Everything You Need to Know About Stone Restoration
Your stone surfaces are an important part of your home or business, so it’s crucial to keep them looking their best. Unfortunately, even with regular cleaning and upkeep, time and wear-and-tear eventually take their toll. Marble floors, granite countertops, and other natural stone surfaces begin to look worn and scratched, or their finishes become dull–especially in areas of high traffic and heavy use. That’s where professional stone restoration comes in.
What Is Stone Restoration?
Stone restoration is the process of returning damaged or worn stone surfaces back to their original condition at the time of installation. It can involve a number of processes, including any or all of the following:
- Grinding: Using abrasive pads to grind down the stone, removing scratches, stains, and other blemishes in the process.
- Leveling and lippage removal: Grinding down uneven areas, especially around the edges of stone and tile, to return them to a smooth, even surface.
- Honing and polishing: Using progressively finer abrasives to smooth the surface of the stone and restore its shine.
- Sealing: Applying a penetrating sealer to the stone to protect it from future staining and wear.
Why Restore Your Stone Surfaces?
The thing about natural stone is that while it exudes elegance and beauty when new, it can also really show its age when it’s not revitalized periodically. Dulled or uneven stone finishes make a space look worn, unkept, or even ugly–effectively defeating the purpose of why the stonework was installed in the first place.
The good news is that when left to the pros, natural stone surfaces like marble, granite, travertine, terrazzo, limestone, and others can be revitalized to look brand-new again. Whatever the damage, restoring your stone surfaces can help them look like new again—and that can do wonders for the aesthetic of your home or business.
When Should You Call in a Professional for Stone Restoration?
How often your stone surfaces need to be restored depends largely on their location and how much wear-and-tear they see on a daily basis. For example, if you have a lobby with marble floors that accommodate thousands of people a day, you’ll likely need to have them restored every few years (or even every few months) to keep them looking their best. Conversely, if you have stone counters in your home that only see occasional use, you may not see signs of dulling for years. The basic rule of thumb is: if there are visible signs of wear or dulling and regular cleaning or hand buffing doesn’t improve the look of it, it’s probably time to have the pros take a look.
Breathe New Life into Your Natural Stone Surfaces
Keeping your stone counters and floors looking their best isn’t just about maintaining aesthetic value or making a good first impression. In many cases, it’s also about protecting your investment. Periodic stone restoration not only makes these surfaces look new again, it also helps extend the life of your stone surfaces, preventing more extensive (and expensive) repairs or replacements down the road.
At Statewide Stone Care (a Stonework company), we’ve been restoring natural stone and tile floors, counters, and other surfaces to like-new condition across the Tri-State area for more than a decade. For a free quote on stone restoration services, contact us today.