source: cmspl.com.sg
When your natural stone has lost its luster or has become damaged in some other way, or needs to be protected, who do you look to? Do you look to your natural stone restoration service or natural stone cleaning company?
The fact is, stone restoration and maintenance, from chip and crack repair to deep cleaning and sealing to honing and polishing, requires specialized knowledge, training, and equipment and it is important to find the right service provider.
Residential and commercial property owners and managers are often “up-sold” specialized services for natural stone by unqualified janitorial services and carpet cleaning companies.
Specialized services for marble, granite, travertine, and other natural stone on floors, countertops, walls, and surfaces fall outside of the realm of expertise of regular cleaning crews.
Here is what sets properly trained and qualified stone restoration contractors apart from well-intentioned but misguided cleaning and janitorial services.
Natural Stone Restoration Specialised Knowledge
The properties of natural stone vary from one stone to the next. Contractors need to have a solid understanding of the properties unique to each type of stone. For example, let’s have a look at granite. It is much harder than marble.
When it becomes dull or scratched and needs to be refinished, there is a greater level of difficulty and special equipment necessary to get the job done right compared to marble refinishing.
In fact, some stone restoration contractors in Sydney who restore marble all day long, every day refuse to work with granite, because they know they would be getting in over their heads.
Granite and marble are just two types of stone, each with unique properties and restoration methods, but there are many, many more examples.
Unless a cleaning or janitorial service has been specially trained, they are simply not equipped to understand, let alone resolve the problems for all the different types of stone.
Specialised Training on Natural Stone Restoration
Just as contractors need to have a solid understanding of the properties unique to each type of stone, they also need to have the skills necessary to work with each stone type. For example, consider travertine.
It has naturally occurring holes. These holes are often filled and finished for a uniform appearance when the travertine is installed. With traffic and use, the fillers eventually loosen or fall out.
To resolve the problem, natural stone restoration contractors mix tints with fillers that blend with the appearance of the surrounding natural stone and use a process called “floating” to evenly apply the filling material.
This process is then followed by honing and polishing with diamond-impregnated pads in a series of progressively finer grits to achieve the desired travertine finish, which may be anything from a soft matte to a high gloss finish or something in between.
A great deal of training and practice are necessary to perfect accurate diagnosis of natural stone restoration problems and to implement the proper repair and restoration procedures.
Specialised Equipment of Natural Stone Restoration Contractors
What might you find in the back of a natural stone restoration contractor’s work van? You might find cupwheels and diamond-impregnated pads to mount on hand tools and floor machines for grinding, honing, and polishing.
In addition to what you might find in the back of stone restoration contractors are steel wool and hogs hair polishing pads, gloss meters, moisture detectors, polishing compounds, poulticing materials, sealers, grout color sealers, color enhancing sealers, and other items that would leave most janitors and cleaning companies scratching their heads.
In contrast, regular cleaning and janitorial crews use vacuum cleaners, squeegees, sponges and rags, mops, spray bottles, cleaning solutions, paper towels, strippers and waxes, and often, a floor cleaning or buffing machine.
Although you are likely to find items used by cleaning and janitorial companies in the back of a natural stone restoration contractor’s work van, it is highly unlikely that you would find the equipment of a natural stone restoration contractor in a janitor’s or cleaning service’s professional arsenal.
Allowing anyone that is less than specially trained and experienced to resolve problems with natural stone is a risk. It is not worth saving a few bucks if you end up with serious or even permanent damage to your stone. Have peace of mind by leaving your natural stone in the hands of an expert stone restoration contractor, instead.
Stone Restoration Service in Sydney
Founded in 2009, servicing the Sydney and Newcastle metro areas. Quickly Please Cleaning is a natural stone restoration company in Crows Nest NSW 2065. We aim to provide fast, friendly and cost-effective services to all of our clients each and every day. We take pride in doing what we’re best at: cleaning and protecting all of your home’s interior and exterior surfaces. Contact Us for a free quotes.
