No matter what service we provide, we take care to protect your home. All areas adjacent to the work site are carefully protected with plastic sheeting and barriers. This includes cabinetry, baseboards, connected flooring, and any fixtures. Typically any resurfacing, polishing, or honing processes are done using water. The slurry/water traps the dust and is wet-vacuumed up. In certain cases such as grout removal, specialized machinery and HEPA filters are used to eliminate dust so that no additional cleaning will be required upon completion.
Stone Restoration
In most cases we can fully restore all natural stones including marble, granite, limestone, onyx, quartzite, and terrazzo. We restore stone showers, flooring, vanities, counters, tables, fireplaces, and statues. We use specialized machinery and diamond abrasives to remove damage such as scratches, etch marks, wear and soil absorption. In many cases we can exceed the original factory finish. We can change a polished finish to a honed or satin finish. We have also worked on hammered, tumbled, and antique finishes. Replacement of factory filler can be done for limestone flooring.
Cleaning
Sometimes stone doesn’t require a full restoration to regain its beauty. A professional cleaning with products designed for porous stones and a reapplication of sealer may be all that is needed. Cleaning will not remove scratches, etch marks, and wear.
Sealing
All stone should be professionally sealed on a regular basis. Floors need to be sealed every 4 to 5 years while stone showers and countertops may need to be sealed every 2 to 3 years. Water droplets should bead on the surface, showing you that it is protecting the stone. We use a high quality impregnating sealer on most surfaces. However, in certain circumstances when there are no windows for ventilation we will have to use a low VOC sealer which does not last as long as a petroleum-based sealer.
Repairs
Sometimes tiles get cracked or tables get chipped. We are capable of replacing tiles and filling cracks or chips. In some cases, we will refuse to fix something if we feel that it would not be structurally sound or if the repair is likely to fail and we will recommend replacement. As an example, tiles are cracking on a floor, grout is falling out in large areas, and tiles sound hollow when you tap on them or the floor creaks when you walk on it. This is usually a sign of delamination due to movement in the subflooring or failure in the installation due to improper mixing or type of setting material.
Grout Cleaning and Replacement
Over time, grout will change color due to wear and soil absorption. With specialized cleaners and brushes, most of the time we can clean the grout back to its original color. Grout can also be removed and replaced. In certain cases, epoxy grout colorant can be applied.
