No matter the dimensions of the bar, the flooring is an important aspect of the project that must be considered. In this article, you will find advice on the different types of flooring, their advantages, and disadvantages.
Technical Floors for Bars
Technical floors, also known as bar platforms, have been widely used in the past. This is generally referred to as a technical floor, it consists of joists and parquet with a total thickness of about 10 to 15 cm most often above the finished floor of the establishment. Its advantage is to allow the distribution of the bar's fluids across the entire surface of the floor and possibly to have access through hatches in case of maintenance. Without the technical floor, trenches would need to be made in the slab, fluids laid, closed up, and tiles or screed installed. The technical floor is the easiest solution for construction and fluid distribution in a bar. However, its major disadvantage is that it is not watertight. Between the boards, fluids, dust, and various small debris eventually seep in and accumulate between the joists, and even more so around the holes for the distribution of the bar's connections. Let's not even address the issue of pests finding a five-star lodging there. Over time, some parquet boards tend to sag, creating risks and discomfort for the bar staff. This solution is not compatible with current DTU standards unless watertightness is ensured on the underlying slab.
Technical floors of this type do not support other surface coverings than parquet planks. All types of coverings like tiles or PVC rolls always end up showing weaknesses and wearing out prematurely in high-traffic areas. They then need to be regularly replaced. It should be noted that it is impossible to lay tiles on a wooden technical floor.
The limited lifespan of the technical floor is particularly problematic when all the equipment rests on the floor. In case of repair or complete restoration, since the entire bar rests on the floor, everything has to be removed. Often, the bar facade is also integrated into the construction, as well as the shelves of the back bar. It is then easier to remove everything and replace it with new. This is unfortunate, as the costs incurred seem disproportionate compared to changing the parquet. As a result, we often find numerous temporary repairs.
One of the advantages of the floors comes from the experience of several bartenders. According to professionals, working on parquet is less physically tiring than working on a hard slab. On the other hand, there are "anti-fatigue" mat solutions for hard slabs.
Note that in modern office buildings, all distributions are done under a raised floor on stilts. This is very similar to the principle of a bar's technical floor. However, an office does not handle as many water networks and especially does not attract much interest from pests. Therefore, installing a bar in an office space requires particular attention depending on the execution and the distributions used.
Example of an underfloor network in a modern office building. You can see the pedestal supports for the tiles made up of threaded rods and tile supports. There are unshielded high-voltage networks, low-voltage networks, a circular water network, and an air circulation duct from a floor-installed air conditioning system.
Solid tiles:
The ultimate solution for hygiene and safety. A solid tile is most often made of concrete with a waterproofing coating and distribution of provisions in accordance with the DTU. The advantage is that it allows for a variety of surface coverings like tiles or resins offering unparalleled hygiene qualities.
To improve hygiene and operational comfort, bar furniture can be arranged on pedestals as in professional kitchens. This creates a lower level where the bartender works. Their work area is then called the "bartender's pit." No cleaning water or residual waste can then lodge under the furniture.
Bar Flooring
The importance of flooring in a bar is paramount, as it concerns safety (slips) and hygiene (risk of contamination). Floor contamination remains significant because it occurs during cleaning with brushes and sprays, creating aerosols that settle like dust on all bar surfaces.
The desired qualities of the flooring should therefore offer:
- A non-slip surface.
- Easy cleaning and disinfection.
- Preservation of surface qualities over time despite the chemical, mechanical, and physical constraints of the bar environment.
To achieve this, we have identified two types of flooring capable of offering these qualities in a bar: tiles and flooring commonly known as "resin-coated." It is recommended to use tiles for small areas because they are easier to install than resins. These two surfaces can only be installed on solid slabs previously mentioned.
Bar Tiles:
Tiles are the ideal choice in the bartender's workspace. It goes without saying that installation should follow the manufacturer's recommendations, and joints should be properly done with resin joints recommended by the manufacturers to ensure the area's watertightness and durability. It is advisable to use white tiles for better visibility of dirt, but in the bar area, sometimes an aesthetic compromise is necessary, and darker tiles may be chosen.
Advice for choosing the right tiles behind the bar:
- Favor porcelain stoneware. Much more durable than standard tiles.
- Limit the joints by preferably choosing large-sized tiles.
- Restrict the choice to non-slip references. Preferably meeting at least R10 standard or higher.
- Choose tiles with a minimum resistance of U4, P4S, E3, or C2 of the UPEC standard.
Floor Resins:
Resin floors are rarely used but offer significant advantages behind the bar:
- Certain waterproofing compared to tile joints and wall risers.
- Relative elasticity allowing for multi-material waterproofing.
- Ease of cleaning without the need for heavy washing.
- Wide choice of colors allowing it to blend in behind the bar.
- Addition of elements to provide a non-slip surface.
There are two types of floor resins, polyurethane-cement resins and epoxy resins. It is advisable to choose only polyurethane-cements, as they are particularly suited to chemical and mechanical resistance behind a bar while maintaining the flexibility of polyurethane. The average lifespan of a PU floor is 10 years.
It is important to inquire with the manufacturer or retailer about the product's compliance with hygiene requirements, its non-slip properties, its resistance to mechanical and chemical abrasion, and its compliance with implementation.
Floor drain at the bar:
A common question that often arises when creating establishments is:
"Should we install a floor drain or not?"
A floor drain is essential in kitchens because many appliances discharge water onto the floor, and cleaning is done with large amounts of water. In comparison, the bar has very few water splashes on the floor, and the only reason to install a floor drain there is for cleaning purposes.
However, the bar is rarely cleaned with large amounts of water like a professional kitchen. Unlike a professional kitchen, all electrical equipment such as refrigerators and glass washers are directly on the floor. Many corners are inaccessible. When cleaning with large amounts of water, if the bar has not been properly constructed, there is a risk of sending dirty water under the furniture with no way to retrieve it. Not to mention the proximity of fragile decorative elements such as woodwork, the floor of the room, etc.
As a general rule, we know that very few bars are cleaned with large amounts of water. The consequence of a drain that is not regularly supplied with water is that it dries out and allows unpleasant odors from the wastewater pipes to rise.
Tip: To prevent odor rise in a rarely used drain, there are specific oils known as "movable seals" or "liquid screens" that hardly evaporate and allow the drain to maintain a seal against odor rise.
It is clear that designing a bar with a central drain and a floor slope of 1.5% to 2% towards the drain is ideal in terms of hygiene, but only if the bar is regularly cleaned with large amounts of water.
