Stone Restoration

[Lou Noble]

Are any of you guys doing stone? If not have you ever thought about getting into it? I am thinking about putting on stone seminars on a regular basis and was wondering how many people out there are in to it. Im not asking anyone to attend, but am just trying to gather info on the majority of the guys out there in the field doing any kind of janitorial work.

Thanks for your help,

Lou

[Beth n Rod]

We perform janitorial and post construction cleaning. We have not had the opportunity to do any stone restoration work as most people out here use marble and ceramic tile. With the latest remodeling fads, we have seen more stone work going into home interiors but it is too new and I would venture to guess that they will not be needing this type of service for quite some time.

Do you have any specific applications?

Rod!~

[Craig]

Don't you need a contractor's license to do stone, tile and marble restoration?

[Beth n Rod]

who are you asking Craig?

Rod!~

[Craig]

I was asking either of you, I suppose. I see all of the tile/stone guys with license numbers. I've ventured into a few stone restoration jobs. Even though they came out great, it's something that I sub out now. I get pressure washing jobs from them in return and it's simpler just to do what you know!

[Lou Noble]

I think that it will help with commercial jobs to have a contractors... but i dont think that you need one.

The amount of stone has more than trippled in the last 5 years!!! there is a huge need for stone guys!!! the funny thing is most guys that do stone are not even that good... so to get some quality guys out there would be a great thing. Just the other day, i had to show one of my customers how to do a simple re-surface on a floor.

Craig is right on the money, if you dont know what you are doing, you should sub it out. The thing that kills me is the money that carpet cleaners and other janitorial guys are leaving on the table when they leave a customers house that has stone!!! most of those guys are getting at the most 50cents a sq ft that isnt even enough money to make me get up in the morning... my stone guys are getting anywhere from 3-9 ($3 for a clean and seal, and the $9 for some scratch repair and polish) and up per sq ft!!! forget the rest of the work out there lets do stone!!

I dont know... i love stone its my passion (in case you havent noticed) but it just seems to me that alot of the people that are doing jobs for their customers are taking the cents and leaving the dollers behind, it just doesnt add up.

Do i need to take a nap or does this make sense

[Craig]

Lou-

Would you be willing to train, exchange labor for learning or let me pay you for some hands on? I didn't realize you live in Anaheim. Do you do flag, slate etc?

Thanks
Craig

[Lou Noble]

Me again...

Craig,

What city are you in? 760 is not too far away i dont think. you should shoot up to Anaheim sometime. I am hosting a free stone seminar on the 17th of March. If you have some free time that would be good to see you. you can see my work too, since i cant figure out how to put my pics on the computer.

Oh yeah, what company do you sub your stone work out to?

[Craig]

I'm in La Quinta, near Palm Springs. You're about an hour and a half. Give me the info where to go and I'll see you there. My wife and I used to go to Anaheim quite a bit. Nice Marriott there and the Tsunami is excellent.

I sub out the work to a local guy who's been in the area all his life. I'd love to be able to do the work myself I knew how to do it to the "T." I sub out atleast 4-5 jobs a week!

[Lou Noble]

Rod,

You would be surprised how fast those stones need to be re-done!! when an installer comes in and puts the tiles down, he:

A) scratches the marble with his boots, knee pads, and or tools
B) sets an un-even tile that needs to be leveled (now you are talking about $10-$15 per sq ft)
c) stains the stone with grout, putty, and or soil

This is only what happens in the first week of or even the first day of having stone!!! can you imagine all of the work that needs to be done after a year or two?!?!?!

Some of these customers want you to come in twice or more a year... at $3-$5 per sq ft just for a clean and seal...you do the math on that one.

[Lou Noble]

Here is the address for the class

March 17th
Class starts at 9:00am
1808 E. Ball ave
Anaheim CA 92805

Breakfast and lunch will be served

This class is free so that if you feel you would enjoy doing stone you can start up a business at it, if it doesnt interest you, you didnt lose money at some lame seminar.

[James]

Lou,do you do marble restoration?

[James]

Lou I didn't see the post. So I asume you have a stone resurfacing Biz?

[One Tough Pressure]

I gave thought to Stone and was even going to attend a few classes to get a better idea of what to expect. That was 4 years ago, and since then I have gone almost 100% Commercial Concrete.
Around here, every carpet guy seems to have Tile and Stone on their van, as well as upholstery. Not sure how much they do it, but they say they can.

[Lou Noble]

I dont have a stone restoration company now... i used to resurface stone and now i sell the products...

it is very rare that a carpet cleaner can do stone so even though they say they can they 99% of the time cant( they call cleaning and sealing "restoration" hahahaha)

About concrete, i love polishing that too!! what kind of rig are you using and what diamonds are you using? that is a new passion of mine, it is very fun to do, and the out come is great!!!