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This blog is especially written for a cleaner who occasionally does stone. I’m talking about someone with a truckmount or a portable, someone who has a 3 room special for carpet cleaning, someone who up-sells upholstery and tile when they can get it. Maybe there are some carpet cleaners out there who may occasionally polish marble or travertine with a 5x powder or a Spinergy diamond pads. That’s cool, but using 5x powder or Spinergy pads doesn’t necessarily make someone a stone guru.
The problem presented here is that granite is to marble/travertine like a Mazerati is to a Ford Focus. It’s true that both granite and marble/travertine/limestone are in the natural stone family, both classes of stone can be shiny or matte finish, but the similarities end there and that can be a real danger for a carpet cleaner who occasionally ‘dabbles’ with stone.
In the stone contractor industry there are some contractors who have gone to a stone care boot camp where they participate in immersion training for several days. Some boot camps last up to a week. Graduates from stone boot camps usually setup a companies that specializes in stone, they don’t always own truckmounts and some don’t even advertise carpet cleaning. This is a unique and special club in the cleaning and restoration community.
My previous blog showed what a standard cleaner could do to clean, seal and enhance exterior commercial flamed granite. Today’s blog will discuss what to do when we have a chance to work on other types of granite.
This blog is by no means meant to be the ‘end all, be all’ of granite care. It’s just pics of some jobs that I’ve helped some loyal Interlink/Aramsco clients make money on, and I want to share this success with the rest of the community. There are other ways to tackle these problems. As the saying goes, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” These are the solutions that I suggested to my clients to use and we have pictures to show that it worked.
First rule of granite club: “Don’t do anything to take the shine OFF of granite that is shiny!”
Granite can be scratched. It doesn’t scratch like marble or travertine, but that doesn’t mean it you can’t take the shine off of a shiny piece of granite with improper cleaning or careless actions as you walk across or work near granite.
It’s doesn’t take much to scratch marble or travertine. Granite doesn’t scratch like this, but you can still scratch it.
The type of surface scratches that ruin granite are called ‘micro abrasions’ or ‘micro scratches’. Above is the picture of one long, very visible scratch on marble. This is the type of scratch that is made when a homeowners drags something sharp or hard across the across the floor. Since granite does not scratch like this, some mistakenly think that granite is ‘invulnerable’. That is not the case at all. Shoe dirt, metal taps on shoes, metal wheels on carts etc. all have a gradual cumulative effect of making tiny micro abrasions that affect the ability of the granite surface to reflect light to the human eye, and thus can give the surface a dull or ‘stressed’ appearance.
When granite is installed on a floor it is almost exclusively installed in a commercial setting. Why? You would think that granite would be the ideal stone to put into a home because granite resists damage better than softer stones.
The answer as to ‘why not’ is simple in one word. Money. There is an expense involved in installing and handling granite. True, it comes out of the ground like marble or travertine, but the cost to shape, cut and install granite in the field is cost prohibitive in most residential settings. The granite countertops you see in nice homes are measured out in the field and then cut, assembled and polished in a special stone facility setup for granite and then the large pieces are installed at the job site like an expensive puzzle. When granite is installed on the floor in a commercial setting all the whole squares are layed out and planned via a grid and then a field tech measures all the door thresholds and other places where custom cuts are needed. The field tech gives the dimensions of the custom cuts to the shop and the shop tech uses their special granite cutting equipment to make the custom pieces. In a residential setting there are usually going to be more custom cuts needed and the added cost to maintain a shop for those custom cuts will make the cost of the home skyrocket. It’s much more cost effective to install travertine and marble in the field when all the custom cuts can be made on site using a standard water-drip tile saw.
As a carpet cleaner looking to get some extra money cleaning and sealing granite, you don’t want to do anything that will mess with the shine.
Here is a pic of a granite countertop ‘fail’.
Granite countertop fail!
This countertop was a basic ‘clean and seal’ job. The technician thought he could put a ‘pop’ shine on the granite by using a high level diamond grit from a set of marble polishing diamonds that the company kept in the van. The tech actually did the opposite of what he intended and took the shine off the granite. If you are a ‘dabbler’, then do not even attempt to diamond shine granite in the field. Sign up for a stone boot camp and learn how to use diamonds to polish granite and then you’ll no longer be a stone ‘dabbler’ but someone with some hand’s on experience that can avoid drama like this.
Ok, now that I’ve scared the crap out of you…what can a ‘regular joe’ do to granite to make a quick buck?
A lot. There are some creams and Italian waxes on the market that can be burnished into the granite that will accentuate the shine by leaving behind a thin layer of material that reflects light, thus making the stone look more shiny. Usually these fixes don’t work on granite floors because of slip resistance issues.
Case study #1: Fixing dull, dark granite on a commercial floor
StonePro has a unique granite product called ‘Pro Shine’ which was formerly known as Potea Powder. It has two options, light and dark. This unique product is basically crushed rock powder that when massaged into the granite will penetrate the pores to restore color and some reflectivity.
ProShine will not replace a ‘true’ diamond shine on granite, but if you are dealing with a commercial facility on a budget that has a worn area in a particular spot, then this may be the trick you need to be a hero.
This is one messed up granite floor.
Here is a picture of a messed up granite floor that is in the entryway into one of our stereotypical, seedy, Las Vegas nightclubs. This is where the bouncer, (probably named Vinnie) stands and blocks access to the inside. ‘Vinnie’ is a chain smoker and is constantly using his foot to grind out his cigarette butts, thus the cigarette ash is being ground into the pores of the granite. Vinnie also spits, chews gum, drinks energy drinks mixed with alcohol and wears steel taps on his $200 Italian leather shoes. The rest of the floor looks fine, but in the confined are near the door where Vinnie roams, the granite is a hot mess. When I consulted on this I suggested we give Vinnie a special mat to stand on to avoid the expense of diamond polishing. For this suggestion I almost got a smack in the mouth. (I hate these clubs. The idea of trying to eat diner while staring at naked people isn’t appealing to someone trained in the field of germs and microbiology. Bleah)
Anyway, the club didn’t want to spend a fortune on diamond polishing, so I suggested we try the dark ProShine powder from StonePro. I suggested the ProShine powder because it either works or it doesn’t and it’s relatively safe for an intelligent cleaner to use. Just keep the powder away from any porous surface that isn’t black. (ie: light colored grout lines or light colored stone) The tiny little dark rocks penetrate and are hard to remove once they’ve penetrated.
The problem with using the ProShine powder on a floor instead of doing diamond polishing is the length of time that the ‘fix’ will last. Using diamond abrasives to grind away imperfections to make granite shine is a longer, more expensive process, but it will last longer than a wax, a paste or a ProShine powder. The change of appearance caused by ProShine is not permanent. Also remember, the ProShine powder works by imbedding tiny little dark rocks into the pores of the granite, not by leaving a film, so it’s safer on floors than a wax or film forming paste. The chief advantage of the ProShine powder is that it is cheaper and quicker than diamond grinding for clients who don’t have a budget for diamond polishing of granite.
Here’s another view of the same area. This place was dark even during the day. Who works here? Dracula?
The key to success with this powder is not to use water to apply it. We used Stone Pro Polish Pro Crystalizer to massage the powder into the pores. The Polish Pro is different from the traditional pink crystalizer because it uses natural hair pads instead of steel wool. Mark Cavillo with Stone Pro told me that even though crystalizer won’t react with granite because there is no calcium in granite for the cystalizer to react with, the Polish Pro helps the Pro Shine powder to stick in the pores. Ok. I don’t know the exact science behind that, but I’ve tried it and it works. What follows are the pics to prove it. (if you want sciency details, call Mark at StonePro…)
Add StonePro Polish Pro Crystalizer to the granite…
Don’t do too large of an area. Work in a section and then move on once you’ve gotten your results.
Massage the ProShine powder into the granite…
The crystalizer won’t react to the granite and the ProShine powder either penetrates or it doesn’t. Due to the complex nature of natural stone there is no process that is truly guaranteed to work every time with the exception of diamond polishing.
You can see the difference between the treated area and the untreated area. Vinnie was very happy.
Since the StonePro ProShine powder comes in either light or dark there is potential drama that you would not encounter with a paste or a wax. If you have white granite installed next to black granite you cannot let the light powder touch the dark stone and vise-versa. The point is, don’t get the dark powder on light stone and don’t get the light powder on dark stone. You’d get freckles and freckles might look cute on someone’s face but Big Vinny would have something to say about having freckled granite.
Case Study #2: Matte finish granite in a commercial restroom
With all the artsy-fartsy architecture design going on these days, sometimes you come across a granite floor that isn’t shiny. I ran into this floor at a million dollar casino. It was a crazy problem because the big bosses couldn’t figure out why the staff couldn’t get the floor clean. The stains had penetrated and some executive who knows more about guns and gambling was rubbing a rag on the floor and wondering why the stain wasn’t going away.
This is a classic example of a designer not considering the needs of the situation. Maybe the client (the casino owner) ordered a matte finish dark stone in the bathrooms. That’s ok, this facility has a certain dark ‘look’ and rainbows and unicorns weren’t in the design specs. Nevertheless, this restroom installation would have been better suited to a dark ceramic (ceramic has no pores) This matte finish granite was not a practical choice given the amount of maintenance that will be needed, but the big bosses do NOT want to hear that, they want to hear how you can solve the problem.
This is a natural granite floor with a matte finish that has urine, drink and vomit stains penetrated into the pores of the granite, making it hard to keep clean.
The contractor who put the floor in used a standard solvent based impregnating sealer, but that standard solvent sealer vs. typical Las Vegas nightlife was no contest. Vomit, urine, body fluids, spilled drinks etc. are all acids that eat that sealer up and leave the pores open for contamination. It didn’t help that the staff was using a basic mop to clean up spills, thus leaving this floor a hot mess of acid contamination.
The joke I tell my casino clients is that I’m a terrible chemical saleman, and I am. I try to sell 1 chemical that has 3 different uses instead of running up their bill with 3 different chemicals for 3 different uses. I’m also a big believer in non-chemical solutions. In this instance I knew that product that I sell called StoneScrub from StonePro would solve this problem.
StoneScrub combined with a stone enhancer was going to fix this floor.
StoneScrub is a multi-use product. I can be used to clean stone floors, stone countertops, showers, glass, chrome etc. It can work on natural or synthetic surfaces. You can use it with Bridgepoint Viper Venom to scrub out greasy grout lines. It’s very versatile. This product is an ‘abrasive’. Don’t go using heavy weighted machines with this product unless you want to leave a mark. Use a standard weight scrubber with a red or natural hair pad. Don’t over do it. We put the paste down and started scrubbing. If we wanted to be gentler, then I would have added some water, but this was pretty bad and the floor was matte finish anyway, so there was no danger of removing the shine.
Ready, set….
Go!
The StoneScrub is basically mud, so the MSDS sheet is very benign. It rinses very easily with plain water…but if you wanted to buy some neutral cleaner, then you would be helping us chemical salespeople.
The stains have been scrubbed out. The floor is reflecting light evenly. That is the goal.
Rinse with just plain water. No need for chems. I told you I was terrible at selling chemicals.
The stains are gone but the floor still has a ‘dirty’ look about it. Some contractors would stop here, but I tried to show the big bosses what their floor could ‘really’ look like if you invested the time.
We are now going to add stone enhancer. Stone enhancers add reflectivity to the stone to give it a more richer and natural look without leaving behind a top coat or film. We used the same stone enhancer in my previous blog on the flamed granite. The enhancer will not change the color, but it will alter the appearance of the floor so test it in an inconspicuous area.
Remember to test it in a spot before you put it in the middle of the floor…this was NOT a test spot.
Enhance!
The enhancer will accentuate the color while sealing the pores of the stone. The colors look darker because more light is being reflected back to the eye.
Use a buffer with a clean natural hair pad to buff off the excess. The granite pores are tight and not all the enhancer will penetrate deep. Never put a sealer on granite and walk away with a film left on the top. It will not evaporate and it can leave a sticky goo behind. I hate sticky goo. Bleah.
The funny story about this demo is that even though I totally nailed it, it was still a failure. The casino had a time budget and the hour or so it would take a porter to do this job would not fit in the night work timeline. Of course, the diplomat that I am, I told the executive that their time budget was accounting for a ceramic floor, not natural stone like granite. I asked if they wanted a top coating on the floor. The top coating would change the appearance of the floor but the stain penetration issues would go away. There are some great solvent stone coatings on the market that I suggested. They were adamant that no coating go on the floor, they wanted it natural or else. I said there was nothing else I could do.
A month goes by and I’m at the same facility and I ask how the bathrooms were doing. I got a snarky response from one of the low level managers that they had an ‘expert’ come in and he showed them how to crystalize it and now it looks perfect. (the inference was that I didn’t know what I was talking about) I told Mr. Snarky that you couldn’t crystalize granite because there was no calcium present to react with the crystalizer. Mr. Snarky said that there was just enough calcium in the granite to get the crystalizer to stick. Well, my bull**** detector went into overdrive, so I go see for myself and sure enough, they put a cheap wax coating on it, which is exactly what the big bosses said not to do. Mr. Snarky and his buddies fibbed to the big bosses that they were crystalizing the granite to get them off their backs. Hey, the Good Book says at Proverbs 26:17 “Like someone grabbing hold of a dog’s ears is the one passing by who becomes furious about a quarrel that is not his.” I let it go. A month later Mr. Snarky and a couple of his wingmen were gone. Sometimes I really hate dealing with casinos. Bleah.
So, to sum up, using StonePro StoneScrub to clean granite floors or countertops can work for a carpet cleaner who justs want to clean and seal without too much drama. Don’t scrub too hard and don’t forget to rinse very thoroughly. StoneScrub is minerals. Minerals is dirt. You can leave a film behind if you don’t rinse it properly.
Case study #3: Getting mineral stains off of granite countertops
Well, what about residential countertops? Many carpet cleaners work in fine homes that have expensive carpets, but are afraid to touch the granite countertops. This is the most common granite surface application that a carpet cleaner will see for granite in a residential setting. Some cleaners who do commercial janitorial work at night may find granite countertops in high end commercial buildings in the executive washrooms.
Granite countertops in general are plagued with both penetrating stains and efflorescence. The efflorescence usually comes from hard water that evaporates on the surface and leaves behind mineral deposits. It’s a rare occurrence that you will come across a granite countertop that has lost it’s shine due to abrasions…unless it’s at a strip club and the ladies (or men) are dancing on the countertops, or a housekeeper or homeowner is using ammonia or bleach on a regular basis to clean the granite. Strong chemicals can dull a granite surface over time. Many under-educated housekeepers or homeowners will use blue glass cleaner on granite because it’s shiny, just like chrome and glass. That’s a recipe for failure.
I like using StoneScrub from StonePro to get rid of mineral deposits and soap scum build up instead of chemicals.
Mineral stains, also known as efflorescence plauge homeowners and commercial facilites in areas where there is hard water. You can use an acid cleaner to get this off, but beware of the chrome and the glass. It’s easier to use StoneScrub on the granite, the chrome, the glass and the porcelain sink. It’s a very versatile all purpose cleaner.
Add some StoneScrub to the affected area…
Work it in with a sponge…
Rinse with water and buff it to get rid of any residue…
A regular joe carpet cleaner can use StoneScrub to clean a countertop safely and then apply a solvent based stone sealer on the granite. That is the basic ‘cleaning and sealing’ job. You want to use solvent sealer because the pores on granite are small and tight and the solvent sealer is going to penetrate better. If you live somewhere where solvent sealers are banned or it’s use is discouraged for environmental reasons, then you want to use a high quality water based sealer that is especially made for stone. An example of this is the SolidRock Sealer from Bridgepoint that is available at Interlink/Aramsco Supply.
In my opinion, this is the best water based sealer on the market. Of course, my opinion is biased because I work for the company that makes it, but this product has a loyal following and a solid track record from satisfied customers. Check it out the next time you need to a high quality water based stone sealer. Your local Interlink/Aramsco dealer has it or you can order it over the Internet.
For more info on SolidRock, click here.
What if you come across a penetrating stain on granite? Many homeowners place a cup of coffee down on their counter and then leave and penetrating acid stain behind.
Can you see those ugly rings in what is otherwise a pristine black granite countertop? When you see those rings you are looking at cash money in your pocket if you can get rid of them without damaging the shine or making the problem worse.
One of my clients if very aggressive for maximizing his jobs. He tries to squeeze every penny out of every job so he can keep his job average high and work less. One day he came across some ugly rings in a pristine black granite countertop. He texted me over a pic or two and asked if there was something he could do to solve this problem for a quick buck and not too much drama. This looked like a job for the dark ProShine Powder from StonePro.
ProShine powder will mask unsightly stains by pushing down and embedding dark little rocks to reflect light back in a way to disguise the stains. You can see those rings from a different angle. This was going to be tricky in some ways, but not impossible.
Using the ProShine powder on a counter top is tricky. You don’t want the powder flying everywhere because then you will have dark splotches on everything, including the family pet. Be sure to mask off any areas that you don’t want to powder touching and penetrating.
Before using the ProShine powder though, the countertop needs to be cleaned. Put down some StoneScrub and give it a light scrub before rinsing with water. Because of the pristine cleanliness of this countertop, my client could have done this cleaning step with the StoneScrub by hand, but if you have a homeowner watching, a little ‘showmanship’ is necessary to maintain an air of professionalism. You never want to do process in front of the homeowner that looks so easy that they wonder why they aren’t doing it themselves.
My client uses a rain poncho he got from a hunting and camping supply store. He got a whole box for cheap and he can throw it away after the job is done.
You can’t see it, but the floor is masked off as well.
I like using absorbent materials like cardboard and paper for masking jobs like this. If you use plastic or some non-absorbent material then you risk getting drips when you take the masking down. Of course, by using cardboard and paper you need to make sure that the goo doesn’t soak thru, so use common sense and thick paper.
The rings are gone and my client is a hero.
The homeower was impressed by this, but not as much as my client. He was kind of muttering at first because there was tension building as he masked and taped. Doing a process for the first time made him nervous enough, but my telling him that there is a lingering chance that this process will NOT work made him jumpy. Be careful what you guarantee when solving problems like this unless you are planning on using diamonds to polish. With diamonds, you can be more sure of the outcome. Gimicky processes like this have a failure rate, but when successful are very profitable. The difference between an experienced stone guy and a hack is the experienced professional has enough experience to reasonably predict the outcome of the job. In this case, my client used my experience to prop himself up, but that’s ok, that’s what I get paid for. The end of this matter was that this client was so happy with how this job came out that he now actively looks for granite countertops with stains instead of just waiting to get lucky stumble across a job.
Bingo, Bango, Boingo.
Would a poultice have worked? Maybe. I personally don’t like poultice because it has to work overnight and I would have to go back to the same job twice. Also, like the ProShine powder, it is not guaranteed to work. Finally, using poultice is a simple process that the homeowner can do themselves if they pay close enough attention and I don’t want them to do some web research and think that they don’t need me.
What about vertically installed granite?
My friend at BusyBee Janitorial has an account at a fancy building on the Las Vegas Strip with a granite water feature in the lobby. Unfortunately, the Home Owners Association did not install a water softener for this water feature and the black granite developed mineral stains pretty badly. They eventually installed a water softener but they still had to get the granite cleaned.
Mineral stains on granite…bleah.
The in-house crew tried using blue glass cleaner to get rid of these mineral stains. Some folks think that because the surface is shiny that glass cleaner will do the trick. Nope.
Mineral stains can be harder to remove the longer they are ignored. Minerals can get caked on in layers.
The face of the water feature where the water flows also suffered from white mineral stains. The bottom left is where another company did a demonstration using a standard acid cleaner and they did a good job. I wanted to help my friend get the contract so we needed to as good a job or better.
We used odorless Hydroforce Viper Renew to melt away the mineral stains.
I like Viper Renew because it is strong despite it’s being odorless. We didn’t want to gas-out this busy hotel lobby with a pungent smelling acid cleaner.
For more information on Viper Renew and where to get it, click here.
The Viper Renew worked without a pungent odor. What’s next? We needed to do something different.
…our old friend the stone enhancer…
The stone enhancer took the faded, ashy appearance of the granite and made it look darker.
Mission accomplished!
Now we needed to get rid of the efflorescence on the shiny vertical surface. For safety concerns we didn’t want to spray Viper Renew acid so freely in the lobby, so instead we used StoneScrub with a natural hair pad attached to a vibrating car polisher.
These car polishers can also be used by stone professionals in the right circumstances.
Nice and shiny without a lot of mess.
The job was a success!
Here is a pic of the finished job with the water turned back on. The Homeowners Association told my friend that what made the difference in awarding the contract was not the price, but that BusyBee used a stone enhancer to make the inside area where the water flowed darker to give the water feature a more ‘complete’ look.
Well, that’s the blog for now. I hope that some were able to see that stone cleaning and sealing as an ‘add on’ can be practical for carpet cleaners as long as common sense safety procedures are followed in the area of masking and protection. The process shown are relatively safe for a cleaner and the profits from doing these processes are big.
What about pricing?
Some have asked about pricing for these services and my standard response is that every stone job is a little different, so it really boils down to the question, ‘how many hours will it take?’ What’s an hour of your life worth. $100? Then if you estimate the job will take 10 hours, then price accordingly. That’s why I like doing demos because it helps the contractor to estimate the timing and materials for the job. So wherever and whenever possible, do a demo. Eventually, you get enough experience that you won’t need to do as many demos to reliably predict the outcome of a job and then you’ll really be on your way to being a qualified stone technician.
My name is Robert Falzone and I work for Interlink Supply/Aramsco. The products and supplies used for the jobs shown were all bought from Interlink Supply/Aramsco. If you haven’t shopped with us yet, check us out at www.interlinksupply.com or www.aramsco.com. Interlink Supply/Aramsco is expanding our network of stores, so if you need any assistance there is probably a salesperson already assigned to your area. Find an account rep and start experiencing the confidence and piece of mind that comes from the customer service associated with being an Interlink Supply/Aramsco customer.
You can checkout my Facebook page to see what adventures I’m having in Las Vegas on a daily basis by clicking here: Interlink of Las Vegas Facebook Page. If you are at any of the tradeshows at Las Vegas, feel free to come to the Interlink or the Aramsco booth and look me up to say ‘hi’. We can go for a beer.
That’s it for now. I’d like to thank Mikey from Mikey’s Board for inviting me to become a contributing member. I hope that some will be helped by this blog to become more profitable and successful in their endeavors.
Interlink rocks!
Robert Falzone
Interlink Supply Las Vegas
Contact me at robert.falzone@interlinksupply.com
The problem presented here is that granite is to marble/travertine like a Mazerati is to a Ford Focus. It’s true that both granite and marble/travertine/limestone are in the natural stone family, both classes of stone can be shiny or matte finish, but the similarities end there and that can be a real danger for a carpet cleaner who occasionally ‘dabbles’ with stone.
In the stone contractor industry there are some contractors who have gone to a stone care boot camp where they participate in immersion training for several days. Some boot camps last up to a week. Graduates from stone boot camps usually setup a companies that specializes in stone, they don’t always own truckmounts and some don’t even advertise carpet cleaning. This is a unique and special club in the cleaning and restoration community.
My previous blog showed what a standard cleaner could do to clean, seal and enhance exterior commercial flamed granite. Today’s blog will discuss what to do when we have a chance to work on other types of granite.
This blog is by no means meant to be the ‘end all, be all’ of granite care. It’s just pics of some jobs that I’ve helped some loyal Interlink/Aramsco clients make money on, and I want to share this success with the rest of the community. There are other ways to tackle these problems. As the saying goes, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” These are the solutions that I suggested to my clients to use and we have pictures to show that it worked.
First rule of granite club: “Don’t do anything to take the shine OFF of granite that is shiny!”
Granite can be scratched. It doesn’t scratch like marble or travertine, but that doesn’t mean it you can’t take the shine off of a shiny piece of granite with improper cleaning or careless actions as you walk across or work near granite.
It’s doesn’t take much to scratch marble or travertine. Granite doesn’t scratch like this, but you can still scratch it.
The type of surface scratches that ruin granite are called ‘micro abrasions’ or ‘micro scratches’. Above is the picture of one long, very visible scratch on marble. This is the type of scratch that is made when a homeowners drags something sharp or hard across the across the floor. Since granite does not scratch like this, some mistakenly think that granite is ‘invulnerable’. That is not the case at all. Shoe dirt, metal taps on shoes, metal wheels on carts etc. all have a gradual cumulative effect of making tiny micro abrasions that affect the ability of the granite surface to reflect light to the human eye, and thus can give the surface a dull or ‘stressed’ appearance.
When granite is installed on a floor it is almost exclusively installed in a commercial setting. Why? You would think that granite would be the ideal stone to put into a home because granite resists damage better than softer stones.
The answer as to ‘why not’ is simple in one word. Money. There is an expense involved in installing and handling granite. True, it comes out of the ground like marble or travertine, but the cost to shape, cut and install granite in the field is cost prohibitive in most residential settings. The granite countertops you see in nice homes are measured out in the field and then cut, assembled and polished in a special stone facility setup for granite and then the large pieces are installed at the job site like an expensive puzzle. When granite is installed on the floor in a commercial setting all the whole squares are layed out and planned via a grid and then a field tech measures all the door thresholds and other places where custom cuts are needed. The field tech gives the dimensions of the custom cuts to the shop and the shop tech uses their special granite cutting equipment to make the custom pieces. In a residential setting there are usually going to be more custom cuts needed and the added cost to maintain a shop for those custom cuts will make the cost of the home skyrocket. It’s much more cost effective to install travertine and marble in the field when all the custom cuts can be made on site using a standard water-drip tile saw.
As a carpet cleaner looking to get some extra money cleaning and sealing granite, you don’t want to do anything that will mess with the shine.
Here is a pic of a granite countertop ‘fail’.
Granite countertop fail!
This countertop was a basic ‘clean and seal’ job. The technician thought he could put a ‘pop’ shine on the granite by using a high level diamond grit from a set of marble polishing diamonds that the company kept in the van. The tech actually did the opposite of what he intended and took the shine off the granite. If you are a ‘dabbler’, then do not even attempt to diamond shine granite in the field. Sign up for a stone boot camp and learn how to use diamonds to polish granite and then you’ll no longer be a stone ‘dabbler’ but someone with some hand’s on experience that can avoid drama like this.
Ok, now that I’ve scared the crap out of you…what can a ‘regular joe’ do to granite to make a quick buck?
A lot. There are some creams and Italian waxes on the market that can be burnished into the granite that will accentuate the shine by leaving behind a thin layer of material that reflects light, thus making the stone look more shiny. Usually these fixes don’t work on granite floors because of slip resistance issues.
Case study #1: Fixing dull, dark granite on a commercial floor
StonePro has a unique granite product called ‘Pro Shine’ which was formerly known as Potea Powder. It has two options, light and dark. This unique product is basically crushed rock powder that when massaged into the granite will penetrate the pores to restore color and some reflectivity.
ProShine will not replace a ‘true’ diamond shine on granite, but if you are dealing with a commercial facility on a budget that has a worn area in a particular spot, then this may be the trick you need to be a hero.
This is one messed up granite floor.
Here is a picture of a messed up granite floor that is in the entryway into one of our stereotypical, seedy, Las Vegas nightclubs. This is where the bouncer, (probably named Vinnie) stands and blocks access to the inside. ‘Vinnie’ is a chain smoker and is constantly using his foot to grind out his cigarette butts, thus the cigarette ash is being ground into the pores of the granite. Vinnie also spits, chews gum, drinks energy drinks mixed with alcohol and wears steel taps on his $200 Italian leather shoes. The rest of the floor looks fine, but in the confined are near the door where Vinnie roams, the granite is a hot mess. When I consulted on this I suggested we give Vinnie a special mat to stand on to avoid the expense of diamond polishing. For this suggestion I almost got a smack in the mouth. (I hate these clubs. The idea of trying to eat diner while staring at naked people isn’t appealing to someone trained in the field of germs and microbiology. Bleah)
Anyway, the club didn’t want to spend a fortune on diamond polishing, so I suggested we try the dark ProShine powder from StonePro. I suggested the ProShine powder because it either works or it doesn’t and it’s relatively safe for an intelligent cleaner to use. Just keep the powder away from any porous surface that isn’t black. (ie: light colored grout lines or light colored stone) The tiny little dark rocks penetrate and are hard to remove once they’ve penetrated.
The problem with using the ProShine powder on a floor instead of doing diamond polishing is the length of time that the ‘fix’ will last. Using diamond abrasives to grind away imperfections to make granite shine is a longer, more expensive process, but it will last longer than a wax, a paste or a ProShine powder. The change of appearance caused by ProShine is not permanent. Also remember, the ProShine powder works by imbedding tiny little dark rocks into the pores of the granite, not by leaving a film, so it’s safer on floors than a wax or film forming paste. The chief advantage of the ProShine powder is that it is cheaper and quicker than diamond grinding for clients who don’t have a budget for diamond polishing of granite.
Here’s another view of the same area. This place was dark even during the day. Who works here? Dracula?
The key to success with this powder is not to use water to apply it. We used Stone Pro Polish Pro Crystalizer to massage the powder into the pores. The Polish Pro is different from the traditional pink crystalizer because it uses natural hair pads instead of steel wool. Mark Cavillo with Stone Pro told me that even though crystalizer won’t react with granite because there is no calcium in granite for the cystalizer to react with, the Polish Pro helps the Pro Shine powder to stick in the pores. Ok. I don’t know the exact science behind that, but I’ve tried it and it works. What follows are the pics to prove it. (if you want sciency details, call Mark at StonePro…)
Add StonePro Polish Pro Crystalizer to the granite…
Don’t do too large of an area. Work in a section and then move on once you’ve gotten your results.
Massage the ProShine powder into the granite…
The crystalizer won’t react to the granite and the ProShine powder either penetrates or it doesn’t. Due to the complex nature of natural stone there is no process that is truly guaranteed to work every time with the exception of diamond polishing.
You can see the difference between the treated area and the untreated area. Vinnie was very happy.
Since the StonePro ProShine powder comes in either light or dark there is potential drama that you would not encounter with a paste or a wax. If you have white granite installed next to black granite you cannot let the light powder touch the dark stone and vise-versa. The point is, don’t get the dark powder on light stone and don’t get the light powder on dark stone. You’d get freckles and freckles might look cute on someone’s face but Big Vinny would have something to say about having freckled granite.
Case Study #2: Matte finish granite in a commercial restroom
With all the artsy-fartsy architecture design going on these days, sometimes you come across a granite floor that isn’t shiny. I ran into this floor at a million dollar casino. It was a crazy problem because the big bosses couldn’t figure out why the staff couldn’t get the floor clean. The stains had penetrated and some executive who knows more about guns and gambling was rubbing a rag on the floor and wondering why the stain wasn’t going away.
This is a classic example of a designer not considering the needs of the situation. Maybe the client (the casino owner) ordered a matte finish dark stone in the bathrooms. That’s ok, this facility has a certain dark ‘look’ and rainbows and unicorns weren’t in the design specs. Nevertheless, this restroom installation would have been better suited to a dark ceramic (ceramic has no pores) This matte finish granite was not a practical choice given the amount of maintenance that will be needed, but the big bosses do NOT want to hear that, they want to hear how you can solve the problem.
This is a natural granite floor with a matte finish that has urine, drink and vomit stains penetrated into the pores of the granite, making it hard to keep clean.
The contractor who put the floor in used a standard solvent based impregnating sealer, but that standard solvent sealer vs. typical Las Vegas nightlife was no contest. Vomit, urine, body fluids, spilled drinks etc. are all acids that eat that sealer up and leave the pores open for contamination. It didn’t help that the staff was using a basic mop to clean up spills, thus leaving this floor a hot mess of acid contamination.
The joke I tell my casino clients is that I’m a terrible chemical saleman, and I am. I try to sell 1 chemical that has 3 different uses instead of running up their bill with 3 different chemicals for 3 different uses. I’m also a big believer in non-chemical solutions. In this instance I knew that product that I sell called StoneScrub from StonePro would solve this problem.
StoneScrub combined with a stone enhancer was going to fix this floor.
StoneScrub is a multi-use product. I can be used to clean stone floors, stone countertops, showers, glass, chrome etc. It can work on natural or synthetic surfaces. You can use it with Bridgepoint Viper Venom to scrub out greasy grout lines. It’s very versatile. This product is an ‘abrasive’. Don’t go using heavy weighted machines with this product unless you want to leave a mark. Use a standard weight scrubber with a red or natural hair pad. Don’t over do it. We put the paste down and started scrubbing. If we wanted to be gentler, then I would have added some water, but this was pretty bad and the floor was matte finish anyway, so there was no danger of removing the shine.
Ready, set….
Go!
The StoneScrub is basically mud, so the MSDS sheet is very benign. It rinses very easily with plain water…but if you wanted to buy some neutral cleaner, then you would be helping us chemical salespeople.
The stains have been scrubbed out. The floor is reflecting light evenly. That is the goal.
Rinse with just plain water. No need for chems. I told you I was terrible at selling chemicals.
The stains are gone but the floor still has a ‘dirty’ look about it. Some contractors would stop here, but I tried to show the big bosses what their floor could ‘really’ look like if you invested the time.
We are now going to add stone enhancer. Stone enhancers add reflectivity to the stone to give it a more richer and natural look without leaving behind a top coat or film. We used the same stone enhancer in my previous blog on the flamed granite. The enhancer will not change the color, but it will alter the appearance of the floor so test it in an inconspicuous area.
Remember to test it in a spot before you put it in the middle of the floor…this was NOT a test spot.
Enhance!
The enhancer will accentuate the color while sealing the pores of the stone. The colors look darker because more light is being reflected back to the eye.
Use a buffer with a clean natural hair pad to buff off the excess. The granite pores are tight and not all the enhancer will penetrate deep. Never put a sealer on granite and walk away with a film left on the top. It will not evaporate and it can leave a sticky goo behind. I hate sticky goo. Bleah.
The funny story about this demo is that even though I totally nailed it, it was still a failure. The casino had a time budget and the hour or so it would take a porter to do this job would not fit in the night work timeline. Of course, the diplomat that I am, I told the executive that their time budget was accounting for a ceramic floor, not natural stone like granite. I asked if they wanted a top coating on the floor. The top coating would change the appearance of the floor but the stain penetration issues would go away. There are some great solvent stone coatings on the market that I suggested. They were adamant that no coating go on the floor, they wanted it natural or else. I said there was nothing else I could do.
A month goes by and I’m at the same facility and I ask how the bathrooms were doing. I got a snarky response from one of the low level managers that they had an ‘expert’ come in and he showed them how to crystalize it and now it looks perfect. (the inference was that I didn’t know what I was talking about) I told Mr. Snarky that you couldn’t crystalize granite because there was no calcium present to react with the crystalizer. Mr. Snarky said that there was just enough calcium in the granite to get the crystalizer to stick. Well, my bull**** detector went into overdrive, so I go see for myself and sure enough, they put a cheap wax coating on it, which is exactly what the big bosses said not to do. Mr. Snarky and his buddies fibbed to the big bosses that they were crystalizing the granite to get them off their backs. Hey, the Good Book says at Proverbs 26:17 “Like someone grabbing hold of a dog’s ears is the one passing by who becomes furious about a quarrel that is not his.” I let it go. A month later Mr. Snarky and a couple of his wingmen were gone. Sometimes I really hate dealing with casinos. Bleah.
So, to sum up, using StonePro StoneScrub to clean granite floors or countertops can work for a carpet cleaner who justs want to clean and seal without too much drama. Don’t scrub too hard and don’t forget to rinse very thoroughly. StoneScrub is minerals. Minerals is dirt. You can leave a film behind if you don’t rinse it properly.
Case study #3: Getting mineral stains off of granite countertops
Well, what about residential countertops? Many carpet cleaners work in fine homes that have expensive carpets, but are afraid to touch the granite countertops. This is the most common granite surface application that a carpet cleaner will see for granite in a residential setting. Some cleaners who do commercial janitorial work at night may find granite countertops in high end commercial buildings in the executive washrooms.
Granite countertops in general are plagued with both penetrating stains and efflorescence. The efflorescence usually comes from hard water that evaporates on the surface and leaves behind mineral deposits. It’s a rare occurrence that you will come across a granite countertop that has lost it’s shine due to abrasions…unless it’s at a strip club and the ladies (or men) are dancing on the countertops, or a housekeeper or homeowner is using ammonia or bleach on a regular basis to clean the granite. Strong chemicals can dull a granite surface over time. Many under-educated housekeepers or homeowners will use blue glass cleaner on granite because it’s shiny, just like chrome and glass. That’s a recipe for failure.
I like using StoneScrub from StonePro to get rid of mineral deposits and soap scum build up instead of chemicals.
Mineral stains, also known as efflorescence plauge homeowners and commercial facilites in areas where there is hard water. You can use an acid cleaner to get this off, but beware of the chrome and the glass. It’s easier to use StoneScrub on the granite, the chrome, the glass and the porcelain sink. It’s a very versatile all purpose cleaner.
Add some StoneScrub to the affected area…
Work it in with a sponge…
Rinse with water and buff it to get rid of any residue…
A regular joe carpet cleaner can use StoneScrub to clean a countertop safely and then apply a solvent based stone sealer on the granite. That is the basic ‘cleaning and sealing’ job. You want to use solvent sealer because the pores on granite are small and tight and the solvent sealer is going to penetrate better. If you live somewhere where solvent sealers are banned or it’s use is discouraged for environmental reasons, then you want to use a high quality water based sealer that is especially made for stone. An example of this is the SolidRock Sealer from Bridgepoint that is available at Interlink/Aramsco Supply.
In my opinion, this is the best water based sealer on the market. Of course, my opinion is biased because I work for the company that makes it, but this product has a loyal following and a solid track record from satisfied customers. Check it out the next time you need to a high quality water based stone sealer. Your local Interlink/Aramsco dealer has it or you can order it over the Internet.
For more info on SolidRock, click here.
What if you come across a penetrating stain on granite? Many homeowners place a cup of coffee down on their counter and then leave and penetrating acid stain behind.
Can you see those ugly rings in what is otherwise a pristine black granite countertop? When you see those rings you are looking at cash money in your pocket if you can get rid of them without damaging the shine or making the problem worse.
One of my clients if very aggressive for maximizing his jobs. He tries to squeeze every penny out of every job so he can keep his job average high and work less. One day he came across some ugly rings in a pristine black granite countertop. He texted me over a pic or two and asked if there was something he could do to solve this problem for a quick buck and not too much drama. This looked like a job for the dark ProShine Powder from StonePro.
ProShine powder will mask unsightly stains by pushing down and embedding dark little rocks to reflect light back in a way to disguise the stains. You can see those rings from a different angle. This was going to be tricky in some ways, but not impossible.
Using the ProShine powder on a counter top is tricky. You don’t want the powder flying everywhere because then you will have dark splotches on everything, including the family pet. Be sure to mask off any areas that you don’t want to powder touching and penetrating.
Before using the ProShine powder though, the countertop needs to be cleaned. Put down some StoneScrub and give it a light scrub before rinsing with water. Because of the pristine cleanliness of this countertop, my client could have done this cleaning step with the StoneScrub by hand, but if you have a homeowner watching, a little ‘showmanship’ is necessary to maintain an air of professionalism. You never want to do process in front of the homeowner that looks so easy that they wonder why they aren’t doing it themselves.
My client uses a rain poncho he got from a hunting and camping supply store. He got a whole box for cheap and he can throw it away after the job is done.
You can’t see it, but the floor is masked off as well.
I like using absorbent materials like cardboard and paper for masking jobs like this. If you use plastic or some non-absorbent material then you risk getting drips when you take the masking down. Of course, by using cardboard and paper you need to make sure that the goo doesn’t soak thru, so use common sense and thick paper.
The rings are gone and my client is a hero.
The homeower was impressed by this, but not as much as my client. He was kind of muttering at first because there was tension building as he masked and taped. Doing a process for the first time made him nervous enough, but my telling him that there is a lingering chance that this process will NOT work made him jumpy. Be careful what you guarantee when solving problems like this unless you are planning on using diamonds to polish. With diamonds, you can be more sure of the outcome. Gimicky processes like this have a failure rate, but when successful are very profitable. The difference between an experienced stone guy and a hack is the experienced professional has enough experience to reasonably predict the outcome of the job. In this case, my client used my experience to prop himself up, but that’s ok, that’s what I get paid for. The end of this matter was that this client was so happy with how this job came out that he now actively looks for granite countertops with stains instead of just waiting to get lucky stumble across a job.
Bingo, Bango, Boingo.
Would a poultice have worked? Maybe. I personally don’t like poultice because it has to work overnight and I would have to go back to the same job twice. Also, like the ProShine powder, it is not guaranteed to work. Finally, using poultice is a simple process that the homeowner can do themselves if they pay close enough attention and I don’t want them to do some web research and think that they don’t need me.
What about vertically installed granite?
My friend at BusyBee Janitorial has an account at a fancy building on the Las Vegas Strip with a granite water feature in the lobby. Unfortunately, the Home Owners Association did not install a water softener for this water feature and the black granite developed mineral stains pretty badly. They eventually installed a water softener but they still had to get the granite cleaned.
Mineral stains on granite…bleah.
The in-house crew tried using blue glass cleaner to get rid of these mineral stains. Some folks think that because the surface is shiny that glass cleaner will do the trick. Nope.
Mineral stains can be harder to remove the longer they are ignored. Minerals can get caked on in layers.
The face of the water feature where the water flows also suffered from white mineral stains. The bottom left is where another company did a demonstration using a standard acid cleaner and they did a good job. I wanted to help my friend get the contract so we needed to as good a job or better.
We used odorless Hydroforce Viper Renew to melt away the mineral stains.
I like Viper Renew because it is strong despite it’s being odorless. We didn’t want to gas-out this busy hotel lobby with a pungent smelling acid cleaner.
For more information on Viper Renew and where to get it, click here.
The Viper Renew worked without a pungent odor. What’s next? We needed to do something different.
…our old friend the stone enhancer…
The stone enhancer took the faded, ashy appearance of the granite and made it look darker.
Mission accomplished!
Now we needed to get rid of the efflorescence on the shiny vertical surface. For safety concerns we didn’t want to spray Viper Renew acid so freely in the lobby, so instead we used StoneScrub with a natural hair pad attached to a vibrating car polisher.
These car polishers can also be used by stone professionals in the right circumstances.
Nice and shiny without a lot of mess.
The job was a success!
Here is a pic of the finished job with the water turned back on. The Homeowners Association told my friend that what made the difference in awarding the contract was not the price, but that BusyBee used a stone enhancer to make the inside area where the water flowed darker to give the water feature a more ‘complete’ look.
Well, that’s the blog for now. I hope that some were able to see that stone cleaning and sealing as an ‘add on’ can be practical for carpet cleaners as long as common sense safety procedures are followed in the area of masking and protection. The process shown are relatively safe for a cleaner and the profits from doing these processes are big.
What about pricing?
Some have asked about pricing for these services and my standard response is that every stone job is a little different, so it really boils down to the question, ‘how many hours will it take?’ What’s an hour of your life worth. $100? Then if you estimate the job will take 10 hours, then price accordingly. That’s why I like doing demos because it helps the contractor to estimate the timing and materials for the job. So wherever and whenever possible, do a demo. Eventually, you get enough experience that you won’t need to do as many demos to reliably predict the outcome of a job and then you’ll really be on your way to being a qualified stone technician.
My name is Robert Falzone and I work for Interlink Supply/Aramsco. The products and supplies used for the jobs shown were all bought from Interlink Supply/Aramsco. If you haven’t shopped with us yet, check us out at www.interlinksupply.com or www.aramsco.com. Interlink Supply/Aramsco is expanding our network of stores, so if you need any assistance there is probably a salesperson already assigned to your area. Find an account rep and start experiencing the confidence and piece of mind that comes from the customer service associated with being an Interlink Supply/Aramsco customer.
You can checkout my Facebook page to see what adventures I’m having in Las Vegas on a daily basis by clicking here: Interlink of Las Vegas Facebook Page. If you are at any of the tradeshows at Las Vegas, feel free to come to the Interlink or the Aramsco booth and look me up to say ‘hi’. We can go for a beer.
That’s it for now. I’d like to thank Mikey from Mikey’s Board for inviting me to become a contributing member. I hope that some will be helped by this blog to become more profitable and successful in their endeavors.
Interlink rocks!
Robert Falzone
Interlink Supply Las Vegas
Contact me at robert.falzone@interlinksupply.com
