With random non-directional installation and mergeable dye lots, the floor is quick and easy to install, lowering the cost of initial installation, and individual tiles are easy to lift and replace without looking like a repair was ever made in the first place.

For most of us, saving money is always a priority. We can cut costs with a sledgehammer, saving in the short-term only to experience problems downstream. Or do it smartly, evaluating all expenses – above and beyond initial material costs – and reap the rewards of value over time.

About StaticWorx, Inc

All StaticWorx posts are written by our technical team and based on industry standards and specifications, test data, independent lab reports and other verifiable data. We provide ESD training and offer CEU credits to architects. If you’re interested in an ESD training session or architects’ ESD workshop, give us a call: 617-923-2000.

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Background graphic is a still from the StaticWorx GroundSafe ESD Flooring – Your Trusted Partner explainer animation. In the foreground at the bottom are two boxes. The top is a bright blue with the StaticWorx logo and "GroundSafe ESD Flooring" underneath in white. The second is a dark blue-gray and includes the text in white: “GroundWorx ESD Flooring – Your Trusted Partner”
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StaticWorx high-performance static-control floors protect electronic components, explosives, and high-speed computers from damage caused by static electricity. ESD flooring is part of a system. Choices should always be based on objective, researched evidence. When you partner with us, we look at all possible items that may need to integrate with the floor, and, focusing on your goals and objectives, help you find the right floor for your application.