Commercial Stone Restoration: What You Should Know Part 3

Commercial stone restoration depends entirely on the stone in question as well as the sort of stains and damage involved.

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Restoring Damaged Stone

For example, let's take a look at a travertine floor.  Travertine is a very popular floor choice because of its distinctive appearance.  Travertine has natural holes and gaps in it.  Travertine usually forms around mineral springs and hot springs as well.  As carbon dioxide bubbles through the mineral deposits, after the deposits congeal into stone, there are trace gaps.  To give travertine a more uniform surface, these gaps are filled with resin.  While the resin is tough and fairly durable, the stone can be susceptible to damage from a lot of different sources.  For example, anything acidic used on travertine can can your stone to become etched or even burned.  What a lot of people don't know is that household bleach is 100% acid, but then other things that some so called travertine cleaning experts recommend are also bad for your floor, such as vinegar.

While vinegar works well for basic cleaning on something like a hardwood floor,  you should keep it as far away from your travertine as you can.   The same holds true for any other form of calcium based stone such as limestone and marble as well.  While acidic substances should be kept away from your travertine, you also want to make sure that you are not using any store bought chemicals or products on your stone, as it isn't just acids that can damage travertine, so can things such as ammonia or alkaline. You also want to make sure that you have things like entryway rugs to help prevent grit, sand, and dirt from scratching your travertine.

What Sort of Travertine Damage Can Be Repaired?

What sort of travertine damage can be repaired?  It depends on the type of damage.  Stone that is shattered or cracked is kind of iffy.  If all or a majority of the pieces are there, then it is much easier to restore them with little to no damage showing.  Too much damage, however, and you'll probably have to replace the tile.  Things such as etch marks or scratches are a lot easier to repair.

 This concludes part three of our series.  Be sure to read part one  and part two as well for more information on commercial stone restoring services, or read another of our articles here.

Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
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Commercial Stone Restoration: What You Should Know Part 2

Is there a need for commercial stone restoration? Of course there is.  Part two of our series focuses on the need in what can go wrong with trying to do it yourself.

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Commercial Stone Restoration in Sherman Oaks

If you own a business, why should you get a service to do commercial stone restoration?  Shouldn't you do it yourself? Well first off, let's ask you a few questions.  When is it okay to use vinegar or anything acidic on a marble, limestone, or travertine floor?  How do you clean stone properly?  Should you use floor wax on your marble floor?  If you have read any of our posts, you already know the answers but just in case, here they are

When is it okay to use vinegar or anything acidic on a marble, limestone, or travertine floor? Never, all of these stones are highly reactive to anything acidic.  How do you clean stone properly?  It depends on the stone.  Some stone needs more work than others.  Should you use floor wax on your marble floor? No, do not use wax on your marble floor as wax will leave behind residue that will ultimately cloud your floor's finish.  As for  doing commercial stone restoration on your own, what you don't know can hurt you, or more accurately, hurt  your floor.  

Knowing What to Do With Stone Restoration

If you do not know what you're doing, do not try to do stone restoration on your own.  First off, whatever business you're in, that should be your focus.  There is a bit of a learning curve where working with stone is concerned, as well as the requirement of having a lot of equipment and chemicals that you'll have to have around.  Granite however, can take a lot more than marble can, but marble can take a surprising amount of honing and polishing.  

So remember, you want to make sure that your business maintains a positive image.  We suggest that you start at the floor at work your way up.  So know what to do and what not to do.  And when you want to be sure, call in a service for commercial stone restoration in Sherman Oaks.  

This concludes part two of our series.  Be sure to read part one as well part three for more information on commercial stone restoring services, or read another of our articles here.

Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
http://www.morriscarpetcleaning.com

Commercial Stone Restoration: What You Should Know Part 1

Is there a need for commercial stone restoration? Of course there is.  Part one of our series focuses on the need in a high traffic area such as a hotel lobby.

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Who Can Benefit from Commercial Stone Restoration in L.A.?

The greater Los Angeles is home to a lot of high-priced real estate.  Multi-million dollar homes are one thing, however, there are a lot of high-end salons, restaurants, and hotels that all have stone.  Look at a hotel lobby for example.  That's where commercial stone restoration comes into play.

Some hotels see literally millions of guests come and go through their doors every years.  Every single one of them leaves behind some amount of damage even on something as hard as a stone floor.  A guy dragging his roller suitcase behind him, a woman with high heels walking by, and the floor gets a mark each time.  Someone spilling their orange juice from the grab and go breakfast bar.  All of these damages individually are nothing.  However, when you add them all up, that's when it is a good idea to get a hold of a commercial stone restoration service in Los Angeles.  But which one should  your business choose?

Finding an Expert in Stone Care

First off, look at stone care services.  Make sure that they have some experience with the type of stone that you have.  Something calcium based such as marble, limestone, or travertine will need much different care than a composite such as terrazzo or granite.  Read up on the company in question, call them and ask them a bunch of questions, and check out their online reviews.  As to why you should go for professional commercial stone restoration, online reviews are definitely a driving factor, but not for the stone service, for your business.

Using the hotel we mentioned above, you probably know that if you own or manage a hotel, hotels in the L.A. are very competitive.  If your guests go back home and leave a few bad reviews it can literally cost your business millions in lost revenue and hiring a professional marketing firm to do damage control.  So one reason is economics. Commercial stone care is far cheaper than having to deal with the impact of negative press and PR, as well as the tarnished image your hotel will now have.

If you have a commercial business, why would you even consider trying to do it yourself?  You want to hire someone who is an expert not just in stone, but in commercial stone restoration in Los Angeles.

This concludes part two of our series.  Be sure to read part one as well part three for more information on commercial stone restoring services, or read another of our articles here.

Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
http://www.morriscarpetcleaning.com

Natural Stone Care: The Avoid List

Natural stone care is necessary to keep your stone from being damaged.  And believe us, if you don't know what you're doing, it is very easy to damage stone.

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Stone Care 101:  Hold the Wine, Hold the Lemon

A lot of times when people think of red wine spill on a floor surface, they think it is on a white carpet, and call a carpet cleaning service. However, what a lot of people don't know is that something as simple as spilling a glass of wine, red or not can have a disastrous effect on a stone surface.  If your stone is calcium based such as travertine, limestone, or marble, not only can it stain your stone, it can also start to dissolve your stone, and it isn't just wine that can do this.

One of our clients was all about white vinegar.  She had hardwood floors in her living room, and a small combination of white vinegar and water is very effective for cleaning a hardwood floor between visits.  Well, she thought the same would hold true for cleaning stone tile.  If you're face-palming at this moment while saying "oh no," congratulations.  You have a firm grasp on the problem.  She found that in places where she sprayed her marble floor heavily, her stone was feeling rough.  This is because the vinegar was literally eating away at her stone.  She was lucky though.  Marble can be brought back if the surface isn't too far gone.

In fact, a bit of stone honing and marble polishing can bring up the polish in marble fairly quickly and easily.  After we cleaned it, and sealed it, we cautioned her never to use white vinegar or anything acidic on her floor again.  And a lot of people don't know how much is acidic.  Here's a short list of things never to put on any stone surface or spill: bleach, coffee, orange juice, lemonade, all forms of vinegar, wine, and you even have to be careful with tap water.

Natural Stone Care: Final Points to Consider

Tap water?  What's wrong with tap water?  Well for one thing, a lot of tap water has trace amounts of chlorine in it, essentially bleach.  In addition if you wet mop your stone and don't dry it properly, it can attract bacteria that can eat away at your marble.   Marble for all of it's beauty is one of the hardest stones to care for where natural stone care is concerned.

So, remember, knowledge is power.  Know what you can do with your natural stone as well as what you can't.  And when you want to be sure call a stone cleaning service in Los Angeles.

Read one of our previous articles on natural stone care here.

Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
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