SafeDry.com | Epoxy Floor Coatings | Industrial, Commercial, Residential| South Eastern United States Division

SafeDry.com | Epoxy Floor Coatings | Industrial, Commercial, Residential| South Eastern United States Division: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Safe Dry offers 100% green epoxy floor coatings for every need. We can install a flake, quartz or neat floor that is 1005 solids and will stand the test of time and out shine all the competition. We can also re-surface your existing floor with a floor that will cure quickly and stand up to extreme abuse.
We have coating for extreme temperatures as well as acid resistant coatings. Check out our website and see all the different flooring's we have to offer.
We also install terrazzo flooring. We look forward to hearing from you. Give us a call today. 877-824-0501

SafeDry.com | Crown Polymers | Residential, Commercial, Industrial | Serving All of Florida

SafeDry.com | Crown Polymers | Residential, Commercial, Industrial | Serving All of Florida: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Safe Dry installs quality polymer epoxy flooring. We are certified Crown installers of 100% green epoxsy and polyurethane coatings.

Give us a call for all of your coating needs.

SafeDry.com Frequently Asked Questions | Terrazzo Restoration & Cleaning

We have received a lot of questions about terrazzo over the years, so we decided to create a FAQ page. This page is dedicated to many of the questions we have gotten form people interested in terrazzo. You can also send a question and we will try to answer it on the site.
SafeDry.com Frequently Asked Questions | Terrazzo Restoration & Cleaning: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Concrete Polishing Florida

1-877-824-0501

www.SafeDry.com

Safe Dry Concrete Polishing covers all of Florida. We have the equipment, tooling and knowledge to complete every job in a timely professional manor. We harden and densify all the concrete we restore and polish. We have pictures of commercial concrete polishing in another blog in blogger, so here we are showing concrete polishing in a home we did. Please give us a call @ 877-824-0501 or log onto www.safedry.com

Terrazzo Restoration Bradenton

Terrazzo Restoration Sarasota Rocks

Most of these terrazzo floors on these videos were done in the Sarasota Florida area. Safe Dry covers all of central and West Florida for terrazzo restoration, concrete polishing and acid staining.

terrazzo restoration GONE WILD.wmv

Safe Dry Kicks off www.TerrazzoSarasota.com

At Safe Dry we have just fired up our new http://www.terrazzosarasota.com/ website. Please check it out as we have a Terrazzo Cleaning and Terrazzo Repair pages. check out some of our new pictures too. Many of these pictures are on www.safedry.com/terrazzo_restoration.html

YouTube video

This is the link to our YouTube video. It shows how we clean carpet. You must swich to 480P at the bottom of the video screen to play.

http://bit.ly/d4ykq8

My name is Joe Martin and I have been cleaning carpet for around fifteen years. In that time I have made it my number one goal to become an expert on carpet cleaning. Through education, experience and mistakes I have gained the knowledge I will try to impart in this blog. I am IICRC certified in carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, water damage, floor care and stone and tile care. I am also trained in terrazzo restoration and concrete polishing. I have also taken classes from Chem-Dry and have attended many trade shows and conventions in order to understand every view point in my field. I may make a mistake or two along the way. For that I will apologize in advance.

This blog will cover how to properly care for your carpet; from the installation of your carpet, through and between cleanings. This will include vacuuming, how a professional should clean your carpet and how to identify and prevent excess wear.

Once your new carpet is installed You will need to be sure your vacuum is adequate, In most cases the best vacuum will have a beater bar. This allows the vacuum to dislodged and removed from the carpet. Wind runnel vacuums are the best I have found for the consumer. Vacuum often and you can extend the life of your carpet. Sand and dirt will wear your carpet quickly if left for long. I have cleaned carpet for many people who neglect their carpet as well as people who vacuum often and have a professional cleaner clean their carpet. Improper care can cut seventy five percent from the life of your carpet. Vacuum often and use a pro to clean your carpet.

When a consumer buys new carpet it is a major expense as well as a great inconvenience. Yet, few will properly care for that carpet after installation. I cannot tell you the number of time I have been told, “The installer said we should wait at least a year before we have the carpet cleaned.” The installer is afraid the carpet will loosen from cleaning and they will have to re stretch the carpet. On many occasions by the time I get there the carpet is in such bad shape that it will never look good again. With some people and carpets a year may not damage the carpet, but with high foot traffic, a rural house where dirt is often tracked in, or low quality carpet this can be a fatal mistake. If your carpet looks dirty then you waited to long to clean it.

By the time the dirt is evident, it is doing damage to your carpet.

Now this does not mean the dirt cannot be removed. Carpet manufacturers will tell you if you wait too long it can be very difficult to remove soil, so regular cleaning is a requirement in order to maintain your carpet’s warrantee. If you have to clean, then your first question may be, “which system is best for my carpet”? When I first started cleaning carpet I used the bonnet method. In that type of cleaning the carpet is scrubbed with a buffer. The carpet is pre sprayed and buffed in order to transfer the dirt to the bonnet. The bonnet is like a cotton mop head. This method is best for intermediate cleaning.

Next we will talk about wand cleaning.

Wand cleaning utilizes hot water extraction. The Carpet and Rug Institute says hot water extraction is the most effective way to clean carpet. It is a good way to clean carpet. The down side is that wands can leave the carpet over wet and the carpet will then re soil quickly. It can also be effected by effort. Wand cleaning is hard work. In order to maximize effectiveness the tech has to work very hard. Wands clean back and forth in two directions. While wand cleaning is good, I feel the best cleaning method is deep rotary extraction.

Rotary extraction carpet cleaning has many advantages over other types of cleaning. Also called rotary jet extraction, this system is a low moisture, agitating, 360° dirt eating monster. This system rocks! The RX-20 weighs eighty pounds and cleans six hundred and fifty cleaning passes per minute. We is a truck mounted carpet machine that reaches 230°-250°. This high temperature agitating machine thoroughly cleans your carpet. It has no idea if the tech is tired or fresh. It does not depend on the tech to work hard as a wand does.

The rotary tool does the work. It has the Gold Seal from the Carpet and Rug Institute. That is their highest award they give. The Carpet and Rug Institute is made up of the largest manufacturers. They have looked at the carpet, after it was cleaned with this system, and determined that it thoroughly cleaned the carpet and did no damage the fibers.

When using this system Safe Dry first pre sprays the carpet using a tool designed to utilize truck mounts high temperature. The hotter the pre spray the easier the carpet can be cleaned. After pre spraying we use the rotary extraction tool to apply and extract a cleaner-rinse. It cleans, rinses and leaves no residue on the carpet. This will allow for faster drying times cleaner carpet and a residue free carpet. What that means to you is lees cleanings then with our competitors. This will also extend the life of your carpet.

Once your carpet is cleaned you should re apply the stain guard. Over time all the stain guard will be removed. If you spill something on unprotected carpet there is a good chance it will cause a permanent stain. Stain guards today protect against oil based and water based stains. They will keep those contaminants out of the fiber. Remember that you still need to remove the spot quickly. Over time spots will turn into stains.

Today’s carpet are designed so you will buy new carpet every six or seven yours. That does not mean that it will look bad in six , or seven years, but that by that time you will be sick of looking at its condition and buy new carpet. This being said you can still affect the life of your carpet if you vacuum regularly, clean often and re apply stain guard on a regular basis.

Concrete Polishing

The following blog will cover proper concrete polishing. I have been polishing terrazzo and concrete for many years and have been trained by HTC and I am certified by RetroPlate as a RetroPlate densifier installer.
Concrete polishing was born out of terrazzo polishing. As far as I can tell it was started by HTC at the request of a box company who wanted a shinny concrete finish,
Polished concrete is a low dust, low maintenance floor that will never need replaced. It can also be very beautiful when done right.
The most important aspect of concrete polishing is a proper pre-inspection along with a hardness test and mock up.
During the initial walk through pay particular attention to nails, bolts, pipes and studs that are above floor level and on the floor. These will need cut before grinding. One stud and render an 850 Pound grinder useless. If one of the heads is bent you will not be able to use the grinder until it receives expensive repairs. Also look for holes in the concrete. while they may not be very evident on an unpolished floor, when the floor is polished, they will fill with dust and will break up the shine. In short they will be much easier to spot.
Also look for Coating on the floor. any coatings may cost additional days to a job.
Always warn that the floor will most likely have level problems between expansion joints. This can and will cause larger exposed aggregate at the joint lines. This is the result of a flatter floor.
Warn that different pours may give different results. Not all concrete will be equal. Last, but not least, understand the expectation of your customer. If you are polishing a factory, they may want a low dust, low maintenance floor, but not care about a few scratches. A showroom may require a perfect shine.
When doing the initial scratch, hardness test one should scratch several areas. I remember a house we did in polished concrete, We went in and scratched five areas. We did not bother to test the bedrooms which were covered by carpet, Upon arriving at the home to polish the concrete we discovered the bedrooms had a lot of damage, including significant cap loss. The cap is the top of the concrete which is flat. When there is cap loss it will take a significant amount of grinding to eliminate.
At Safe Dry we use HTC grinders. For the mock ups we prefer to use the 500. It is smaller and easy to set up and get started. The 500 is also the grinder of choice for residential work. The 800 will, in most cases, do a better job, but its 32 inch cut and 480 volt power requirement make it to problematic.
One of the toughest decision may be what grit to start with. It is easier to start at 40 or 80 and go down to a lower grit if need be. The problem is you may be several hours into the job before you realize you made a mistake. When grinding you can start with 40 grit metal bond diamonds and go up to 150 grit metal, than down to 100 grit resin bond, or you can go up to 80 grit metal then use 80 grit mixed resin diamonds. then use 100 grit mixed resin. If you use a lithium based densifier now is the time to densify. Then use 200 grit, 400 grit, 800 grit, 1500 grit and 3000 grit for a high shine.
This blog is meant for professional floor polishers only. There are hundreds of problems that can arise while polishing a floor. The only thing you have to rely on is experience. If you have little or none, then you WILL fail.
If you would like Safe Dry to give you a quote just give us a call at 877.824.0501 or log onto http://www.safedry.com/concrete_polishing.html

Carpet Rug & Upholstery Cleaning - Tampa, FL - Safe Dry Carpet Cleaning

Carpet Rug & Upholstery Cleaning - Tampa, FL - Safe Dry Carpet Cleaning

What is Terrazzo and where Did it Come From?

When I tell people that I restore terrazzo many respond, "what is terrazzo?" Terrazzo is seeing a big comeback these days. Every airport I have been to has terrazzo in some areas of the airport. Terrazzo owes its rebirth to its extreme durability, low maintenance and label as a green floor. With today's diamond polishing technology is is also very slip resistant.
Terrazzo's origin date back over five hundred years. the name Terrazzo comes from the word terrazza meaning terrace. Its origins date back to the 1400s when Venetian workers took scrap pieces left over from their work for use on their terraces. They would embed the chips into the clay. eventual the workers learned to embed the chips into mortar. Goat's milk was the sealer of choice. The process helped to reserve and also gave the surface a wet marble look.
Terrazzo was a preferred flooring in Florida from the mid 1950s to the early 1970s. I believe it was chosen for its cooling effect. terrazzo is much more energy efficient then tile or carpet. I have had many customers tell me their electric bill fell substantially after they pulled up their flooring and went back to the terrazzo.
Terrazzo today is made up of Portland cement often mixed with epoxy to accelerate the curing time. At a ratio of around 2-1 marble or other stone, shell or glass are added to the mix. This is poured as an overlay to cover the concrete foundation, The thickness is around 5/8 to 3/4 of an inch.
Safe Dry we restore terrazzo to a shine not possible in the 1950s-1970s. With today's technology we can create a floor that is slip resistant, low maintenance and beautiful. Give us a call and we can walk you through our multi step process. Log onto SafeDry.com or just give us a call. 877-824-0501

Terrazzo floor prep for polishing.

Safe Dry is a terrazzo restoration and concrete polishing company. I want to inform others in the proper care of terrazzo and polished concrete as well as natural stone.

Cement based Terrazzo flooring is made of Portland cement and stone chips. The stones are often marble chips, but can be made from many other stones. Terrazzo was very popular in Florida homes built from the mid 1950s to the early 1970s. Unfortunately many were later covered with carpet, tile and vinyl flooring. Restoring these floors can be a difficult task. If you have flooring over your terrazzo here are a few tips that can help you safely remove whatever is covering your terrazzo flooring.

Vinyl flooring- Removal of vinyl flooring can be very difficult. Much care must be taken to insure you do not damage the floor. Remember any attempt to remove the vinyl flooring may result in damage, so pay attention to what you are doing and try not to score, or scrape the terrazzo. Most vinyl flooring should be removed with a floor scraper. If the floor is covered with vinyl tiles then you should consider the fact that you will most likely end up with a grid pattern when the polishing process is completed. Some vinyl can only be removed in chips the size of a quarter, so be prepared for a tough job. Remember no matter how carefully you work, you may cause damage to to the terrazzo.

Tile Removal- Tile removal can be much easier then vinyl removal, but it is a dusty proposition. You can rent a chipping hammer at The Home Depot. Rent the thin set removing attachment and only use it. You will want to work from under the tiles. Never use the tool to cut lines in the grout, as this will cut into the floor. Try to break a few tiles so you can start working through the room and push the thin set removal head between the thin set and the tile. You can also point the tool almost strait down to remove thew thin set. Be very carefully in doing this as it may damage the floor, but if done properly it can be done successfully.

Carpet Removal- Carpet removal is by far the easiest. We all know how to pull up and cut carpet and padding. The hard part, and the part that does the most damage, is tack strip removal and dealing with the nails.

Tack strip removal and nail cutting- I should start this segment by saying this is best left to a pro. Of all the things people do that causes damage to terrazzo the number one mistake they make is pulling up the nails that hold the tack strip to the floor. When pulled up they also remove large chunks of floor. The proper way to install tack strip in terrazzo is to drill holes in the floor and use aluminum nails. When these nails are pounded into the floor they form to the hole and do a great job holding the tack strip. Instead of pulling the nails it is best to cut them flush with an angle grinder. Again, this is not an easy process and I have seen many people damage a floor cutting nails.

The tack strip can be pulled up around the nail using a flat head screwdriver and a hammer. again this must be done with caution as you might also pull up nails and damage the floor in the process. One additional problem I often see is when the carpet installer does everything right, then goes around the room and adds small nails to help secure the tack strip. This is a waist of time and always causes damage. The nails are small, so they do nothing but chip the floor. It is also quite common that steel nails are used. They can rust and will not shine as well as aluminum nails do.

This segment was on floor prep for your terrazzo flooring. In future segments we will discuss. the rest of the process.

Safe Dry Carpet, Tile and Upholstery Cleaning

At Safe Dry we strive to be the very best carpet cleaners. Our system is truck mounted, but we do not use a wand. We use rotary jet extraction instead. This system allows us to use much less water than a wand and extract more than they do.

We also pre-spray with a high temperature pre-spray and finish with a carpet rinse. The rinse acts like fabric softener to soften your carpet fibers. Our system agitates the carpet so it can work the soil out of the carpet. It leaves the carpet damp, so it does not force the dirt and spots down. One of the keys to a carpet staying clean the longest is how wet you leave it. If the carpet is left very wet then the dirt is forced down and residue re-surfaces as it drys. In addition because we rinse there is no residue left to attract dirt. Remember the function of a detergent is to attract dirt. If detergent is left on the carpet, it "Will"' re-soil more quickly.