Many builders do not recommend sealing stone or tile. Consider this: I have yet to meet a builder that seals stone. The only time stone is sealed is to change the appearance of a stone or at the request of the home owner. Thus, I get asked the question all the time if sealing is a good idea.

Sealing stone or tile grout is essential to maintaining the life of a stone and/or grout. From my experience with cleaning stone floors and tile grout, I have found that an unsealed floor does not come nearly as clean as a floor that was originally sealed. Sealed stone or grout restores 95-100% like new with a professional cleaning. While an unsealed surface restores only 80 to 95% like new with the same professional cleaning.

The reason is simple: Sealers keep stains, oils and dirt at the surface and do not allow deep penetration. Although our cleaning methods have come along way to reaching deep into the stone and tile grout to lift dirt. It is nearly impossible to get 100% of the deepest stains.

Restoring Marble is fun and has its own challenges. Today, many Carpet cleaning companies have learned that all ceramic is created equally, but not marble. Thus, not very many companies offer this service.In Marble training classes, I am shocked at the quality of service that is being taught. I call it a carpet cleaning approach to stone restoration. Many companies are trying to streamline all marble care into a simple process that works on all marble. This is impossible, unless you lower your expectations. The push today is for an easy way to polish marble that can be trained to anyone – even if it means lowering the quality of finished product.

Now the industry is faced with a new problem. Let’s say you have two companies come out to your house to bid on cleaning and polishing your marble, travertine or other stone. And for the sake of argument, your floors are a 4, on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best). Company A will take your floor from a 4 to 10 and Company B will take your floor to a 8. Both companies propose to do the same work for two completely different prices.Lately, I have restored several white and black marble floors. These floors are more difficult for service tech new to restoring stone. I guess it is nice to know my 20 years experience is worth something.

I have two suggestions for those looking to hire a company to restore their floors. First, select an established company. Second, choose a company with a service tech with at least 5 to 10 years experience. 

The first step is ensuring your stone has been sealed.  Once your stone is sealed, cleaning is easy.  However, stone that has not been sealed is virtually impossible to clean with out a professional.   Several companies make tons of cleaners and tools to aid in the process of cleaning stone.  However, all these products are confusing and most are not formulated for stone.  Additionally, many over-the-counter cleaners weaken and breakdown the sealer, causing your stone to get dirtier faster.   For example, cleaners containing vinegar, bleach, ammonia, lemon and other acids attack sealers, may etch your stone, or discolor the surface.  For this reason, We recommend StoneTech’s cleaners for your solution.  StoneTech only makes cleaners and sealers designed specifically for stone.  StoneTech offers three cleaners: Revitalizer, Stone & Tile Cleaner and Klenz All.     

When to clean: 
I recommend cleaning in three steps; spot cleaning, daily/weekly cleaning, and monthly/quarterly cleaning.  Spot cleaning includes using StoneTech’s Revitalizer Wipes or Spray to clean spills and countertops.  We recommend moping your floors Daily and/or weekly with StoneTech’s Stone and tile cleaner.  About once a month, we recommend cleaning your stone with Klenz All diluted as prescribed on bottle.    

This is the most common question I get asked.  Everyday I am asked by customers, potential customers, my friends, and even family.   After spending all my childhood and my adult life on restoring marble and travertine, I guess it makes sense that I would have an answer good logical answer to this question.  However, I have more trouble answering this question than any other question.  Maybe it is my fear that my answer will not sound ‘good’ enough.  Mostly, I have difficulty answering this question in a simple way. 

A simple answer would be quick and to the point.  My customers, friends and even family (especially my wife :) do not want a long, drawn out answer.  So I decided that I would blog my full answer over the next several blogs.  I will try to base my responses on real stories and experiences in people’s homes.    

The first step in my opinion would be to prevent your floors from getting dirty.  Or shall we say, slow down the rate at which your floors get dirty. 

Step 1, prevent your floors from getting dirty:  There are simple steps one can take to ensure their floors stay clean longer.   Do not have kids is the first tip, just kidding.  Here are some simple ways to help keep your floors cleaner, longer.

• Before having people come over to your home, sweep the porch and walkway to minimize the dirt, rocks and debris tracked into your home. 
• How about them door mats that are full of dirt and grease sitting at your front and garage doors?  I have yet to see a homeowner that cleaned their mats regularly.  Have you ever noticed every mall, hotel and so forth have their door mats professionally laundered?  It makes big of a difference.
• Did you know that some people do not wear shoes inside their home?  Ok,  they wear house shoes.  Their floors almost never get dirty.  I know that it is impossible for most of us to be religious about not wearing shoes in the house.  So, just a thought, try getting your family to take off their shoes at the door when they are going to stay in the house for a long period of time. 
• Feel your floors with your hand after moping.  If you do this, over time you will start to get a feel for when your floors are really clean or they just look clean.  For example, I feel for the presence of grit stuck to the floor, stickiness, or an oily feel left by a cleaner.  An oily feel will cause your floors to attract dirt.
• “Shinny floors are clean floors!”  I hear this all the time and so many people use cleaners that makes their floors look shiny.   This can actually make your floor dirtier faster and make it harder to clean your floors later.   Why?  These cleaners have wax or an alternative chemical that works like wax (also known as; “no wax” cleaner).  If you use these products, be sure you get your floors very clean before using.  Why again?  The wax or ‘no wax’ chemical will bond with the dirt or grease on your floors.  Now you have dirt and grease waxed into your floors.  The only way to remove it is to have the floors stripped.