Natural stone is a lovely sought after material as it can be completely reset to look great again. It does however require maintenance to keep it nice and we are always keen to discuss maintenance and sealing with our customers.
What’s involved when we undertake marble or limestone restoration?
Alkaline detergent clean and strip:
We always include an alkaline chemical detergent clean and strip to start things off. I find a good detergent and clean before polishing really gets a nice clean slate:) to begin resurfacing polishing etc.
In the case of stone tiles the alkaline chemical strip is a good opportunity to get scrubbing on the grout lines and to get into all the little nooks and crannies one might find with pitted travertines and limestones. I will often get out my steam cleaners to blast out grime when resurfacing wont remove it. This chemical strip also removes unwanted old tile sealing products that can be discoloured or interfere with new finishing processes.
Resurfacing and polishing of the marble and limestone stage:
During the resurfacing and polishing of the marble stage we make use of diamond abrasives and pastes to thoroughly condition the surface of the stone. Once we have removed damage and reset the surface we begin the honing of the marble and limestone to bring it back up to a sheen or shine. This stage can take some patience as one needs to be quite thorough in order to avoid scratching in the end result.
When complete the stone will be in a natural state with the desired level of shine and then the option is to either crystalise or seal the stone.
Crystalising marble and limestone stage:
If the customer wants a higher shine then we have the option to crystallise the stone. This involves applying a chemical that reacts with the calcium in the marble or limestone to form a crystalline surface. It looks great and makes the surface of the stone harder. Its closes the pours up allot making the stone much less absorbent to liquid staining. See the kitchen worktop below that we crystallised. Customer was really happy:)
