I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and one

[dealtimeman]

cheetah pad(Larry let me borrow a cheetah to try out). I have to first say I understand now why stone guys charge so much, it is like doing the same jobs five times in one day. I started using the number two cheetah pad but it made a lot of noise and actually started falling apart so I thru it out and grabbed the monkeys. I decided to start out with four hundred and work all the way through the set of pads to 11000. For me it was challenging, mentally, because the first three steps I saw so minute change it was quite trouble some for me. By the 8000 it started looking ok but not great. The 11000 gained some clarity and added some depth but not as I hoped.

The customer is just flat out amazed and is very happy. I was not on the other hand. I see all these video of these guys doing the same color marble ( I know none are completely alike) and mine did not look like theirs. Here are some pics and have to say, I think it looks better in rh pic than in person. It took me 11 hours to complete and I'd the 11 hours, 5 hours was stripping the floor and getting 5 or more year old wax and sealer out of the grout. I am already looking at a real set of stone equipment to really get it done right.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

During 400 grit

After

 

[dgargan]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

I see what you mean. It is much better but not the results you see in the videos. Did you have a weighted machine? That might make a difference. I hope you charged enough to make a profit. Stripping wax off stone and grout is a pain and time consuming. What were you at per sq ft price?

 

[Ed]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

All I see in those pictures is potential damage/replacement cost. One slip of the rotary and you'll bepainting baseboards.. There's much lower hanging fruit out there. :mrgreen:

 

[Brian R]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

Man that looks like hard work.

Great job Michael.

 

[Steve Manier]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

Not bad...Looks good but sounds like it was a PITA!...Have you ever tried powder polishing? I did my first ever and was suprisingly amazed at the ease of it and the results

 

[danbrown]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

Just powder polishing would of gained you alot more shine out of the stone. This would have also required either using a splash guard or putting up 100.00 worth of tape and plastic.

While not sure of the severity of the strip job. I would have been at around 1.00 per ft for stripping/cleaning, and around 1.50 per ft for powder. I would have charged another 3-3.50 per foot to use diamond resins on the floor.

Clean and powder polish : Better
Clean, hone, powder polish: Best

These are the 2 options I give people.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

I liked the before better, can you put the dirt back in it?

Very slight improvement, especially for the time spent. Looks like tough sledding.

 

[Mikey P]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

I hate to tell you this Michael but you just spent 11 hours polishing Porcelain

 

[Wandslinger]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

Thanks for the early morning laugh Mike...

 

[dealtimeman]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

I left one of my airmovers and went back to pick it up. I have to say it does look better during the day. Not perfect but definitely better. Customer was very happy.

 

[danbrown]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

Looks much better in those pics Michael. Good job!

Hahaha here I thought those were serpentine tile inserts and now Mikey has me thinkin they might be 4 inch vct tiles....

 

[dealtimeman]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

Thanks Dan, your website looks killer.

Do you close many jobs directly off your website?

 

[Bee Busy]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

as long as your customer is happy, that's what matters. there is some orange peeling going on there looking at the reflection of the pics. i finally used those pads on a travertine with sanded groutlines and major lippage recently, i didn't like the orange peeled look, but the customer was happy. i think twister pads are cheaper as well, i may be wrong.

 

[danbrown]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

Thanks Dan, your website looks killer.

Do you close many jobs directly off your website?

Thanks! That is the 3rd or 4th redesign on the site since about 2007.

I feel that I close the majority of the leads directly from my website. Referrals and Angies List are 2 others with really high close rates. Referrals, website, angies list make up my highest ticket #'s in that order.

 

[dealtimeman]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

as long as your customer is happy, that's what matters. there is some orange peeling going on there looking at the reflection of the pics. i finally used those pads on a travertine with sanded groutlines and major lippage recently, i didn't like the orange peeled look, but the customer was happy. i think twister pads are cheaper as well, i may be wrong.

I asked Larry Cobb and Ron lippold about the orange peel effect, and was told that I took too long with last two steps and burned it.

 

[Bee Busy]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

i'm not an expert with those pads, but i never burned soft stones polishing after using resin diamonds with weight and foam risers

 

[Ron Lippold]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

Mike the floor looks fine, sure some will bash but if the check cleared and they are happy your good to go. You will lean the time. Wjen its time to buy diamonds you will step up. Just get a little time on the pads first.

 

[danbrown]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

Mike the floor looks fine, sure some will bash but if the check cleared and they are happy your good to go. You will lean the time. Wjen its time to buy diamonds you will step up. Just get a little time on the pads first.

Agreed. I did my first really large natural stone polish with Twister pads a few years ago and felt kind of guilty when I got the check. Results weren't up to par with how I like things to turn out. Since then I have refined our processes and started learning more about resins and powders. All in due time.

 

[Becker]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

Going back to clean the carpet you piled all your equipment on? Good thing it was dark carpet huh..

 

[Bee Busy]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

Mike the floor looks fine, sure some will bash but if the check cleared and they are happy your good to go. You will lean the time. Wjen its time to buy diamonds you will step up. Just get a little time on the pads first.

not bashing, but with some proper training with diamonds and powder he could have have made it better and possibly made more money, like he said: he went over the floor many times. it's not like carpet with one or 2 passes, it's not a quick fix when it comes to natural stone

 

[Bee Busy]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

as long as your customer is happy, that's what matters. there is some orange peeling going on there looking at the reflection of the pics. i finally used those pads on a travertine with sanded groutlines and major lippage recently, i didn't like the orange peeled look, but the customer was happy. i think twister pads are cheaper as well, i may be wrong.

I asked Larry Cobb and Ron lippold about the orange peel effect, and was told that I took too long with last two steps and burned it.

i don't know how much those guys know about stone...check out www.easystonecare.com call Cameron DeMille or Ted Mc Fadden these guys are experts at stone

 

[dealtimeman]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

Going back to clean the carpet you piled all your equipment on? Good thing it was dark carpet huh..

I cleaned the carpet before I left. Man some you guys are wound tight.

What I have learned from this industry is both education of how to do the specific job and educating the customer of the job on realistic results. I told the customer that would do my best fix the floor( I was helping out a friend, who's techs tried to clean the floor and left it blotchy) I went and did a 2x2 demo (took 1 hour) before the job and showed her the best result that I could produce. I told her that worst case scenario I would do the best and if she didn't like she could opt to have a finish put back on.

It is a learning process. I learned a lot.

 

[Lars]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

I think it looks great! Don't beat yourself up, there are plenty of other guys here that will do that

 

[alazo1]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

You did good for just monkey pads. The cheetahs were clacking because there is some pretty bad lippage on the floor. Powder polishing after the 800's would have saved you some time and would have popped the shine. But it does require some practice so with what you had it turned out good. I could be wrong but that looks like limestone not marble. Did you get to see a spare by any chance?. Some limestones don't shine too well and are sold in a honed state.

What was your procedure for stripping the floor?.

Albert

 

[dealtimeman]

Re: I just finished my first big job with monkey pads and on

I layed stripper down with a mop 5 to 1 . Let dwell 15 minute, layed more stripper and hit with a 175 and a Cimex with brushes. The grout did not want to come clean, spent almost three hours trying to get all the wax out of just the grout. Most effective removal method was with grout brush and small stiff brush. Two different strippers was used.