Want Beautiful Stone? Hire a Professional Stone Cleaning Service in Manhattan Beach

If you have granite, marble, or other sort of natural stone, you want to hire a stone cleaning service in Manhattan Beach.

Call Today for Stone Cleaning in the South Bay of Los Angeles | (310) 545-8750

How Hard Is It to Clean My Stone Surfaces Myself?

Is it possible for you to clean your stone surfaces yourself?  There are many different natural stone surfaces to be found both inside and outside of the home. With that said, these stone surfaces can be notoriously difficult to clean using regular household detergents, particular as over time they may become prey to wear and tear, and weather damage.

In addition, many household cleaning detergents can scratch or damage the stonework. Acidic or abrasive cleaning solutions can be
absorbed by the porous surface of the stonework and potentially lead to stone discoloration or even damage.  Marble for example can be affected by something as simple as spilled coffee or red wine.  With that in mind, do you really want to risk damaging your stone by using a store bought cleaning solution?

Natural Stone Care in Manhattan Beach

To bring your stonework back to its former glory, you may require the services of a professional stone cleaning service. These companies can restore your stonework and make it look brand-new again.

There are two general families of stone used for household and backyard purposes – siliceous stone and calcareous stone. Each type of stone will require a different cleaning technique so as not to damage the stonework and clean it effectively.

Siliceous- Siliceous stone such as granite, sandstone, quartz, and slate is generally very durable. These forms of stone are made up of quartz-like or silica particles. These can mostly handle being cleaned with mildly acidic detergents. However, some
types of siliceous stone may contain mineral particles that could react to acidic cleaning materials. A professional stone cleaning company will be able to determine if the stonework needs
cleaning with an acidic cleaning solution or an alkaline one.

Calcareous – Calcareous stone is composed mainly of calcium carbonate – the same element found in pearls and seashells and this
is what gives the stonework its natural sheen.

Examples of calcareous stone include marble, onyx, limestone and travertine. These forms of stone are generally used for interior purposes and can be found in many kitchens and bathrooms.

Calcareous stonework should not be cleaned with acidic cleaning solutions and if used for kitchen counters, people should take care for it not to come into contact with solutions such as fruit juice or alcohol to avoid damage.

As you see, there is a bit of a learning curve here.  Don't take the chance.  Contact a stone cleaning service in Manhattan Beach, CA.

Keep Reading...

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

Call a Professional Stone Cleaning Service in Manhattan Beach

Whatever type of stone you have, call a professional stone cleaning service in Manhattan Beach to take care of it.  Read on as we explore why homeowners should call a professional stone cleaning and restoration service to take care of their natural stone surfaces.

Get Professional Stone Care | Beach Cities (310) 545-8750

"What can save your back and yield attractive, clean, safe stone? The answer: professional natural stone cleaning."

Natural stone is an exquisite and stylish floor covering choice ranging from slate, travertine, sandstone, marble, flagstones, granite and limestone to mention just a few. The popularity of these stones stems from their attractiveness, durability and extensive range. Natural stones can be used in both the interior and exterior of your property and vary in quality and grades. Natural stone products have been used for centuries and continue to be associated with great quality and superiority.

Unfortunately, natural stone is not immune to air-borne pathogens and microscopic dust particles that constantly float around your premises. Over time, grime and dirt builds up on the porous, hard to clean stone surfaces transforming it to a breeding ground for disease causing bacteria. Some homeowners go as far as breaking their trusty toothbrushes as they attempt a do it yourself deep clean. This gives little success. And to be completely honest, no one wants to be on all fours cleaning their floors or walls. So what can save your back and yield attractive, clean, safe stone? The answer: professional natural stone cleaning.

"Extending the life span of your stone depends on calling a Manhattan Beach stone cleaning service."

Improve the overall health of your home with professional stone cleaning. Professional cleaning is important not only because it protects your investment, but also because it helps keep the environment healthy. Truth be told, the environment within your home is far more polluted compared to the air outside. Homes should be safe havens that safeguard us from unhealthy contact with external pollutants, harmful germs and allergens. However, these microorganisms also exist in our homes and are attracted to natural stone surfaces. Long term exposure can trigger allergic reactions and asthma attacks.

Extending the life span of your stone depends on calling a Manhattan Beach stone cleaning service. Professional cleaning and restoration penetrates into deep cracks to get rid of harmful materials accumulating there. Whilst restoring the look of your surfaces, a deep clean could significantly extend the lifespan of your stone. Cleaning agencies offer experienced technicians who use specialized techniques and solutions to blast away the dirt and bacteria hiding the beauty of your natural stone.

So remember, you want to keep your home looking its best.  One way to do that is to call a professional stone cleaning service in Manhattan Beach.

Keep Reading...

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

Natural Stone Care - Why You Should Hire A Stone Restoration Service in Manhattan Beach

Hiring a professional stone cleaning service in Manhattan Beach helps you to protect the investment in your stone surfaces.

Call Today for Stone Cleaning in the South Bay of Los Angeles | (310) 545-8750

Stone Cleaning and Restoration in Manhattan Beach

The natural stone that you have in your home, office or anywhere else is precious. You need to take care of it because you want it to enjoy its beauty for long. However, most people hardly know how to take care of such surfaces and therefore, it is good to hire a professional stone restoration service in Manhattan Beach. Even though it might seem easy to clean it yourself, you will find out that there are many things that you hardly understand. You also might end up causing damages which may force you to replace all the stones. Let us look at some of the reasons why you should only hire a professional natural stone care contractor.

They understand every type of stone. Some people think that all natural stone is the same. They therefore apply the same cleaning procedures on every type of stone surface. However, a professional understands that there are distinct differences. You will be baffled to find out that some of the procedures that you have been using are not suitable for the surface that you have in your house.

Natural Stone Care:  Not All Stone is The Same

Natural stone can be of a hard or soft surface. There are many types that fall under these categories. For a hard surface, you might want to use a hard brush to remove the dirt. However, if you use the same on softer stones, you only will be abrasive and so, the surface will wear off. Initially, you may not know when the surface is getting off. You only will notice it after several cleaning routines by which time, the surface will not be as good looking as it should be. Everyone who has such surfaces in their houses knows that keeping it looking as good as new is crucial.

The know how to assess the current condition of your stone. Do you even know the current condition of your stone surface? Studies show that an average person will not know when there are defects. You may also not know if there are special cleaning procedures required.
All of these reasons and more are valid ones to contact a stone care service in Manhattan Beach.

Keep Reading...

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

Natural Stone Restoration: Bring Back the Beauty of Your Stone (Contd.)

Natural stone care is a lot more than what to use on your stone and what not to use on your stone.  There is also the issue of what you do when your stone is clean.

Professional Stone Restoration and Cleaning in Manhattan Beach | 310-545-8750

Stone Cleaning:  Know What Works for Your Stone

Each stone type is different and requires different levels of care.  Marble can be ground down a bit and polished, for travertine, however, it's not that great of an idea.  As we said earlier, a lot of store bought products can actually damage your stone.

Stone cleaning does have some universal things that you can do. For example, you never want to wet mop. If you're using tap water, there is a good chance is has trace amounts of chlorine in it, and as such, it can damage your stone. Damp mopping is okay, as is using a soft cloth dust mop. Never use any sort of wax based stone cleaning product as wax can build up and leave ugly residue behind that will dull the finish of your stone.  You also want to make sure you ask your stone care service for tips to keep up the shine and polish between visits.  One thing that can help is jute rugs at each of the entry points to help trap fine grit that can abrade your stone.  Taking off your shoes is also a good idea, particularly shoes or boots that have any sort of spike or shank in them such as high heels or steel-toe boots.  But what about specific types of stone?  What other universally accepted things can you do to safely clean your stone?

For one thing, make sure that you consult with a natural stone care professional for tips that you can follow to clean your stone between visits.  One thing that he will most likely recommend is that you get stone sealing.

Why Should You Do Stone Sealing?

Why should you do stone sealing?  All forms of natural stone are very porous.  And these pores are vulnerable spots within the stone.  All if takes is a bit of damage inside some of the pores, and the next thing you know, your stone is damaged, and you'll have to go for stone restoration instead of merely cleaning your stone.  However, when your stone is protected with an impregnating stone sealer, the pores are filled with a quickly drying resin that hardens and protects your stone.  Stone sealer makes your stone liquid proof, which helps to protect it from damage.

So remember, you want to go with a professional. Only a pro will give you practical cleaning tips for your stone, as well as natural stone care tips to keep your stone looking it's best.

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

Natural Stone Care: The Expert's Guide

Natural stone care is all about CAMPS.  What is CAMPS? We're glad you asked.

Professional stone cleaning | (310) 545-8750

The First Steps of Natural Stone Cleaning and Care

CAMPS or Cleaning Appearance Maintenance Polishing and Sealing, are the ways that you can keep your stone looking its best.  Cleaning is not just about what you should do, but what you shouldn't do as well.  Regardless of the sort of stone that you have, never ever use harsh chemicals for stone cleaning.  Some stones are chemically reactive, particularly those in the calcium carbonate family of stone such as marble, limestone, and travertine.  Other stones such as granite aren't chemically reactive, however you can stain or discolor the stone permanently if you don't know what you're doing.
Granite is a composite stone, made of many different types of rock fused together.  It is one of the hardest stones around, and id remarkably diverse in the way it feels or look.  Granite can have all of the reflective qualities of polished glass, with the smoothness as well, or it can feel rough. Ironically, when granite feels the roughest is the point that it is most vulnerable to damage.  All stone is naturally porous, after all, and rough feeling stone means that it has likely never been sealed, and as such, anything spilled on it, even fairly innocuous substances such as toothpaste, cologne, or perfume can sink into the pores of your stone.   This in turn affects the polish and the shine of your stone.  Without proper maintenance, your stone will soon lose its appearance.  However, if you call in a company that does commercial stone restoration, they will most likely recommend that you seal your stone.  And we cannot recommend stone sealing enough. 

Why Should You Do Stone Sealing? 

Why should you do stone sealing?  After you clean your stone, sealing it helps it to not only stay clean, but it makes it easier to keep clean, particularly if an impregnating stone sealer is applied to the surface.  Stone sealant sinks into the pores and helps to form a barrier that makes it a lot harder for stains to sink in, and it also makes it easier to clean as well.  Even with stone sealer applied however, do not use harsh chemicals on your stone.  It could potentially eat away at the sealant barrier and ruin your stone. 

So remember, while there are several methods of natural stone care, we are a big fan of CAMPS.  Just a piece of advice from your friendly commercial stone restoration experts. 
Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
Read More

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.

Get Stone Care Los Angeles | (310) 545-8750

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
More Info

Natural Stone Care Part 3: Limestone and Terrazzo

Part three of a series on natural stone care explores limestone and terrazzo.  Let's start with limestone first.

How to Clean Limestone

It is a good idea to have some basics on how to clean limestone. Limestone is  calcium carbonate (CaCO3),  smooth, with different levels of hardness depending on where it was quarried. Limestone, like all stones that are calcium-based, is highly reactive to anything acidic, including citrus cleaners.  If you use anything acidic on marble, it will react with the calcium carbonate and cause your stone to be damaged sometimes heavily.

It's also important to know the finishes that limestone comes in.  Limestone is either high gloss, semi-polished or honed, with high gloss having the biggest shine level.   Be aware that limestone while it can get a good polish level going, it will never be at the same level of marble tile. Cleaning limestone is easy.  Like travertine or slate, you want to use a bit of dish washing soap mixed with water.  Even if you've sealed your stone, never wet mop marble.  Use a dry mop, or at most damp mop it.  There's a good chance that if you're using tap water, there may be a bit of chlorine mixed into the water which is highly acidic.  In addition, bacteria can be present in the water that may also cause chemical reactions.  Now, let's cover terrazzo.

How To Clean Terrazzo

Know How to Clean Terrazzo | Call Us Today |(310) 545-8750

First off, be aware that terrazzo is not technically a stone.  It is technically an agglomerate stone.   Agglomerate is a fancy word meaning stone chips supported in some sort of binding agent. At first glance, terrazzo can resemble granite, but the care for them is very different.  As to how to clean terrazzo, never scrub a terrazzo floor or wet mop.  Light sweeping with a dust mop or light broom works best.  If any spills happen, wipe them up quickly with a soft cloth.  Never use water or harsh chemicals like bleach.

So remember, the stone in your house is more than decoration.  It is an investment.  So take care of it.  Know what you can do and what you can't.  And if you need any stone care advice, call us.  

This concludes part three of our series. For more information, please be sure to read part one and part two as well.

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

Natural Stone Care Part 2: Granite and Slate

Part two of a series on natural stone care explores granite and slate.

What is Granite?

Get Stone Care Manhattan Beach | (310) 545-8750

Natural stone care always focuses on the type of stone first.  Granite requires different care than anything calcium based such as travertine, limestone or marble.  What is granite? According to this excerpt from WIKIPEDIA:

"Granite /ˈɡrænɨt/ is a common type of felsic intrusive igneous rock which is granular and phaneritic in texture. The word "granite" comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in reference to the coarse-grained structure of such a holocrystalline rock. The term 'granite' also applies to a group of intrusive igneous rocks with similar textures and slight variations on composition and origin. These rocks mainly consist of feldspar, quartz, mica, and amphibole minerals. These form interlocking somewhat equigranular matrix of felddspar and quartz with scattered darker biotite mica and amphibole (often hornblende) peppering the lighter color minerals. SOURCE ARTICLE

Granite, like all natural stone is very porous.  You may wish to seal your stone with an impregnating stone sealer to close up the pores, otherwise, you run the risks of staining your stone.  Regardless of whether your stone is sealed however, make sure you clean any spills immediately.  Granite is used around sinks, in kitchen islands, bathrooms, backsplashes, stone surrounds, and other areas of the home.  But what about slate?

Slate Cleaning Tips

Here are some tips on how to clean slate.  First off, regular cleaning. Remove any loose dirt first. The best ways? Use a duster, light broom, or dry mop. A few drops of a pH neutral dishwashing soap mixed with two cups of water makes an excellent cleaning solution because it is not chemically reactive. Don't use hard brushes though. Soft rags or mops work best. Towel dry when you're done.

So remember, know your stone. That way you the proper steps to take to keep your stone surround, backsplash or tile looking it's very best. This is the proper way of natural stone care.

This concludes part two of our series. For more information, please be sure to read part one and part three as well.

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

Natural Stone Care Part 1: Marble and Travertine

Part one of a series on natural stone care explores travertine and marble.

What is Travertine?

Get Stone Care Manhattan Beach | (310) 545-8750

What is travertine?  From Wikipedia: Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot spring or in a limestone cave. In the latter, it can form stalactites, stalagmites, and other speleothems. It is frequently used in Italy and elsewhere as a building material. Travertine is a terrestrial sedimentary rock, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from solution in ground and surface waters, and/or geothermally heated hot-springs." SOURCE ARTICLE

Travertine has a tendency to be a softer stone, so you don't want to grind it.  One key part of care for travertine is to get professional stone sealing done.  Stone sealing helps to impregnate the stone with a liquid proof seal that helps to repel stains and protect your floor against damage.  But what about Marble

Natural Stone Care and Marble

Marble is a harder stone, and you actually can grind it and do stone honing, and polish it with coarse grit buffers, however there is a bit of a warning where marble's concerned.  Don't spill anything acidic on it, even something fairly innocuous like coffee or orange juice, or it will literally eat away at your stone.  Like travertine, you can seal marble to protect it from both stains and damage, which considering how much fine marble can cost, is probably a good idea.

So remember, knowing what you can and can't do with your stone will save you a lot of trouble as well as a lot of money.  When in doubt call in a stone care service.

This concludes part one of our series.  For more information, please be sure to read part two and part three as well.

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