362 Stone Cleaners

What can I expect from a professional stone cleaner?

A natural stone floor cleaner should cover marble, slate, granite, travertine and limestone. Some professionals will also service terrazzo, saltillo, concrete and flagstone. If you aren’t sure of the exact material you have, a stone cleaning expert will be able to identify it for you. While they generally focus on cleaning stone floors, they can also do countertops, walls and outdoor surfaces that are covered in natural stone. If you have minor (or seemingly major) chips or cracks, most professional stone cleaners should be able to fix those as well. A stone cleaning technician can recommend a timeline for cleaning your specific surface, depending on the amount of use, foot traffic or otherwise, that it sees. It can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to clean stone floors, but you will likely want to stay off of them for a full 24 hours, especially if you have them sealed — the same goes for countertops or shower walls. Typically, stone floor cleaning companies will follow these steps when performing a routine maintenance on your flooring or counters:

Prep: This includes removing any loose debris from the area and marking off the areas that are to be cleaned.
Hone: Abrasive cleaners are used to gently remove any imperfections and dirt from the surface of the stone.
Polish: The stone is brought back to its intended shine and luster with special polishing machines.
Seal: Sealant is applied to the stone to protect against stains in the future.

Questions to ask a prospective tile and stone cleaner:

• Can you provide me with references?
  
• Are you licensed and insured? (Check liability insurance and workman's compensation.)
  
• How do you charge, and what does that include?
  
• Can you give me a written estimate?
  
• How long have you been in the tile and stone cleaning business?
  
• What do your services include?
  
• What is your experience with similar projects?
  
• When can this job get done?
  
• Will we need to be out of the house? If so, how long?
  

Find a natural stone cleaner on Houzz. Narrow your search in the Professionals section of the website to local stone cleaners and read reviews and ratings to find one that fits your needs.