Wax on ceramic tile

[Lyman]

A car dealer wants his showroom tile cleaned. He ussually gets it waxed twice a year. Am I going to have trouble with removing the wax from the grout lines.

 

[Bjorn]

do a test this could become NIGHTMARE

yes and it will be your problem

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Good stripper, dwell time, and brush it out. This is one an OP machine really works well on, rather that a rotary. Rotary will work, but slings rather than "digs".

 

[boazcan]

demo, demo, demo!

None of these are the same. Try different dilutions of stripper, dwell time, scrubbing, etc. Now EXACTLY what it is going to take to remove it fully. It is either all or none, you cannot do a "light" cleaning.

 

[The Preacher]

walk away! or run if you can!

 

[Louis]

Demo or test different areas. Test where there is no traffic and the wax just builds up.
I did a job that looked easy until I got to an area with no traffic. 200 sf of hell, nothing worked but flame throwing heat from the hand tool.

 

[Jeremy]

If you get roped into this one.... Mop down your stripper kinda lightly & wait 15 min. Then Mop it down again and wait 15 min & scrub re-scrub & rinse. ThenMop down more stripper if needed. Pay special attention to edges, corners & grout lines... Bring help. You can probablu do your final rinse w/ a turbo or spiner type tool.

 

[John Olson]

Run Away...OR charge $2.50 a sq

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

I'm really surprised that some of you guys would say run away , but then again someone the other day said if the carpet needed to be scrubbed they would walk. :shock:

As long as you make it clear to the customer that all the wax might not come out , remind the customer that you were not the one that put the wax on the tile, say it in a very nice way. Explaining has always worked for me, never over promise.

Edit: Do what Louis said

 

[John Olson]

Key issues is this is car dealership. Leaving shiny grout behind will be unacceptable and they are terrible payers. They will ask for 30 and maybe pay in 60 if they don't say you didn't get all out and refuse to pay. Car dealerships are the worst to do any cleaning work for at least in my many years of janitorial they where. Always bid them really high either they didn't aaccept or they did and we at least made some money before they went low bid after fixing it from the last low bid

 

[hogjowl]

I realize that there are exceptions to every rule. My local Chevrolet dealer is a wonderful customer. Pays on time and pays me well. I have worked for him for years. If he had such an issue, I would help him. I know I would get paid, but the key to success would be proper communication and proper pricing.

The absolute worst floors I have ever done were brick floors with Val-Oil coating on it. I got in a neighborhood once that was full of these floors and, once I started the first, the neighbors kept coming. I thought I would never get out of that neighborhood! Like you will probably experience, I couldn't ever get all the Val-Oil (wax in your situation) off the mortar joints (grout in your situation). I had to strip it with muriatic acid.

After stripping and rinsing (and being on my hands and knees with a wire brush in some cases) there were areas where the old stuff was still on the mortar but once I recoated the floors with the Val-Oil it would blend in fairly well. After the first one, I learned to caution the next customers about not being able to totally strip it and that there would be some variations in the way certain areas would appear.

If I hadn't communicated well with them, I could have had problems.

So tell them the worst and then your best will make them happy.

 

[Jim Martin]

Key issues is this is car dealership. Leaving shiny grout behind will be unacceptable and they are terrible payers. They will ask for 30 and maybe pay in 60 if they don't say you didn't get all out and refuse to pay. Car dealerships are the worst to do any cleaning work for at least in my many years of janitorial they where. Always bid them really high either they didn't aaccept or they did and we at least made some money before they went low bid after fixing it from the last low bid

.....very true....I had 4 of them and they can be a pain at times......and the only way you will make any money off of them is to bid it high.most have in house or sub out cleaning people that put all kinds of crap down and can be a bitch to get off...........then be prepared for a 30 to 60 day wait for your money......

But.......If they are willing to pay and you can take your time doing it......Take Jeremy"s advice and you should be OK......

It can be done..............

 

[steve frasier]

Twice a year but for how many years?

Where is the guy that was waxing it?

Jeremy has given you the best advice, hope you have the right tools.