My goal was to build a SYSTEM. I love systems. I wanted to put together a basic way for anybody to flip the switch and restore a floor (kind of like what encap did for carpet cleaning). Well there's obviously more to marble restoration than encap cleaning, but it's not as hard as you may think. It's not rocket science - as Dave says, "it's just a rock". What we've put together is a very simplified one size fits all approach to stone care. It's a "system" that anybody with a Cimex machine should be able to follow.

So we now have a new page on the main website entitled "MARBLE CARE". The information provided should make it possible for many carpet cleaners to now be able to enter the profitable field of stone care. I truly hope this info will help make it possible for you to delve into some juicy marble accounts (kind of like what encap is already doing). It makes sense since most of you here already have a Cimex. So stone care shouldn't really be a terribly big jump. It's my aim to make the jump as easy as possible.

Check out what we've put together...

Marble Care Instructions CLICK HERE





Rick Gelinas
encapman

Rick,
Thanks for the restoration basics!!I'm looking forward to trying these steps out.
Thanks Craig

Rick, we are covered up with calls to clean residential aqnd commercial vinyl. Also wood floor restoration w/o sanding. Can the Cimex be used in these two areas? Tremendous opportunity awaits!

Nice write up. Just what I needed too.

Questions though.

If floor has finish or wax on it? What type of stripper do you recommend and how do you identify whats on the floor.

If you hone with 600 or 800 grit, would it not take the finish off anyhow?

With the dewalt sander, I am assuming that the flex disks are not the same disks that go on the cimex, rather seperate sand paper disks also purchased at Home Depot?

For polishing walls and steps, assuming its with Orbital sander, would you polish with the fiber plus pads? How much pressure do you need to apply since weight matters?

How would you attach the fiber plus pads to the sander?

Thats it for now. LOL Thanks for a good site:) ):

Why won't this work with granite?

Ray,
Yes, the Cimex could be easily used for wood floor abrasion and light sanding.

James,
Q. If floor has finish or wax on it what type of stripper do you recommend?
A. Any good VCT floor stripper will work to remove it.

Q. How do you identify whats on the floor?
A. You'll know whether there's finish on the floor by scraping it with a sharp object and seeing whether finish scrapes off the floor. It will be pretty obvious if there's finish.

Q. If you hone with 600 or 800 grit, would it not take the finish off anyhow?
A. Nope you'll just clog up your marble disks with finish. The diamond abrasives are designed to cut stone. Polymer removal is not what they're designed for.

Q. With the DeWalt sander, I am assuming that the flex disks are not the same disks that go on the Cimex, rather separate sand paper disks also purchased at Home Depot?
A. No the FlexDisks are thinner resin diamond disks that are especially designed for hand grinding tools. They're enroute to us now and I expect to have them in stock the first part of next week. A complete set of five 5" disks (50, 120, 220, 400 800) will sell for $110 with free shipping.

Q. For polishing walls and steps, assuming its with Orbital sander, would you polish with the fiber plus pads?
A. Yes you'd powder polish with the FiberPlus pads with the Palm Sander. We're also introducing an 8" driver for drills. We have these new drivers in stock now but not on the website yet. Available for under $40 (perfect for encap/scrubbing stairs too with the FP pads). Cool new item!

Q. How much pressure do you need to apply since weight matters?
A. With hand work there are obvious limits to how much weight you can apply. But keep in mind, a Cimex with 120 pounds of weight spread across 19" is similar to a 5" tool with 30 pounds of hand pressure applied.

Q. How would you attach the fiber plus pads to the sander?
A. It has a hook and loop Velcro style surface.

Q. Why won't this work with granite?
A. The Cimex will work fine for granite - providing that you have the correct abrasives. We don't currently carry abrasives for granite which is a much harder stone.


Man you paid attention and thought up some good questions.
I hope my answers cover it for you.




Rick Gelinas
encapman

P.S. I'd also like to mention that my brother Dave aka 1800MARBLEGUY.com was a big help putting this page of information together. I couldn't have put together as tight of a system without his input. Thanks Dave - I owe ya!

BTW That's Dave in the picture doing the terrazzo job.




Rick Gelinas
encapman

Rick,

If you knew how many things that have cost me $$$$$ for not asking questions than you would know why I asked, LOL. This should cover the questions that others may have had, that are newbies in this field like myself, but did not want to ask in a public forum.

Please send these disks when they come in. You should have my CC on file.

James

ps. I figured David had helped you, good job.

I tightened up a couple of things today in order to make it even easier to understand.

Enjoy!





Rick Gelinas
encapman

I thought I was done earlier, and then Dave and I found a couple of more things that needed additional clarification. Man - I've put two whole days into this project! But I think it's finally done now. We've covered everything that we could think of, so you guys should be good to go now. Go gettem!




Rick Gelinas
encapman

Rick, the system looks great and you guys make it sound easy - with great instructions. Was wondering, though, if you'd describe the characteristics of one or two floors that you would NOT want to tackle with this particular system. Just as a brief guide for beginners as to how not to get in over your head. Thanks.

I would be interested in any identification procedures you recommend, Rick. Also, I'm may be the only one on this forum who dosn't know what lippage is. Aren't there imitation marble composites that could fool a novice?

You don't know what lippage is?
It's what momma used to say - "Don't be giving me no lippage boy."

Lippage is actually variance between tiles as they're set in the floor. Lippage refers to differences in elevation between edges of adjacent tiles. The floor can be ground flat - removing all lippage.

What's the difference between marble and granite?
Although both are stones and both are quarried from the earth, granite and marble (and marble’s relatives – limestone, onyx and travertine) are very different from each other. Granite is formed deep in the earth’s mantle at extremely high temperatures, and is a very hard, resistant stone made of crystallized minerals. The marble family – limestone, travertine, marble, onyx – starts out as sediment – animal skeletons and shells, plant matter, silt – at the bottom of bodies of water. After millions of years this solidifies into stone. Because its main component is calcium, it can be affected by acids such as vinegar and citrus beverages.

Our product line is centered around the calcium based surfaces - marble, terrazzo, and concrete. If the floor is granite, porcelain, or any other surface, we're not going to be servicing those floors with this basic stone care program. So how can you tell if the floor is calcium based? Simple. Do an acid test in an inconspicuous are. Put a drop of sulfuric acid or other strong acid onto the floor. If it burns into the floor it's calcium based. If it has no effect on the floor it's not calcium based. Upon determination that the floor is calcium based you can proceed to service the floor with the system that we have here.





Rick Gelinas
encapman

David

Really with the “system” you could tackle just about any stone floor or even concrete for that matter, with the exception of maybe a granite floor. Things I would encourage you to stay way from until you have a few floors under your belt would be ones with real bad lippage, floors that are cracked or need repairs. One other thing is that you might want to give it a little time before you attempt a green serpentine or some of the blacks. Green can have a tendency to warp on you if it’s not set in the correct bedding material and some blacks can be real acid sensitive and can “orange peel” on you if you get them to hot with your polishing powder. It’s not really the water that causes the serpentine to warp; it’s when they dry out that they warp, so you don’t want to get them wetter than necessary. If you do get a black floor to hot and you happen to burn it or orange peel it a little bit, don’t freak out. That’s actually the beauty of stone. If you mess it up a bit, go get your diamonds and take out the problem. Not that you want to be careless and just start grinding on someone’s floor unnecessarily but if something does come up you can fix it, its not that hard.


Stan

With regards to identifying stone, there are a whole host of books out there. The Stone Bible is a good one that you might want to look at. There are also rings with “chips” on them that tell you stats about a given stone with a picture on the reverse side. They’re kind like those rings with those Formica samples on them. When it comes to identifying stone, it’s a pretty long process; there are only about 6,000 different varieties (I think that # is a little conservative actually). What you might consider doing for starters is going by a few tile & stone stores in your area and asking them what types of stone are popular in your area. This will give you a real good idea of what’s going on in your neighborhood and what you’ll probably run across. It will also help you to start to develop a working relationship with these stores, a good source of referrals and recommendations. What we have here in this area is a lot of travertines, and some crema marfls, that’s the biggest share really. If you want to learn what all of the different types of stone are, go for it. I’m have no doubt that it will be an informative and interesting journey. Sad to say for myself, my mind is the type that needs me to put my hands onto something and work with it, I would never be able to remember even a fraction of all those stones.
Your question about lippage was a good one; I hope everyone here will openly ask what ever questions they have. I have only been working with stone about eleven years, I by all means don’t know everything, and I still learn stuff nearly every day. If I don’t know the answer to something, I’ll do my best to get it for you though. But back to your question, what is lippage? (That one I do know) Lippage is when one tile that is installed next to another is not at the same height. What is considered “acceptable” for lippage is about a 1/16 of an inch, just about the thickness of a credit card. Lippage, depending on its severity can be, unsightly, it could be a trip hazard, it can cause unnecessary wear by “hiding” sand and grit during the cleaning process, furniture can get hung up on it when it’s slid across the floor and can become very irritating and it can make you a lot of money. In Europe, floors are ground completely flat, its called a monolithic floor. Of course they also have the good since not to put a high shine on there floors either, it’s too much maintenance. It’s us Americans that like everything shinny. That’s OK, it makes us a nice living.

I hope that answers a few of you guy questions. Rick also makes some very good points in his above post. Please feel free to ask what ever it is that you want, I’ll do what I can to help; and who knows we all might learn something in the process.

Have a good evening,
David Gelinas
Marbleguy

Good post Dave.

A couple of good web sites are www.marble-institute.com and www.ntc-stone.com .
ntc has a great message board, good learning tool. Both sites have alot of educational material I encourage you to pay these sites a visit.

Dan
Arco services co.