Many of you love doing correction and restoration jobs around your house. It makes you feel productive and it definitely saves you from the cost of hiring a professional. With so many detailed and explanatory videos on search engines, a Do-It-Yourself task in every field feels damn easy. The tools and products are easily available in the market to help you in your goals. But when it actually comes to performing the task, very few of you get the desired results. If you are still confused whether to try natural stone restoration yourself or call a pro, then this detailed article will help you make the right decision.
Natural Stone and its Characteristics:
First of all, it will be helpful to know a bit about natural stone. Natural stones are mined from the earth’s crust and they can be used as building materials. Varied combinations of heat and pressure lead to the formation of these stones. There are many types of natural stone such as travertine, slate, granite, marble and others. Natural stone is also highly porous. It tends to absorb all kinds of liquids, thereby offering favorable circumstances for mold breeding. Food and beverage spills also lead to staining. Sometimes, natural stone gets cracked or chipped due to heavy impact or if the underlayment at the time of installation was not proper. Over time, stone becomes dull and loses it sheen. All these problems could have been prevented if the stone was sealed properly at the time of installation. A thorough restoration including cleaning, sealing, polishing, and repairing can restore the stone to its natural brilliance.
Do-It-Yourself:
If you want to consider cleaning and sealing of your natural stone yourself, then do read the pros and cons before plunging into the task.
Pros:
- Saves cost.
- Feels good to do something on your own.
- Gives you the opportunity to try and learn something new.
Cons:
- Lack of knowledge and expertise will not give desired results.
- You might end up wasting time and money.
- You might purchase the wrong products.
- The sealers and heavy duty cleaners will stick all over your body if you are not careful about the right work gear and technique.
- If you seal the flooring or countertops without removing the pre-existing sealers or dirt and debris, you will end up sealing the dirt, resulting in a cloudy and hazy surface.
- Doing restoration yourself without proper knowledge might lead to permanent damage of your costly stone surfaces.
- Do-It-Yourself projects are fine for small areas but definitely not practical for larger areas. You may lose the patience to carry out the entire task perfectly, resulting in non-uniform results.
- Sealing stone floors is not an easy task. It is possible that you might get tired mid-way, which will lead to poor quality work. Trained professionals scan the entire surface area first and then start sealing accordingly.
- Often the instructions written behind the cleaning or sealing agent, does not include how to clean up the mess that comes with sealing stone countertops or flooring. Without cleaning the extra build-up, your sealed surface might look bulky and bad.
Hiring a Pro:
Many of you hire a pro for your stone restoration and maintenance. Whether that’s a good decision or a bad one, let’s find out by weighing the pros and cons.
Pros:
- Professionals and experts have proper training and knowledge about the procedure and follow each step systematically. They will first clean the stone properly, repair any chips and damages, clean and seal the grout and lastly seal the stone. They also perform polishing and honing as per your requirement. Honing renders matte finish while polishing gives a brilliant sheen.
- Professionals scan the surface first before performing repair and restoration. You might miss on these flaws if you are planning to do a DIY.
- Experts know that every natural stone is different and requires a different approach and procedure. It is their job to analyse the size of the floor , type of stone, cracks and chips, pre-existing sealers, missing or cracked grout and such other important points about the natural stone before they begin their restoration process.
- They use specialized equipments and products to aid them in natural stone restoration. As a normal person, you may not have access to the best quality products and equipments, which will not give you the desired results.
- Some professional companies also offer labor warranties on their services, which can let you sit back and relax.
Cons:
- Hiring a pro can be a tad too costly.
After comparing the pros and cons of both DIY and hiring a pro for natural stone restoration, of course the latter makes more sense. But choosing a good professional stone restoration company can also be quite tricky. Not every stone polishing and restoration company offers all the necessary procedures required to give that long lasting sheen and finesse.
To hire an expert stone restoration contractor, you have to make sure of the following:
- Labor Warranty: Not everyone offers a labor warranty on their services and it is better to choose a service provider that offers a warranty to feel safe about your investment.
- Step-by-step procedures starting with cleaning, repairing chips and cracks, grout restoration and eventually stone sealing.
- Ask about the kind of sealants they use. Some of you might prefer a natural look which is rendered by a clear-solvent topical sealer while some of you might prefer a lush sheen which requires a different kind of oil-based sealer.
- They should also have in-depth information on cleaning, sealing and stone floor polishing.
So whether you choose a DIY or a pro is entirely your choice. If you feel confident enough to carry out the whole procedure yourself, then you can watch some videos for better guidance before you begin. If you feel that you cannot handle it on your own, you can always contact a pro for expert opinion, guidance and sustainable results. D'Sapone® – one of the leading stone and grout restoration service provider companies in the US, offers professional services for restoration and polishing of natural stone. Our stone restoration experts are highly trained and passionate people, who work hard to give a long-lasting sheen and finesse on your stone surfaces using high-quality products manufactured by pFOkUS®. We have patented our procedures and also offer a 5 year labor warranty.
Have questions? Feel free to contact us with your queries. You can also contact our experts to get a free stone restoration estimate.
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