My main comment is that I feel a test does as much for me as for the customer.  I will take a guess as to what I think it will take to hone and polish some marble and how long it will take, but I often prove myself wrong.  As an example, I had a Brescia and Limestone floor that I worked on last week that I thought would take many more steps of honing to get looking great, but actually all it took was 200 grit and polish and it was extremely glossy and the marble (not the limestone so much) had really good clarity.  I wish I were at the point that I could eyeball a job and be 100% accurate.  I don&#39;t think I&#39;m bad at it but I am often surprised and I learn a lot from the tests.  That being said, I don&#39;t do test on very small jobs that often and when in doubt will cover the eventuality of extra honing in my quote.  Last week, on the job I just mentioned, I gave the person a hard quote on just stripping and polishing but told him that it may require more honing to get it to what he thinks is acceptable. After signing on for the polishing only, we tested a couple of hones and worked in a price for the one honing step that was less than what I anticipated (and what I suggested to him) at the beginning.<div>
Baird<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jul 6, 2011 at 7:08 PM,  <span dir="ltr">&lt;<a target="_top" href="mailto:klhudson@atlantastoneandtilecare.com">klhudson@atlantastoneandtilecare.com</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<u></u>





<div bgcolor="#ffffff">Stuart,<br>On occasions I have done the same type of demo especially if its on a big job. However, what I do now is I have a variety of demo stones that I restored and carry around to display to the customer what their options are. Honed, semi gloss and high gloss. Works well and it cuts down on my time and the customers concerns. Hopes this helps!<br>
<br>Kevin Hudson<br>N-Motion Stone &amp; Tile<p>Sent via BlackBerry by AT&amp;T</p><hr><div><b>From: </b> &quot;Stuart Young&quot; &lt;<a target="_top" href="mailto:santafefc@sbcglobal.net" target="_blank">santafefc@sbcglobal.net</a>&gt;
</div><div><b>Date: </b>Wed, 6 Jul 2011 15:45:33 -0500</div><div><b>To: </b>Restoration and Maintenance&lt;<a target="_top" href="mailto:sccpartners@stoneandtilepros.com" target="_blank">sccpartners@stoneandtilepros.com</a>&gt;</div><div>
<b>ReplyTo: </b>&quot;Restoration and Maintenance&quot; &lt;<a target="_top" href="mailto:sccpartners@stoneandtilepros.com" target="_blank">sccpartners@stoneandtilepros.com</a>&gt;
</div><div><b>Subject: </b>[sccpartners] Catch 22</div><div><div></div><div class="h5"><div><br></div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial">Gentlemen,</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"></font> </div>
<div><font face="Arial">When I &quot;resurface&quot; a stone such as travertine, I like to 
show the home owner what the floor will look like before we actually start the 
job.  I usually do a demo on one or two stones so that the home owner will 
know what she is getting.  I do this before I ever talk price. ( I am so 
confident in this process, that it almost always clinches the 
sale. )  I like to do these demos in front of a window where 
natural light is streaming in.  That seems to be the best place to 
demonstrate to the owner how good the floor will look compared to the &quot;unworked&quot; 
surrounding areas.  However, the owner sometimes thinks  &quot;what if I 
don&#39;t like it?&quot; There will be this area that looks distinctly different 
from the rest of the floor if they don&#39;t go through with the job.  How do 
you handle this?  Is there any better way to do this?</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial">Stuart Young</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">Santa Fe Floor Care</font> </div>
<blockquote style="border-left:#000000 2px solid;padding-left:5px;padding-right:0px;margin-left:5px;margin-right:0px" dir="ltr">
  <div style="font:10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </div>
  <div style="font:10pt arial;background:#e4e4e4"><b>From:</b> 
  <a title="bairdstandish@gmail.com" href="mailto:bairdstandish@gmail.com" target="_blank">Baird 
  Standish</a> </div>
  <div style="font:10pt arial"><b>To:</b> <a title="sccpartners@stoneandtilepros.com" href="mailto:sccpartners@stoneandtilepros.com" target="_blank">Restoration and Maintenance</a> 
  </div>
  <div style="font:10pt arial"><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, July 06, 2011 10:47 
  AM</div>
  <div style="font:10pt arial"><b>Subject:</b> RE: [sccpartners] No 
  subject</div>
  <div><br></div>
  <div>Hi. How long do you all let the floor dry before crystallizing?  I 
  often run into a problem with the crystallizer darkening the stone, which 
  means that there is too much moisture in the stone?</div>
  <div>Baird<br><br>
  <div>_________________</div>From Baird Standish
  <div>Managing Partner</div>
  <div>Facility Specialists,LLC</div>
  <div>1616 Walnut Street</div>
  <div>Philadelphia, PA 19103</div>
  <div>Ph: <a target="_top" href="tel:215-732-7505" value="+12157327505" target="_blank">215-732-7505</a></div>
  <div>Fax: <a target="_top" href="tel:215-546-9160" value="+12155469160" target="_blank">215-546-9160</a></div>
  <div>Email: <a target="_top" href="mailto:bstandish@facspecs.com" target="_blank"></a><a target="_top" href="mailto:bstandish@facspecs.com" target="_blank">bstandish@facspecs.com</a></div>
  <div>Website: <a target="_top" href="http://www.facspecs.com" target="_blank"></a><a target="_top" href="http://www.facspecs.com" target="_blank">www.facspecs.com</a></div></div>
  <div><br>On Jul 6, 2011, at 9:59 AM, John Freitag &lt;<a target="_top" href="mailto:jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com" target="_blank">jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com</a>&gt; 
  wrote:<br><br></div>
  <div></div>
  <blockquote type="cite">
    <div>
    <div>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt">Randy, 
    </span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt"></span> </p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt">Going 
    up to 3000 is over kill, the serpentine has some calcium in it so there will 
    be a polishing reaction using the 5X polishing Powders. The crystallizer 
    will just give it the final pop to the finish. </span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt">Also 
    not all crystallizers are pink.</span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt"></span> </p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt"></span> </p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:&#39;Cataneo BT&#39;;color:#1f497d;font-size:14pt">John E. 
    Freitag </span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt">President/Director</span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt">The 
    Stone and Tile School</span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt">Office 
    <a target="_top" href="tel:407-567-7652" value="+14075677652" target="_blank">407-567-7652</a></span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt">Cell 
    <a target="_top" href="tel:407-615-0134" value="+14076150134" target="_blank">407-615-0134</a></span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt"><a target="_top" href="http://jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com</span></a></span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt"></span> </p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt">&lt;image001.jpg&gt;</span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt"></span> </p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt"><a target="_top" href="http://www.thestoneandtileschool.com" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">www.thestoneandtileschool.com</span></a></span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt"></span> </p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt"></span> </p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt"></span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d;font-size:11pt"></span> </p>
    <div>
    <div style="border-bottom:medium none;border-left:medium none;padding-bottom:0in;padding-left:0in;padding-right:0in;border-top:#b5c4df 1pt solid;border-right:medium none;padding-top:3pt">
    <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10pt">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt"> Randy Frye 
    [mailto:<a target="_top" href="mailto:rfrye@comcast.net" target="_blank">rfrye@comcast.net</a>] 
    <br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, July 06, 2011 8:00 AM<br><b>To:</b> Restoration 
    and Maintenance<br><b>Subject:</b> RE: [sccpartners] No 
    subject</span></p></div></div>
    <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
    <p style="margin-bottom:12pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt">We start at the 
    appointed grit, carry the grits to at least 3000, then granite polishing 
    paste, finalize with the pink stuff.<br>Good luck<br></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><br><br>On 
    7/6/11 1:20 AM, &quot;Roger Konarski&quot; &lt;<a target="_top" href="http://qm144@yahoo.com" target="_blank"></a><a target="_top" href="mailto:qm144@yahoo.com" target="_blank">qm144@yahoo.com</a>&gt; wrote:</span></p>
    <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">I have been 
    asked to restore a serpentine bathroom. Shower, vanity top, tub surround and 
    floor. This is one stone I don&#39;t like to restore. Looking for suggestions on 
    handling this job. Honing followed with MB 20 or should we just use the pink 
    stuff on the stone? <br> <br>Thanks,<br>RK  </span></p>
    <div style="text-align:center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="font-size:11pt">
    <hr align="center" size="3" width="100%">
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    <p style="margin-bottom:12pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt">Powered by <a target="_top" href="http://DiscussThis.com" target="_blank"></a><a target="_top" href="http://DiscussThis.com" target="_blank">http://DiscussThis.com</a> &lt;<a target="_top" href="http://www.discussthis.com" target="_blank"></a><a target="_top" href="http://www.discussthis.com" target="_blank">http://www.discussthis.com</a>&gt; 
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>________________________________________<br>From the desk of<br>Baird Standish<br>Managing Partner<br>Facility Specialists, LLC<br>1616 Walnut St.<br>Philadelphia, PA 19103<br>
Phone: 215-732-7505<br>Fax: 215-546-9160<br>
</div>