We're constantly growing our floor finishes line to offer you the widest selection of access floor finishes, from wood, bamboo, tile, and more.

Each of our floor finishes has been carefully designed and built for the rigors of a commercial environment. Further, we offer specifications you simply won't find anywhere else! Product qualities that ensure success on your raised floor environment.

Why Do I Need Access Floor Rated Finishes?

Access floors (and the floor finish that goes on top) are subjected to forces that a standard concrete or wood subfloor never see. Your access floor has to withstand concentrated loads, rolling loads, seismic forces and more. While all of Netfloor USA's products easily handle these, it is just as important that your floor covering was designed to withstand these forces as well.

Putting a thin residential grade carpet on top of an access floor will not provide the desired results. Using a thicker, higher grade carpet will.

All of our access floor finishes are designed to be thicker, stronger and more resilient, making sure you get a modern and durable surface for your raised floor.

How Are These Raised Floor Finishes Different?

Thicker

They are thicker than a standard finish, which makes them more rugged and provides for a more uniform surface.

Stronger Backing

The backing or base of the finish, whether it is carpet, tile, etc., is very important. Not only does it provide the backbone and cushioning aspect of the floor, it helps overall stability and provides better uniformity when looking out across the entire space.

Proper Tile or Plank Size

When using plank type finishes, as you typically see in a wood finish, the industry standard is a narrow plank. With a raised floor, the plank size should be wider than 12", or better yet, 24". This allows for better structural integrity and uniformity across the entire floor.

Whether you are considering an access floor for a retail store, office space, data center, command control center, newsroom or library, the floor finish is a vital piece of the whole system. Give us a call or email, and let us know how we can help you succeed on your next project!

Netfloor USA is proud to announce that Ryan Hulland is now a member of CISCA (Ceilings and Interior Systems Construction Association).

CISCA is a leading industry organization that is:

"uniquely dedicated to serving the acoustical and specialty ceilings and interior finishes industry. CISCA provides market-driven solutions including dynamic networking, quality education, accessible resources and expert technical guidelines to enhance the success and profitability of our members."

At Netfloor USA, we believe it's more than just our products that make us the leader in low profile, cable management floor. It's our people, and it's how we treat our customers. We really care, and joining CISCA is just one of the many ways that we are involved with the construction and facilities management industries.

Because at the end of the day, it's not about the floor. It's not about the cables and wires. It's about making your job easier.

There's something BIG in the works at Netfloor USA. I mean BIG.

We're back from our summer break, which included some major brainstorming and product development meetings, and despite the fall chill that will soon be in the air, what we've been working on it HOT!

Now, we already offer the widest range of access flooring in the world, from 1" high to over 6 feet high, from concrete to polypropylene. But what we have in the works is huge.

So, why the teaser?

Well, we've always been about innovation. We took the access floor industry and turned in on its head. Everyone was used to the same old, same old. 2x2 grid, pedestals, drab grey floor panels. It's a good system, if you are a data center or industrial facility, but the majority of businesses are NOT. Most businesses fill their space with people, and with technology. And that technology needs to be connected to the people.

That's why our cable management flooring systems are so appealing to businesses. Businesses like call centers, offices for engineering firms, operations centers, broadcast studios, retail stores and more. More and more companies like this are installing access floors and seeing immediate ROI.

I can't say much more right now; I've been sworn to secrecy. Check back in the coming weeks and months for something amazing.

In the meantime, we would love to hear about your operation and see how one of our access floor systems can help improve the way you work!

Main image courtesy practicalowl

I was thinking of a story the other day, one where something bad was going to happen.

The fallout would be severe, with monetary damages and more than 1 person losing their job.

The people involved (let's go Dragnet-style and say: "the names have been changed to protect the innocent.") were doing a battery change out on a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) that serves a newsroom/broadcast studio.

They were following procedure in that the proper steps were taken to transition from bypass power to UPS power, keeping the electricity flowing to the cameras, producers' booth and broadcast equipment.

The only problem was, they were performing the transition during a live TV broadcast, something that was strictly against policy. The flip of a wrong switch at the wrong time could have left the entire studio dark, and countless viewers with a blank screen.

Not good. Not good at all.

Luckily (I don't believe in luck, but there must have been some higher power at work here), these guys didn't flip the wrong switch, and they transitioned the power back to the UPS smack in the middle of the live broadcast.

And the lights didn't even flicker. It could have gotten very ugly, very fast.

But what does this have to do with access floors and newsrooms?

If you've never been to a broadcast studio, it's an amazing sight. Everything in front of the camera is pristine. Everything is pretty, from the set to the people reading you the news. Behind the cameras, however, things aren't often so nice and neat.

There are wires and cables everywhere. Lights are flashing, producers have their hands at the controls. The back office usually has rows of cubicles where researchers, reporters, producers and designers work towards a singular goal: getting timely information that viewers need throughought the day.

The absolute last thing you need to worry about are the cables. The power cables, ethernet cables and video and signal wires. They help form the physical infrastructure that lets your team do what they do each day. They're very important, but they're just cables, right?

This is what we do every day. We have a passion for raised floors.

We know it's hard to get excited about a floor and running cables inside of it. That's OK, we get it.

What we get excited about, and hope you do too, is when you find out how access floors can make your job so much easier.

If you're familiar with raised floors and don't like the idea of tall, drab, industrial floors taking up precious space in your building, check out our line of "cable management access floors".

They're different because they're only a few inches high, and they have built in cable management trenches. It saves time and money.

You know, we've designed and installed access floors in all types of buildings, from data centers to office spaces, technology centers, libraries, hospitals, retail stores and more. They all have power and data cabling requirements. But few of those applications have the cable density requirements of a TV newsroom.

If you are a facilities manager or engineer for a TV station, broadcast studio or radio station, we can help manage your cable problem, so you can get on to bigger and better things.

If you have an older facility and are worried installing an access floor is too big of a project, get in touch with us and share your concerns. Yes, we work on a lot of new buildings, but we do plenty of rennovation work as well.

At Netfloor USA, we believe in making your job easier, and that starts from the first conversation we have with you. So please, feel free to give us a call (844-638-3566), email or use our contact form, and let's see what we can do together!

Image Credit: Trey Ratcliff via Flickr Creative Commons

We're working on a detailed article on proper access floor height, and it should be out in a week or two. 

In the meantime, I thought we'd put out a short primer on raised floor height, because it's one of the biggest, recurring issues customers face.

We briefly covered floor height in our article on access floor basics; it might be interesting for you to read if you get a chance.

So in order to get our creative juices flowing for the article on height, and to get you thinking about your own experiences with access floors, let's dive in!

Why Not Get a 12" Floor and Call It a Day?

It seems simple, right? The problem is, that some customers need to have underfloor airflow, and in our experience, 12" is almost NEVER enough!

12 Inches Is Not Enough

Once you start eating up that underfloor height with the panel, wires, cables, conduit and piping, you are left with far less than 12". Ask any mechanical engineer who specializes in data centers, and they will likely agree that no data center should have such a small air plenum.

12 Inches is Way Too Much

For others, twelve inches of floor height is simply too much. If you are not using the raised floor for airflow, why do you need a foot of space? Do your cables stack a foot high? Probably not!

There are better (and shorter) floors that are very useful for managing your cables. And it's all about managing cables and making your life a lot easier. Hint: Integral cable trenches are a lifesaver!

Do You Need a 4 Foot High Access Floor?

Probably not, but we still sell plenty of them for some very high profile clients. Hint: Did you find us via a web search? Hint 2: Did you see this post on Google+? (wink, wink).

Some clients, and thus some buildings, are institutional in size. We're talking 30 foot ceilings in some cases. That's plenty of room for a floor that is 4+ feet high. 

When you start getting that vertical, you have plenty of room for big chilled water pipes, as well as a maze of cabling.

***

Please be sure to check out our in-depth article on raised access floor height! And as always, we'd love to chat with you about your specific needs and how we can help manage your cable problem.