Bad day

Nomad74

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I don’t mean to be bitchy, but this last two weeks has really just been one thing after another. I just need to get through this month and start over.

Today I went to clean that restaurant basement bathroom floor. It's ceramic tile covered in 20 years of wax. Damn these people and their wax!!!! Just a major pain in my ass. I don’t normally strip floors, but I took this job on because they give me $2k worth of quarterly work.

The first time I attempted to clean this tile, it clogged up my filter after about 20 feet. I didn't know it had wax. I thought it was just dirty. So I rescheduled it for today. While loading the van this morning with my shop vac, stripper, and scrapers, I couldn’t find my black pads. So, i grabbed my red pads. Of course I couldn’t find my squeegee attachment for my shop vac.

Arrived at the job, hauled my orbot and 40 lb weights down the stairs, mixed up my bone-saw stripper and went to work. Looked like the edges needed to be scrapped. Of course while trying to put a new razor blade on my scraper, I cut the living crap out of my finger. I ended up dripping blood everywhere.

Because I didn’t have my squeegee, I skipped the shop vac sucking and went straight to tile spinning. I was cleaning at 1200 psi when I lost all pressure. I immediately knew I must've had a blow out somewhere. Turned out it was 15 feet back and flooding the bathroom. I grabbed my vacuum line and shoved the spraying solution line inside it, then ran upstairs and shut down my TM.

Once I finished wrapping up the solution line, I fired up the truck mount and sucked up all the flooding. By this point I could see that the wax wasn’t coming off easily and I should really be using a black pad. I was totally exhausted and pissed. I ended up literally throwing everything back into the van and leaving.

I now remember why I don’t do floor stripping. It's to messy, smelly, and time consuming. When I calm down I’ll probably go back and finish the job, but this floor is kicking my ass.

Matt, I know you have that public school pissy bathroom to clean. Run away.

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Keep your chin up man, it can only get better from here....
just think, Christmas is exactly one week away, family, food, and relaxing time...
 
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BIG WOOD

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I have to do that job now. If I flunk out on it, I’ll show the results on this thread.
 

Kenny Hayes

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Well, I guess that’s an option, although not a good one. Find your black pads, and Do Not use your truckmount again. That is not a truckmount job!! And find that floor tool!!!
 
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Jimmy L

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Get on your hands and knees and use some sort of blow torch to melt it off
 

Jimmy L

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I think I would try some great stripper and allow it to dwell for awhile and use a stiff brush on a pole. Suck it up with that shop vac and flood rinse what was left down the floor drain
 
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Nomad74

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I'm heading to Home Depot tonight to get squeegee attachment for my shop vac. Where do I get the 3M black pads?

This will be the last floor I ever strip. I don't know how the VCT guys do it day in and day out. What a shit job!
 

Kenny Hayes

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I'm heading to Home Depot tonight to get squeegee attachment for my shop vac. Where do I get the 3M black pads?

This will be the last floor I ever strip. I don't know how the VCT guys do it day in and day out. What a shit job!
😂😂😂. Janitor supply. As with anything, you gonna do the job, you gotta have the right tool.
 

Trip Moses

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If the Home Depot has a rental department they should have black pads. And a 175 you won’t have to clean. Stripping floors is the worst. I’d keep it wet for at least an hour with a a lot scrubbing before I shop vacuumed it. Probably need to flood mop with stripper after that.
 
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Jimmy L

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Did it while I was a janitor 20 years ago.

Like you if one of my accounts asked I would do it.

But I would try and get by just doing a scrub and recoat
 
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Hack Attack

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yep, as has been said that isn't a TM job thats a chem and aggressive pad scrubbing job

thats why I'd rather do Matts job, theres room to scrub his better.. yours not so much
 

Fat Mike

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Blue mal grit brush

175 w those weights!

Op is horrible for scrubbing wax floors. I’ve never had much success strip with an op machine. And they’re super messy imo

Problem is you can’t think you’ll strip that floor in one bang. I treat them like Saltillo one layer at a time. But no one will pay Saltillo prices on ceramic or vct

Tile n grout with wax is always frustrating lol
Just be sure to rinse your black pads or brush throughout the job because they do clog.

Also check the water if it’s supposed to be cold or hot I think I’ve seen some that are different and I try to follow correct mixture because more isn’t always better with strippers.

But I’m with you. Unless it’s 4-5$/ft
 
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You need a wire bristled SCARIFYING brush for your 175, like industry uses for large walk in freezer floors.

I'm guessing at least one layer of that mess is polyurethane, everybody tries it once.

Get several FOAM squeegee and a dozen white towels to corral and pick up the slurry.
 

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