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Services |
 The Stone Poets are experts in the care of natural stone installations. We are experienced in the maintenance, cleaning, sealing, polishing, honing, restoration and repair of marble, travertine, limestone, onyx, granite, slate, cantera, bluestone, sandstone, and shellstone.
Additionally, we work daily cleaning, maintaining and repairing ceramic and porcelain tile installations, clean and repair cement grout lines, clean, seal and restore Saltillo clay tile installations, and work with polymer-fortified concrete overlay systems to repair, recolor and resurface worn existing concrete, eliminating the need for new concrete pours.
If you have a problem or question about an existing natural stone installation in your home, please call us. It's very likely that we are familiar with your specific need and can quickly offer a solution.
Some Specific Remedies For Natural Stone That We Perform (in alphabetical order) Include:
• Chemical Repolishing or Rehoning - to remove imperfections and even out the finish of the floor. Chemical polishing compounds are buffed into the stone using specialized, weighted floor machines and nylon polishing pads, then removed with a pH neutral rinse. Honing powders are chemically inert organic abrasives that slightly resurface the floor and bring a smooth, satin finish to the installation, typically removing blemishes, inconsistencies in the appearance of the floor, and shallow scratches.
• Color Enhancement - All natural stone can be color enhanced. Color enhancers are usually heavy polymers that darken and enrich the natural color of marble, travertine, granite, limestone, slate and onyx.
• Deep Cleaning - to remove ground-in dirt, footprints, water spots and spills. We use high alkaline stone soaps to attack embedded dirt, specialty cleaners for mineral deposits (efflorescence), and pH neutral cleaners to bring the pH of the installation to neutral before sealing with commercial grade, breathable, penetrating fluoro-polymer sealants.
• Etch removal from calcite stones - Calcite stones include marbles, travertines, limestone, and onyx. All these stones will react with acids, resulting in dull spots on the stone that will not wipe off. Acid etching on calcite stones can be repaired through a combination of sanding and polishing the affected area. Good quality sealants can help deter the occurences of etch marks.
• Floor Flattening - diamond grinding - Required when a floor is laid in poorly, resulting in "lips" along tile edges - high and low spots on the floor that require aggressive diamond grinding to bring level. If a floor is not flattened prior to sanding and polishing, the final result may show duller areas along grout lines of low tiles, diminishing the final result of the restoration job.
• Mechanical Restoration - diamond sanding - Required when the stone floor finish is damaged by stains and scratches to the point where the installation needs to be refinished to achieve a satisfactory look. The mechanical sanding process proceeds the chemical process described above, and usually involves sanding the floor with progressively finer grits of specialized diamond sanding pads to prepare the floor for polishing or honing. Sanding the floor prior to polishing will result in a higher gloss and a clearer reflection on the floor when polished and sealed.
• Repair of natural stone tiles - Damaged tiles or slabs can be repaired using epoxy, polyester or acrylic materials, colored to match the surrounding stone. Travertine fills that "pop" can be replaced using a special fill material designed specifically for travertine. Tiles unable to be repaired can be removed, replaced, and regrouted into the floor, deck or wall.
• Sealing - Although contrary to popular opinion, the fact is natural stone can be very porous, and nearly all stone can benefit from the application of a good sealer. We use commercial grade, breathable, penetrating fluoro-polymer sealants to protect natural stone from spills, dirt, and the elements.
• Stain Removal - Stains in stone are created by spills that are absorbed into the matrix of the stone and become imbedded. Stained areas of a stone installation can be repaired using a clay poultice, mixed with water and an accelerator to form a wet paste, then applied to the stain, covered with plastic and allowed to slowly dry. As the clay dries, it pulls the the stain out of the stone and into the clay.
Ceramic & Porcelain Tile Installations:
• Cleaning and Maintaining all Ceramic and Porcelain Tile Installations - Ceramic and porcelain tiles can withstand more aggressive cleaners without problems. We use high alkaline cleaners in combination with heavy duty acid cleaners, which do a great job of removing soap scum, lime deposits, and other mineral deposits that routinely accumulate in bathrooms and around kitchen or laundry room sinks.
• Cleaning, Recoloring and Sealing Ceramic and Porcelain Tile Grout - Cement grout is extremely porous and will easily stain if not sealed with a quality sealer when first set. Cement grout lines usually respond well to acid cleaners, which slightly burn the grout to remove impurities from its face. Care must be taken when using acids on grout lines, and should never be used on grout lines surrounding calcite stone, which will etch when coming into contact with an acid (calcite stones includes marble, travertine, limestone and onyx).
Saltillo and Mexican Paver Tile Installations (Indoor & Outdoor):
• Saltillo Cleaning, Sealing, Staining, Restoring and Maintenance - Our company prides itself on its ability to restore Saltillo clay tile installations. Saltillo is very porous and can quickly become dirty, stained, scratched and unattractive if not properly cared for. We know how to expertly remove any coatings from existing installations, completely clean the Saltillo in preparation for refinishing, and finally seal the refinished Saltillo with a quality sealant. We like using acrylic topicals that both protect and enhance the appearance of the Saltillo. Finishes can be created from smooth satin to a high gloss, depending upon the wishes of the homeowner. Saltillo can even be stained different colors, giving the floor a completely new and different look prior to sealing.
• Saltillo Tile Acid Staining - The Stone Poets have developed a method of adopting concrete acid staining techniques to the process of staining clay Saltillo tiles. To our knowledge, we are the only company in CA who has developed this method and have the ability to manufacture custom Saltillo tiles in a stunning array of acid stained hues.
Concrete:
• Acid Staining - Many homeowners are looking at concrete as a viable flooring option to tile, stone, wood and carpet. Interior concrete floors can be acid stained using special colorants that react with the lime in the concrete to create a beautiful, artistic appearance. Floors can easily be designed in geometric patterns, flowing lines, bordered or segmented to mimic stone or tile. Our specialized polymer-fortified concretes can be sprayed on to existing concrete to create a clean, smooth, even canvas for acid staining. We can seal acid stained floors with matte, satin, or high gloss finish sealants, depending upon the wishes of the customer.
• Power Washing and Cleaning - We use high pressure commercial washers in combination with aggressive concrete cleaners to effectively clean exterior concrete. Our concrete cleaners usually have a strong acid component to them that slightly etches the concrete as it cleans, and helps to remove rust, planter run-off and mineral deposits from the concrete.
• Resurfacing, recoloring, texture finishing - We use a special polymer-fortified concrete as an overlay system to existing concrete (some refer to this method as "micro-topping"), allowing us to create a brand new appearance on outdoor concrete patios, walkways and driveways without the need for demolition of the old concrete and the expense of a new pour.
• Sealing - We use commercial grade, breathable, penetrating fluoro-polymer sealants to protect concrete from the elements.
An Alphabetical Listing of Service Hyper-links. Use these links to take you to where you need to go on our site.
Ceramic and Porcelain Tile Cleaning
Chemical Re-polishing
Color Enhancement
Concrete Acid Staining
Concrete Power Washing
Concrete Resurfacing, Recoloring, Texture Finishing
Concrete Sealing
Deep Cleaning
Etch Removal
Floor Flattening
Grout Cleaning, Recoloring and Sealing
Mechanical Restoration
Repair of Natural Stone Tiles
Saltillo Tile Maintenance, Restoration and Sealing
Sealing
Stain Removal
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