With so many demands on your time as a facility manager, it can be all too easy to let maintenance fall through the cracks, especially when it comes to your stone floors.
Besides enhancing the aesthetic appearance of your property, regular, preventive maintenance plays a role in damage prevention, repair, and safety. Unfortunately, too many managers succumb to the temptation to wait until something breaks, or worse, somebody gets hurt, before getting around to needed repairs or cleanups.
But if you think simply running over the floor with a mop and bucket once a week counts as proactive stone floor maintenance, think again. It also includes the following steps:
- Restoration to repair damage to the surface of your floor
- Installation of a comprehensive floor protection system
- Ongoing burnishing and maintenance
Step 1: Stone Floor Restoration
The process begins with restoration by a skilled tradesperson, such as a stone expert from Mid America Specialty Services.
The individual you hire should be a stone expert with the knowledge, experience, and equipment to do the job right.
Stone floor restoration may include stripping away old coatings and diamond honing to remove scratches, lippage, and other prior damage to your floor. This step is necessary “to bring the floor back to a maintenance condition,” according to Tim Leanhart of Mid America Specialty Services.
Step 2: Apply an Updated Stone Floor Maintenance System
Once the initial stone floor restoration is complete, your service provider will help you minimize future damage by applying a comprehensive stone floor maintenance system, such as the 3M™ Scotchgard Stone Floor Protection System.
Designed to protect porous stone surfaces including concrete, marble, and terrazzo, 3M™’s product offers superior stain, scuff, and scratch resistance, with reduced maintenance labor, and costs. It also provides other advantages over previous versions of the product:
- It’s easier to apply. The product is applied with the 3M™ Easy Shine Applicator System, and only two coats are required.
- Fewer steps are required for installation. Burnishing between coats is no longer required.
- It’s more durable. 3M has improved the product’s resistance to damage such as scuff marks. It also retains its distinctness of image (DOI) longer than before.
- It’s easier to maintain. When scratches do occur, they’re easier to repair with 3M™’s new Tan Burnish Pad 3400.
Mid America Specialty Services’ stone experts have undergone extensive training and certification by 3M™ technicians to become certified applicators of the 3M™ Stone Floor Protection System.
In addition, 3M™’s System also offers advantages over other commonly used products such as acrylic wax or other topical coatings.
Step 3: Ongoing Burnishing and Maintenance
After installation by a Certified Applicator, ongoing maintenance of the new 3M™ Scotchgard Stone Floor Protection System involves regular cleaning and burnishing.
- Cleaning. Treated floors are cleaned using an autoscrubber with the 3M™ Topline Autoscrubber Pad 5000 and 3M™ Neutral cleaner.
- Burnishing. The floor should be burnished 30 minutes after the finish has dried, using the 3M™ Tan Burnish Pad 3400. After that, the floor should be burnished 3-4 times per month depending on the amount of foot traffic.
Do you have questions about stone floor restoration, protection, and ongoing maintenance for your stone floors? Get in touch with us at Mid America Specialty Services to learn more.
