Can you help me with my first floor wax job?

[gimmeagig]

Hi,
I just bid on a commercial office job.9 rooms which are carpeted and a small kitchen 5X8 and a bathroom 6X10 which are vinyl and need to be waxed.
I really wanted the job and I didn't want to loose it just because I am not a hard floor guy.I was honest with the client and told him that I have not done vinyl and that I would check first before I commit to that part.He knows the work I do as a carpet guy so he trusts me and gave me the go ahead.
I went to my local supplier who used to be a janitor to to find out how to do it. I do not have a rotary machine and he said I wouldn't need it for such a small area.
Here is what he set me up with.
A 8" scrubber for a broom handle with 3 pads, white blue and brown which is the coarsest.
one gallon of Franklin Offense fast acting no-rinse stripper.
one gallon Franklin Interstate 50 self sealing fast recoat variable UHS floor finish
Another 8" attachment for that broom handle Lambs Wool for applying the finish.

He told me to pour the stripper gradually out onto the floor and scrub it with the coarse pad, then use my carpet wand to rinse and extract.
After that, to stick my blowers in the rooms and once dry to apply a thin coat of the finish, let that dry, but not use the floor driers because of dust and ripples.After 30 minutes another coat and possibly a third one after another 30 minutes.

Does that sound right? Is there anything in addition to that that I should know or be aware of? Like I said I don't have a rotary scrubber and this is the first vinyl job I have come across.
Also, I was not sure what to charge for that. I got the right price for the carpeted areas and because I didn't really know I added 80.- for the vinyl areas.I assume if someone would do the vinyl separately it would be more?

 

[floorguy]

your arms are going to be tired....

sure you could scrub it down by hand...but ick.....

not to mention its not going to be a full on strip....

which you could get away with if its not to bad....

the problem....it still could go blotchy on you....

lambs wool

 

[gimmeagig]

The floor is brand new and it only has the finish on it that it came with.

 

[floorguy]

ohh well then....

that is easier (shoulda said that before)

just easy on the stripper...that factory finish isnt bad at all to get off....

hopefully not many if any scuffs...those will need some foot work on them....

rinse well..rinse.....and did i say rinse...

 

[gimmeagig]

So is a lambswool pad on a broom handle not the right tool for the job? What should I be using instead?

 

[dealtimeman]

A 175

 

[floorguy]

they are blue and white mops....

being as it is such a small area...get one of those instead of the dust mop kind....

also put a trash bag in the bucket....its kind of a pain...but if you only do it once in a while it will save your bucket..

lambs wool, wont leave enough on the floor...

 

[FLYERMAN]

You can see a ton of videos on this subject on youtube. The size of your rooms is perfect as a first job. I would have asked $120 so you're not to far off on price. You can do a job this size with a scrubber on a stick and a brown pad but I wouldn't do one any bigger. The least you need is a three gallon bucket. Fill the bucket with two gallons of water and the amount of stripper your product of choice calls for. Now you're going to stick that scrubber in the bucket and pull out some stripper and slop it on the floor. Spread it around first, after waiting up to around 15 minutes, go over it again more aggressively. The size of the area you spread then scrub will get bigger as you get better at it. I would do about half the room/s that you describe at a time. When you get a machine and some experience you'll be able to strip 2 to 3 hundred sf at a time.

Good luck and take some pics to show us when you're done.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

A very simple job. As noted, EASY on the stripper on a new floor. I wouldn't even use a mop bucket (we quit using them 10 years ago).

First, sweep or vacuum the floor.

Second, spray on the diluted stripper with whatever you use to prespray your carpet.

Third, agitate with a 3M Doodlebug, brown or SPP pad, "north-south, and east-west".

Fourth, squeegee off with a foam squeegee. (window squeegee in a pinch)

Fifth, spray down a dilute vinegar rinse, repeating step 2.3 and 4.

You can use a fan at this point. It is VERY important for the floor to be DRY before applying finish if you want a perfect job. If you have a dehumidifier it can be used between coats to speed up small jobs. Many sites take much longer than the 30 minutes you were quoted otherwise.

Don't laugh, but on small or intricate jobs the BEST finish applicator I've ever used was a new SOCK pulled over a doodlebug and pad (size 12-13).

 

[floorguy]

window squeege here all day long ...they are better for getting corners then the foam ones..... little lighter and easier to maneuver around toilets and such....

depending how heavy you dilute the stripper....vinegar isnt a must have...(hell I never "neut")

FLoor being dry of water is helpful but not a must...(now dont add finish with it FULLY wet) if you have areas that are wet...all it does is increase the drying time, between coats...as you have just added more water to the product....thus taking longer to evaporate....

on the finish coats IT HAS TO BE DRY......OR YOU WILL BLOTCH THOSE AREAS.... kinda like taking the skin of a blister....it will grab, and then leave under it funny looking..

and dry time as Lee stated can be longer....it has to evaporate....soooo in a closed up bathroom....it could take HOURS....prop the door, and if you use a fan...allow the finish to settle, then add fan ACROSS the floor, or some other way ....JUST NOT DIRECTLY AT IT...OR RIPPLES....OR IF YOU POINT IT UP...DUST BUNNIES FROM THE CEILING ....

 

[dealtimeman]

if you rinse the floor multiple time with several buckets of clean fresh water, there is no need to use vinegar. especially on a new floor.


for these small jobs we hit them with a hard floor minimun of $250.00

 

[gimmeagig]

A very simple job. As noted, EASY on the stripper on a new floor. I wouldn't even use a mop bucket (we quit using them 10 years ago).

First, sweep or vacuum the floor.

Second, spray on the diluted stripper with whatever you use to prespray your carpet.

Third, agitate with a 3M Doodlebug, brown or SPP pad, "north-south, and east-west".

Fourth, squeegee off with a foam squeegee. (window squeegee in a pinch)

Fifth, spray down a dilute vinegar rinse, repeating step 2.3 and 4.

You can use a fan at this point. It is VERY important for the floor to be DRY before applying finish if you want a perfect job. If you have a dehumidifier it can be used between coats to speed up small jobs. Many sites take much longer than the 30 minutes you were quoted otherwise.

Don't laugh, but on small or intricate jobs the BEST finish applicator I've ever used was a new SOCK pulled over a doodlebug and pad (size 12-13).

I really appreciate all of your help.I have a couple of additional questions.
I looked up what a 3M Doodle Bug is and that is exactly what I bought. Now after the stripping I was going to extraxt the residue with my truckmount wand. The squeegee method sounds much simpler, but using the wand with some water might get the floor prepped better. What do you recommend?
As far as applying the stripper, I'm hesitant to use my hydroforce for that because i don't know if I could possibly damage it with the stripper chemical. I have a couple of pump sprayers , would those be OK to use? My supplier told me I could just pour a little of the solution out onto the floor and then scrub, since the area is pretty small.That would be of course the easiest, how about that?
If I use that sock method, I could use the white scrub pad which I'm not using for the stripping. I'd slide the sock over the Doodlebug but I'd have to cut a hole for the handle, is that right? I would use some type of white tennis sock is that good?

 

[Jeremy]

Call me 812-754-1447 & I'll be happy to talk you through it...

 

[FLYERMAN]

gimme, that's an invitation I would not pass up if I were you. Jeremy will teach you more over the phone than all of us can on here.

 

[gimmeagig]

gimme, that's an invitation I would not pass up if I were you. Jeremy will teach you more over the phone than all of us can on here.

I called Jeremy and got great advice. I love this forum, don't know what I would do without it.

 

[gimmeagig]

OK, I did the job and now I have a few more questions about some problems I had.Here are a couple of pictures.

Pic one is after I cleaned and stripped the floor.

It was pretty easy to get to that, since the floor tiles just had the light factory finish on them.

Pic two is with 4 coats.

The problem I ran into was that even though I cleaned and dried the floors, by the time I got the first coat of wax on, there had been some dust particles and even a few small hairs that had settled onto the new finish. The stuff was just in the air and on every subsequent coat there was a little more of that dust settling..I didn't know what to do about that.
I did not have a fan so it was just what was in the air.

On a couple of places on the sides the finish puddled up a little, I saw I had put down too much but by that time it was drying and I didn't know how to fix it at that point. Is there something I can do after the fact?

Anyway, this is how it turned out. Semigloss not the shiny mirror like I was hoping for.
Is this semi glossy finish acceptable on a job like this?
The office opens tomorrow and I'm hoping the customer is happy, but I'm not sure how much better it would have been if one of you experienced guys would have done the job.
I also don't know how high customers expectations are on something like that. Does this look OK to you?
If the customer has any complaints about the dust flakes that are visible in the finish what can I do to remedy that? Would buffing take that out? How soon after the last coat could I start buffing the surface?
I suppose if I'm going to take more vinyl jobs I'd have to get some type of rotary machine but right now I don't have one . On a small job like this it might have not been useful anyway, what do you think?

 

[dealtimeman]

Looks good what finish did you use?


how many lights other than the one is in the space?

 

[floorguy]

I think it looks great...

here is a few things to remember...

You are NEVER going to get it perfect....like you said "stuff in the air"...or there is sometimes thing stick to mops, and you dont see it til there is finish, which gives things DEPTH.

Also, brand new floors, hold finish differently...cant really explain why...it just never looks as good brand new, as a job i have stripped 1 or 2 times after installation...

You probably freaked out after the 1st coat, because it may have looked blotchy?? After over 20 yrs of doing it....I STILL DO ...just trust that it will fill in and look ok...

The puddling, isnt a huge issue more so against the wall....if it were in the middle, then there would be a problem, because it would show....

looks good, not bad for a newb

 

[floorguy]

ohhh what did you use to spread it??

 

[gimmeagig]

Franklin Interstate 50.I don't know anything about what else is available, it's just what my local supplier recommended. As far as the light goes, I don't know,small room, probably just the one.

 

[gimmeagig]

I think it looks great...

here is a few things to remember...

You are NEVER going to get it perfect....like you said "stuff in the air"...or there is sometimes thing stick to mops, and you dont see it til there is finish, which gives things DEPTH.

Also, brand new floors, hold finish differently...cant really explain why...it just never looks as good brand new, as a job i have stripped 1 or 2 times after installation...

You probably freaked out after the 1st coat, because it may have looked blotchy?? After over 20 yrs of doing it....I STILL DO ...just trust that it will fill in and look ok...

The puddling, isnt a huge issue more so against the wall....if it were in the middle, then there would be a problem, because it would show....

looks good, not bad for a newb

Hey Doug, thanks, I'm glad you think it's OK. I wouldn't know, I have nothing to compare it to. Yes the first coat did not look great. Jeremy already told me to expect that.A youtube video I saw suggested putting down the finish on the perimeter first, then I fill in the center. That's probably why it puddled on the sides. Very little, but it still bugged me.The applicator was loaded too much and by the time I saw it it had formed a film. I guess then there's nothing you can do,is that right?
I used a lambs skin brush attachment.I vacuumed it off first and checked if any hairs would come off it.That was definitely not the reason why I had the dust on the finish. If I'll do it again I'll try the sock over the doodlebug and a pad. I had trouble getting around the narrow spaces next to the toilet. That swivel would have made it easy. I didn't think of that. On my first coat i used a bucket with a linerbag. That didn't work well either, because the attachment was just wide enough that I wouldn't get to the bottom of the bucket. I ended up buying a deep paint tray at a Walmart which was closeby.That was great, I could load up the brush and then squeeze out what I didn't need on the flat part of the tray.