Limestone cleaning and floor care in Lancashire
Limestone is an exquisite choice of stone for flooring, adding elegance to any interior space. However, maintaining limestone flooring can pose challenges. Being porous and soft, limestone is susceptible to damage. If you require assistance with any step of the limestone floor cleaning and restoration process, speak to Tile & Stone Medic Lancashire today. With over 20 years of experience restoring limestone flooring, we are well-equipped to meet your needs.
Common challenges when restoring limestone floors
Wear and tear are more noticeable on limestone compared to other flooring types. Continuous foot traffic and regular impacts gradually erode the surface, leading to unevenness and wear. Spillages, particularly of juices, wine, and vinegar, can cause limestone floors to appear worn and tired.
Limestone floors can also suffer damage from abrasive cleaning chemicals if used improperly. Given its chemical sensitivity and the abundance of misleading information online, it’s easy to inadvertently choose products that harm rather than protect limestone. Incorrect products can cause staining and discolouration, which is something we’ve seen many times when delivering our limestone cleaning and restoration service in Lancashire.
Even when the correct products are used, any protective seal can degrade quickly if not professionally applied. Fading on the surface of your limestone floor may indicate that the seal has expired. Worn or low-quality sealant allows dirt and dust to adhere to the surface, darkening its appearance and making it challenging to clean. However, we pride ourselves on the great results we can achieve with our limestone floor cleaning and restoration service in Lancashire.
Maintaining your limestone flooring
Drawing on our extensive experience, we possess the specialised knowledge required to expertly restore your limestone floor. When addressing surface rubs and marks, we meticulously polish the stone using specialized equipment until the marks diminish. Our approach is cautious and deliberate to prevent any additional wear to the delicate rock.
All chemicals utilised in our limestone cleaning and restoration service in Lancashire undergo thorough testing and selection to ensure they do not harm the sensitive surface of the stone. Depending on the extent of wear, we may opt for different chemicals, all of which are entirely safe.
Sealing is imperative when working with limestone flooring to preserve its finish once fully cleaned. Similar to our selection of cleaning chemicals, the sealer is carefully chosen and applied correctly to achieve outstanding and enduring results.
Will repairing my limestone floor cause disruption?
Maintaining limestone flooring requires some upkeep to keep it looking its best, but rest assured, this doesn’t involve heavy, noisy machinery. We conduct all restoration services with minimal disruption to you and your home or business. While the chemicals we use for limestone restoration are specialised, they are always completely safe for use. We adhere strictly to the highest standards of health and safety when delivering our limestone cleaning service in Lancashire, always taking care to conduct a thorough clean up after completing our work.
If you’re concerned about the condition of your limestone floor, don’t hesitate to reach out to Tile & Stone Medic Lancashire today. With years of experience backing our restoration services, you can trust that you’re in capable hands.
We also specialise in cleaning many other types of hard flooring, including stone and travertine floors.
FAQs: Limestone Cleaning
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. However please note, we do not offer a re-grouting service and 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.
