Popped that Travertine...POW!

[Mikey P]

What started off as a honed/flat floor over time became fairly shine due to mop products, foot oils and the like. When Brunhilda the maid mopped half of it with vinegar one day she caused a panic attack in the owner who after calls to other tile cleaners in the area, landed in my lap as the go to hero.. We don't have any stone fags in the zip code..


I came out, gave a bid, came a week later and applied almond silicone under the MDF baseboards to prevent swelling then showed up today to clean polish and seal.

Started off with Magic Wand's Oxy Blaster and a 400 Monkey pad...

Got it nice and flat, removing all etch marks and inconsistencies..

Than spent about a minute and a half per tile with Cobb's powder polish to attain this...

Now we'll go back on Friday to color seal her counter top grout

 

[Lefty724]

Wow awesome! Is that just a 175 you are using in the pic?

Looks great!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mikey P]

yep, unweighted to boot!

 

[Mikey P]

Doug, did I see you sign up for Vegas?

 

[Cameron DeMille]

That turned out pretty good. Much better.

 

[Magic One]

Great Job Mikey. You rock.

 

[Dan]

What make and model is your 175? Floor looks awesome.

 

[Mikey P]

That turned out pretty good. Much better.

next time I'll have them call you.

 

[Mikey P]

it's an older Advanced that they no longer offer. Shame cause that 2 by 4 handle is awesome for control

 

[Larry Cobb]

Nice job, Mikey

Shine looks very impressive for one power polish step from the 400 Monkey pad.

Did a nice job of minimizing the pits in the floor.

Just in case anyone needs that Dura-Glo polish "POP" . . .

http://www4.cobbcarpet.com/zen/inde...sult&search_in_description=1&keyword=dura-glo

A good way to earn $3/sq.ft. in less affluent areas.

Larry

 

[Mikey P]

I bet I didn't use but three ounces on those 200 feet..

Interesting how much easier the Cobb milk was to remove compared to the monkey milk

 

[Lance Golden]

Mike
Sorry Dude, I have to call you out on this, just 2 weeks ago, you were saying "travertine won't hold a shine?"
HA, BTW did you seal? and why only 3 oz. of product over 200 sq ft? I may go thru 3 lbs. over 1k-1,200 sq ft.

I am thinking cameron would have only been impressed if you go all the way thru the levels, using resin diamonds, then powder polish. and use weight

Larry I don't know about $3 sq ft. in the "real world". (of course we could, if we need to go with 6 steps) and maybe seal.

 

[Mikey P]

Lol...trust me I tried real hard to talk her out of it, some ladies just REALLY want a shiny floor.Good timing I guess, if not for you staring that's travertine threads,,i wouldn't have done it..the Cobbs polish needs just a small pinch to work...and not much weight..

I'll let you know if it's worn off by Friday...Lol

 

[Mikey P]

And yes we sealed. Cobbs again.
It would not absorb much at all.

With the countertops bill came to $1350, no great shakes but I didn't plan our price it with polishing in mind..

 

[Steve Lawrence]

Wowee, great job, Mike. Your floor skills are impressive. Thanks for the posts.

 

[Lance Golden]

Lol...trust me I tried real hard to talk her out of it, some ladies just REALLY want a shiny floor.Good timing I guess, if not for you staring that's travertine threads,,i wouldn't have done it..the Cobbs polish needs just a small pinch to work...and not much weight..

I'll let you know if it's worn off by Friday...Lol

Weight will make it "easier?" with less passes to achieve the "gloss" your looking for. In other words, make say... 2 passes, stop, squegee back an area, and "see where you are. if you want more, make 2 more passes over that same area, stop, squegee again... Have the Mrs., say 'Yea, that's it!" Now you know to count 4 passes.

How many passes did you go?

 

[BLewis]

Ok Mikey, for my dumb question. What pad (etc.) did you use when using the polish power?

 

[Bill Morgan]

What kind of pad did you use with the Powder Polish?
Looks real nice.
Bill

 

[Rob Fairfield]

Let this be a testimony that the polishing pads, brand does not matter, are not the answer to marble and travertine maintenance polishing and have no restoration value. Restoration is done with diamond disc's and finished with a chemical powder polish. Maintenance polishing is done with the same chemical powder and not impregnated hogs hair pads. The "POW" or "POP" Mikey talks about can not be done mechanically. The proof is in the pudding.

The pad systems (monkey, twister, eco, spinergy, DTI) certainly have there rightful place in our industry but not polishing. At least as we speak today. They are great maintenance and cleaning pads for terrazzo, concrete, VCT, etc. and do a good job (800, 1500 and 3000) giving travertine different levels of a patina or satin look.

Great job Mike!

 

[Mikey P]

Just your basic Hogshair pad

 

[Cameron DeMille]

Mike
Sorry Dude, I have to call you out on this, just 2 weeks ago, you were saying "travertine won't hold a shine?"
HA, BTW did you seal? and why only 3 oz. of product over 200 sq ft? I may go thru 3 lbs. over 1k-1,200 sq ft.

I am thinking cameron would have only been impressed if you go all the way thru the levels, using resin diamonds, then powder polish. and use weight

Larry I don't know about $3 sq ft. in the "real world". (of course we could, if we need to go with 6 steps) and maybe seal.

I think it looks really good, especially since it was only powder polished. Most guys without much experience end up polishing too much or orange peeling it. This turned out nicely.

Now if the client was willing to pay for diamond refinishing first, the surface would be more abrasion resistant. It won't necessarily be less prone to moderate/heavy scratches, but foot traffic, mopping etc. wouldn't take as much toll on it. The trade off is powder polishing only won't last as long, but is less expensive.

I also never seal polished Travertine unless the client persists. It isn't nearly as porous and many people will lead you to believe. If polished travertine stains from a spill, it's likely it will come out with a decent stone cleaner.

 

[Cameron DeMille]

sorry, double post.

 

[Steve Lawrence]

Mikey,
Did you move appliances? If so, how do you keep from creating scratches when you move it back into place?

 

[Mikey P]

We moved the fridge out to clean up the ten years of dust bunnies but no polishing was requested..nice rubber wheels

 

[rwcarpet]

What started off as a honed/flat floor over time became fairly shine due to mop products, foot oils and the like. When Brunhilda the maid mopped half of it with vinegar one day she caused a panic attack in the owner who after calls to other tile cleaners in the area, landed in my lap as the go to hero.. We don't have any stone fags in the zip code..


I came out, gave a bid, came a week later and applied almond silicone under the MDF baseboards to prevent swelling then showed up today to clean polish and seal.

Started off with Magic Wand's Oxy Blaster and a 400 Monkey pad...

Got it nice and flat, removing all etch marks and inconsistencies..

Than spent about a minute and a half per tile with Cobb's powder polish to attain this...

Now we'll go back on Friday to color seal her counter top grout

Do most Cali homes have ceramic tile counter tops? Or is it just the older homes? I've seen 'em in Cali homes North and South.

 

[Magic One]

Mikey, Maybe next year at the mikey fest in Vegas , you can show us your skills?

 

[Mikey P]

I also never seal polished Travertine unless the client persists. It isn't nearly as porous and many people will lead you to believe. If polished travertine stains from a spill, it's likely it will come out with a decent stone cleaner.

and what about grouted installs? you seal those right?

 

[Mikey P]

Mikey, Maybe next year at the mikey fest in Vegas , you can show us your skills?

you mean my talent/skill and getting the homeowner to believe I actually know what I'm doing?

 

[alazo1]

Looks great. Two steps, way less time then the 5 step monkey and better results. Next step up would be 200 resin diamond, 400 monkey, 800 or 1500 resin then polish. Or cheetah #2, #3 then polish.

 

[Larry Cobb]

Any travertine in a KITCHEN . . .

needs a fluorochmical Impregnator to prevent stains . . .

and to make it easier to maintain.

Dynachem, of course.

Larry