I didn’t know
that Stonecare Central sold tape ….. I found it under Floor Machine and Accessories
. The tape I’m using now is 3M with a 14
day clean removal, but it does not hold up around moisture. I spoke to the
installer today to get his side of the story. The installer admitted that the
sealer was applied incorrectly by his employees and he accepts responsibility,
but I don’t think he willing to pay $$$$ to have me do the work. He has
offered to clean up the residue himself, but the home owner refused. If he can fix
the problem, than I believe he should be given the opportunity. I don’t think he has the resources
or the expertise to do so. Sealing the floor was not a part of the contract. The
homeowner wanted the floor sealed and the retailer (Emser Tile) recommended Aqua
Mix Enrich N Seal. The customer insisted that the floor be sealed, so the
installer did it to make the customer happy. The crew applied the sealer/enhancer
and never cleaned up the residue. The homeowner then covered the
sealer/enhancer with newspaper to allow foot traffic. That was 6 weeks ago ……
The homeowner is now complaining about the unevenness of the floor and wants it
leveled. I’m going to talk to the homeowner again later this week. I’m
going to insist that they pay for a mockup on the actual floor to get a better
feel for what they expect.
Thanks,
Joe
From: John Freitag [mailto:jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com]
Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 8:57 AM
To: Restoration and Maintenance
Subject: RE: [sccpartners] Travertine with Wood Trim [sccpartners]
Joe,
Thanks for the pictures, this
will be a fun job and one that will demand $$$ per sq ft to complete.
It is my understanding the job
has been sealed with Enrich and Seal from Aqua Mix. I would approach the job in
the following manner.
1. First apply blue painters tape on the wood from
Stone Care Central.
2. Then apply in top of the blue painter tape the red vinyl
tape from Stone Care central NOTE : I’m recommending
you purchase your tape from Stone Care Central, I know this tape will not pull
off the finish on the All tape are not created equal and I know these tapes
will work.
3. I would only tape off the section I would be working on
that day and complete the each section before moving onto another section.
4. I first would hand strip off the Enrich and Seal using a
good Alkaline stripper. Be careful not to flood the area with
stripper the red and blue tape hold up well provided you are careful around the
taped areas
5. Once the floors are stripped I would then use a honing
powder a my hand machine and hone each area, I’m assuming the customer is
wanting a hone finish ? I would use a 200 to 250 grit powder then finish with a
400 powder, if the customer want a higher hone go up to a 800
6. Be sure to have the customer inspect the floor once you
completed the 200/ 250 honing powder. It maybe the finish they are looking for.
7. Once completed seal with an Impregnating seal.
If the customer like what
you have completed, Your done, this will be a lot of hand work and will require
a lot of time.
Be sure you and the customer
agree upon the finish prior to starting the complete project. If necessary the
first day a do your sample and agree upon the finish , write out the process,
and take pictures of the finished product. This will eliminate any
question at the end of the job.
If you try to use a small floor
machine you will still need to address the corners and edges next to the
wood with a hand machine and by the time you do that you can almost complete
the entire section by hand.
In order to make sure you have a
consistent finish I would suggest you use a timer to time your work. I would
estimate that each section will probably take approximately 2
minutes per tile per hone.
The stripping will probably take
approximately 5 minutes per section, be sure to control you stripper. Make sure
the stone is sealed (grouted /caulked) completely next to the wood .
If the stone is grouted next to
the wood prior to starting remove the grout and replace with caulk. Grout will
never hold next to the wood. So you might as well replace it now and give the
customer a great job. Not one that will fail in months down the road if you
only grout the stone next to the wood.
There is a LOT of hand work
here, charge accordingly.
I would be in the $6.00 to $9.00
per sq ft range
You will probably be able to
complete 100 to 125 sq. per day if you get more done that great but this
is a job that will take time and patience.
I don’t think they will
find many contractors willing to attempt this job. Therefore the value is
there 1100 sq ft I would plan on 10 to 12 days to complete.
If you have any other question
on this job please let me know
John E. Freitag
President/Director
The Stone and Tile School
Office 407-567-7652
Cell 407-615-0134
jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com
From: Stone & Grout
Meister, LLC [mailto:mail@stoneandgroutmeister.com]
Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 10:07 AM
To: Restoration and Maintenance
Subject: RE: [sccpartners] Travertine with Wood Trim [sccpartners]
Hi John,
I attached a zip file containing
the photos. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Joe
From: John Freitag
[mailto:jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com]
Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 7:51 AM
To: Restoration and Maintenance
Subject: RE: [sccpartners] Travertine with Wood Trim [sccpartners]
Joe,
I’ve been out of town for
the past 6 days with limited internet service, I reviewed my emails and cannot
find any pictures to go along with this, can you resend them to me so I
could offer my option and comments.
John E. Freitag
President/Director
The Stone and Tile School
Office 407-567-7652
Cell 407-615-0134
jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com
From: Stone & Grout
Meister, LLC [mailto:mail@stoneandgroutmeister.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 10:56 AM
To: Restoration and Maintenance
Subject: RE: [sccpartners] Travertine with Wood Trim [sccpartners]
The clients
expectations are high …..and the home is new. I’ve considered
sanding along the wood trim with a orbital sander, then blend. Each area is
32” x 32” or less. I could use a rotary floor machine and cut the
velocity pads (aka: Turbo, Twister, Monkey-pad, Alpha-pad, ect.) down to
fit a 10” drive pad. I think a 800 grit (white) followed by a 1500 grit
(yellow) velocity pad would do the trick. The smaller areas along walls could
be worked with a sanding block. Cutting the velocity pads down would provide a
smaller foot print and allow the machine to avoid the lippage as much as
possible. I
don’t think leveling the floor would be a good idea, the wood trim is not
flush with the tile surface now and leveling could make it worse.
I’m
encouraging the homeowner to have the wood trim removed and replaced. The trim
is faded in areas, I think the grout acted as a poultice and pulled some of the
color out. The grout is powdery and cracking along the trim. I assume the wood
absorbed the water and the grout did not cure correctly. The trim also has
sealer/enhancer along the edges. I don’t thinks it’s worth
salvaging ……. If people want to use wood with stone, they should
attach it with Velcro!
The job is
located about 300 miles away, so I’ve only had one opportunity to evaluate the
floor. The owner does not want to do mockup, in case they decide not to go
forward. I don’t want to turn any work away …….. revenue is
way down.
Not sure
how to price the job …… On average I can complete (clean, seal
& hone/polish) about 300 sq ft of Travertine a day. In this situation I
don’t think I could complete more than 100 – 150 sq ft a day with
the trim removed. I spoke to the owners yesterday and their eagerly awaiting a
proposal.
Joe
From:
anthony@777-7797.com [mailto:anthony@777-7797.com]
Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 4:43 PM
To: Restoration and Maintenance
Subject: RE: [sccpartners]
This one is going to be good- I can’t wait to see all the
replies and I will add – all are probably very good ideas, depends on
your skill and what the client’s expectations are.
Get carbide grit screens and try simply sand the sealer and dirt off. It
is sold in various grits. You can probably rent one from a local shop, it also
has a vacuum attachment so no mess. But the client will have to accept a
slightly rounded edge on the tiles and wood.
If , like some of my clients, want a flat floor, then you may not have a
choice to do it as you said, but I have done stone insertions laid as your
photo with wood inlays. I made certain the voids between the wood
and travertine were filled. You then concentrate on the travertine,
do a first pass with your preferred diamonds to clean off the film, on
travertine I like baby rocks, they are a circular abrasive formation metal
bond. Be sure to have someone close to pick up the water fast
concentrating on the joints of the wood inlays. And you just grind
as you normally wood, trying to avoid the wood, but don’t make a headache
from it. Once your done completely to the desired grit you let it all
dry, may take a few days, check with a moisture meter.
The wood should lift in some areas, Then
complete the work using the carbide grit screens to get the wood down to the
travertine floor finishing at the desired grit.
Then all can be resealed and wood varnished as desired
Anthony Masecchia
Master Stone Consultant
Marble Maestro
T. 514.777.7797
F. 514.904.1815
E. anthony@777-7797.com
Active President of BNI Westmount
From: Stone & Grout
Meister, LLC [mailto:mail@stoneandgroutmeister.com]
Sent: July-03-09 5:44 PM
To: Restoration and Maintenance
Subject: [sccpartners]
I got a client who just built a new home. They installed
1100 sq ft of travertine combined with wood trim (see photo). They bought
the materials through or from Direct Buy and used Direct Buy’s
installation contractor. Anyway …… the installer didn’t
have a clue they used a sponge to apply Aqua Mix Enrich N Seal and never
cleaned up the residue. According to the home owner the installer never cleaned
the floor and they can see grout and dirt under the sealer/enhancer as well as
foot prints. The owner wants the floor fixed ………. Any ideas
on how to work around the wood trim, pricing, ect ? I was thinking about having
the wood trim and baseboards removed. The trim has sealer/enhancer on it and I
think it would cost less to replace the trim than pay me to work around it.
I’ll probably have to level, fill and hone the floor. I was thinking
about skipping from area - area with a 13 “ Hawk or would a DS 301
Planetary Polisher be more effective? Any ideas on pricing ? Thanks in
advance for any help …..
Joe
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