Stone Floor Cleaning Hertfordshire

Because natural stone looks great and can last a long time, today many business premises and residential homes feature tiled stone floors. These floors may have dealt with the footfall from a few years or even a few centuries. Over time marble, limestone, slate and other natural stone floor tiles can become dirty, damaged and look past their best. When the situation gets really bad, you might think the only answer is to take up the tiles and replace them with a new floor altogether. But before you replace your stone floor at great expense, consider whether a specialist in stone floor cleaning and renovation can rescue your existing floor.

Natural stone floors – problems that can be put right

If it’s possible to renovate a stone floor it will usually be a far more cost-effective solution than taking up the old floor and putting in a new one.

Specialist stone floor cleaning and restoration can:

• Remove ingrained grime from stone tiles
• Smooth away lippage, where the stone floor tiles are uneven
• Clean or refinish grout for a professional look
• Neutralise algae or other outdoor hazards
• Polish scratches out of the surface
• Correct patches of discolouration

Check with a stone floor cleaning specialist first

If you think your stone floor will have to be replaced it is always worthwhile checking first. You might be surprised that stone floors that appear damaged, dirty or dull can be brought back to life in many cases. You can contact a stone floor cleaning specialist like Cornwell Services and we’ll quickly be able to determine whether we can renovate your stone floor instead.

Please contact Saul at Cornwell Services on 07738 022813. We’re a Hertfordshire-based business and we cover Hertfordshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and north London.

Recently Cornwell Services were called upon for specialist limestone floor cleaning at a home in Hertfordshire. The property is a contemporary house with a high-end kitchen and dramatic floor to ceiling glass. This light, bright, reflective design style looks best when the floor is in impeccable condition. Unfortunately, the floor at this property was showing signs of wear and tear which the homeowner wanted to resolve. Cornwell Services were able to renovate the limestone floor tiles bringing them back to their best. Because our client needs the floor to always remain in a clean and shiny condition, we now provide regular maintenance too. Here’s the problem we faced and what we did about it.

The problem – wear and tear on limestone floor tiles

The floor was looking tired with signs of normal wear and tear. It had been marked and discoloured by spills from liquids such as fruit juices and cola. The floor surface was uneven due to the way the tiles had been laid. Scratches had appeared from the movement of chairs which didn’t have protective felt pads under the legs. A few cracks could be seen across the limestone tiles and in places, the grout had failed.

The process – limestone floor cleaning and restoration

Due to the scale of the project, the initial work to clean and restore the stone floor took six days to complete. This involved:

• Protecting kitchen units and other surfaces by masking them and refinishing the grout where necessary.

• Removing lippage (uneven surfaces) with heavy duty metal bond diamond tooling on a 150kg machine.

• Reducing the deep scratch patterns created from lippage removal with Stage 2 and 3 metal bond diamond tooling.

• Reducing the scratch patterns further until the floor becomes reflective with Stages 4, 5, 6 and 7 resin bond diamonds.

• Replicating this attention in edges and corners with smaller machinery for a totally clean and smooth floor.

• Using high quality polishing powders under a natural hair pad on a lighter rotary machine for a high gloss shine.

• Applying an impregnating seal to the dry limestone floor and buffing it until dry to prevent any future water and oil-based spills from penetrating the tile.

Regular limestone floor cleaning & maintenance 

Once the limestone floor had been returned to a beautiful, smooth and reflective finish it’s a much simpler task to keep it this way. The client has chosen a maintenance plan which provides two visits each year. The work can be completed well within a day causing minimal disruption to the client’s home. At each visit the floor is cleaned, polished and resealed to ensure that it remains an elegant feature of this stylish home.

For details of our stone floor cleaning service please contact Saul at Cornwell Services on 07738 022813.

Cornwell Services are a Hertfordshire-based business and we cover Hertfordshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and north London.

Limestone tiles offer a light, bright and sophisticated appearance to any room where they appear. Limestone floors can be found in many different settings including traditional, modern, domestic and commercial. Why is limestone so popular?

Strength and Durability:

As a natural tile, limestone offers great strength and durability which means that it offers a flooring alternative that can be placed within many rooms of the house. If treated and maintained correctly this stands the test of time in relation to the lifespan of your limestone floor.

Long-lasting Alternative:

Proof of this are the Pyramids in Egypt. Limestone is able to retain its natural look and structural integrity even within high-usage areas of your home or business. This is really important for people looking for a long-lasting solution.

Timeless Appeal:

This shows in the many decades that limestone has remained as one of the most popular stone floor choices. Flooring alternatives that stand the test of time are rare. So many come in and out of fashion, however, limestone is showing no signs of this.

Versatility:

Limestone is known to be versatile in its properties. It can be used for many different applications and still allows unique individuality. Limestone tiles are available in different shades, finishes and can be fully restored by a stone floor cleaning expert when required.

We were asked to deep clean and restore this limestone floor in Much Hadham. The first images show the dull floor when we arrived. Dirt had been pushed into the grout lines and cleaning of the tiles has become unsatisfactory to our client.

Limestone cleaning requires great understanding and usage of the correct techniques, machinery and products. The end result is a limestone floor that shines, no longer looks dull and is an attractive statement.

Our clients were exceptionally pleased with the finish we achieved.

Are you looking for a limestone cleaner? Please call today on 07738 022813 to arrange a no obligation quotation.

Whilst restoring a limestone kitchen floor for a client last week she tentatively mentioned she also had a boot room! On further investigation it would seem that living in the country owning two large dogs and being a horse rider the boot room was the family route into and out of the house!

The door was kept firmly closed so that no one would see the very dirty floor. It turns out I hadn’t been asked to clean it because it was felt to be ‘beyond’ it and the decision to replace it with new flooring had been made.

Cleaning Limestone:

After seeing the results I had achieved with the rest of the limestone flooring my opinion was sought regarding the boot room. I had no doubt I could achieve a good result saving my client  money as well as the upheaval of having a new floor fitted and moving fitted units etc.

As you can see from the picture, the floor came up remarkably well considering the wear and tear it receives! And we have added it to our 6 monthly maintenance clean visits to keep it looking its best.

Cleaning Maintenance Visits:

We will visit every 6 months and give the floor a really thorough cleaning and reseal to help prevent stains and dirt getting into the limestone. However, it is equally important that it is mopped regularly with a good natural stone floor cleaner. We recommend our specialised stone cleaner for your regular cleaning, which leaves no residue and won’t damage the seal. It is available from us at £12 for a litre bottle.

Having the correct stone cleaning products to hand makes the job easy and straight forward. If you are faced with a challenging routine or are unsure of what products to use it is unlikely that you will stick to the routine. Being confident with your product choice means that you are able to complete the task confidently. Call Cornwell Services today on 07738 022813.

Our customer had a limestone floor in Royston Hertfordshire that was laid about ten years ago.

It had been incorrectly maintained and was covered in deep scratches from outdoor shoes which had allowed dirt to become deeply embedded into the stone. Our Customer was going to replace the limestone flooring until I suggested that we could improve it.

We prepared and sealed off the area to protect the living area surrounding the tiled floor.

It took a complete day to clean, grind, hone and polish and seal the limestone tiles using industrial diamond abrasives, enclosed high pressure rinsing tools, and impregnating sealers, and although the finished results were slightly limited, due to the severity of the scratches, the customer was absolutely delighted with the finished results.

 
If you would like help and advice in the best way to clean and maintain your limestone floor, please contact Saul here.