Natural Stone Cleaning 101: All You Need to Know

marble cleaning Austin, Texas

Natural stone is an absolutely gorgeous addition to any home. Whether it covers your floors, counters, or even your walls- natural stone brings a certain aesthetic to a home. With any flooring, obviously, comes maintenance- and with natural stone, the cleaning is a little different than you might think for other flooring. Here at The Steam Team, our expert technicians are armed with the best equipment and ready to help you clean your home. On today’s blog, we’re going over how best to clean that natural stone (no matter where it is).

Simple Cleaning

First, let’s start by performing a few simple cleaning tasks! This includes sweeping and some light mopping. If you’re using a vacuum instead of a broom, just make sure you’re not using one with cracked or broken wheels that could damage your flooring. You can mop with your trust cleaning solution and a bucket of warm water (as long as the solution has been approved for natural stone flooring). That’s easy enough, right?

Intermediate Cleaning

When we talk about intermediate cleaning, we mean stain removal, or grout cleaning! All too often our grout is neglected, or those stains are just left to stick. When it comes to stain removal, the number one thing you must remember is that your cleaning solution must be meant for natural stone. 

Deep Cleaning

When it comes time to deep clean your natural stone flooring, it’s best to call in the professionals. A professional cleaning and restoration company like The Steam Team will have all of the right tools and equipment for the job! You won’t have to worry about potentially damaging your natural stone flooring because it’ll be in expert hands! 

Don’t hesitate; give The Steam Team a phone call today and you won’t regret making the leap! We can do wonders to your natural stone flooring or surfaces. We’ll come out, inspect your home, and restore them to their original condition. You can trust us to do the job correctly the first time! 

Spring Cleaning with Carpet Cleaning In Any Room

Carpet cleaning services in Austin, Texas since 1983

Even though we’re still experiencing the cooler temperatures of Winter; Spring is just around the corner- at least, we hope so. Once it starts warming up a bit, it’s the perfect time to start purging and cleaning out the house! Decluttering and tidying up is all the talk right now; so we’re here to help you organize your home and clean away any dirt and dust. Steam cleaning is the smartest option, as it can clean just about your entire home, using nothing but hot water and high water pressure! 

The Living Room

Let’s start in the living room, a steam cleaner can help remove stains on upholstered furniture, carpeting, and can also even help clean window blinds and draperies (we don’t even have to remove the blinds from where they hang)! Dust, dirt, and stains are absolutely no match for a professional-grade steam cleaning company! 

The Kitchen

Next, does your kitchen have pesky tile and grout? We know it’s difficult to keep clean; that’s why we recommend steam cleaning! A steam cleaner can effortless reach deep within the pores of grout, and the surface of tile, and extract all that grime that causes discoloration and staining. Your kitchen will look brand new! 

The Bathroom

When it comes to cleaning the bathroom, tile and grout are often our main nemesis. But since we’ve covered how we can help with that, let’s discuss countertops, toilets, sinks, and showers! All can be steam cleaned. Dust, dirt, grime, and soap scum will plague your bathroom no more! Most importantly, it’s completely safe for your environment; steam cleaning doesn’t involve the use of any chemicals.

No matter which area of your home needs a thorough deep cleaning, The Steam Team has you covered. Just give us a call today and we can help you with your spring cleaning!

Is Your Hardwood Floor In Need Of Professional Refinishing?

Your hardwood flooring, like nearly everything else in your home, has a limited number of years before signs of damage and deterioration will start to appear. In the case of hardwood flooring, these signs mean that the floor will need to be professionally re-sanded and resealed. Here are the key signs that you should look out for:

Scratches and Marks

Most hardwood surfaces accumulate small scratches and marks over time. If these don’t irritate you too much, don’t bother having your floor refinished just yet. But pay close attention to these scratches and marks, if any of them penetrate the seal of the floor, they’ll leave the hardwood open to further damage that will require the whole floor to be replaced. If you notice a penetrated seal, it's time to have your hardwood floor refinished.

Color Changes

A significant change in color may be a sign of deterioration in your hardwood flooring. Particularly if the boards have become more grey over time. This likely means that the polyurethane is wearing off and your floors will need to be refinished soon. If you wait too long, the boards will turn black and they’ll need to be replaced completely. Exposure to sunlight for long periods of time can also cause color changes in hardwood, and will also mean you need to have the floors refinished.

Water Damage

Have you noticed dark spots showing up in certain areas of the floors? Or maybe the floor has warped in shape over time in only certain areas? These are signs that there’s water damage underneath the floorboards. This is another case where you’ll want professionals to help you out as soon as possible. Sanding and refinishing will likely be needed, and some boards may even need to be removed so that water from beneath the boards can be extracted.

If you see any of these signs appear in your hardwood floor, don’t hesitate to call in The Steam Team.

Could it be Time to Refinish Your Hardwood Flooring?

Hardwood Floor Cleaning Professional

Hardwood floors look beautiful in our homes, especially during sunrise and sunset, when the light shines in and reflects off of a smooth, clean surface. If you have had fire or water damage and need your hardwood floors refinished call The Steam Team today for a free estimate in Austin, Texas.

Installing hardwood flooring is a great decision, and it can last for just about, well, forever… as long as it’s maintained properly. When it is, it becomes the easiest surface in the house to clean- and the most aesthetically appealing. But what if it’s time to refinish or even replace your hardwood flooring? Do you know the signs?

Know the Signs

Are there any scratches, etches, or loose floor boards in your flooring? If the boards are warped, split, or sagging, it could be time for a refinishing or a replacement. It’s best to let the professionals decide before you do anything that isn’t necessary.

Choose Your Method- Pro’s, or DIY?

If you choose the DIY method, you really need to know what you’re doing, or else you risk further damaging your floor. We encourage our customers to call us, and let The Steam Team work their magic! It may be a tad more expensive, but if you end up making a mistake, that mistake could cost you far more in the long run.

So make the right choice, and  call in The Steam Team! We’re a team of trained professionals who have been working on several types of restoration projects for many years. We know what we’re doing, and we’ll make sure we treat your flooring as it were our own.

Calling in the Professionals

First, The Steam Team will do what’s called a “Visual Inspection.” This will help us determine what level of restoration is required to get your flooring looking brand new again. Then we’ll begin repairing the damage… filling in the cracks, all of those good things. Lastly, we’ll clean your flooring, and install a brand new refinish. You’ll be impressed with our results- we guarantee it! Call 512-451-8326 or visit any of our 3 locations at 222 West Ave., 9901 Burnet Road or 1904 West Koenig Lane in Austin, Texas.