PSA: A homeowner told me my sweep marks were too faint and I was doing it wrong

Ngl, I got chewed out last week by a guy who'd been using my service for years. He pulled up a photo from 2021 showing thick black stripes on his flue tile, then pointed to my recent work where the marks were barely there. Said it looked like I was just brushing the surface. Turns out I'd been rushing my final passes with a poly brush, not letting the bristles dig in. Now I do three slow, hard passes on each section and I can actually feel the difference. Has anyone else gotten called out like this from a customer who knew their stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

linda_reed6d ago

I had a customer print out the manufacturer's spec sheet once and show me exactly where I was falling short on brush pressure. It stung at first, but I went back and tried their method and the sweep marks came out way more consistent. Definitely changed my whole approach to the final cleanout pass.

the_alice6d ago

Oh man, I had a flooring guy do the same thing with my concrete prep work and it totally changed how I finish floors now!

amyh125d agoTop Commenter

Oh come on, is it really that deep though? I mean yeah, customers can be annoying sometimes but changing your whole technique over one person's nitpicking seems like a lot. Most people don't even look at their floors that close unless they're about to put it on the market. I just don't get why you'd overhaul everything for one picky customer when plenty of others probably don't care...