[Rob Hall]

I have taken Kevin Martins advice and thrown this wide open and I am asking you all
"Who Feels Comfortable that they can offer there services to Clean Stone floors"
Maybe you can expand and tell us, Are you able to Polish a Marble Floor such as Crema Marfil? Have you had any training?
Do you feel comfortable offering a Travertine Repair Service?

Are you already offering any or all of the above?

I think we can assume, views only will count for;
"No, I am not comfortable, but don't want to say!"

[Jamie Pearson]

Been doing it 19 years.

[Rob Hall]

Been doing it 19 years.

Great. It is obvious that there is a lot of people wanting to book on to a course.
With 19 views (to date) and only your comment, I simply cannot believe that, on a cleaning forum and specifically a hard flooring part, that 19 people are not comfortable with cleaning a stone floor??
It is a shame they didn't leave their contact details, I could have sent them on to someone who runs a course.

[handyal]

I have been following your threads probably like many others on this forum but at the moment I do not have enough knowledge about hard floor work to offer this service but maybe interested in learning more about it in future if there is a demand for it in my area as it is a considerable investment in training and equipment to carry the work out correctly.

It's just a matter of seeing how the figures stack up for equipment investment and who to do a training course with.

[Rob Hall]

I have been following your threads probably like many others on this forum but at the moment I do not have enough knowledge about hard floor work to offer this service but maybe interested in learning more about it in future if there is a demand for it in my area as it is a considerable investment in training and equipment to carry the work out correctly.

It's just a matter of seeing how the figures stack up for equipment investment and who to do a training course with.

Thank You handyal
It is worth the investment, even with the limited number of jobs I get, I still do my tiling work and complement it with my restoration work.

At least you have had the balls to write something on here. Most are very shy about leaving comments, don't know why, isn't this all about trying to help each other?

Which part of the country do you live in?

[handyal]

Hi Rob,

I live near Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire and there must be other people in my area offering this service, I just not heard of any or seen any advertise.

At the moment I am looking at rough ball park figures to invest in equipment as I really do not know enough about offering this service and what equipment is required and I am already aware of a few training providers, Kevin on here, Tile Doctor and as I remember a company in Stockport.
Rgds
Alan

[Rob Hall]

Hi Rob,

I live near Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire and there must be other people in my area offering this service, I just not heard of any or seen any advertise.

At the moment I am looking at rough ball park figures to invest in equipment as I really do not know enough about offering this service and what equipment is required and I am already aware of a few training providers, Kevin on here, Tile Doctor and as I remember a company in Stockport.
Rgds
Alan

You are right.
I have done two of the three that you mention.

I will not name names for fear of reprisals, but, take your time to think about what you want from a course. Some are over priced, some ram their products down your throat, leading you to believe that there is only their products available, that work, anywhere in the world! Some are ok. The thing is, I did 4 courses and learnt a lot from 3 of them. Sadly I bought a Machine from a company in 'Five oak green TN12' again, for fear of reprisals, I do not want to name names, but I am sure, if you use your imagination, you can find out where it came from. I would not buy anything else from them. Learnt nothing, achieved nothing...spent thousands. And the after service is the worst I have ever experienced.
After trying out the usual advertised courses that you will find, (nothing wrong with them I hasten to add) I then tried Crawshaws, I found them not only a friendly company to deal with, their course is reasonably priced with excellent products. But do one of the others first.

A reasonable machine for cleaning will set you back around £1000, cheaper stuff can be found. Grinding/Polishing machines with a good set of diamonds will be 3 or 4 times more. You will need a good Vac, A GOOD vac will be £300-£400, again, you can go cheaper.
You CAN polish with the cleaning machine, don't let anyone tell you any different. I have done a 150sqm Crema Marfil Floor this year with my crappy machine using the Revolution system with excellent results. The floor looks like new again. I have also polished Travertine and Limestone floors with it, again with stunning results.
I also like using the HTC Twister Hy-Brids, again they work well for me.
Hope this helps.

[handyal]

Hi Rob,

Thanks very much for the information and I will now look into it further as the equipment cost is less than I originally thought and considerably cheaper than many other trades.
Thanks
Alan

[Rob Hall]

Hi Rob,

Thanks very much for the information and I will now look into it further as the equipment cost is less than I originally thought and considerably cheaper than many other trades.
Thanks
Alan

my email is rob.hall@btinternet.com
Impartial advice...lots of help...and WHO to keep clear of. I have been in the tiling industry since 1989, so I have learnt something along the way.

The big costs from the on going point of view is the diamonds. Good diamond products do not come cheap. Drop me an email, we can chat better about where I buy from without being seen to be advertising, I know it is against the rules, for some anyway!!!

[Max Campbell]

We've felt vaguely uncomfortable about each of the 10 or so stone floors we've done since we started a year or so ago, but we did the IICRC training, then got a few jobs on. We continue to learn more on-the-job, but we've left some jobs behind us that we and the customers have been happy with.

So far the jobs that have come our way have been within, but stretching, our capabilities - we're close to our first marble polish job, and we should probably get some more training before we get one in the book!!

[Rob Hall]

We've felt vaguely uncomfortable about each of the 10 or so stone floors we've done since we started a year or so ago, but we did the IICRC training, then got a few jobs on. We continue to learn more on-the-job, but we've left some jobs behind us that we and the customers have been happy with.

So far the jobs that have come our way have been within, but stretching, our capabilities - we're close to our first marble polish job, and we should probably get some more training before we get one in the book!!

Thanks Max Campbell
Can you tell me, us, a little bit more about the IICRC course and the benefits to Cleaning/Polishing Stone floors, maybe it is something we all need to look at.

It is safe to say that we are all still learning.

Can you expand on what and how some jobs stretched your capabilities?

What is the Marble you are polishing?

[Jamie Pearson]

I have done the IICRC course.

It is a theory only course concentrating mainly on identification, cleaning and sealing.

Grinding and polishing is mentioned but not in great detail. For this you really need a practical course.

[Max Campbell]

The IICRC course was good background about floor types, etc, but was useless to get any real idea about how to carry out a job.

Tile & grout is easy - you won't hurt the tiles, but you can practice using a big slow rotary and power rinsing.

Our first actual stone was slate, also fairly straightforward, and using an enhancing sealer it looked good.

We did a couple of travertines, also turned out OK, but it was heart in the mouth time, then when we put our first sealer on unsealed limestone we thought we'd f****d up - uneven looking, picture framing, patchy, horrible, but it dried OK and after the 3rd coat looked great.

The phone support from Triple C - I can't find their website, but it's where we've bought most of our products from up to now - has been great.

[Graeme Smith]

1st Spoke to Keith Robertson in Scotland who put me onto Stonegate in Hull who pointed me at Crawshaws. Went there quite a few years ago and looked into marble polishing got a bit confused with the amount of info out there (after leaving the one day intro) so I did nothing. Did do some hard floor cleaning of terracotta and had always stripped and sealed Amtico and Karndean. Attended Kevins Course this year and now do a lot more using Supershine pads. I still would not class myself as being totally comfortable - that will come with time. I also know that the pads I use are really just for maintenance. Probably will go further into this area as its quite profitable. Lot more interesting than cleaning 3 piece suites. So far I've found most of the work I get is slate,travertine,limestone,sandstone and some marble.

[Kev Martin]

I have always resisted taking people on real jobs even though we get dozens of requests from people offering their services free of charge.  I may in the New year consider taking a couple of people on real jobs with one of my Team Leaders overseeing it.

Kev Martin
Marblelife Ltd
Tiling Logistics

[Rob Hall]

I have always resisted taking people on real jobs even though we get dozens of requests from people offering their services free of charge.  I may in the New year consider taking a couple of people on real jobs with one of my Team Leaders overseeing it.

Kev Martin
Marblelife Ltd
Tiling Logistics

What a kind offer Kevin, how are you going to offer that?
Can anyone interested from this forum contact you?

[Rob Hall]

I have always resisted taking people on real jobs even though we get dozens of requests from people offering their services free of charge.  I may in the New year consider taking a couple of people on real jobs with one of my Team Leaders overseeing it.

Kev Martin
Marblelife Ltd
Tiling Logistics

Looking at the numbers of those who did not reply to this thread Kevin, you could have another 140+ candidates for your course.

[terrazzoman]

i operate a restoration company, but marble resurfacing is a small part of our turnover  we  replace damaged marble and limestone and carry out lots ot terrazzo insitu works i have worked in the stone trade for well over 30 years
and have seen many cowboys and a few are still bumping along carrying out over priced ropey cleaning and sealing works and a few selling overpriced equipment!.........but there are quite a number operating in the london area that carry out good quality works....in smart signed up vans.....i my opineon this is the chepest form of advertising.....

[Rob Hall]

i operate a restoration company, but marble resurfacing is a small part of our turnover  we  replace damaged marble and limestone and carry out lots ot terrazzo insitu works i have worked in the stone trade for well over 30 years
and have seen many cowboys and a few are still bumping along carrying out over priced ropey cleaning and sealing works and a few selling overpriced equipment!.........but there are quite a number operating in the london area that carry out good quality works....in smart signed up vans.....i my opineon this is the chepest form of advertising.....

Totally agree that a well signed van IS the cheapest form of advertising, well, not quiet as cheap as a recomendation of course!
It is not cheap advertising that I am looking for, it is QUALITY advertising.
Glossy monthly magazines are very expensive for an individual and of course, if you are based in Yorkshire, as I am and 90% of the enquires are outside yorkshire, then who am I going to pass those leads to?

The idea of sharing an advert is to SHARE the work too. Is this making any sense to anyone yet? Or am I still wasting my time? Be honest.

[Neil Williams]

With 19 views (to date) and only your comment, I simply cannot believe that, on a cleaning forum and specifically a hard flooring part, that 19 people are not comfortable with cleaning a stone floor??
It is a shame they didn't leave their contact details, I could have sent them on to someone who runs a course.

Rob, calm down, you're coming across quite agressive with the 'I ask a question why is no one replying stuff.'
I've done the 2 day IICRC theory stuff so on paper that makes me capable of doing the job, in reality I don't think I am, but I will feel a lot more comfortable when I've had a chance to re read the book a few times, but that will never substitute practical courses or being in the presence of someone doing the job whilst watching and asking questions.