stone cleaning Archives - Silver Lining Floor Care

Outdoor Cleaning

Outdoor stone cleaning might not be the first thing you think about. Rain cleans it naturally every time. Some tests, actually showed that the pavement outside is cleaner than carpet inside the house. Rain is perfectly fine for a little while. You should also sweep or blow your outside stone once in a while. Collect the leaves after autumn, as they can stain the stone over winter. Don’t do any car repairs as it may leak oil, etc.

Cleaning methods

Depending on the kind of your stone you can attempt cleaning it yourself. For more flat and smooth outdoor stone, use just a simple mop with an appropriate cleaning agent for fairly good results. For stone which has more texture, you could use a pressure washer to give it a rinse. You might ask the man in the house as we like to buy toys like this 🙂. Remember to remove the dry soil before attempting wet cleaning. it is a general rule for cleaning. fond out more about basics of cleaning here.

What to do after cleaning your stone?

Once you have finished your tile or stone cleaning job, it would be a great idea to make it last. You can use a solvent-based sealer to protect it from getting dirty too quickly, but also it protects it from mould getting onto the stone from the other way. You must wait at least 2 sunny days for the stone to properly dry before applying a sealer – it is crucial. This depends on the stone. Only solvent-based sealer is suitable for outdoor as it is simply too moist throughout the years to apply a water-based finish, as it may trap the moisture in. This can generate all sorts of problems.

Why outdoor cleaning is important?

After cleaning and also after fitting your outdoor stone it is very important to seal it. The mould, I mentioned before, once get through the stone us practically not removable. The oil stains, if you have an accident, will likely clean, if the stone was protected. it will protect the stone from any other dirt and will not get dirty rapidly, also will ease the maintenance DIY jobs with greater results.

How can we help with outdoor stone cleaning?

Free advice about what to do with any outdoor cleaning jobs. Just email us and send us as much info about the stone with some photos. We will provide you with the best advice about any stone cleaning enquiry. Send us an email rather than call as you will have in writing and the vibe might not be answered by the best person to get the advice from.

We also like our toys and we have a lot of them. It is unlikely that you will have any of the machines that we have. Whichever it is a diamond brush or pressure washer, we have it. Sometimes we can even combine these two to get the best results.

Outdoor cleaning cannot be done during the winter and colder months. It must be done during the warm days as the stone must dry before applying a sealer.

Get in your with us now to get a quote or free advice on any outdoor stone cleaning jobs in London.

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Watch out youTube video with the samples of our outside cleaning in London here.

Grout Cleaning – where to start?

Grout cleaning is a common reason why people call for a cleaning service. First of all, we need to answer ourselves why did it get dirty in the first place. In flood restoration, we must stop the source of water before the attempts of the drying. Then we can move on to dealing with the effects of the leak. The grout on your tiles can become dirty for variation of reason.

Reasons for the grout to be dirty

Most common, it is simply dirty from foot traffic. and it may show this dirt sooner than the tiles or stone itself. The porous material of the grout sokes with soil and dirt much easier than the tile itself. It also lyes little beneath the tiles so the dirt accumulates in grout lines.

It could be a simple staining. Ink is a perfect example as it probably works well on your imagination. You can see how it can penetrate the grout much deeper than dry soil particles. It as well could be an oil-based stain or makeup. Even the regular soil if left for too long may penetrate deep. All stain removal from any surface depends on:

the age of the stain
how was it spilt
was it treated at all
Temperature – hot coffee will go deeper than a cold one

Cleaning your grout

floor cleaning

The first approach for all the grout cleaning is the same – brush it out with chemical help if needed. Based on the sample and our judgment we will use the most suitable approach but the basics are always the same – CHAT (Chemicals, Heat, Agitation, Time). You can read more about the basics of cleaning everything.

We can’t ever say how bad is the grout on the floor as the stains may occur randomly and are hidden around the general soil. Only once the entire grout and tiles cleaned, the may appear. This is the same as all other stains on all other types of flooring.

During the job, it may require some additional work and another approach is not the 100% grantee that all the stains will be successfully removed.

With the grout, there is another way to tackle and restore the grout fully. Dig it ut and relay the grout. This is a very different job, very often greater than the cleaning itself. It may take days to do it. Once, you re-grout the floor it has to wait for around a week before it cures properly and then you can seal it for better performance and additional protection.

DIY Cleaning

most importantly is the regularity of cleaning. This way you will not require our help often, therefore, it will save you some cash. First, remove dry soil by vacuuming or sweeping, as a result, there will be less dry soil to soak in the grout after cleaning. Follow with mopping using a flat mop and appropriate cleaning products.

Grout is cracking!

cracking surface

That is a very different matter. We can repair it, but the underlying cause is elsewhere. As it cracked it means something is moving. Either the tile itself wasn’t properly fitted. Tile moves or the entire building has moved a bit and it caused the grout to crack. Nowadays, you can purchase a flexible grout, which lowers the risk of cracking. This is something you do not want to safe the money on, it is an investment. If you buy it too cheap, you will lose everything. The product will not do what it supposed to do. Removing the old grout and re-grouting is a massive job. Make a wise choice when purchasing the grout, tile fitter you employ and even the builder that will build your house or extension.

Our grout cleaning work

: Grout cleaning before and after

: Dirty grout on limestone

: Clean tiles and grout on limestone 1

: Clean tiles and grout on limestone 1

: Slate floor with very dirty grout on the day of the quote visit

: Slate floor and the grout on the day of the finish

: Clean grout on grey tiles

: Clean grout on slate floor

How can we help with grout cleaning?

We are not the builders or tile fitters, we focus on floors. The maintenance and keeping the good performance and the good looks of your floor. We want it to be a bliss to your eye and give you peace of mind. Please get in touch with us to get any advise or quote on your floors. We are here to give you the best possible solution.

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