Don’t take it for granite…make money cleaning and sealing stone!

[Mikey P]

I lurk on the cleaning boards at lot. I just watch and listen trying to determine trends etc. One area I find interesting is that many carpet cleaners seem ignore stone. Sure, there are some cleaners out there that specialize in stone and won’t even touch carpet, but from many of the posts that I see and read, I have yet to see with a degree of regularity some carpet cleaner all excited and posting pictures of a stone job he’s done.


The rest of Robert Falzone's article

 

[Mikey P]

I figured a poultice was going to be needed to get those oily looking spots out..

 

[Cameron DeMille]

"Granite is different from most other natural stones like marble and travertine because it is virtually un-scratchable. Only diamonds are harder. On the Mohs scale, granite is a 9 and diamonds are a 10."

This is how you get people in trouble. Diamonds are a single mineral, while granite is a combination of several different minerals. One of them being Mica, which is incredibly easy to damage. Quartz, Feldspar and Mica make up true geological granite, which most "granites" you come across are not. Feldspar is a 6, quartz is a 7 and Mica is 2-3 on the scale. VERY far from being almost as hard as diamonds. So the combined minerals that makeup a true granite are around a 6 maybe a generous 7 on the mohs scale. Sand, which has find particles of quartz and other minerals, will scratch granite when tracked in over time.

You can absolutely scratch granite. Regular foot traffic in a commercial setting will eventually wear it down. UPS dropping off boxes, then sliding those boxes on the floor with tiny grains of sand (in the Las Vegas desert nonetheless) will scratch the granite. Green Scotchbrite pads next to the kitchen sink will eventually wear down the finish.

Not only that, that article is adamant you can't scratch granite, then shows the cleaning of flames granite, which is an entirely different type of surface that you'll almost exclusively in a commercial setting. it is used for the slip resistance factor. Why does this matter? Because some guy going into a home or business to do some sort of service is under the impression that he can't hurt the granite floor may have a little dirt or something under his wheels on his equipment. He goes to reposition in and drags it a little sideways. That can leave fine scratches in the surface. There are many other seemingly innocent scenarios that can cause minor damage that can end up costing you a significant amount of money to fix.

 

[Robert Falzone]

I wrote: 'Granite is different from most other natural stones like marble and travertine because it is virtually un-scratchable.' Definition of 'virtual':

vir·tu·al·ly
ˈvərCH(əw)əlē/
adverb
1.
nearly; almost.
"virtually all those arrested were accused"
synonyms: effectively, in effect, all but, more or less, practically, almost, nearly, close to, verging on, just about, as good as, essentially, to all intents and purposes, roughly, approximately;

I was not 'adamant' that granite couldn't be scratched. Definition of 'adamant'...

ad·a·mant
ˈadəmənt/Submit
adjective
1.
refusing to be persuaded or to change one's mind.
"he is adamant that he is not going to resign"
synonyms: unshakable, immovable, inflexible, unwavering, unswerving, uncompromising, insistent, resolute, resolved, determined, firm, steadfast; More

My reference to the 'virtual unscratchability' of granite is in juxtaposition to marble and granite. (look up juxtaposition with the dictionary you need to buy)

According to http://www.asgranite.com/FAQS.aspx

Can you scratch granite?
In general it is very difficult to scratch. Granite is one of the hardest stones in the world and is highly resistant to scratching in ordinary use. A knife blade will not scratch granite. It can be scratched by another piece of granite or with specially sharpened tools designed to work with granite like tungsten and diamond blades.

You wrote: "Why does this matter? Because some guy going into a home or business to do some sort of service is under the impression that he can't hurt the granite floor may have a little dirt or something under his wheels on his equipment."

Some guy going into a HOME or business can hurt a granite floor? Granite floors are almost never in homes. In homes, granite is almost always installed on countertops or in showers. Commercial granite floors are either shiny or flamed. (not flames as you said) Both are cleanable and treatable by the average carpet cleaner with proper education.

I never told or suggested that cleaners do not need to cover granite floors while transporting equipment across them.

Thank you for setting up my next article which is about how to get treat stressed shiny granite floors that is suffering from loss of clarity due to micro-abrasions and contamination.

Your'e pretty smart. Just remember the context of the article and that this isn't a science blog.

rob

 

[Cameron DeMille]

we can have this discussion without you being condescending.

I misspelled flamed as flamed, was that really part of your argument? When you write articles for a specific audience, and omit details, or include incorrect information it can have inadvertent negative affects.

it's not a scientific article, then why bother mentioning the Mohs scale and comparing mineral hardness? Do carpet cleaners need to know this to clean floors? If it's worth mentioning, it's worth getting right.

 

[Robert Falzone]

There's nothing to discuss. Your criticism is invalid. I never said that it was impossible to scratch granite and I didn't encourage cleaners to be reckless because granite is hard to scratch. A discussion would involve you using your personal experience to make thoughtful suggestions for how the job could have been done better or maybe you had another way or technique to share with the audience. I'm sure your'e a nice person, but I don't see you posting educational blogs for Mikey's Board. Why don't you write your own article? I'd love to read it.

 

[hogjowl]

Oh, noooo there's no drama on MB.

 

[Mikey P]

Lol...

Hey, it's the advertisers...let em brawl..

 

[dgardner]

Hey - whether they discuss in a civilized manner or duke it out I still learn something! Carry on.....

 

[Robert Falzone]

I promised Mikey I'd mix it up a bit. Things were getting boring around here.

 

[Mikey P]

So when you use a cream based polish compound on granite and the residue gets in between the "chunks of quartz" for lack of a better term


and even steam cleaning won't blast it out...what can a stone hack do?

 

[Robert Falzone]

Mike, there's no short answer for that question. My next blog on what a standard cleaner can do for shiny granite floors, granite countertops and vertical granite surfaces like showers will address issues like that in detail with pics.

I could have made one big blog, but I wanted to break things up.

 

[Bee Busy]

I'd like to see an after pic of the entry way

 

[Bee Busy]

Opps my bad...saw it at a different angle, I think?

 

[Mikey P]

It's there..

Im impressed no poultice was needed.

Hell of a good sealer, fo'sure

 

[hogjowl]

Thank you for not making it one big blog.

And no PS's.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Its a big training headache, at least for me. Would love to do more stone work.

When we started i pushed colorsealing more and some minor grout repair. That tech left after a couple years and it was too much of a pain to start over again.
Very tedious work, need to have right personality.

Maybe someday...

 

[Cameron DeMille]

There's nothing to discuss. Your criticism is invalid. I never said that it was impossible to scratch granite and I didn't encourage cleaners to be reckless because granite is hard to scratch. A discussion would involve you using your personal experience to make thoughtful suggestions for how the job could have been done better or maybe you had another way or technique to share with the audience. I'm sure your'e a nice person, but I don't see you posting educational blogs for Mikey's Board. Why don't you write your own article? I'd love to read it.

My only point was that if you are going to make the effort to list information like the hardness of granite, it would be a good idea to make sure the information is correct, which it was not. If you think that is invalid, then that's fine, but some people may want the correct information.

I don't have any criticism of the job you wrote the article about, I thought it was good job and it turned out great. I don't have anything useful to offer that would make it better.

I haven't posted any blogs on this site, even thought Mike has asked several times. I just haven't made the time to do it, which I should. I do however, offer my time to anyone that wants it, which the members here can vouch for. I don't think that really matters though, if the information that is being shared isn't correct, it isn't helping anyone.

I don't have anything against you, no hard feelings, but it was a just a minor detail I brought up and you went into full defense mode. All this aside, I thought it was a well written article. Everything was great, protecting surrounding areas is always important, the other information included was great. I didn't mean to come off like I was trying to tear it apart. I could have worded my original post a little better, for that I apologize.

 

[kingjoelking]

There's nothing to discuss. Your criticism is invalid. I never said that it was impossible to scratch granite and I didn't encourage cleaners to be reckless because granite is hard to scratch. A discussion would involve you using your personal experience to make thoughtful suggestions for how the job could have been done better or maybe you had another way or technique to share with the audience. I'm sure your'e a nice person, but I don't see you posting educational blogs for Mikey's Board. Why don't you write your own article? I'd love to read it.

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

 

[Mikey P]

Cameron has been very helpful to me and the group here, I must say.


I'm sending my son and tech to his class in September...I may go too..


And..



I like Robert a lot so there you have it

 

[ted mcfadden]

This is a well written article for cleaning but your MOHs scale info is incorrect. You say that diamond is a 10 on the Mohs scale and Granite is a 9. For future reference, granite is a 7, possibly as high as an 8 depending on the mineral make up of a particular granite. The second hardest natural mineral is Corundum which is a 9 on the Mohs scale. Corundum is also known as Aluminun Oxide and is commonly used as blast media and abrasive in sand paper and other abrasive media. Topaz is harder than granite and is usually used as an example of Mohs 8. Feldspar a major component of granite is 6 and quartz is 7. This is why granite is so easy to refinish and polish.

I don't think it is too late to edit your article to convey the correct information. It's no big deal but I can foresee problems if people use your information and then find out that it is wrong. It is better for your long term credibility if they don't. I wrote a book about stone restoration and cleaning and it does include this Mohs info.

I hope this helps. Nice job.

 

[kingjoelking]

Why are there only crickets chirping on this.

 

[Mikey P]

did you want more fighting or was there something about cleaning granite that I can help you with Joel?

 

[kingjoelking]

I thought a I was wrong I will correct my information was in order.

Besides. Falzone said that you brought him here to rock the boat.

 

[Mikey P]

All those selfies have gone to his head

 

[NobleCarpetCleaners]

can reading message boards uncover a trend like how many professional cleaners clean stone floors? I don't know, I'm just asking.

 

[Mikey P]

how many of your local competitors go online for info Scott?

3?

 

[Robert Falzone]

You say that diamond is a 10 on the Mohs scale and Granite is a 9.

Ted, thanks for the good catch. I changed the 9 to a 7. I need to proof-read better. Thanks for your kind words.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Very useful thread. I certainly appreciate the observations from both sides