hi don
i also clean hard floors. A lot of the time it brings in more money than carpet cleaning.
chemical i use is alkallo from solutions, eclipse range of floor polish and sealer from amtec, butchers floor polish and sealer plus there hot springs floor cleaner.citra scrub is a good one.
on the equipment side to get you started all you need is a low speed rotary about 175 rpm plus a high speed 400 rpm. kentucky mop and mop bucket with wringer, hard floor wand, polish aplicater,
if you bought all second hand should be able to get the lot for £400 ish
i did see a texatherm rotary for sale on one of these boards a week our so ago for £250 this is the same as i use highly recomend it. you can also use super charly pads with it. A good versatile rotary no problem getting your money back on it.
course's probly have to spend more money here then on equipment.
i would budget for £500 at least well worth the money,
alltec, prochem run hard floor course's i think solutions do one as well not sure.
the hardest thing about hard floor cleaning is identafacation but through time it dose come to you.
davy