Stone Floor Cleaning & Restoration Cheshire

We specialise in treatments for for a huge variety of natural stone floors so that you can get maximum enjoyment from this remarkable, long lasting natural material. Give us a call today and ask about our stone floor cleaning service in Cheshire.

Natural stone floors

Over many years we’ve worked with almost all the different types of natural stone that have been put to use in home and business settings, including quarry tiles, limestone and travertine. The pros and cons of each type of stone are vastly different, but using our experience, equipment and dedication we always get the best possible results. All natural stone floors are unique investments worth protecting and we aim to help you get the most from your yours.

Common issues

Each different type of stone has its own advantages and challenges, so the best solution for you will depend on your unique material and situation. At the very least, all stone floors suffer some form of general wear and tear. When delivering our stone floor cleaning service in Cheshire we most commonly encounter dust, dirt and detritus trodden into the floor and leaving behind marks. Careful dusting and regular vacuum cleaning helps prevent this, but it’s impossible to stop it entirely. Highly polished floors tend to show wear most obviously, where minute scratches in the surface dull the shine.

When dealing with more porous type of rock, or in cases where the sealant has completely worn away, we often encounter liquid damage. Acidity commonly found in food and drinks such as fruit juices, sauces and similar liquids can leave long lasting damage on certain types of natural stone. The use of incorrect cleaning products and solutions can do even more harm.

Most stone floors use grout to secure the individual tiles. Grout is far softer than stone, so is usually more vulnerable to wear than the tiles themselves. Being slightly recessed, the grout can also trap dust and dirt, which can lead to its porous surface becoming discoloured, stained or distorted.

Our stone floor cleaning service for homes and businesses across Cheshire also extends to external cleaning services, along with other types of natural stone like slate and travertine. We can even restore more obscure types of flooring like Victorian Minton tiles.

How we maintain natural stone floors

The specific process we use for our stone floor cleaning service in Cheshire will be shaped according to the type of stone, the state of the floor and the finish that you would like to achieve. Here is an example of our workflow:

  1. Tile and Stone Medic will examine the stone floor that you have so that we can identify the best solutions to be used.
  2. The solutions are applied to the stone floor and left to dwell for a short period of time.
  3. We use rotary cleaners to ensure the cleaning solutions are worked into the surface of the floor fully.
  4. Once the dwell time has been reached, the floor is washed using high tech fresh water extractor systems. This ensures removal of all old sealers, dirt and other contaminants from the surface of the stone.
  5. The surface is neutralised with several washes to free it of any soiling or residue from the previous stages of the process.
  6. Once the floor has dried, the chosen sealers are applied to the stone. The sealers range from impregnating sealers which will not affect the look the stone, to matt, satin or high sheen glossy finishes depending on your preference.

Tile and Stone Medic are happy to advise you on the most appropriate sealer to use for maximum improvement to your stone floor. Advice on best maintenance practise and appropriate products to enhance and maximise the life of your floor is also available once we’ve completed our stone floor cleaning and restoration service in Cheshire.

FAQs

The process we carry out will depend on your specific floor and the use that it gets. There will be variations for different materials and the finish that you wish to achieve. The process will also be impacted by the full scale of work that we carry out, for example which types of cleaning and restoration are being performed. It is not unusual to apply several layers of sealant if this is necessary and appropriate.

Firstly, a floor should always be sealed when it is first laid. Get in touch with us straight away if this hasn’t been carried out already. It will also need periodic sealing in order to protect the floor on an ongoing basis. How often sealing is required depends on a number of factors such as the specific material used for your flooring and the kind of use it has to survive. For example, a bathroom with natural tiles that is frequently exposed to water may require sealing more often than porcelain tiles in a kitchen. Frequent maintenance, such as sweeping and hoovering up the dust and grit that erodes floors when trodden on can help. Once the sealant is worn away, not only will scratches be more likely, the risk of staining or permanent damage from liquids is drastically increased as there is no protective layer to prevent absorption. If in doubt get in touch with our team of friendly technicians who can discuss your needs.

We have a range of high quality Faber products which will help protect your floors from damage. As every type of floor is different and has myriad uses, we will consult with you to work out the best way to protect your investment. We can apply topical sealants which form a protective layer on top of the floor, or if needed an impregnating sealant, which will be partially absorbed into the stone or tiles. There are many variations of these sealants and as each floor type has unique characteristics and vulnerabilities we can work with you to find and apply the the best kind of protection.

Absolutely. If this was not carried out by those who fitted the floor get in touch immediately to ensure that the appropriate protection can be applied as promptly as possible. We would recommend that this is carried out once the flooring is in place as this means the grout, which is generally more porous, will also be protected.

We apply a sealer to a floor in order to protect it. Different types of floor, both manmade and natural stone, are vulnerable to different sorts of damage. They can all be harmed by chemicals to a certain degree, even by the acid in food and drink spillages, as they will be very slightly porous. As well as this, they can be worn away by physical damage. Even foot traffic can have a big impact if dust or grit has built up on the floor, since it increases abrasions. A sealant will reduce the chance of a spill becoming a stain by reducing the floor’s ability to absorb liquids. It can also help protect the appearance of the floor by forming a protective barrier. A sealant won’t prevent all damage and it will still wear away over time, but it will help your floors last longer, helping protect your investment. Sealants will even help protect your floor from UV radiation which can lead to fading over the lifespan of a high value stone or tiled floor. We can consult with you to find the best sealant for your floor and the type of use it gets to make sure it receives the best form of protection.

We are happy offer advice on best practice to look after your flooring, but it depends on the type of floor you have. Once we’ve had a look at it we’ll be able to help.

Yes, we have a range of fillers we can use to repair chipped or dented stone. Please note we can only carry out floor repairs as part of a full deep clean or restoration for your stone floor. Unfortunately, we are not able to attend to carry out repairs in isolation.

Usually we are able to stabilise stone flooring where it has become loose. We can repair grouting and make spot repairs to the subfloor where necessary. Please note we can only carry out floor repairs as part of a full deep clean or restoration for your stone floor. Unfortunately, we are not able to attend to carry out repairs in isolation.

Almost certainly. Send us a picture or a description and we’ll identify your stone. We always assess a surface before work starts in order to pick the most appropriate solution.

Whilst we may use specialist chemicals in the course of our work, we can assure you that by the time we leave all residues will be gone and your tile or stone flooring will be perfectly safe for everyone to use. We work to extremely high standards of health and safety, conducting proper risk assessments where appropriate and never putting you or anyone else in danger.

We always work in the most considerate way possible. Work will be tailored to your needs and will fit around your schedule where possible. We avoid bringing loud or bulky machinery into your home and when a job is complete we thoroughly clean up after ourselves to leave your space looking as tidy as it did when we arrived.

Yes, ideally if you want the job done to the best of our ability, then all furniture, kick plates in kitchens etc should be removed. However, don’t worry we will help you manage this.
Absolutely! we are always happy to show you our insurance certificates or down load them to you if so required.
Once we have spoken to you in more detail we will be able to give you an idea of the time allocation required to restore your floors to a high level.
Because all floors require their own individual needs, perhaps different cleaning solutions, strippers and sealers it is impossible to give an average cost. Some areas of floor are very large and again this will have an impact on the costings as they may take longer to restore. Tile & Stone Medic will either arrrange an onsite visit to assess the floor in question, or, if we do not have local cover in that area, we will talk to you in more detail over the phone and perhaps request that you down load some pictures of the floor to us.