When you move into a home that has stone flooring, you may find yourself wondering what (if anything) you need to do to maintain and repair those floors and keep them looking as good as possible for as long as possible. While stone floors are durable and strong, you will still need to take proper care of them to ensure that you do not need to prematurely replace your floors. Get to know some of the basic maintenance and repair tasks that you should perform to keep your stone floors nice and put them to use in your home as soon as possible.
Stone Resurfacing and Sealing
Stone floors need to be resurfaced and sealed from time to time. This is because the sealant that was placed onto the stone when the floor was first installed can be worn down or off from frequent traffic, use, and even through the cleaning process.
In order to resurface your stone floors, you will first need to make sure that the stone surface is even. This involves buffing or sanding down the sealant layer of your stone. Once the floors are even, you can apply sealant over the entire surface of the floor and allow the sealant to set.
Know the Proper Cleaning Procedures
If you want your stone floor to remain intact, you will need to clean it properly. Vacuuming a stone floor may seem easier than pulling out a broom and dustpan. However, a vacuum can cause too much friction on the surface of your stone floor and damage the sealant and the underlying stone.
Additionally, applying wax to stone floors is not a good idea. While it may create a superficial shine, the wax too can eat away at the protective layers of your stone flooring and cause damage and the possibility of permanent stains on damaged, unsealed surfaces.
Instead, use a soft broom and dustpan to clean dirt and debris on a daily basis. You can also mop every week or so using a damp (but not soaking wet) mop and a special stone flooring solution.
While you can clean and maintain your stone floors on a day to day basis, it is also important to have a professional take a look at your stone flooring on occasion. Once a year or once every few years, have your stone
Stone floors may look completely solid. However, on a microscopic level, they have tiny pores in which dirt and other particles can get stuck. Your professional cleaning service can get down into those pores and extract that dirt and grime from your stone floor. The result will be a bright and shining floor that looks just like new and will last you for a long time.
Now that you know more about maintaining and repairing your stone floors, you can be sure that you