Granite chemical resistant grout removal

[chirobob]

This is a job I got last week at a local mall. When the masons laid the granite they used a chemical resistant grout, but failed to wash it off until the next day. The latex had set and any type of acid wouldn't affect it with any dramatic results. So I enlisted the company that I do some work with.
We ended up using 40000 psi at 4 GPM with the vac recovery- It worked a treat. There were ten companies contacted before us that couldn't come through with the goods - I think we are in the running now for the cleaning of the rest of the mall.

 

[chirobob]

more pics of the process

 

[chirobob]

more again!

 

[chirobob]

and a few more

 

[chirobob]

Pictures of the 'Donk' that runs the show

 

[onecallpowerw]

Watch out

Looks to me like you lifted most of the grout between the joints also. This could be a problem down the road for ya. Just an FYI. I have seen this done before and it put the guy out of business. Not trying to bust your bubble but..........

 

[chirobob]

Looks to me like you lifted most of the grout between the joints also. This could be a problem down the road for ya. Just an FYI. I have seen this done before and it put the guy out of business. Not trying to bust your bubble but..........

That was the first thing I told the construction company, I basically asked them how much it was to replace the Granite (Imported from China) our price came in at 12% of the replacement cost. The company that makes the grout basically said if you have to regrout it at $20 a bag and maybe use 2-3 bags who cares. Thankfully the project manager was well educated and realised what had to be done in order to get a good result - people like this are very few and far between.

When I priced up these jobs I always carry out a risk analysis for the 'whatif'! On this job we had a safety observer (me) handling pedestrian traffic, vac recovery, water berms (just in case), barracading , signage and a JSA ( Job Safety Analysis) all as part of the deal.

I really enjoy working in environments where you have an 'Educated' project manager who's #1 issue is safety, this is far better than a penny pincher who if something goes wrong passes the buck straight on to you.

I was actually surprised at how little grout came out in the end, I would have thought that the channels would have been stripped bare. Thanks for your input though.