Introduction

I hope you will find this book useful and easy to understand. It is written assuming the reader has some basic knowledge of maintenance and contracting terminology. Other than that, I tried to make it as “user friendly” as possible. I am not a professional writer, just a working man who happens to love his work. God has been very good to me thru this business, so in the interest of others I thought I would share what I know.

I have been in the Stone Restoration business for approximately 14 years, prior to that I was licensed Ceramic Tile and Marble installation contractor. At the high point of my installation contracting I had about 12 employees and, at times, felt more like a baby sitter than a contractor. I loved the trade and still do, but the paperwork and headaches involved with having many employees seemed to take all the fun out of it. My installation business grew faster than my ability to find good help. To get to the big money in installation meant a lot of employees, risk, and a huge amount of overhead. I was not willing to go any further down that road and decided to down-size, specializing in marble floors and highly custom ceramic tile work. Unfortunately, this did not address the problem with my aching back which was being abused from this type of heavy work.

When I first began installing marble floors I did some work for another contractor who came onto the job one day boasting about all the work he had just signed up in downtown Los Angeles in the field of Marble Restoration. This was about 1988. He was talking about how much work there was in that industry, how much money one could make, and how few people knew how to do it. My ears perked up. I knew that a specialized service business without much competition was the way to go- a business which took some time to learn, required hard to find training and fairly expensive equipment to get started. I felt this was it and based on this one conversation, decided to make a move.

This was at about the same time (1989-1992) when Stone World Magazine was doing many articles on stone restoration education, and the awesome growth potential that could be realized in that industry over the next 20 or so years. This helped to confirm my decision.

I bought some start-up equipment, a 175 rpm. floor machine and a stainless steel wet vacuum. I attended an IASRC training seminar, and installed a stone “practice floor” at the side of my parent’s house with travertine, granite, and marble tiles of many different varieties all mixed in together. Then I started experimenting. I did everything possible to that little floor then put in another floor in the garage of a condominium I owned and worked that one to death as well. I was getting ready to “come out of the closet” now and bluffed my way into my first job saying, “…yes, I have done this before.” There is actually a photo of that 6 floor in this book on page 63. From there I continued with my garage experiments and “tail-gate-testing” and started doing more and more restoration jobs as they came up, eventually phasing out the installation altogether. I changed my business name and made restoration the primary focus. I am proud that I evolved into restoration from installation and what that background brings into it. It was a very natural progression.

When I look at the way the industry is today and how much it has changed over the years, it is truly amazing. It is so much easier these days. Much of the ease for me today is experience, but even for the newcomer it is a wonderful trade and much more inviting to get into now than back in the day when I entered into it. There is still a tremendous potential for growth, and the high prices for this work still reflect a degree of difficulty that isn’t there anymore.

I make a very comfortable living, and I am in market areas (Hawaiian Islands) that pale in comparison to “big city” type areas. I support a wife and 6 children. My wife can stay home raising the children, and I can work only 2 days a week if I like, and earn more than enough to pay the bills. Any more than 2 days a week work and we are putting money in the bank. It is very tempting for me to take my act back to the big city and make some very serious money, but there are some things in life more important than money.

I work on some of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen- it is good to be working for the “super rich.” It’s a very stable market even in unstable times.

These days, with all the changes in the business world, outsourcing, layoffs, and incredible competition in the workplace, I appreciate my business more and more and thank God for putting me in this direction. I have to say, I love my work.

Actually, I like to think of this as more of an art than work or a trade. An art because there is a variety of ways any one job can be done. I am always learning, and because of that it is never boring. I am always striving to find new ways to do the work faster, and better. The way I choose to do my art is my signature, and reputation.

Finally, this book is not intended to be an exhaustive manual teaching “everything you need to know”. You will not get that from any one source anywhere in this business. This is simply to show you how I do it, and the way I do it has served me very well. I believe it will work for you too. If you decide to get into this art, I encourage you to seek additional training and reading from other sources that will enhance what you will learn here, and make all your work an original.

PO Box 802
Kealakekua, Hawaii
96750
Sales@StoneRestorationSecrets.com