Need Help New in VCT strip and wax

[Andy12]

Greetings ,Im new to VCT stripping and wax. I have all the equipment to do the job.

But I have lots of questions.Please help.

I have a 4,000 sq. ft. VCT strip and finish job. How long does a Black stripping pad last before I need to use a new one.
From the 4,000 sq. ft. the bigest part is 1,500 sq. ft. What would be the best way to strip it, by 10 x10 sections? I was told that it is bad if I let the stripper dry.

Thses are the brand of floor finish I can get in my area, please advise which is the best.

Thanks For your time.Andy2012

MegaStar™ Maximum Brilliance
Diversey Floor Science
Mega Flex High Gloss
Betco Express

 

[Ross Buettner]

Use the equivelant of Diversey's Fastrip. I forgot the new name, the dilution ratio is much better than the 6 to 1 Fastrip. Also, if you want to save some time and material, I'd advise Diversey's High Mileage. It goes down really well in 2-3 coats, and burnishes well.

Using a black pad will be fine, however if your floor machine has a water feed just I'd advise it. The stripper will clog the pad fairly fast as it can tear off up to 8 coats. I'd suggest having 2-3 with your square footage.

I seen your singature, so obviously you've used some of this stuff already, or have access to it.

 

[Andy12]

Greetings Thanks for your quick replay.


Yes, I have worked in janitorial for about 5 years partime for a company.

Know I just open my own company and I have my first Strip and wax job.

Thank You fro your help.
I will look at
Diversey's High Mileage.

It is recomended to sparey buff with Top Guard after a week?
Does this help giving it a good wet look?

Thanks Andy

 

[Andy12]

Greetings to all, I just look at the Diversey Fastrip .How much would I need for 4,000 sq. ft..

Thanks Andy

 

[floorguy]

ha in all the years i have stripped, i still couldnt tell you that..... I just know some how.....plus i ALWAYS take extra..depending on how bad it is...maybe 4 gallons...

and if the stripper dries...just rewet it...and itll be fine....

its when you go to clean and mop things up, you cant let it dry, or it screws with the finish

 

[dealtimeman]

ha in all the years i have stripped, i still couldnt tell you that..... I just know some how.....plus i ALWAYS take extra..depending on how bad it is...maybe 4 gallons...

and if the stripper dries...just rewet it...and itll be fine....

its when you go to clean and mop things up, you cant let it dry, or it screws with the finish

Read the box for coverage than take at least 30-50% more than recommended. Some floor will be easy and don't need a lot of stripper and some floors will need to strip multiple times.

As far as products I use Johnson's diversey- fastrip or bravo for stripper, (also usually carry three or more 5 gallons of either a jondon meltdown plus , and a pail of lowes brand stripper on the truck) for finish if I service the account, example I do the janitorial or it is on a service contract of any kind, I use Johnsons diversey premia - as I like the way it scrubs and recoats better than anything I've used - if it is a one time and they want high shine, durability and a very highly rated and proven slip resistance, we use Johnson's signature.

Just recently switched back to signature after a long time without using it and have to say coverage is just amazing and self levels great. Before I had a problem with bubbles and streaks as I like to throw down heavy coats, now it levels fine even on very screwed up tiles.

This one was pretty bad but the signature did not puddle.

 

[Larry B]

If you can get them in your area I would pick up some of the thin black strip pads. They cost more than the normal 1" thick black pads but they last longer, dont clog as fast and are very aggressive on the finish.

 

[Andy12]

Greetings to all. I would like to thank you all for the quick replay to my "NEWBE" questions.

I hope all can handle much more "stu_" questions that I might ask.


Youb guys Rock.


Thanks Andy
God bless

 

[Andy12]

Greetings I have look at Diversey lines and found" High Mileage".

Has anyone had any comments on this product?


The 1,500 sq. ft. Section a break area and there are 100+ employees walking 24/7.

Michel (dealtimeman) Thanks for the information. This will be a onetime contract.
I hope I can get the next restripe and wax next year.
Thanks Andy

 

[dealtimeman]

If you can get them in your area I would pick up some of the thin black strip pads. They cost more than the normal 1" thick black pads but they last longer, dont clog as fast and are very aggressive on the finish.

I am a big fan of the high productIvity pads by 3m, they will still clog but shake them around in a bucket of water and the wax comes off. Rinse them at the end of the job and use them again the next job. Just try no to go over any thresholds or drains and they will last.

 

[dealtimeman]

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...0000_nid=GSMS2G8GX9gsQR6D20MTVTglQMDZTPJX4Lbl

 

[Andy12]

Greetings Michael. I have order some from Cleaning Stuff .com

3M Floor Buffer Pads 20 Inch Standard 3M 7200 Black Stripping 175 600 RPM, Case of 5 Pads

The ran me about $39.00

Thanks Andy

 

[Andy12]

Greetings , What would be the best Finish Mop head?


I got a ETC. Great white Medium Mop head
Thanks

 

[dealtimeman]

Rubbermaid one from home depot, take out and rinse before you use it in clean water and hang to dry. Doesn't matter if it dries completely before you use it. Just make sure and "prime" the finish into the mop before starting at least two times an no more than three times as it will create a lot of bubbles in you bucket and bubbles are very bad.

 

[Andy12]

Greetings , Thanks for the Tips , Specially the one about the bubbles. I did not see that comimg.

As a newbe I guess I wont see a lot of things coming.

Thanks

 

[Giorgio]

10 x 10 sections seem small. It might take all day at that rate.

Try and bang out 500 sf sections if possible.

have a guy w a backpack sprayer keeping things moist till someone squeegees up the slop.

 

[Andy12]

Greetings thanks for your replay.
I would agree with you on stripping a 500 sq. ft. section at a time.
This make more sense ,than doing a section 10 x10.Thansk

I do not know how much time I have before the stripper starts to dry, I was told is BAD if the stripper dry before a can Wet vac.

Thanks

 

[Ross Buettner]

Greetings , What would be the best Finish Mop head?


I got a ETC. Great white Medium Mop head
Thanks

Rubbermaid waxing system

 

[janitrex]

Get yourself some microfiber flat mops. Using a mop and bucket to apply finish is old school. Plus when using a regular string mop you have to use almost a gallon just to initially soak the mop. Pour a line of finish on the floor and spread it out with the flat mop. With the flat mops you eliminate splashing of the baseboards etc, just throw them in the wash when finished and use them again. And no bubbles using the flat mop, unlike the mop and bucket.

 

[Ross Buettner]

Wring ANY pad out after soaking in water. You won't have that problem.

 

[Andy12]

thanks

 

[Lee Stockwell]

A new white sock pulled over a 3M Doodlebug head makes a great detail finish applier.

For large areas an 18" or 24" dust mop head with the strings cut short around the edges has been used by the high production guys for many years. Pull in a figure-8 pattern as fast as you can walk.

 

[Andy12]

Greetings I would like to thank you all again from all the help and advice .I finish the job this past week end and here are the results.

Thanks

 

[dealtimeman]

Looks good!

 

[Andy12]

Thanks

Now that I got my feet wet.I can say some areas are easy and some areas are not.

 

[Andy12]

This was a small office was easy.

But I had some restrooms that was a nighmare.

I thought there wher esay ,but I had to strip them twice and work the edges realy good.

 

[Andy12]

Next time I would like to try the flat mop technique . I used two diffrent types of mop head and with the first mop ECT I apllied to much finish on the first coat and had to wait 1 hr to dry, without a fan.



The flat mop looks like it would work better.


Thanks

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Be careful with fans. Can cause ripples that don't level out.

They can also stir up contaminates from surfaces other than the floor.

Beauty shops often have a lot of hair that can be blown onto a well cleaned floor by fans.

Start low and monitor before turning them higher.

 

[Andy12]

Thank you for the FAN tip.

This time I did not use fnas since I had multiple office and restrooms to strip and wax.

while I strip an office I would wait for the coat to dry in another office.

We did a total of 4000 sq ft with two people over the week end.

Thanks