Should I replace or restore my travertine, marble, or tile and grout

Five Surfaces we Can Restore for you instead of Replacing and One We Recommend Restoring instead of Replacing.

There are many times you think the only way to get a surface looking good again is if you replace it. But this is not always the actual case. A lot of surfaces can be restored and brought back to life.

I will go over fine different surface materials that we can help you restore and one that we recommend restoring instead of spending the money to replace it. Hopefully, this will help you save money when you are deciding between replacing or restoring.

The things we can help with include:

Tile and Grout: Tile and grout are one of the easiest materials to restore. Ceramic and porcelain tiles are very durable and last a long time. But even though they are very strong, they can get broken, chipped, scratched of the grout can become stained or discolored. If you have loose or broken tiles, a handyman or tile installer can easily pop those out completely and reset the tile and replace the grout lines damaged.

We can help restore the surfaces and the grout lines. Often, the only reason a tile will look scratched is that it has a topical sealer on it. These are sealers installed on top of the tile's surface (like a wax). To remove this wax sealer, we strip it off, which brings you back to the tile's natural look. Applying these topical sealers is a bad idea because they actually attract and hold dirt, and over time they can start to peel off and scratch easily. Were commend staying away from using these. If the grout lines look discolored or stained, we can easily clean and reseal them to look new again.

We use a high heat high-pressure system to clean tile and grout. This system acts as a self-contained pressure washer with an extraction system as well. This is the best way to get the grout clean. If there is still discoloring or stained areas after cleaning, we will apply what is called a color seal. This sealer is a penetrating sealer that absorbs the grout lines, clogs the pores, and changes the grout to one uniform color again. This process makes the tile and grout look brand new again.

As you can see, all these processes are more manageable and much more cost-effective than ripping out all of the tiles and replacing them with new tiles.

Travertine: This is a surface we restore regularly. There is a lot of different things that can happen to Travertine. It is a natural stone and even though it is a solid and durable material, it is still natural and can damage. On Travertine you can get etch marks, scratches, staining, dulling, and so much more. Now instead of replacing the Travertine because you think there is no hope for it, give us a call first.

We are number one when it comes to travertine restoration. This is the number one specialty service we offer. For Travertine, we provide cleaning, sealing, honing, and polishing services. Cleaning will remove the dirt and grime from the travertine tiles and the grout lines. This gives us a good idea of what your Travertine may need to bring it back to life. 

Honing is a process we use to remove etch marks and scratches within the Travertine. It removes a thin layer of the tiles' top surface and exposes new Travertine that has no blemishes. Polishing is a process that reacts with the calcium in the stone and brings out the natural shine from within the Travertine. These two processes will create one uniform look on the Travertine throughout the entire area.

With Travertine, you can also get cracks and pits. We can fill these with a product called Traverfill! The holes are a natural part of Travertine, but they don't always to look the nicest. We can fill these and create a nice smooth surface again throughout. Cracks can be a little trickier if they are too thin to fill, but we will let you know if your cracks are fixable or not before doing the work.

Marble & Granite: Like Travertine, these two natural stones can quickly be restored as well. You typically find Granite and Marble on countertops. Countertops get a lot of use daily; this can cause dulling, etching, scratching, and so much more. Instead of replacing them, we would clean them, hone out the blemishes and damaged spots, and polish the marble and granite back to its natural shine. After bringing the shine back, we would thoroughly seal the countertops to help prevent substances from seeping in and causing staining. The sealer should be applied every 18-24months to ensure you are appropriately protecting your countertops.

Outdoor Pavers:  Outdoor pavers can damage easily and quickly, depending on how much exposure they get from Arizona's natural elements. Pavers can stain, discolor, deteriorate, and so much more. By protecting them and maintaining the proper maintenance, you can keep your outdoor pavers looking new longer. To restore damaged pavers, we recommend regular cleaning to remove all grit and dirt that can potentially scratch or damage the surface. If the surfaces are damaged, we can hone pavers to remove the damage. Then sealing the pavers will help prevent staining and discoloring from the many different weather types we get here.

One surface we recommend getting restored and not replaced is hardwood!!

Hardwood: Hardwoods can easily scratch or get damaged depending on daily life and daily use. Over time the wood will start to look old and worn out. Instead of ripping it out and putting in new expensive hardwood floors, you can easily sand the wood down to bare wood and re-stain to an original finish. Yes, this would be a process and take some real muscle work but in the long run, doing it yourself or hiring a wood re-finisher would save you so much money versus getting all new wood floors.

On all of these surfaces, you have to think about it. To replace, you have to get the old ripped out, the subfloor prepped, and then purchase the new flooring and get it installed. Also, the amount of time it takes to remove, prep, and replace is how long most people need to stay off the floor. It is tough to live in a house that is having “renovations to the flooring.” Before you decide to rip out your flooring and replace it with something new, give us a call to see how we can help you!

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