Last updated on April 15th, 2022 at 02:24 pm
Non-Porous Countertop
Hands Free Faucets
Hands Free Soap Dispenser and Sanitizer sprays
Automatic Hand Dryers
Many Kitchen and Bathroom design options offered prior to the 2020 Coronavirus outbreak, such as non-porous countertop materials, faucets, soap dispensers, hand-drying towels must now be re-considered with an eye towards preventing pandemic propagation in public places.
“Hands-on” faucets and door handles, Manual soap dispensers, Hand towels, Porous Countertops that do not prevent transmission and/or harbor these dangerous agents, especially in a commercial bathroom setting, must be examined by designers and owners in a whole new light. Given what we know today, it must be considered that some of these options will go the way of dinosaurs as we seek maximum protection from contagious viruses, bacteria, etc.
This is not yet a legal liability issue for commercial bathrooms, but keep an eye out for that since litigious parties are always on the hunt for such things. Tracking of Coronavirus cases is already underway in many states. If it turns out that your commercial restaurant or bar is a hub of outbreak activity, a plaintiff lawyer may ask “Did you take every precaution available to you to prevent contamination of your guests? I fear that this could result in civil lawsuits with real consequences for commercial restaurants, bars, hotels, and nursing homes.
Let’s examine several kitchen and bath design elements to see the best choices for preventing virus transmission:
Non-Porous Countertop
We spend a lot of hands-on-contact time eating and drinking on countertops. It is inevitable. Transmission of germs on countertops we lean-on and touch so frequently must be addressed. Think of your own kitchen, favorite busy bar, or restaurant table.
Non-porous countertops such as Glass, White Glass have a HUGE advantage over traditional porous surfaces such as granite, natural quartz, marble going forward.
Glass Countertops can be made in 3/4″ thick glass, backpainted any color, and are very rugged and non-porous.
Backpainted Glass Countertop
White Glass countertops are 2 or 3cm thick, opaque, stain-free, non-porous and commercial tough countertops.
White Glass outdoor Countertop Bar at American Social restaurant in Tampa Fl
Non-porous materials are both cost-effective and beautiful options for your countertops.
While some suggest that Engineered Quartz is non-porous, cleaning it with Bleach is not permitted. It will void the warranty. From the Cambria website:
Do not use or expose Cambria Product to certain cleaning products, including, but not limited to, BLEACH, Soft Scrub®, or paint removers. Do not use abrasive or harsh scrub pads.
Nor is it a viable material if you are using hot pans in the kitchen, hot styling tools in the bathroom, or outdoors where UV light will degrade and yellow the plastic quickly.
Spraying with Microban antimicrobial spray can temporarily help. From their site:
Microban keeps surfaces sanitized against bacteria for up to 24 hours, even after multiple touches* on hard non-porous, non-food contact surfaces.
- Hands Free Faucets
Fortunately, there are many non-contact faucet options available.
Implementation has been slow, but expect this trend to accelerate. Any commercial restaurant, bar would benefit from installing hands-free faucets in their bathrooms.
Google “Hands free faucets” and you will see many exciting options.
These can be set to hot/cold/warm and sensors detect motion with another setpoint for time on before automatically shutting off.
Retrofitting currently installed faucets can also be accomplished elegantly. Grohe’s foot-touch sensor is demonstrated in this video:
- Hands Free Soap Dispenser and Sanitizer sprays
Just like faucets, touchless soap dispensers are a great idea for preventing agent transmission.
Google “Automatic soap dispenser” to see many results for home or commercial use.
For on countertop installations we like: Simple Human and Toto
For Commercial wall-mount sanitizer we like: Automatic Sanitizer Sprayer
For Commercial wall-mount soap dispenser we like: Alpine
Below is a wall-mounted side-by-side soap and faucet dispenser.
- Automatic Hand Dryer
Well entrenched already. We like: XLERATOR
Summary:
We believe that responsible Hospitals, Reception desks, Bars, Restaurants, Schools all now need to consider non-porous Glass and White Glass countertops, hands-free faucets, touchless soap dispensers, automated hand dryers as THE STANDARD for new construction. If continued use of materials that harbor dangerous biological agents in their porous surfaces becomes fodder for attorneys to start assessing blame for Coronavirus injuries, you may wish to consider taking steps to avoid such “headline risk”.
Non-porous countertops and hands-free materials are both cost-effective and beautiful options for your commercial or residential space.
Jeff Downing
DowningDesigns.com
(813) 784 5211