Stone, Tile and grout are usually laid in areas of your home that experience high traffic. These areas usually collect soil faster than other areas. You may have tried cleaning your stone or tile & grout yourself and gave up because, let’s face it, it is very difficult to get it very clean. It’s a great deal of hard work cleaning tile & grout by hand. At Royalty Services Group we use specially formulated cleaners, scrubbing, and high pressure hot water and steam to dissolve and force the dirt out of the uneven texture of the tile and grout. When we’re done, you may think you’ve got a new floor.
Natural Stone Cleaning & Sealing
Natural Stone like Marble, Travertine, Slate, Granite and Limestone make beautiful flooring but cleaning them safely requires some specialized knowledge. The cleaning of stone can vary depending on the make up of the stone and the type of finish it has. Royalty Services Group understands the safe and proper techniques for restoring your natural stone’s beauty. Trust us, it’s much cheaper to have your stone cleaned right the first time than to have to re-hone or replace it because of an incorrect cleaning process. We also specialize in the application of stone & grout sealing products that will enhance the color and beauty of the stone as well as sealing its crack and crevices to help it clean up much better in the future.
Slate
Classified as a “rough” material with a low absorption. Slate can be found both an interiors and exteriors, and rarely have a high polish unless a coating is placed on it. Slate can be a problem for it’s high content of clay, especially in wet areas, and can develop efflorescence easily. A good quality impregnator sealer can protect the stone and generate more durability. A color enhanced can be applied also in this type of floor, to create a colorful look of the stone.
The appearance of the terrazzo is more uniform than most natural stone, and is available in tile forms or by pouring application on the slab. Terrazzo is a mixture of Portland cement and Marble chips. These chips can range in size from a fraction of an inch to as large to several inches. The very good side about Terrazzo is it can be ground, honed and polish just like Marble and can be easily mistaken for Granite.
Essentially limestone that has been formed in hot springs. Water movement caused the erosion of the stone creating numerous holes of varying sizes. A polished travertine will have its holes filled with color-matched Portland cement filler. These fillers do not take a high polish and therefore the overall polish tends to look blotchy.
3 Tile Cleaning Packages
Platinum Tile Cleaning Package – Includes all of the steps below. The best way to keep your tile protected and looking great
Gold Tile Cleaning Package – Includes steps1-6 below. Our most thorough tile cleaning process
Silver Tile Cleaning Package – Includes steps 1, 2, 3, 5, 6. A good basic tile cleaning
Stone and Tile & Grout Cleaning Process
1) First step involves a thorough inspection of the tile or stone to identify loose grout, chips, cracks, lippage and any other potential problem areas. Once these have been pointed out and discussed with the client and the price has been agreed to the cleaning process can begin.
2) The flooring needs to be free from loose dirt, rocks, food, etc… This means it will usually need to be swept or vacuumed ahead of time.
3) The technician will mix up a special tile & stone cleaning solution at approximately 175 degrees and carefully mop it onto any area of the flooring. This will be allowed to sit for about 10 minutes to start degreasing and breaking up the dirt and grime.
4) (Gold & Platinum Cleaning Packages) The technician will hand scrub all of the grout lines with a grout brush to break the soil away from the cracks and crevices of the grout. This step can be the difference between a good cleaning and a great cleaning.
5) The technician will use a Turbo pressure washing tool to blast the dirt and soil out of the cracks and into the vacuum ports. This tool uses water that is between 175-200 degrees and pressurized up to 1200 psi. It can be amazing to watch this step as the soil is melted away and the clean tile floor is left to dry.
6) After the tile cleaning, the floor will be allowed to dry completely.
7) (Platinum Cleaning Package) Once the floor is dry the technician will apply a penetrating sealer to the grout lines on ceramic tile and to the stone’s surface on stone. The penetrating sealer needs about 24 hours to completely cure, so it is best tostay off of it as much as possible. The sealer will help to repel oil and water-based stains for a matter of time and keep your stone and grout looking great much longer.
The cleaning process is recommended approximately every 12 months. The more foot traffic, pets, children, and abuse the tile receives – the more frequently you will want to have it cleaned to keep it looking good.