Slate is one of the most unique flooring options on the market today. It is unlike any other natural floor . It has nothing in common with Granite , Travertine , Marble , Terrazzo or Limestone. It is uneven , strangely colored , flakes easily , very dull and lots of times ashy like it needs some moisturizer lol . Do to these uncommon qualities we must go about cleaning and restoring it with some unconventional techniques.
Cleaning Slate floors
Slate is easily damaged and breaks to pieces if you are to aggressive during the cleaning process especially if it hasn't been sealed by a professional. Even a basic cleaning can be difficult do to the fact that it is uneven with many high and low points across each tile piece. This makes it hard to reach those low areas and extremely hard to extract the dirty water out of those crevices while using a floor squeegee. We here at LV Floor Restoration have developed many tricks over the years to make this process much simpler. We can't give away our professional restoration secrets but we will give a few tips and tricks for home owners to be able to maintain their Slate floors in between professional cleanings. Here we go. We usually advise against the use of string mops to clean your floor but when it comes to Slate its a different animal therefore we we will go about cleaning it unconventionally. So in this case you DO want to use that ole fashion mop and bucket. Start by filling the bucket with hot water and a neutral cleaner . ( we give FREE neutral cleaner to our clients with any purchase of service ) You want to use a 20-1 ratio for this. Meaning 20 parts water and 1 part cleaner . And a 10-1 ratio if the floor is heavily soiled . Dip the mop into thy bucket and be sure to ring it out extremely well. You don't want the mop to be overly wet , just damp. Mop the floor aggressively making sure to get into those deep crevices with the strings. We suggest you do one room at a time so that you can go behind where you mopped with an old clean towel of choice and dry up any excess water as the water will leave hard water deposits and or dirt on your clean floor. Check your bucket water after every room. If the water is dark and dingy , replace the water and then repeat mopping steps. For really hard to reach low spots in the floor , try using a handheld utility brush. its pretty cheap. Google it. It is hard enough to scrub the dirt away and soft enough not to damage your floor or sealer. That's all there is to it. The whole cleaning process is fairly simple and just requires a little diligence. You got this!
POLISHING SLATE FLOORS
Slate floors CANNOT be polished . I repeat they CANNOT be polished . They can be buffed but NOT polished. There is a huge difference. Polishing is a wet process that requires diamond pads or chemicals and buffing is a dry process that just requires a fresh pad and a high speed buffer . Don't let a company fool you into thinking that they are going to polish your Slate. Do the research !......If you want your floors to be shiny read how below.
SEALING SLATE FLOORS
Unlike ALL the other natural stones , a top coat sealant is needed to provide protection and preservation for your slate. A penetrating sealer is not applicable because slate is not as porous as other natural stones such as Marble or Travertine. It will not absorb this type of sealer and will only leave you with a sticky mess. This is why a top coat sealer is necessary. There are a couple different sealers that can be used. We can give you a natural look with a little to no shine appearance . We can give you a semigloss look with medium shine or we can give you amnestying extremely wet high gloss look which makes your floor look darker and richer. Fully moisturized lol. We personally like the ladder the best. It is all out personal preference tho and we will give you exactly the look you're striving for. A sealant is not 100 percent necessary when it comes to Slate but we recommend it to help defend against scuffs scratches , chipping , pet stains , and helps preserve the overall life of your floor.
LV Floor Restoration has the knowledge and experience to tackle ANY of your Slate floor restoring needs. Chat with one of our technicians today for any inquiries.
