Natural Stone Care DiscussionsStripping, Honing, Polishing, Grinding, Sealing. Post your questions, answers, tips and ideas about Natural Stone here.
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A little advice please. I have a custy that bought a foreclosure about a year ago and has been remodeling. He's down to the fireplace and called me to look at seeing if I could remove a yellow film that is on it. You can see from the pics that it def has a tone to it. I was able to scrap the rock and remove the topical (he has no idea what was used) to a pretty good degree. It flaked off in tiny specs, not big flakes though.
Instead of trying to test a bunch of different things and having to wait til they get here (every one of them I'm sure promises they work and are the best) I was hoping someone has done this a 1000 times and can recommend a chemical they use to break this up. I'm figuring that I'm going to possibly have to use a wire brush to a degree but figure there must be a good chemical out there. Sadly, he's already put down a nice wood floor so I'll have to be keeping that covered in the process.
I recently used Methylene Chloride to remove a similar coating. Its "jasco Paint Stripper" @ Home Depot. Its in a yellow gallon can where the solvents are. It would be perfect because its a thick gel and will stick to verticle surfaces.
This is a hazardous material, you will absolutely need to wear a chemical respirator, proper gloves and protection.
the canvas dropcloths from Home Depot are ideal for protecting the surrounding areas.
I used a roller to apply the chemicals. it will break down and dissolve the roller rather quickly, use a white one, not a colored one.
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Cameron DeMille
MilleStone Marble and Tile Inc.
MilleStoneMarble.com
In this case the aerosol may work a little better than the roller to apply the stripper to all of the textured areas. Take your time. The gold can aerosol at Home Depot would be my choice.
this is going to be hard. Price way high as you will be wishing you weren't doing it once you start.
Probably won't get 100% of it off. Is the custy wanting it back to just stone and mortar or is he wanting a new coating put back on it after the old one is removed?
In this case the aerosol may work a little better than the roller to apply the stripper to all of the textured areas. Take your time. The gold can aerosol at Home Depot would be my choice.
I agree with Ted, considering he is the one who turned on to this chemical in the first place.
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Cameron DeMille
MilleStone Marble and Tile Inc.
MilleStoneMarble.com
hey guys...
what great information! when you need a professional opinion, ask the pros! And Eric, I'm already thinking that... no matter what I had planned on charging, I'm already thinking I need to raise it. LOL
You asked if he wants to leave it natural after its cleaned. At this point, he's prob ok with it but has already asked me what I'd recommend to put back on it that won't 'turn' again.
You asked if he wants to leave it natural after its cleaned. At this point, he's prob ok with it but has already asked me what I'd recommend to put back on it that won't 'turn' again.
R
a good quality color enhancing impregnating sealer.
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Cameron DeMille
MilleStone Marble and Tile Inc.
MilleStoneMarble.com
Thanks... I'm heading off to Home Depot today to search for all of this. I think the aerosol sounds like the way to go. I guess I'll just have to test and see how it breaks up the old stuff and see if I will have to use a wire brush. tks again.
I agree with Noweare, start with a FLOOR stripper and see if it works. Much more friendly and if it accidently gets in that nice wood floor it won't jack it up as much as a paint stripper will. If this fails then paint stripper (jasco) or you could try the soy stripper.
I agree with cameron, enhancer will look sweet when done. It's going to be a pain getting the topical off the grout lines so charge BIG. Get before and afters from this .....good collection for your portfolio. Wish you the best.
that's the thing.... this guy owns a service business installing alarms etc so he knows what it takes to make $ but I guarantee he'll think its high... this is such an unknown, I'm thinking that I'd better charge by the hour. I'm not sure how I could figure a contract on this.
that's the thing.... this guy owns a service business installing alarms etc so he knows what it takes to make $ but I guarantee he'll think its high... this is such an unknown, I'm thinking that I'd better charge by the hour. I'm not sure how I could figure a contract on this.
absolutely charge by the hour. give him an hourly rate and an estimated time, making it very clear that if the job takes longer than estimated, that it will be charged accordingly.
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Cameron DeMille
MilleStone Marble and Tile Inc.
MilleStoneMarble.com
Would be very nice, if some how you can pressure clean this. But I guess not in a house? I would protect with plastic, the floor and surrounding areas very well, then soak the hay out of it with a good stripper, then try to turbo tool it. The stripper will break and lose the coating, and the turbo tool will loosen the rest, and extract at the same time. Not sure if you have access to a turbo or truckmount unit, I would also let the customer know, all of the coating may not come out. Best to ya, really tough job!!
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Yeah, when I first looked at it, I thought that i'd like to actually pressure wash it with my hand held. I'll have to wrap the floors pretty well... I'm wondering though about running the gel thru my system... don't know that that's such a good idea... maybe the shopvac. Won't clean but maybe use it first to get the worst of it off.
Yes sir, really tough job, not on a flat surface. The best advice and I do this all the time. Be realistic and honest to your customer, they will understand better, and this heavy burden, would not be so HEAVY. A good example is each time I do a terrazzo job, I do not guarantee NOTHING, the only thing I guarantee is, it will look 100% better. Embeded deep stains, sometimes they are not just on the surface, it's on the inside. Break down the expectation, and if it comes out better than expected, then your even more of the hero!
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That's very good advice and I appreciate it. I do think he will understand that this is a 'iffy' type of thing to do.
The one good thing is that I do think that the topical layer on there is not that deeply embedded... the mortar may be the issue sure enough.
I'm thinking now about 8 hours for stripping and 4-5 for putting the new enhancer on it... but, as advised, I'll have to tell him that it could take longer.
I would say more like 12 hours to strip and 3 hrs to enhance.
It is ok to run the chem thru the TM as long as you are not just using the vacuum alone. The water per gallon will dilute it just fine. BUT, the topical may be an issue. Some topicals strip in little rubber balls and some get liquified when stripped. Depends on what is on it and what you are using to strip it. TEST, TEST, TEST. Hopefully it will liquify with bare bones.
You biggest problem is that it is a vertical surface. BareBones will not cling long enough for a dwell time. Test the Jaso aresol. See if it comes off it clumps. IF so, shop vac.
1 thing I will guarantee you is that you will wish that you had never started this job. Approx 100 sqft vertical stip job. No thanks. that is unless the will pay $1800 min. and I do mean min!!!!!!!
you can also try the stonetech coating stripper. This is a very thick gel llike chem. I would offer demo and charge for it at least enough to cover chems +. Then offer the charge to go towards the cost of job should they except your proposal based off the time and material it took you for demo. This is a win / win. Then you can more accurately estimate for the cuty. I would think your right for the strip 8 HRS and about 2 HRS for color seal. It all depends on the testing in the demo. Also you can use your cobra or whatever hand tool you have. You had a good idea of using shop vac first for majority of residue then hand tool it off. Just be very careful of over spray. I have done some nasty fire places and just took it slow while coverig the perimeter of the tool with terry cloth for over spray, and tarping off what I could around the area. Sounds like you want the challenge, so take it and kick it's butt. Good luck.
Ok guys... I know I can't get the 1800$ a min like Eric suggested, but before I crawl off to bed, I really do wonder what you guys think about an hourly charge for something like this... if you're willing to share.
tks
12hr alotted for stripping it multiple times + 3 hrs enhance/seal
Total 15 hrs x $125 = $1875. I would do that at a min. Your call as to wether that includes chems and enhancer wich is expensive, or not. Plus your call wether to add on extra from multiple trips/setup fees.
So 13 ft. high? it will be difficult on a ladder stripping the top properly. Do you plan on using mini turbo up that high on the ladder?
I had been throwing $75 ard in my head to tell you the truth. Maybe, or rather probably its worth more than that, especially with the pain its going to take to get this done. At this point, a ladder is the only viable way. There is not really room for scaffolding. And again, yes I'm planning on using the cobra head to eventually get the final cleaning done.
Hey Coach, don't let this one bury you in the sand. Break down, and I mean break the customer's expectations, I would concentrate on making the entire peice even, as far as the color. That is his main complaint, try to do your best to remove the yellowing, and the rest is easy, especially if he wants another topical sealer on it, sometimes you can blend, blend, and blend again. LOL.
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Removing a topical sealer that's gone "yellow"
