Page 19 - Demo

Slippery Rock Gazette
February 2024 | 19
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Maintenance Corner
Maintenance Corner
Consumables for the Restoration Professional
resistance is needed, or when building water retention walls around a countertop edge. You should always have these mask- ing products in stock on your van or truck.
When you think of consumables, many items come to mind. There are obvious items like razor blades, which come in dif- ferent sizes and gauges. I suggest that these
ELF3- 40 grit Flexible metal bond dia- monds with spacers, shown here for grinding terrazzo.
should be purchased in quantities of 100 or more. It is very important to always use a fresh razor blade and to keep it on a sharp angle when removing things like paint, coatings, and mineral buildup.
Rags are another consumable that must be kept in inventory. Soft, absorbent rags are used for many things such as impreg- nator/sealer applications, absorbing and removing slurry wastewater, and for addi- tional water protection. Large absorbent towels, old sheets and blankets are also used as drop cloths. These can be washed and re-used, except for those rags used in sealer applications, as these become loaded with sealer and lose their absorbency.
Of course, one of the big-ticket consum- able items is your chemicals. Majestic Deep Stone Cleaner & Degreaser and Stone & Grout Intensive Cleaner (alkaline -based) are a must-have for many projects. Strippers are also important when remov- ing coatings like finish and light acrylics. I don’t know how many times I have seen a contractor initially not see the light appli- cation of a “mop and glow“ type product that was previously applied to the surface. Majestic Heavy Duty Tile & Grout Cleaner (acid-based) is excellent for ceramic tile projects (and also other applications).
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that are required for the routine, everyday operations. Natural pads for polishing, Tape and Drape for masking off, diamonds for honing, and all of the necessary chem- icals are just a few of the consumable products that are required for the business of restoration and maintenance of natural stone, terrazzo, decorative concrete, and even ceramic tiles.
The only cost higher than the consum- able items is labor. Even gas and mainte- nance for the van or truck is considered a consumable. What about your phone and internet connections? Yep! Equipment and replacement parts are another cost to con- sider. You could consider these items as operational costs but that would simply be splitting hairs, in my humble opinion.
Most every project will require mask- ing off adjacent sensitive areas. Tape and Drape is an essential product to protect these areas from slurry splatter and chem- ical attack. Blue painter’s tape is also used to help secure the Tape and Drape. Red polyvinyl tape is used where a higher water
Bob Murrell
M3 Technologies
Photos by Bob Murrell
the hard surface restoration busi-
ness, there are many consumables
Accordion foam splash wall, Majestic 5X Gold Polishing Powder, Diamond hand pad, and Tape & Drape are common consumables you might use with every job.
Keep blue tape, Tape & Drape, and drop cloths/sheets in your van or work truck.
Top: Majestic 5X Gold and Majestic Mar- ble Polishing Compound for marble. Above: Majestic No-Rinse pH Neutral Cleaner, Tape & Drape, drop cloths/ sheets.
Majestic No-Rinse pH Neutral Cleaner is the my recommended maintenance prod- uct for most all hard surfaces. All custom- ers should have the No-Rinse pH Neutral Cleaner implemented into their mainte- nance program, by you, the contractor. This should be your standard practice. Always leave the customer with specific mainte- nance instructions and product.
Majestic 5X Gold, Marble Polishing Compound, XXX, or 10X polishing prod- ucts will, more than likely, be your biggest chemical consumable. Of course, there are other similar products like the Majestic Granite Polishing Powder, Honing Powders, tin oxide, Crystallizer, Tile Polish I & II, and some other specialty products. These polishing and honing chemical prod- ucts are used in most every stone resto- ration project. At M3 Technologies Inc, our biggest selling product is our 5X Gold Marble Polishing Powder. We sell it to res- toration professionals all over the world.
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