VCT RE-DO

[WWW.FiveStar-Clean.Com]

I have a contractor that recently replaced 6000 ft.² of VCT in a government building they hired and flooring contractor to go in and apply new wax to the floor. Apparently this contractor had no idea what they were doing and were subsequently fired from the job. They did not even use the proper equipment for applying the new wax you can see footprints lint from the mop that was used to apply the wax and places where they left paddles and bubbles and patches with no wax .They use a wax that was recommended by the government it has some kind of a sealer and a wax combination the people I spoke with did not know the name of the wax. They hired a second company to come in and redo the job the second company spray buffed and used a high speed burnisher on the floor end it still looks like crap attached are some photos there are six coats of wax plus the spray buff. i'm going to strip and re-wax the entire floor this floor is a mess attached are photos of what the floor looks like can anybody recommend a good wax that would probably meet the government and recommendations and what would you charge for this job it has 10 small rooms +2 larger work area's.

The Army Corps of Engineers did not approve the prior two jobs I just need advice on how I should proceed

 

[jtsunbrite]

I got screwed on two government jobs, estimate said 38 cents a foot, they paid me 22 cents,, I never went back....

 

[Robert86]

First off, I hate spray buff. Every time I've had to do a floor where it had been used, was a pain to strip. Test your stripper to make sure its going to work before diving into this.

Jobs like this I charge double. Takes more time and material to fix someones mistake.

My go to finishes are Pioneers Omniguard or Wonderglow and Renown High Gloss Floor Finish (I don't really like the look of it so much but it holds up good and I get it at cost). Spartan also makes some good finishes. What are their requirements for finish? High Gloss, good wear resistance, high traction... There is a product I've used recently that had a nice shine, good slip resistance, and resists scratching better than anything I've ever seen. I believe it was called Rock Hard but I can't remember who makes it. I'm told it actually strips pretty easy too but I haven't had to yet. It buffs up good as well.

 

[Robert86]

I got screwed on two government jobs, estimate said 38 cents a foot, they paid me 22 cents,, I never went back....

I've heard people getting screwed on government jobs like that. They pay like the lowest average rate for the area or something instead of the contractors actual price. I've only done one government job and it took forever to see a check but they paid what I billed them.

 

[jtsunbrite]

I've heard people getting screwed on government jobs like that. They pay like the lowest average rate for the area or something instead of the contractors actual price. I've only done one government job and it took forever to see a check but they paid what I billed them.

I did a job after hurricane ike,, pulled pad, fans, dehueys everything, relayed the new pad and cleaned the carpet, they paid less than half the bill I sent them,, sent me back a quote of 50 cents a yard for pad,, I sent back a letter saying where do I buy this .50 cents a yard for pad...

I got fugged so from now on I will not do work for the government... Now the state of texas hell yes I will do any job they call with.

 

[Justin Arndt]

Ive had something similar to this, not quite this size tho. The company got wax all over the baseboards and everything. Clearly didn't know there was finish mops and regular cotton mops for regular mopping. It doesn't appear they actually put down tons of coats... most likely didn't let it dry in between. If it hasn't been too long since it was done, a good strip should take care of it... I would actually try a high-pro pad and some good degreaser in one room and see how it strips it off before doing the whole stripping process. Especially if they try low balling you or seem to not want to pay the price to have it done 100% to the T.

 

[Pinosan]

I have never had any problems with government entities. In Fact, I have been hired to correct similar jobs like that and my price has always been 5 times higher than what they paid the first company. Estimates approved and always paid within the 30 day frame they set for payments.

here is the deal.

Government entities do not want to hear about processes, quality or equipment. they require three bids and choose the lowest one. It is protocol.
So even if the company has no clue of what they are doing as long as they are the lowest, they get job why? they meet the standards legally and are in the list of "SBA certified vendors"

the decision maker has to pick up one of those bidders and always pick the cheapest regardless. until.......

They get what they paid for. That is when they want to hear about experience, quality and equipment why? All government contracts have a clause within the contract that states the vendors will be back charged for all expenses incurred should the vendor would not deliver the wanted results within the time frame stipulated.

So, now, They are not paying. it's not their money and they are willing to accept bids that can guarantee the job will be done to expectation at any cost.

The agency will write a check to your company and (if they want) send your bill to the company that failed on them.

Capish???

Now, it is the time to educate the bastards on why is the job done incorrectly, how hard it will be for you to redo from scratch, how you will deliver the wanted results and that you are worth 5 times more than any other company.

my going rate on repairs like that is

less than 1000 Ft $2.50 a foot
1000 to 5000 $2.25
5000 to 10000 $2.00
10000 up $1.75

And I close with the argument. " this is the only way I can afford to deliver as promised and pay prevailing wages to my employees"
I look at them with a respectful take it or leave it attitude and I get the job.

Now, Not all agencies hire certified vendors all the time and If I were to bid on the initial bidding process I would not get any job from them. In fact, I have never won any. lol I look for "repair opportunities" and don't always win but I close at least 2 out of 10 which is not bad at all.

good luck stand your ground, make some money or loose money work for pennies and be in trouble with a government agency. ( not recommended)

good luck.

 

[jtsunbrite]

I have never had any problems with government entities. In Fact, I have been hired to correct similar jobs like that and my price has always been 5 times higher than what they paid the first company. Estimates approved and always paid within the 30 day frame they set for payments.

here is the deal.

Government entities do not want to hear about processes, quality or equipment. they require three bids and choose the lowest one. It is protocol.
So even if the company has no clue of what they are doing as long as they are the lowest, they get job why? they meet the standards legally and are in the list of "SBA certified vendors"

the decision maker has to pick up one of those bidders and always pick the cheapest regardless. until.......

They get what they paid for. That is when they want to hear about experience, quality and equipment why? All government contracts have a clause within the contract that states the vendors will be back charged for all expenses incurred should the vendor would not deliver the wanted results within the time frame stipulated.

So, now, They are not paying. it's not their money and they are willing to accept bids that can guarantee the job will be done to expectation at any cost.

The agency will write a check to your company and (if they want) send your bill to the company that failed on them.

Capish???

Now, it is the time to educate the bastards on why is the job done incorrectly, how hard it will be for you to redo from scratch, how you will deliver the wanted results and that you are worth 5 times more than any other company.

my going rate on repairs like that is

less than 1000 Ft $2.50 a foot
1000 to 5000 $2.25
5000 to 10000 $2.00
10000 up $1.75

And I close with the argument. " this is the only way I can afford to deliver as promised and pay prevailing wages to my employees"
I look at them with a respectful take it or leave it attitude and I get the job.

Now, Not all agencies hire certified vendors all the time and If I were to bid on the initial bidding process I would not get any job from them. In fact, I have never won any. lol I look for "repair opportunities" and don't always win but I close at least 2 out of 10 which is not bad at all.

good luck stand your ground, make some money or loose money work for pennies and be in trouble with a government agency. ( not recommended)

good luck.

I totally agree with the above statement, both jobs I did for the us government were emergency jobs, the strip & wax I did was on 1 hours notice, sent bid they said do it

Second time was a flood situation, both times I knew the guy who approved of the work..
now with the state of texas ? everything you said above applies to them, and we take care of 6 buildings for the state.

 

[ratfool]

The quality of the wax looks very poor on top of everything else. A very rushed job. I know how to strip and wax, just hate doing it. And yes I have left a shoe print in a job or two. Where I work a project crew is using a wax that looks very much like the pictures you posted. It would not even pull a shine "spray buffed". I'm following this thread!

 

[ratfool]

Ive had something similar to this, not quite this size tho. The company got wax all over the baseboards and everything. Clearly didn't know there was finish mops and regular cotton mops for regular mopping. It doesn't appear they actually put down tons of coats... most likely didn't let it dry in between. If it hasn't been too long since it was done, a good strip should take care of it... I would actually try a high-pro pad and some good degreaser in one room and see how it strips it off before doing the whole stripping process. Especially if they try low balling you or seem to not want to pay the price to have it done 100% to the T.

A very good point. And a problem I have where I work also. Because of the time given the under coats of wax are not given enough time to dry properly. I read the top coat on an improperly dried floor will trap moisture under the lower coats.

 

[Pro Steam Carpet Care]

I did a job after hurricane ike,, pulled pad, fans, dehueys everything, relayed the new pad and cleaned the carpet, they paid less than half the bill I sent them,, sent me back a quote of 50 cents a yard for pad,, I sent back a letter saying where do I buy this .50 cents a yard for pad...

I got fugged so from now on I will not do work for the government... Now the state of texas hell yes I will do any job they call with.

Technically the state of Texas is its own Republic LOLOLOL

 

[jtsunbrite]

Technically the state of Texas is its own Republic LOLOLOL

The Greatest !!

 

[WWW.FiveStar-Clean.Com]

UPDATE
I just wanted to give you all an update on this job this thing turned out to be a complete mess from start to finish I honestly do not want to deal with any government projects in the future!!!! I guess there is a huge learning curve when it comes to bidding Jobs on military installations this job required me to pay my employees $30 an hour because it was a scale job
I was a subcontractor for the flooring installer and they did not stipulate at that time I bid the job that it was scale wages. I get my employees through a staffing service that way I don't have to carry workers comp or handle any sort of payroll. Typically I pay $10 an hour to strip and wax floors so I placed an initial bid with the labor at $10 then my staffing company told me that I would have to pay $30 an hour plus administrative fees that they charge for paperwork so I reapproached the contractor and told them that the previous bid I submit it would have to be changed because the cost of the labor had increased
Due to the fact it was the scale job they understood and let me rebid the job
After spending $1000 on materials and supplies combined with $500 in rental equipment I show up to the job site ready to complete the work only to find out the contractor can't afford the added cost of the labor they opted to do the job themselves and wanted to purchase my supplies
Needless to say I walked away with my supplies and I managed to only lose 300 bucks I appreciate the advice and next time instead of being at two dollars a square foot I'm going to charge upwards of seven or eight dollars

 

[Smtwn janitorial]

Bummer. Some of those big jobs you win, some you lose. Sometimes it's not worth the headache. Sometimes it is.

 

[longkenn]

I did a job after hurricane ike,, pulled pad, fans, dehueys everything, relayed the new pad and cleaned the carpet, they paid less than half the bill I sent them,, sent me back a quote of 50 cents a yard for pad,, I sent back a letter saying where do I buy this .50 cents a yard for pad...

I got fugged so from now on I will not do work for the government... Now the state of texas hell yes I will do any job they call with.

I once bid on a job at the U.S. Attorney's office. I bid it pretty close and then I got an email asking everyone to cut their bid by 25%. They wouldn't let us see half of what we were bidding on due to the sensitive nature of their work. They didn't want us bringing our camera phones in. They wanted us to work for nothing and put up with going through getting a security clearance, having all our equipment checked before we went up to the job, having to jump through this hoop and that hoop and then run the possibility that we might get shafted at the end. No thanks!

 

[jtsunbrite]

I once bid on a job at the U.S. Attorney's office. I bid it pretty close and then I got an email asking everyone to cut their bid by 25%. They wouldn't let us see half of what we were bidding on due to the sensitive nature of their work. They didn't want us bringing our camera phones in. They wanted us to work for nothing and put up with going through getting a security clearance, having all our equipment checked before we went up to the job, having to jump through this hoop and that hoop and then run the possibility that we might get shafted at the end. No thanks!

Most libs think its a pleasure to do work for the government but its a pain and its 50/50 every time you run the risk of getting your ass handed to you

 

[Kyle8]

I did a job after hurricane ike,, pulled pad, fans, dehueys everything, relayed the new pad and cleaned the carpet, they paid less than half the bill I sent them,, sent me back a quote of 50 cents a yard for pad,, I sent back a letter saying where do I buy this .50 cents a yard for pad...

I got fugged so from now on I will not do work for the government... Now the state of texas hell yes I will do any job they call with.

Just deduct the rest from your taxes.

 

[Robert86]

Most libs think its a pleasure to do work for the government but its a pain and its 50/50 every time you run the risk of getting your ass handed to you

50/50 is pretty spot on. I've had government jobs that were awesome and I've had government jobs that were terrible. Working for schools has always worked out great. Done a few fire stations, they work out.

 

[Robert86]

UPDATE
I just wanted to give you all an update on this job this thing turned out to be a complete mess from start to finish I honestly do not want to deal with any government projects in the future!!!! I guess there is a huge learning curve when it comes to bidding Jobs on military installations this job required me to pay my employees $30 an hour because it was a scale job
I was a subcontractor for the flooring installer and they did not stipulate at that time I bid the job that it was scale wages. I get my employees through a staffing service that way I don't have to carry workers comp or handle any sort of payroll. Typically I pay $10 an hour to strip and wax floors so I placed an initial bid with the labor at $10 then my staffing company told me that I would have to pay $30 an hour plus administrative fees that they charge for paperwork so I reapproached the contractor and told them that the previous bid I submit it would have to be changed because the cost of the labor had increased
Due to the fact it was the scale job they understood and let me rebid the job
After spending $1000 on materials and supplies combined with $500 in rental equipment I show up to the job site ready to complete the work only to find out the contractor can't afford the added cost of the labor they opted to do the job themselves and wanted to purchase my supplies
Needless to say I walked away with my supplies and I managed to only lose 300 bucks I appreciate the advice and next time instead of being at two dollars a square foot I'm going to charge upwards of seven or eight dollars

1k on materials? What all did you need? 6000 sq ft strip and wax I wouldn't have more than $300 in materials. Maybe $400 if they required more than 3 - 4 coats (that's my minimum)

 

[jtsunbrite]

50/50 is pretty spot on. I've had government jobs that were awesome and I've had government jobs that were terrible. Working for schools has always worked out great. Done a few fire stations, they work out.

working for firestations is awesome