Limestone Floor Cleaning Houston

MODERN STONE CARE LIMESTONE SERVICES

Houston Limestone Cleaning:

Due to its acid sensitivity, limestone must be cleaned using an alkaline cleaning solution. We give the solution approximately 20 minutes of dwell time. This gives the cleaner time to emulsify the dirt that is embedded into the stone and grout. We then use an industry accepted spinner tool which provides pressure coupled with vacuum for extraction. This process also removes dirt from the top of your grout lines. This is the industry recommended method to clean stone and tile floors.

Houston Limestone Polishing:

Due to its alkaline mineral content, limestone etches whenever an acidic liquid or other compound comes in contact with the surface of the stone. This includes many common cleaners. The more acidic the substance, the faster etching occurs. Limestone polishing takes care of superficial scratches and minor etching that occurs throughout the course of daily activities. Our limestone polishing process leaves a deep, natural shine, with clarity and depth, which you just cannot achieve with an artificial coating.

Houston Limestone Honing:

Limestone can be honed to a matte or satin finish through a grinding process. We can also remove severe etching and deep scratching through our limestone honing service. Honing is often needed to remove damage in this stone, and it is often used to provide a less glossy finish to the stone.

Houston Limestone Sealing:

All non-polished limestone should be sealed. It is extremely polished and some limestone absorbs liquids even after polishing. This is uncommon in other common polished stones such as travertine. At Modern Stone Care our Houston limestone sealing service uses only premium sealer which are sand fortified. This is important since most sealers are made to chemically bond with sand, and limestone has no sand. So the average sealer will not bond for long. Sealing a floor against water based staining is adequate for most parts of the home, but in the kitchen, we recommend sealing limestone with an oil repellent and a water repellent. Call for details on any of our services or fill out the contact form on this page.

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ABOUT LIMESTONE

Limestone is a terrestrial sedimentary rock composed of different crystal forms of calcium carbonate, primarily calcite and aragonite. It often contains the skeletal fragments of marine organisms. These organisms secrete shells made of calcite and aragonite behind after they die, and these fossils can often be seen in limestone tile. The presence of Calcium Carbonate, like marble and travertine, makes this stone sensitive to acids, and therefore is subject to serious etching. Calcium Carbonate also gives it the ability to be polished to a high shine.

MAINTENANCE OF POLISHED LIMESTONE

Polished limestone is usually laid with grout lines 1/8th to 1/16th of an inch in width. This is because when you have a polished stone, you want as little surface area of grout as possible so there is less interruption of the shine. It usually has straight edges and can be cut as a plank (quadrilateral rectangle similar to wood) but most commonly as a square tile. It is normally laid straight and this is done to enhance the effect of the shine.
 
Sealers are often incorrectly applied to this stone in an effort to “protect” it. Big box stores and flooring stores alike often sell water based film forming topical sealers that are applied to limestone to give it a satin or semi-gloss artificial finish. Modern Stone Care does not endorse that practice. We do not believe that limestone should have a sealer applied to create an artificial look. Polished limestone always looks and feels cleaner than it does with an artificial sealer on top.

CARE OF NON-POLISHED LIMESTONE

Limestone is often rough cut for outdoor uses, such as landscape stones, walkways etc. There are various cuts and textured finishes and needs to have a regular cleaning schedule to keep it looking its best. When it is used in this capacity, it is imperative to have this stone sealed and cleaned professionally on a regular basis. This type of limestone tile has a higher porosity than its polished counterpart and needs to be sealed due to the higher rate of absorption.
We recommend sealing this stone with a quality impregnator which is made specifically for travertine, marble or limestone.

 

These stones have no natural sand content. Most impregnators are made chemically to bond with the sand in the stone. But since limestone has no sand, these sealers will quickly become ineffective due to their poor bonding capabilities. Modern Stone Care uses premium sand fortified sealers whenever we seal these stones. Keep in mind that sealing the stone will not keep dirt from accumulating either on the stone tile or grout, or from collecting inside the holes of the stone.

REGULAR MAINTENANCE

Honed, unfilled, rustic or tumbled travertine floors require a maintenance plan to keep them looking as nice as possible. This should consist of dry dust mopping daily using a clean rayon mop or static pad. Vacuuming with a hard surface vacuum will also work. This is to remove the dirt and debris that accumulates on your floor because of foot traffic, pets etc.

 

It is important to remove this dirt because damp mopping is also required at least weekly.

If the dirt and debris that accumulates is allowed to remain on the floor, when damp mopping occurs, that dirt is turned to mud and is pushed into the grout lines by the mop. This will make your grout lines dirty very fast. When damp mopping with soap, rinsing will be required. After mopping with any soap solution, use a different rinse mop, and go over the area again with clean water.

 

While these floors do not need the same care from abrasion as a polished floor, they are more difficult to keep clean. In part, because of the fact that it is more textured, but also because these floors always have cement based sanded grout between the tiles. Dirt will accumulate in the pores and over the textured stone. Also, the sanded grout is porous, and since it is wider, will accumulate dirt there as well. Keep in mind that sealing the stone will not keep dirt from accumulating either on the stone or grout or from collecting inside the holes of the stone. For this reason Modern Stone Care recommends that you have your unpolished limestone floors professionally cleaned twice per year.

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