It's Holiday Season! Protect Your Stone Surfaces and Enjoy

November 29, 2016

The holidays are a special time of the year. This season starts with huge and careful preparation, where family members play an important role in taking care of every single detail to enjoy a wonderful holiday season together. It all started in November when planning Thanksgiving – the decoration, the food, relatives coming over, children playing around the house; all these situations can create a small chaos in your daily routine. And regardless of how wonderful it is to have the family all together, let's face it, the chaos can affect the appearance of your home and even those areas that you consider the most resistant, such as stone surfaces.


It is well-known that stone surfaces are durable and beautiful; however, they need maintenance and care, and given that the holiday season is the busiest time of the year in most homes, they could deteriorate fast. Let's go through the situations that could speed up your stone surfaces' deterioration during the holidays and check the ones that are prone to happen in your home: tomato sauce spills, wine spills, vinegar spills, fruit juice spills, among others. We're sure you checked almost all of them. The bad news is that the previously mentioned situations can cause etching – a chemical reaction between an acidic substance and the calcium carbonate found in most stones. This reaction erodes the surface, leaving an etch mark. The good news is that you can prevent this from happening by getting a stone cleaning and sealing service to prepare your surfaces for the busy season.


Apart from etching, stone surfaces can also become scratched and thus lose their luster and charm, especially those with a high-gloss finish like some marble surfaces. Floor scratches are mainly caused by dirt, which can be brought into your home by the increased number of people who come over for the holidays. A helpful way to prevent scratches is placing floor mats in your home's busiest areas. On the other hand, scratches can additionally occur on countertops. Be careful with cookie cutters when making those delicious cookies for friends and family this holiday season.


Fortunately, if this information gets to you a little too late, you can always return the glory to your stone surfaces with a marble honing and polishing that will remove the etches, stains, and scratches from your marble, helping your stone surface go back to a shiny finish. You could even ask for a new finish, as stone honing takes the appearance of the stone back to square one, giving you the chance to adjust its sheen.


The best hard surface restoration companies will begin this process by using low-grit compounds, which grind the first layers of the stone, erasing etch marks and scratches. Technicians will continue working on the surface until the shine gradually appears. The progression of this procedure gives the experts the opportunity to achieve the level of shine that customers want.


Whether you get a preventive or a corrective service, make sure to hire a reliable company. The most experienced technicians will tell you how important it is to have your stone surfaces sealed to prevent damage and preserve the beauty of the stone. They will also tell you how necessary it is to periodically check the state of the sealant by placing some drops of liquid on the stone; if the liquid beads, we can say that the sealant is working properly, but if it's absorbed, a new coat of sealant needs to be applied. Dependable companies will teach you how to maintain the appearance of your stone, providing you with tips, such as cleaning up spills as soon as they happen and using pH-neutral cleaning products instead of acidic cleaners.

If you want to keep your stone surfaces in good condition, a stone restoration service is the best solution for you. At Sir Grout, we rely on a professionally trained staff, who are ready to provide you with the best services at a fair price. For more information, fill out the "Request a Quote" form on this page or call us at (866) 476-8863. We will gladly assist you.

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