Natural stone cleaning and sealing in Clearwater Hills

The gated hillside above Lincoln, on the Camelback slopes · built 1960s onward, individually built

Stone nobody installs anymore

Because these houses were built one at a time across sixty years, the materials are far more varied than in any tract neighborhood.

We find slate that was quarried locally, limestone in finishes that are no longer produced, flagstone used indoors, and travertine from an era when the fill and finishing were done differently. Identification matters more here than anywhere else, because assuming a floor is modern travertine when it is something softer is how it gets damaged.

So the inspection takes longer in this neighborhood and we would rather it did. A wrong guess on a floor that cannot be replaced is not a recoverable mistake.

Decades of products already on it

The other consequence of long ownership. A floor that has been in place forty years has usually had a great deal applied to it.

Topical sealers, waxes, acrylic finishes, and in some cases several generations of each. The soil is then underneath the coating rather than on top of it, which is why ordinary cleaning achieves very little and why a previous company may have told you the floor was simply worn out.

Frequently it is not. What it needs is establishing what is on there before anything else happens, and that is a walkthrough question rather than a phone one.

Anything you know about the floor's history genuinely helps, including vague recollections about work done decades ago.

Hillside houses and access

• Stepped, multi-level construction, so we bring equipment to the room rather than running hose across finished floors
• Light furniture moved on request, and we work up to and around whatever stays
• Gate and guardhouse procedures handled if you mention them at booking
• We deal with a house manager or caretaker directly where that suits
• Cure time explained before we leave, which matters more on a house with limited routes between rooms

The chemistry, which is the whole reason this is a separate trade

Travertine, marble and limestone are calcium carbonate. Acid dissolves calcium carbonate. Everything else follows from that one fact.

It means an acidic product does not clean these stones badly, it removes part of the surface, leaving a dull patch where the finish used to be. It happens on contact rather than over time, and there is no route back that does not involve a refinisher and diamond pads.

It also means most of what sits under a kitchen sink is dangerous here. Anything sold for hard water, soap scum or general bathroom use is very likely acidic, and vinegar, which gets recommended constantly, is among the worst.

Everything we put on stone is pH-neutral. There is no circumstance in which that changes.

Worth asking any other company the same question, and treating a vague answer as an answer.

The honest limits

Stone is the one surface where the damage is permanent and expensive, so this belongs near the top rather than in a footnote.

Cleaning and sealing addresses soil, mineral and protection. Cleaning pulls out what has worked into a porous surface, and sealing keeps the next lot from going in. On stone that has never been properly cleaned the difference is substantial.

It does not address etching or worn finish. Etching is where acid has dissolved part of the surface. Worn finish is where traffic has abraded it. Both are changes to the stone itself rather than something sitting on it, so neither cleans off and neither is hidden by sealer.

Putting those right means honing and polishing with diamond pads, which is refinishing. We do not offer it, and when that is what a floor needs we will tell you rather than take the job and leave you disappointed.

How we do it

1. Identify the stone and assess the existing sealer. Travertine, marble, limestone and slate each behave differently, and what suits one can harm another. We also establish whether a sealer is present and what state it is in, because that changes the approach entirely.
2. Clean with products matched to that stone. pH-neutral throughout, lifting soil and mineral out of the stone and the grout without touching the surface itself.
3. Seal, if you have chosen it. Clear to protect what is there, color enhancing to bring the natural color forward, and grout color seal on the lines if you want it.
4. Walk the finished floor with you before anything leaves, and explain the cure time for the product used.

Cleaning always precedes sealing. Sealing over soil locks it beneath the coating instead of protecting anything, which is why these are sold as tiers rather than sealing offered alone.

How often to reseal

Reseal every one to two years, depending on the product used and how much traffic the area sees.

There is a test that removes all opinion from it. Put a few drops of water on the stone and leave it five minutes. Beading means the seal is intact. Soaking in and darkening the stone means it has gone, and the stone is now absorbing everything else too.

Most floors we are called to fail that test and the owner had no idea, because a sealer wearing out is invisible until you go looking for it. Full page on resealing.

Questions from Clearwater Hills

Elsewhere in Paradise Valley

Camelback Country Estates · Palo Cristi and Sundown Estates · Casa Blanca Estates and Judson · Mummy Mountain and Cheney Estates · Tatum Canyon and Finisterre