Concrete Cleaning in Trashed Warehouse

[Jason del Norte]

Hi Guys~

Had a call today for a warehouse floor covered in fine charcoal dust. It is a brewery and they have charcoal filters that use bags of loose fine charcoal. Over the decades the loose residue has covered this concrete floor and have made it black and nasty. Of course, now the dust circulates and covers everything placed in the warehouse.

Their goal is to have it "cleaned."

I haven't cleaned any concrete yet. I have a spinner for cleaning tile. I can see any equipment I use is going to get very dirty on this job--it looks like the inside of a filthy chimney from some Charles Dickens novel.

View attachment 2566View attachment 2567View attachment 2568

Any advice on what to use to break down the charcoal or what I can do to complete this job will be appreciated--and what to charge. The job is approx. 1800 sq. ft. Thanks!

 

[Desk Jockey]

Looks like fun. You're thinking wet, how easily does it come up? What obstacles are in the way, is there inventory to be concerned about? Do they just want the floor or are you to blow the dust down off the contents and structure on to the floor?

Depending on how easy it is to get up I'd sweep up the lose and rent a Hotsy pressure washer and hit it with hot, high volume. high pressure water, if there is a drain. Or the dry and dirty approach is to soda blast it, that concrete would look like brand new BUT soda power would be all everything and need some more clean up or blow down. Not the best approach if there is inventory in there.

I'd go time & Materials to price it (how much time and what you deserve and hours, plus materials used) but once you come up with a number you can give them a flat rate or divide that number by the sq/ft to give you a chargeable sq/ft number.

 

[Jason del Norte]

I like the sound of the concrete looking brand new. That's getting pretty far from carpet cleaning with the V. What exactly do I need to buy or rent for soda blast.

They will remove the inventory for job.

They said just the floor though maybe one has to clean more...

 

[Desk Jockey]

Contact Wayne at GrandNorthern. They are located in Grand Rapids Michigan.
grandnorthern.com
They sell and rent soda and ice blasters. Send him the pictures and see if he thinks ice or soda. He will train you on the job. Nice guy, very helpful!

 

[Travis Sonderegger]

Hi Guys~

Had a call today for a warehouse floor covered in fine charcoal dust. It is a brewery and they have charcoal filters that use bags of loose fine charcoal. Over the decades the loose residue has covered this concrete floor and have made it black and nasty. Of course, now the dust circulates and covers everything placed in the warehouse.

Their goal is to have it "cleaned."

I haven't cleaned any concrete yet. I have a spinner for cleaning tile. I can see any equipment I use is going to get very dirty on this job--it looks like the inside of a filthy chimney from some Charles Dickens novel.

View attachment 2566View attachment 2567View attachment 2568

Any advice on what to use to break down the charcoal or what I can do to complete this job will be appreciated--and what to charge. The job is approx. 1800 sq. ft. Thanks!

Check out the pictures in the original post. Something changed somewhere along the line. This doesnt look like concrete floor to me

How did this job end up turning out? Anyone know?

I have some new concrete to clean. Hasn't been sealed yet.

Should I just sweep then flush water with the hard surface wand?

What should I charge for this?

 

[Willy P]

I like what you've done with your toenails......Maybe Chavez can hook you up with a pair of his "booties".

 

[Travis Sonderegger]

Willy,

Finally ordered a new thermostat and hooked it up. 240 F. I love it. Added the third cord to my machine and hooked the heater back up. I had swapped out my vacs for 3 stage and they were pulling too much power to be on the same cord so I unhooked the heater at that time. now I have everything hooked up again and it works really well. Thanks for all of your advice!

Travis

 

[Willy P]

Glad I could be of help! Did you order the selco thermostat? They seem to have a much longer life than others I've tried.

 

[Willy P]

Check out the pictures in the original post. Something changed somewhere along the line. This doesnt look like concrete floor to me

How did this job end up turning out? Anyone know?

I have some new concrete to clean. Hasn't been sealed yet.

Should I just sweep then flush water with the hard surface wand?

What should I charge for this?

Give it a good scrub first and then nail them for sealer application after drying. Sealing concrete is the gift that keeps on giving.35 clean and seal $1, if you hit objections then you can move down a bit and still get a comfortable profit.

 

[Cleanworks]

I did a concrete job in a former dryer cleaning facility. One of the things you want to do is remove as much fine dust as possible and you might consider laying down some dust bane (sweeping compound) first to minimize any dust in the air during the cleaning process. The problem I had in the dry cleaning facility was that the environmental guys wanted the floors cleaned and the effluent contained. I used a powerwasher (3000psi) hooked up to my hard surface floor tool and my truck mount as vacuum, with an automatic pump out (pumping into 45 gallon drums out back). The concrete floors came out excellent, (the epa guys tested it with qtips) I just wish I knew about concrete sealer back then.

 

[GeneMiller]

I use charcoal in my homemade soap bars. It washes right off. When spilled it cleans up easily with just water. I can certainly rub some in on the concrete and check but I'll bet it washes right off. Hose off your hoses when done. Offer to do a test clean just to check difficulty if you want. It is a very unusual request.

 

[Travis Sonderegger]

I dont know if I like all the heat. Been without it for like a year. I keep burning myself. I got the Selco. Thanks all for the input!

 

[Travis Sonderegger]

How about the same service for tile. New tile, just really dirty. They just need it rinsed. whats your price psf on this service? What is your price on carpet just so I have a comparison.

 

[Willy P]

VCT .25 to scrub clean but you can up a polish really easy if there's enough finish on it-another .25. Carpet I like to get .35 or more if it's really dirty. Strip and wax $1, clean topcoat and burnish .60Tile is around .75 and up, depending on how bad the grout is.