Flooring Insurance

I ran into this company in Vegas at the World of Concrete. Ram Board. It seems that this product is always needed when it’s needed. No one seems to think about ordering a product like this ahead of time.

It doesn’t matter what kind of flooring is put down in a construction project there will always be contractors doing finish work after a floor is put in. Lighting, painting, signs whatever. Contractors want to do their job and if you don’t protect yours too bad.

If a floor is not protected it will get damaged. It’s going to cost someone and I’ve never seen the client eat a contractors mistake.

Whether you’re the client, general Contractor or sub bookmark this company. Ramboard

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal about the recent sale of the Cincinnati Mills mall in Ohio. The mall sold for the dirt cheap price of $20.00 per square foot. Compare that to nationwide average mall prices of over $130.00 per square foot. Thats a sale at 15 cents on the dollar.

I’ve been saying this for a while that retail centers are going to lose tenants and will be dumped on the market for sale. As retail properties are sold cheap the new investors will be able to rent space at very low rents. Investment returns for new buyers will be extraordinary. As more properties suffer the same fate as Cincinnati Mills property values will plummet as the new buyers court tenants at cheap prices to fill vancant space.

The positive result are new opportunities. Decorative coatings specialists (and all real estate professional like brokers, architects, general contractors) are going to be in huge demand. Demand for new floors will be in the 10’s of millions of square feet annually around the country. Flooring is a big issue. In most cases decorative concrete coatings are a perfect functional and aesthetic solution.

To keep an eye on this market Loop Net a commercial property listing service has lots of properties for sale nationwide. Get to know the brokers and tell them about your product and pricing. It might help them get a deal done and a new lead for you.

If you read The Contractors Guide To Profits In Niche Markets you know to get their e-mail for your newsletter database.

If you own or are looking to purchase a retail center and want to add value here’s an inexpensive solution with an application of one of Stardek’s concrete coatings. The system here is a decorative concrete spray system which can be viewed by video by visting www.metrocrete.tv .

Curb appeal with any property is critical. Think about walking into a grocery store, walking down an aisle and grabbing a jar of lets say … peanut butter. Nine times out of 10 a shopper will grab the one with the nice label. An inferior quality product with an attractive eye catching label will outsell a superior quality product with an unattractive label.

The same theory holds true for real estate.Think in terms of a retail center with 10 stores. I don’t know if there is such thing as $20.00 per square foot retail anymore but lets use it for a quick analysis.

Assuming that rents are net of expenses and taxes and the center is 10,000 square feet, a 1 dollar increase in net rent will go from $200,000 to $210,000. It doesn’t seem like much at first but $200,000.00 net income captitalized at 7% equals $2,857,000.00. $210,000 of net income capitalized at 7% equals $3,000,000. Thats a $143,000.00 increase in value.

If the area to be resurfaced is 200 feet long and 8 feet deep thats a total of 1,600 square feet. If you hire a pro at $7.00 per square foot, thats a total cost of $11,200.00. The improved curb appeal should result in at least a $1.00 psf incease in value or net $130,000.00 increase in value.

I use retail as an example because I see it everywhere. There are 10,s of thousands of small retail centers with unattractive value draining concrete everywhere.

Take a look at these photos of a retail center sidewalk resurfaced by a Stardek installer. You may be wondering if there are other options. You will find there are no economically viable solutions. If you notice there is a handicap ramp leading from the street sidewalk. That creates code issues so you only have the option of thin concrete coatings. The same holds true for stairs. Anything thicker than a 1/2 inch will violate code. That eliminates stone or tile. Entrance into the retail stores will have height issues at the doorways. Concrete overlays are the solution…period!

If you are looking for an expert to resurface your concrete contact Stardek. They have over 4,000 trained applicators nationwide.

Their resume runs deep -Universal Studios, Holiday Inn, Starbucks, McDonalds, Lowes, Cypress Gardens, Best Western, Firestone, Harley Davidson …the list goes on.

This first photo is before an investment in Stardek Decorative Concrete Coatings.

The project is partway there.

Here’s the finished product with money in your pocket.

Let me know what you think about this blog post. Is this info valuable to you? What kind of information would you like to find here?

There are a lot of cleaning products on the market. Some work great but some don’t. I’m always hearing from retailers who like thier decorative concrete floors and others who are dissappointed with how the floors wear.

The disappointed ones don’t maintain their floors properly. They use the wrong products, wrong systems and are quick to blame the contractor, manufacturer or whoever.

Retailers in main street retail or strip centers have a few enemies to deal with.

1. Asphalt marks - When parking lots get hot especially in southern climates asphalt gets tracked in and stuck to the floor. Petroleum oils from the asphalt will also get tracked onto the floor. There are specific cleaners such as Yellow Out manufactured by Formula Technologies that cure this problem. Use of the wrong products will damage the floor.

2. Corrosive salts – This is a winter problem. Not just for decorative concrete. When salts are spread on sidewalks and tracked inside they start ruining floors. I’m sure there are others but I do know that Fix It was engineered for this purpose. The ingredients in FixIt neutralize the salts, water carries it away. If you get salts on your floor during the winter it will ruin your floors. Take care of your floor.

3. Abrasion - every floor has this issue. Sand and dirt get on the bottom of shoes and become walking sandpaper. A strong daily cleaner will get the dirt out of small scratches. Waterworks does the job. I’ve used it. I never thought it would matter but it does. If you’ve spent the money on a nice decorative concrete floor take care of it.

A retail store on street level will require more maintenance than in a mall for obvious reasons, like weather. In a mall most wear and tear will be at the entrance. By the time foot traffic reaches the stores shoes are fairly clean.

What you need to do is protect your finish coat. Once your finish coat loses it’s shine it’s time for a scrub and recoat. If unfamiliar with the scrub and recoat process come back in a few days. I’m going to do a post about the scrub and recoat process and the various cleaning paraphernalia you need.

Special thanks to Anton Vogt of Concrete Artisan Systems Vancouver BC for the picture below of what a well maintained floor looks like. Concrete Artisan Systems specializes in interior decorative concrete applications and consulting for retailers and restaurants nationwide. Anton’s years of concrete artistry and experience has enabled him to build an extensive network serving his clients nationwide.