Thats the best
thing
I understand they all made
mistakes and we have the solution to repair it. And its an extra cost they
never anticipated, really sad.
But why the heck do we have to
pay for it?
They dont want to pay for the
solution, walk away. Joe you are now part of an incredible think tank, with
most probably 100 of years of experience on your team, which costs you a lot
to be part of. That is what all are customers are getting when they hire
us.
You are doing them a favour
when you charge accordingly as you ensure that you will be in business for a
long time to come!
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-07-09 2:35 AM
To: Restoration and
Maintenance
Subject: RE: [sccpartners] Travertine with Wood Trim
[sccpartners]
I didnt know that
Stonecare Central sold tape
.. I found it under Floor Machine and
Accessories . The tape Im 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
dont think he willing to pay $$$$ to have me do the work. He has offered to
clean up the residue himself, but the home owner refused. If he can fix
the problem, than I believe he should be given the opportunity. I dont
think he has the resources or the expertise to do so. Sealing the floor was
not a part of the contract. The homeowner wanted the floor sealed and the
retailer (Emser Tile) recommended Aqua Mix Enrich N Seal. The customer
insisted that the floor be sealed, so the installer did it to make the
customer happy. The crew applied the sealer/enhancer and never cleaned up the
residue. The homeowner then covered the sealer/enhancer with newspaper to
allow foot traffic. That was 6 weeks ago
The homeowner is now complaining
about the unevenness of the floor and wants it leveled. Im going to talk to
the homeowner again later this week. Im going to insist that they pay for a
mockup on the actual floor to get a better feel for what they
expect.
Thanks,
Joe
From: John
Freitag [mailto:jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com]
Sent: Monday,
July 06, 2009 8:57 AM
To: Restoration and
Maintenance
Subject: RE: [sccpartners] Travertine with Wood Trim
[sccpartners]
Joe,
Thanks for the
pictures, this will be a fun job and one that will demand $$$ 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 : Im 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, Im 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 dont 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,
Ive 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. Ive 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
dont 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.
Im 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 dont thinks its 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 Ive 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 dont 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 dont 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 cant wait to see all the replies and I will add all are probably
very good ideas, depends on your skill and what the clients 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 dont 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 Buys installation contractor. Anyway
the installer didnt
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. Ill
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
Powered by http://DiscussThis.com
Visit
list archives, subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription preferences
Start a new
conversation (thread)
Powered by http://DiscussThis.com
Visit
list archives, subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription preferences
Start a new
conversation (thread)
Powered by http://DiscussThis.com
Visit
list archives, subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription preferences
Start a new
conversation (thread)
Powered by http://DiscussThis.com
Visit
list archives, subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription preferences
Start a new
conversation (thread)