[Graeme Smith]

Following on from a brief conversation with Kevin (for the benefit of me and others) How long do you use each pad for?
Start of on pad 1 move to pad 2 then 3. Finish with Klindex KP85. The info Kevin gave me was polish for a minute and check with a squeegee how well the stone was polishing but what are the timings for the different pads? Is there a general rule of thumb? Also there is a 4th pad some kind of sponge thing - what's its purpose and how does it work?

[sherco]

Following on from a brief conversation with Kevin (for the benefit of me and others) How long do you use each pad for?
Start of on pad 1 move to pad 2 then 3. Finish with Klindex KP85. The info Kevin gave me was polish for a minute and check with a squeegee how well the stone was polishing but what are the timings for the different pads? Is there a general rule of thumb? Also there is a 4th pad some kind of sponge thing - what's its purpose and how does it work?

You use the pads 1,2,3 then you use the KP85 at the end. you wet the floor sprinkle on the powder then polish with a hoghair pad..Rinse the floor with clean water and vac it up & let it dry. Then you can give it a very quick buff again with a dry pad.

[Floor_Tony]

The 4th pad you are on about it called a spongelux. Me and Kevin don't rate them for a couple of reasons one they are expensive, secondly the way the pad is made essentially a sponge filled with KP85 powder. So it is only effective on a floor that has been ground flat. If used on a floor with lippage it will just destroy it and it is a lot more economical to use a natural hair pad with the KP85 powder.

[sherco]

So i did get it right...

[Floor_Tony]

You did indeed wanted to explain the spongelux (stage 4) pad though.

[Graeme Smith]

I did not explain myself well. I know the theory of the order what I want to know is there any kind of timing guide lines i.e 1 minute on pad 1 then 2 minutes with pad 2 etc can't decide if I spend too long working my way through the pads before polishing powder phase. Spent too long on the kp85 today on a test patch because it ended up looking a bit plastic looking - over polished.

[Floor_Tony]

Technically there is no percific time for it as every stone has a different polishing time. Generally I find 2mins on each pad long enough. The good thing about the klindex pads is that they are a "prepare to polish" system so there isn't really any chance of over polishing (orange peel). The only way you will over polish is with the KP85 the time for this should be taken from the time of creating the "yoghurt" consistency so checking every minute will give you your time, this also comes down to what the client wants ie semi-gloss or high gloss (on occasions you may find finishing at stage 3 sufficient). On experience a lot of marbles will polish after 2mins or unless a dark marble like black, limestones and travs around 3-5 minutes.

Ill add this finally, we very rarely use the 1 & 2 steps the reason being these pads and any other pad were designed for Flat floors that are ones that have been ground flat! So we find the use of honing powder around a 320 grit (we would try 400/800 first) a brush combined with high alk or on a occasions a ph neutral cleaner more effective in the cleaning of the grout and the whole floor in one step then using the super shine no 3 then a polish. A lot more economical than using all 3 pads.

Hope this answers it....

[Graeme Smith]

So if I just want to clean this Travertine floor 320 grit powder with brush.
 
The customer wants it shiny as that's what it was like when she bought the house and now she is selling it she wants it to look the same.

The job spec is to fill the holes that have appeared and make it shiny. There is 92 square metres to do, to save on time would you suggest;

A) Just pad 3 and KP85.

B) Or a brush with 800 grit honing powder and then KP85

I am guessing option B.

One factor I have found with travertine is that apart from the big holes there can be thousands of small holes a few mms across that give the pin prick effect and the brush would deal with these better.
On the test I used a brush high alkaline and the 3 pads followed by KP85 - it worked well but I am concerned that its very time consuming and I have a big area to do.

I know this is difficult to answer but how long do you think this area would take (forgetting the repairs)? Its broken into a 45 square metre kitchen with island unit. Dining room is 20 square metres and around 27 square metres of entrance hall.

[Floor_Tony]

My approach would be 400/800grit powder with brush and high alk agitate for 2min then allow to dwell 20mins then re-agitate then rinse and vac. I would be doing around 20m2 at a time then vac then once that is done I would super shine no.3 the whole floor, maybe a couple of mins per section as you finish each area put a blower on. Then KP85.

90m2 doing it this way I would expect 2-3days your doing some filling which can be time consuming so allow a little longer. As for the tiny pin holes waxing these will take no time at all.

[sherco]

My approach would be 400/800grit powder with brush and high alk agitate for 2min then allow to dwell 20mins then re-agitate then rinse and vac. I would be doing around 20m2 at a time then vac then once that is done I would super shine no.3 the whole floor, maybe a couple of mins per section as you finish each area put a blower on. Then KP85.

90m2 doing it this way I would expect 2-3days your doing some filling which can be time consuming so allow a little longer. As for the tiny pin holes waxing these will take no time at all.

  Just a quick question..Why would you put a blower on the floor when you put water back onto the floor when you polish with the KP85?

[Graeme Smith]

What wax?

[Floor_Tony]

I find if travs and limestones are to wet they don't polish as well so by given them a little aid in the drying process cuts polishing time down and you will achieve better results. This is only needed if attempting to polish on the same day.

The wax is done with a hot iron an wax sticks you will fill them in seconds.

[Graeme Smith]

Would you hot wax them at the same time as doing the floor repairs? i.e. before any cleaning has been carried out

[Floor_Tony]

After the initial stage would be my choice to do repairs but using wax you can do it after you have polished as well.