First Step to Polishing is Cleaning the Stone Floor
Proper stone polishing can not be done with dirty floors as the dirt and debris will interfere
with the polishing steps and can actual prohibit progress and or add scratches to the floor.
Our Steps To Stone Cleaning
- Vacuum floors to remove debris
- Protect corners and baseboards
- Apply stone safe cleaning agent
- Hand scrub grout (very important )
- Machine scrub stone and grout
- High heat, Steam Clean Tile
- Dry stone floor
- Apply Impregnator sealer ( after polishing )
Procedures For Stone Polishing
- Finish all Cleaning steps
- Protect appliances
- Protect cabinets and baseboard as needed
- Light Scratch removal by honing/grinding
- Fill any holes in stone or travertine
- Polish to desired Levels
- No shine, Medium shine, High shine
- Apply appropriate stone sealer
- put back furniture
Types Of Stone Sealer –
- Impregnator sealer
- Hydrophobic (repels water based items)
- Oliophobic ( repels water and oil liquids )
- High shine sealer ( topical)
- Enhacer sealer ( combination of impregnator and light topical)
There are 2 basic types of sealer that is used on stone.There is topical and Impregnator sealer.Out of these 2 the most popular and best sealer for most stone is the Impregnator sealer.This sealer does not change the finish of the stone, does not make it shinier or change the color of the stone in anyway.The sealer works by absorbing into the stone ( impregnate) and cause the stone to repel .The second is the topical sealer. A topical sealer is one that stays on top. These are sealers that do typically change the finish, such as makes it shinier, enhance or the like. Most of the time , the topical sealers create more work in the future with maintenance as the sealers start to wear out or flake. The only stones that usually have these top sealers inside are Slate floors and pavers . Many homeowners make the mistake of wanting to add shine by sealer as apposed to the correct way which is stone polishing . Topical sealers will fade, flake and wear off. The biggest problem then is to remove the shiny sealer.It needs to be stripped which is not an easy or fun task for a homeowner or professional. Many times the topical sealers are put on over dirty tile and grout and thereby sealing it under the sealer where it now will stay until it is completely removed and cleaned professionally. Enhancer sealers will usually darken or enhance the stone. they are used mostly on slate stone , Travertine, terrazzo stones.
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