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suffolkclean

  • Posts: 908
Hard Floor Help With Price Please
« on: August 06, 2009, 01:43:50 pm »
Any advice would be appreciated especially with pricing

Been asked to quote for removing carpet tiles which are barely glued down to a hard floor, as you can see from pic not much glue to strip off, then to be sealed/buffed. whats the best way to remove glue, which chemicals you guys recommend - machinery & price.

66m2 of carpet tiles to remove, remove glue & buff
56m2 to buff
what price per m2 would you charge for glued area ? & m2 for straight foward clean

He's already been quoted £333 (incl.vat) from another company - Havn't got a clue what to charge.
There will also be a regular quarterly clean to keep it maintained.

Pics below - PLEEZE Help

[attachment deleted by admin]

stalwart

  • Posts: 344
Re: Rob - Hard Floor Help Please
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2009, 02:32:15 pm »
Hi
           you could try white spirit :) if not that i know evo-stick do a carpet glue remover :-\
 
Been there,seen it,done it,just cant remember when

simoncollins

  • Posts: 86
Re: Hard Floor Help With Price Please
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2009, 11:05:48 am »
You need to find out what type of glue it was.

Usually a dark or tan color adhesive is tar based and mineral spirits can be used. Carpet Tape adhesive can be removed with an all-purpose adhesive remover.

A yellow looking substance is generally carpet adhesive and can be lightly scraped or chipped off easily, and an all purpose adhesive remover will work.

As for the buffing, I would suggest give the floor a good scrub first with either a scrubber/drier or 200rpm rotary, then pick up the dirty water with a wet pick-up vac.

Mop the emulsion polish on to the floor and allow to dry. Depending on how they want the floor to look you must choose what type of polish to use, either a matt finish or high gloss (mirror like) finish. And how many coats you will need to mop on.

When buffing use a 400rpm rotary with red pads, or if you can an UHS burnisher (1500rpm) with natural fibre or white pads for an even better finish.
Simon

Robert Parry

  • Posts: 535
Re: Hard Floor Help With Price Please
« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2009, 12:42:25 pm »
First things first, why do they want the carpet tiles taken up?

Commercial tiles cost between £25 - £65 per sqm to supply and fit, so this area has cost a lot of money to put down.

Have the tiles been cleaned lately? Perhaps they have been overwet? Maybe a change of use, so a vinyl tiled floor is now more practical.

How certain are you that there is very little adhesive to remove? If you base your costs on the edges, you may be in for a shock as you get further into the job!

Removing the glue will not be easy or quick, the chemicals required are very expensive, even more so if a large area is to be cleaned.

Then you have the very real risk of damage, some tiles are bound to have been stuck down rather firmly, then you run the risk of damage to the vinyl tiles underneath, if some break, they will not be easy to replace or match in colour, especially if the original vinyl has faded as well, you could then face a claim for replacing the entire floor.

If the carpet has been down a while, some of the carpet backing may well have welded itself to the vinyl, painstaking scraping would be the only way to remove this.

My advice on this one, would be to let the other company do the job, as £300 is nowhere near enough.

If you do go ahead with this, please go in with your eyes wide open.

If possible, give them a day rate for doing the job, put in a disclaimer to cover damage or unforseen circumstances and problems.

Dont forget if you use adhesive removing chemicals, that the vapurs from these chemicals are extremely dangerous, so ventilate the area very well, PPE must be worn at all times, these types of chemical are normally only used in small quantities.

Also consider the very real risk of exploision, these vapours are highly flammable, so allow lots and lots of time for the fumes to disperse before using machinery, mobiles, lights etc.

Without seeing the job myself, our charges based on what you have written would be between £1000 and £1500 + Vat.

Regards,

Rob
A world of difference....

suffolkclean

  • Posts: 908
Re: Hard Floor Help With Price Please
« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2009, 08:26:10 am »
Thanks for your replys - Rob thanks for letting me know all the pitfalls. As you say - he showed me tiles that he could just lift up but how do we know the majority of them aren't stuck down with super glue! He is wanting the shop refitted & wants a change!My husband thought it was strange he told us the price he was quoted, from a local large contract cleaning company! I'm going to contact him & say we couldn't compete with his original quote. I was going to say to him at the time about that price being cheap as I knew there was a lot of work involved. Thanks again for your help.

Barbara

Robert Parry

  • Posts: 535
Re: Hard Floor Help With Price Please
« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2009, 07:24:42 pm »
Glad to help Barbara,

Shop refurb eh, my own opinion is he was trying it on big time, trying to save the pennies!

Did you tell him, or did he ask how long you have been trading? Sounds a bit like he was trying to have you over. Best off out of it, trouble with jobs like this if it does go pear shaped you have to be able to fix it fast, and of course have cash in the bank to enable the fix.

Hope you are both keeping busy, just keep building up your experience, and keep going  ;D

Regards,

Rob
A world of difference....