Concrete Plans

August 21, 2009

I was in the janitorial business 15 years ago when I started looking at stone as a new revenue possibility; my company faces the same hurdles in the restoration business today. So how do we keep the trucks rolling, and keep the lights on when everyone else is cutting costs and shutting down?

We didn’t just keep plugging at the same-old thing. We analysed the market, considered our strengths. and made a plan to combine today’s consumer situation with our substance and background.

Now, what product is in every home built in North America today as opposed to just the abodes of the upper middle class and rich? If you said Sham-Wow™, please go stand in the corner – the answer, my friends, is concrete.

Yeah, we know all the cute put-downs. Man-made stone. Poor man’s terrazzo. Grey Gold. And yet, if you’re doing stone restoration, you likely have the tools to polish that product.

Is the light going on above your head? It should be. You’ve discovered a way to at least double, if not triple, your potential customer base. (You should’ve realized by now that not everybody wants a granite countertop – as hard as it is to believe).

Not only do you have your existing and past customers that own concrete somewhere in their homes and businesses; you also have individuals that wouldn’t consider buying stone, but would love to fancy up their car hole (as Momar “Moe” Szyslak from The Simpsons puts it, although the genteel class calls it a garage).

Consider, as well, those people wanting a stone look but can’t actually afford it. You can be polishing their existing concrete floors, patios and pool decks. The possibilities (including concrete countertops) are endless.

It’s not just residential. Have you even begun to consider how many square feet of floors in warehouses get an epoxy coat annually that fades, chips, peels and become slippery? And have you seen how much it costs to put down an epoxy coating?

Concrete polishing also gets its place in the green building movement, as the process isn’t as harmful to the environment or your health. The epoxy coatings often used on concrete floors are chemical-based (and often a petroleum derivative) which doesn’t do tree huggers any favors.

Those coatings also are a main source of occupational asthma among users of plastics. The possible side effects on humans make for an uncomfortable list, including alteration of male reproductive organs, shortened duration of breast feeding and pancreatic cancer.

I was first introduced to polished concrete by VIC International Corp. about 10 years ago but we never started doing it in large areas until this year. Since then, other firms have created a sizeable market in concrete polishing – GranQuartz among them – but VIC is seen as one of the pioneers and long-time developers of the process.

“Polished concrete originated in Europe (Sweden) in the late ‘80s as a wet polishing process designed to enhance the appearance and durability of concrete floors,” said VIC’s John Milligan. “VIC International introduced polished concrete into the U.S. market in 1993 and developed the dry diamond grinding and polishing process here in the United States.”

Milligan also went on to list the many additional benefits of polished concrete.

“Polished concrete floors are a flatter, more-abrasion-resistant/stain-resistant floor, providing floor owners with a safer, low-maintenance alternative to coatings or other flooring options,” he said. “It allows spills to be cleaned up before staining, extends the life of forklift tires, resists scratches, is able to be maintained without the use of caustic chemicals, and raises the ambient lighting by 30 percent.

“Polishing concrete floors give a uniform (not consistent) look, providing a bright deep finish to the appearance. With the addition of stains, dyes and intricate saw cuts, floor owners have an endless combination of floor designs, colors and finishes.”

I realize many of you are geared more to the residential market. Consider, though, the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of square feet of warehouse floors in YOUR area that can be polished using similar equipment and tooling that you’re already familiar with; you’re literally walking over dollar bills to fight for coins.

If you don’t believe me, take a look at any of the major Big Box retailers and see what they’re now doing with their concrete floors. That’s right: They’re polishing those surfaces.. Now, being the typical Big Box penny squeezers, they’re paying the least and getting a poor product; but, there are other retailers, factories and warehouses willing to pay you what you’re worth to spruce up their already poured concrete. And don’t forget the dollars to be made right in your own backyard – the residential market.

One of the things I personally like about this add-on is that we can utilize much of the same equipment used in stone restoration. (What’s that? You don’t know anything about stone restoration either? Well, after you read this article, have I got a program for you – but you can catch me other places about that.)

If you want to learn more about concrete polishing, vendors (including several familiar names in the stone trad) are happy to oblige. I’ve done well personally in dealing with VIC International – contact them if you’re interested in their next seminar on the techniques of concrete polishing (and how to sell it).

Until next time keep your stick on the ice (which coincidently, in most arenas, covers concrete pads).

Tom McNall is founder and owner of Great Northern Stone Care, a Huron Park, Ontario-based stone-cleaning and -restoration company servicing all of southern Ontario. Tom offers corporate and private consultations, serves as a trainer for the Marble Institute of America, and is also on the organization’s board of directors. He can be reached at stone_rx@earthlink.net.