When The Silt Hits The Fan (April 2006)

  For 14 years, we never had a problem disposing of slurry on a jobsite. We’ve been 30 floors up and even been in a basement or two. (For those lucky enough to live next to an ocean, the Deep South or on an earthquake fault, a basement is a below-ground area where we Northerners store our furnaces, electrical panels, pool tables and the washer/dryer). We’ve always been able to pump our calcium- and/or quartz-enriched slurry either up, down or sideways to get rid of it.
  Those lucky, lucky days are over.
  Let me set the scene for you. I got the call that two condos over looking the Gulf of Mexico were in dire need of some travertine restoration – some 4,000-plus ft(2) of stone that I couldn’t refuse. It would be an easy-in, easy-out operation, just like undercover Black Ops. We would get it done in less than two weeks, two fine ladies would have their perfect floors, and we would have our Benjamins.
  Now here’s what really happened. We had two crews, one in each condo and 1,800 ft(2) into this job, when the building superintendent informs us that our slurry is clogging their pipes … and we need to stop what we are doing.
   “I’ve been doing this for years and never had this happen,” I said. “It cannot be our mess. It has to be someone else’s.” One trip down the stairs, and I couldn’t deny our involvement.
  Our stone slurry was coming out the drain on the bottom floor. Whether it was the drywallers dumping mud or the painters rinsing paint long before us during construction, it was now our problem to solve. I couldn’t fall back on the old, “it has never happened before” argument. The proof was staring me in the face.
  One side now: this was only 2” pipe. Considering the distance anything had to travel, it wouldn’t have been long before anything else would’ve created the clog. Nevertheless, we had to stop.
  As a result, we now we have two very nice ladies who are worried that we’re going to leave their floors levelled but not finished, a superintendent that’s upset at us, and me worrying about how to finish so we can get paid. (And is that not the most-important part?)
  So what was I to do?
  Without breaking a sweat, I promised to filter our slurry so that nothing but clear water ran through our pumps. And that’s because membership has its privileges.
  Not only am I a member of the Marble Institute of America, but I also sit on the education committee. Doing so has allowed me the benefit to see into the fabricators world, where they’ve dealt with this problem for many years.
  Having insight into their training seminars (and also having fabrication whiz Kevin Padden’s direct phone number) enabled us to MacGyver together a mini-filtration system to go from muddy waters to clean water in less than a day. It took about $300 and a trip to the local hardware store.
  Here’s the interesting part: Never would I have imagined just how much silt there was in our slurry. We went through approximately 1,000 to 1,200 gallons of water per day; at the end of each day of heavy grinding with two 220V machines, we would accumulate between 35-40 gallons of silt.
  That’s quite a build up of silt, especially considering that it had to be removed in garbage bags. Imagine that amount of stone sludge going down 12 floors of 2” pipe.
  This also opened my eyes to several things:
  • Buildings are being slapped together using cheaper and cheaper methods;
  • We now have to consider alternative means of disposing of our slurry, and;
  • We need to account for it in our prices.
   It’s not just the cost of the system; it’s the cost of maintaining it. It needs to be cleaned out daily (or the water gets muddy again), it needs to be set up and torn down onsite, and it needs to be transported. All this takes time, and we all know that time is money. And, the disposal cost also needs to be considered.
  The cost of setting up a system like is paltry compared to the lawsuits and insurance claims if you don’t take preventive steps. We were fortunate that we did not have a claim against us for this education; if we had, there would’ve been no profit whatsoever in the job.
  What’s to be learned from this experience, whether you restore stone or not?
  For starters, restoration contractors should be filtering their water. But, a more-important lesson is to not allow ourselves to be pigeonholed in our own sector of the industry.
  If I hadn’t been interested in the education for fabricators, it may have taken me a longer time to understand the filtration methods available, the concepts of each and which ones would be practical for on-site use. If I hadn’t taken any of the educational seminars offered throughout the industry, and networked with the leaders like I have, I might’ve had an expensive consulting bill and/or expensive filtration system.
  The message here: Get involved! An armchair coach yelling at the TV screen does nothing to help the team. Neither does individualism.
  I used the tools given to me by those around me and supporting me. The credit for helping these two fine women to get their floors done, and getting my guys paid, goes to my network of friends, not me. Thanks go to Kevin Padden for reviewing my plans (that I got from his MIA seminar) and the MIA for putting me together with so many other fine educators and mentors that help us to work professionally day-in and day-out.
  Until next time, keep your stick on the ice and keep it clean!
  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 also offers corporate and private consultation, serves as a trainer for the MIA, and is also on the organization’s board of directors. He can be reached at tom@greatnorthernstone.com