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What's New: August/September 2008

Concrete Surface Preparation: Dust-Free Grinding

Good surface preparation technique, using the proper surface preparation tools, is critical to producing a beautiful decorative concrete floor that embodies the characteristics of natural stone and is free of telltale blemishes. Over the last 10 years, we've experimented with a lot of different tools and techniques, and dealt with many different companies along the way. One of the most important surface preparation methods for a successful stained concrete floor is dust-free grinding. It's necessary to remove paint, glue, and other construction chemicals, without damaging the concrete or disturbing the occupants of the building. There are a lot of companies out there supplying dust-free grinding equipment. This is a tale of the good and the bad, the best and the worst. This is our recommendation on who to deal with and who to avoid.

Blastrac: This is one of the industry leaders, and a great company. They make a series of concrete dust collectors, dust-free shrouds, diamond cups, and other grinding accessories. Blastrac has professional and responsive customer service, knowledgeable tech support, and a solid distribution network, run by the Aramsco Company. We first purchased their dust-free system (at right) in 2002, and it's worked ideally. Our customers are amazed by its efficiency and pleased with its dust-free effectiveness. We haven't had to make any repairs or replacements to the equipment, or needed to upgrade to newer technology in recent years. We buy all our diamond cups and other abrasive discs from Aramsco and have no reason to ever go anywhere else. They have reasonable prices and great customer service.

Shave Away Europe: This is another reliable company with good dust-free grinding products. They make the popular "Dust Muzzle", a dust-free grinding shroud, and carry a line of other dust-free tool attachments, concrete dust vacuums, and diamond cups and blades. We just purchased their Dust Muzzle for our 4.5" angle grinders. It's actually better than Blastrac's Sawtec version, the Tuc-Pointer shroud, because of its ease of attachment; it's also much more cost effective. Shave Away Europe has a dealer locator on their web site, and they also sell direct from their web site. Their prices are reasonable, and they have great customer service. If you can't find their product locally, they'll ship it to you the same day. You can also get the proper size hosing and attachments from them for your vacuum system.

Novatek Corporation: We've told you about the good. Now, we'll warn you about the bad. This is one company to stay away from. Novatek, of Exton, Pennsylvania, makes a series of dust-free concrete surface preparation products, including a handy little 2" dust-free grinder that's ideal for removing small areas of paint and glue. The problem is, their products are overpriced, they have no distribution network, poor customer support, and they are an extremely abrasive and hostile company to deal with. If you buy their products and need tech support, you'll have to deal with their receptionist. Good luck. We bought their 2" grinder at World of Concrete 2003 in Las Vegas at a 25% discount for $455. Little did we realize at the time, it's just a standard $80 grinder with a $375 metal shroud. And this was at a discount!

Unfortunately for us, the tool broke down almost immediately. We tried to fix it several times but couldn't get the shroud off. Only later did we find out that Novatek normally includes 2 special wrenches with the grinder for this purpose. They weren't included with our tool set, however, and when we contacted Novatek recently about getting them, they wanted to charge us $6 apiece. Having already paid $455 for this tool that never worked, we balked at that and went to their manufacturing partner, Trelawny SPT Ltd., for help, without success. A short while later, we received this threatening letter OUT OF THE BLUE (!) from Novatek's President, Brian Harkins. Now most companies in a spirit of good faith and good will would just send the tools out at no charge. Not Novatek. This issue was so important to Mr. Harkins that he personally took the time to write the above letter and threaten us with legal action.

*February 20th, 2009 Update*

We filed complaints against Novatek with the Better Business Bureau and Pennsylvania Attorney General last fall.  Neither complaint ultimately amounted to anything because of the amount of time that had elapsed since the original transaction, but the formal exchanges did reaffirm our initial assessment of the type of company we were dealing with. 

First, Novatek President Brian Harkin’s position abruptly and starkly changed from “Novatek has had no business dealings with you in excess of five years” to “You have never had any business dealings with Novatek Corporation.”  Second, Mr. Harkins had a buddy of his, Jack Bonner, submit a character letter (email) to the BBB on September 19, 2008, which said in part “Personally, I think that our society would be in much better position if all businesses had half the moral fiber as Brian Harkins and his partners."

This posed an interesting dilemma to us at Premier Veneers.  A.  Are morally upright individuals generally so confused about the truth in public statements that they make?  The answer is usually “no”, unless you are a politician at confirmation hearings.  B. Are morally upright individuals generally given to such extremes as to threaten legal action without provocation?  The answer here, too, is “no”, unless you are not “morally upright”, but “self-righteous”.  Therefore, we tend to disregard Mr. Bonner's claim.

One further interesting tidbit.  According to this August 19, 2008 press release, Novatek did business with Mr. Bonner for eight years before jumping ship to a “larger” and “superior” company in early 2008.  Mr. Bonner says this was a bad business decision and Novatek returned just five months later.  Our question is this:  Mr. Bonner’s "totally unsolicited" email to the BBB was written exactly one month after Mr. Harkin’s and Mr. Bonner’s 'homecoming'.  Would Mr. Bonner still have written this "totally unsolicited" email if Mr. Harkin’s bone-headed decision had worked out?

We think not.  And we would add this editorial:  Our society would not be "in much better position if all businesses had half the moral fiber as Brian Harkins and his partners".  Rather, it is precisely because of CEO's like Mr. Harkins, who are infatuated with “largeness”, rather than customer support, that the U.S. economy is in the shape that it is today.  Let us just hope that in the next Economic Stimulus plan we are not bailing out Novatek, and Mr. Harkins, with our tax dollars.

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