Stone floor cleaning, sealing and restoration in Lancashire
We specialise in treating all varieties of natural stone floors and external stonework restoration, so that you can enjoy this strong, long-lasting natural material.
With Tile & Stone Medic’s stone floor cleaning and stonework restoration service in Lancashire, we work with a huge range of types of natural stone that have been put to use in a wide range of contexts. From window sills, to walls, driveways, patios and kitchen floors, we have the kit to deep clean it all. The advantages and limits of each type of stone are very different, but our experience, equipment and hard work ensure that we always get the best possible results. All natural stone floors and outdoor stonework is worth protecting; we aim to deliver the best long-term protection. Contact us today for a free estimate.
We provide commercial floor cleaning and domestic services across Lancashire. We cover just about any type of stone restoration you can throw at us, including flagstone and limestone.
Common issues with stone restoration
Each type of stone has its own strengths and challenges, and we’ve seen them all with our stone floor cleaning and restoration service in Lancashire. The best solution for your floor depends on your unique situation. What we do know is, all stone floors suffer from general wear and tear. Most commonly, we see dust, dirt and grime that has been trodden into the stone and left behind marks. Regular, careful dusting and vacuum cleaning help limit how quickly these marks appear, but it’s nearly impossible to prevent them completely. Highly polished floors tend to deteriorate soonest; it’s hard not to notice when they lose their shine.
When dealing with a more porous type of rock, or in cases where the sealant has completely worn away, water and other liquids can cause staining. Acidity commonly found in fruit juice, sauces and other household items can leave long-lasting imprints on certain types of stone, and the use of incorrect cleaning products and solutions can cause further irreparable damage.
All tiled floors tend to use grouting to secure the individual pieces. Grout is softer than tile so is often more vulnerable to deterioration than the tiles themselves. Being slightly recessed, the grout can collect dirt, which discolours its porous surface. With our stone restoration service in Lancashire, we will identify the specific issues that apply to your floor and deal with them accordingly. For external stonework restoration, we use specially formulated weatherproof solutions to ensure your results last as long as possible.
How we maintain natural stone floors
The exact process we use when conducting our stone floor cleaning and restoration service in Lancashire is tailored according to the type of stone, the state of the floor and the finish that you would like to achieve. Here is an example workflow:
- Tile and Stone Medic will assess the floor type that you have in order to decide the most suitable solutions to be used.
- The solution is applied and left to dwell for a few minutes.
- The cleaning solutions are worked into the floor using our rotary cleaners.
- Once the dwell time has been reached, the floor is washed using powerful fresh water extractors. This ensures removal of all old sealers, dirt and other contaminants from the stone.
- The floor’s surface is washed several times to neutralise it and free it of any soiling.
- Once the floor has dried, the final step of our stone floor cleaning and restoration service in Lancashire involves the careful application of the chosen sealer. These sealers range from impregnating sealers which will not affect the look of the tile or stone, to satin, reflective and matt finishes.
Stone Restoration Near Me
Our stone restoration service is available throughout Lancashire and the North West. If you’re not sure if we cover your area, chances are we do. Simply send us a quick message and we’ll let you know.
Tile and Stone Medic are happy to offer advice on the most appropriate sealer to use for maximum improvement to your stone floor. Advice on cost effective maintenance and safe products to enhance and maximise the life of your stone floor is available on request.
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. 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.
