I was reading some of the post on deck restoration, and am curious how that has came along? as far as the method you found to work using your challenger and t and g brush, and also what other tools or materials you may have figured out that you needed, and how you charge compared to carpet cleaning sq. ft wise?
As far as wood floors, does anybody restore wood floors, I am wanting to add the service, but do not know if the challenger will work for this, due to the motion it uses to clean?
Due to a printer who is slower than a lame turtle, I have not gotten my deck service out the door this year. To be effective, I think you have to get material out in the spring. I ordered fliers which I intended to use as inserts in a few of local weekly community newspapers, but they are just now getting printed, so I am going to hold them until next year. My tile & grout brush worked well with a product called Ready-Strip, which I used on 2 "practice" decks. Another product - Ready-Seal - (no relation to Ready Strip) worked very well as a sealant/stain.
In the past I have used some of the liquid products which etch the finish of wood floor finishes in rooms which are going to be recoated, but I now subcontract out all of my wood floor work to an experienced sander/refinisher, who does all the jobs, both recoating and those requiring full sanding. He has excellent dust-containment equipment, so I am able to market "dustless" wood floor refinishing, which attracts customers very effectively. On a job in which he sands, then applies three coats of finish, he charges me 1.25/s.f. I charge the customer 2.00/s.f. He charges me $200 to do a flighr of stairs, for which I charge between $250 and $275.
I've gonne thru several companies that do sanding, some even told me they do dustless till i found out they didn't. Recently i hooked up with a company/store who also does dustless sanding, they showed me their equipment and said they don't use any subs, have own crews. We sent them about 4-6 leads of my clients that i know needed dustless sanding, these are clients which called our company and we couldn't do a recoat job so i gave their info to this company. I have no problem with the company yet, and at first wasn't looking for a commission of any sort. But since i get quite a few calls for hardwood restoration, was thinking if i should talk to them about subbing them out with us. Their prices are a bit higher than what you get, roughly $3-$4 a sqft for dustless. I've seen $1.50-$3 for no dustless with other companies. I'm just worried about the whole subbing out thing, as far as if they break or damage anything my ass will be in the line.
I'm aware that some people in my area are charging over $4.00/s.f. for dustless sanding & refinishing, but I'm happy to be able to price the work that I am able to deliver through my guy at a more competitive rate. If I can make .50 to .75/s.f. for just a single visit to a property, followed by a few phone calls, that works for me. My contractor carries a $1 million liability policy, so that should cover any damage that could possibly occur.
