Stone Care
Natural Stone | Porcelain | Ceramic
With over 30 years experience specialising in working with Natural Stone, Porcelain, Ceramic and more recently Wood, we are the number one company in the North with the knowledge, experience and machinery to deal with your hard floor cleaning and restoration requests.
Taught in Italy, Germany and the UK, we have gained the knowledge from those that are the worlds best in hard floor restoration. All our restoration machinery is dedicated to Stone and Wood floors. We do not use harsh chemicals.
Diamond restoration to stone surfaces is not only the safest method, it is also the method that will leave any stone surface with a brand new look.
We are happy to offer a free sample area, this is highly encouraged to show you exactly what diamond based restoration can offer against chemical and hot water alternatives.
Once the restoration of your floor is complete, we guide you through your maintenance programme. A complimentary bottle of cleaning fluid is left along with guidance on how and when to use it.
We believe our service is the ultimate in hard floor restoration available in the North of England.
Some Important things to consider when restoring your York Stone Flooring.
Yorkshire Stone Floors are not only very popular in older properties, they are also very valuable.
Careful consideration should be given as to the use of chemicals and steam/boiling water cleaning. Many of them were covered up with alternative floor coverings 50 years ago when new fashions arrived on the scene. Typical coverings included Lino. In order to achieve a flat surface to allow these alternatives, asphalt, levelling compounds and concrete amongst other materials were used to cover up and level the Stone Flags.
50 years later, many people are now discovering that these floors have been hidden away for decades and restoration of the Stone Flags has become extremely popular.
Roughly 80% of our work is the restoration of such flooring. We would like to share with you some important things to consider when getting quotes or indeed taking on the work yourself.
The first thing to think about is cleaning the stone.
There will be surface contamination from old floor coverings. We are NOT massive fans of cleaning chemicals. Lets face it, some of these floors are 200-300 years old, there weren’t many products available back then other than water and a good scrubbing brush, along with some elbow grease!!
Our cleaning method of Diamond Brushes coupled with water is an abrasive method that removes surface contamination, however, it does NOT have any detrimental effect on the stone. Minimal amounts of sand are removed with any other contamination but the overall visual structure and beauty of the stone remains.
It is vital that a breathable seal is used to finish the floor.
When the cleaning process is complete, we apply an impregnating spirit based seal to the stone. This impregnator is BREATHABLE.
Then, when this impregnator is fully cured, we apply a finishing coat to the surface, again, breathable. You may have uncovered your floor to find it is covered in Yacht Varnish. This is not to be used on stone as it does not breath. Sadly, Varnish does need a stripper to soften and then can be removed and the stone cleaned with our diamond brush system.
Matt, Sheen and Gloss finishes are available, or the stone can be left with the impregnator only to leave a natural finish. Alternatively, you can apply your choice of seal.
It is advisable to reapply a coat of seal every 12-18 months.
We use Natural Lime Mortar made with Hydraulic Lime blended with kiln dried grit and river sand 3mm or less. This, when brushed, leaves a lovely textured finish but more importantly, it is breathable. Modern day Lime Mortars offer a range of colours to choose from, (see colour chart) unlike the ‘off-white’ that was on offer many years ago. Alternatively, a sand and cement pointing is offered, however, we would always try and recommend the 100% natural and breathable alternative, especially in listed properties.
We have our own maintenance cleaner made for us. At Ph8, it is a slight Alkaline, great for keeping the oils and grease off the stone and typically the most annoying problems encountered in the kitchen.
It is apparent to all of us that most products on the shelves at the supermarket, simply do not work. We will show you how ours works and your first bottle is free.
All our products are available to buy so that you can maintain your floor yourself – please see our products. We also offer a yearly programme which is tailored to your needs.