Floor-Sanding-World Blog
Beware of Wolfs in Sheeps
Clothing
A few months ago my team and i
was working on a Oak veneer floor in Hertfordshire, the client
had just moved in and was having lots of work being carried
out by various trades, We was approached by the carpenter
who was contracted to fit the clients kitchen, Wow what a
great job your making of this floor he said, What are you
going to seal it with he asked. Hard wax oil we replied, Great
he said and then went on to tell us that he had a couple of
veneered floors at his home that he had attempted to sand
himself and had made a terrible job of it. He asked me for
my phone number and gladly i gave him it. He popped by a couple
of times after that and again told us how great we were and
how great the job was, the guy seemed very enthusiastic and
didn't stop telling us what a great job we had made.
For the sake of this Blog and
to keep the (Carpenter guys) identity from being known, We
will call him Rupert.
Rupert called me some weeks later
and asked if i could go round to his house and take a look
at his floors, So i arranged a convienient time for us both
and arrived for the appointment on time. I noticed CCTV Cameras
outside his front doors which i thought nothing of at first.
Rupert answered the door with a welcoming smile and a handshake,
He took me to what he called his games room on the ground
floor, It was a walnut veneered strip floor, It had horrible
ripples running through it where Rupert had attempted to sand
it with a HSS drum sander and the edges had not even been
attempted but had been Varnished along with the rest of the
floor, I checked the veneer thickness at the threshold where
the edges were exposed, we had a good 5mm to work with, but
i explained that maybe the ripples were too deep, but we would
see what we could do to try and straighten it all out. I asked
Rupert what finish he would like and he replied "Exactly
what you put on the floor at the house i met you at in Hertfordshire".
Hardwax i said, Yes thats the one he said. OK i said, Matt
or Satin, Matt he replied but ill have to check with my wife.
I did not measure the floor as i thought to myself ill do
this fellow tradesman a favour, he seems a really ok guy.
We continued to the first floor where there was a pre-finished
Oak veneer, He told me about a flood he had had with a fish
tank, this had made the floor Kick up around the edges and
some gapping was appearing all over, but considering the amount
of water that had been spilt, It really wasn't that bad. He
mentioned that he had had an insurance claim. But the floor
had not been replaced, Perhaps he claimed for damage to ceilings
and decor, I didn't ask. The Oak floors pre-finish had gone
somewhat orange and looked like it needed re-finishing, plus
Rupert was considering colouring the floor Walnut, so i suggested
a re-sand, Stain and Hardwax the same as we had discussed
down stairs with the finish on the Walnut floor. Yes, Yes
Rupert had replied, Great i replied. Ok so we want to Sand
and Hardwax the Walnut down stairs and Sand, Stain and Hardwax
the Oak floor, Yes please, Rupert replied. Well we'll call
it £600 pounds Rupert i replied. Great Rupert replied,
Ill give you cash. great i replied but i will give you an
Invoice and Work order and my terms and conditions as i like
to keep things straight, I said. Yes. Fine said Rupert, and
i will require a deposit either 5 days before works commence
or a cash payment on the day. Yes. Fine Rupert said. With
this all said and done we shook hands and the deal was done.
How long will it take Rupert asked, Well it should be two
days but allow three days just to make sure as i do not like
to rush the job. Great Rupert replied and we agreed a date,
Then Ruperts wife appeared holding a piece of silvery grey
material in her hands. Hi she said im (we'll call her Sharon)
Sharon, Hi sharon i replied, can you take a look at this she
asked passing me the piece of Silver material. Could you make
this floor the same colour as this material so it will match
my furniture. Wow i said, Maybe i could make something along
the lines but not exactly the same, Obviously i realise it
wouldn't been the same she said but something around this
nold out misty effect. I explained i had seen some new type
of mettallic hardwax at my suppliers and that i would experiment
with some stains and wax on some samples for her and we could
give it a try, but i said to her, It would be the first time
i've done anything like this appart from messing around on
small pieces of samples .so you may have to reconsider the
staining Walnut idea if something goes wrong, Fine they both
agreed we would stain the floor and go with plan A if problems
occured.
We had some more meaningless chit
chat and then i left. I left feeling confident i could make
a nice job of these nice peoples floors, inspired for there
enthusiasm and slightly, just slightly a tiny bit unneasy,
because i hadn't charged more for the extra work Ruperts wife
had asked for, we had sort of already sealed the deal before
she showed up and it felt a bit meen for me to be going back
on that, as i drove further my mind calculated the price i
had given for the standard services which was way to low for
about 40 m2 of hardwood it should have been £800 at
the least and then i had not weighed up the odds properly
for a specilised finish which would have made it at least
a thousand pounds. I had got so caught in all the enthusiasm
buzzing around me at the meeting, that i had forgot to up
the price. Still i managed to dismiss this with the fact there
were two easy sands a coat of stain on one and couple of coats
of hardwax on both one be it silver and besides it would be
a learning curve and a good chance to see what this new product
looked like, which could also open some new avenues for my
Company.
How right i was, it would certainly be a learning curve either
way at least. But not the sort of lesson i was looking for.
Continued
