Travertine cleaning, honing, polishing, sealing and repair / Cape Coral, Ft. Myers, Naples
The Look You Want For Your Travertine
At Tru-Clean Surface Care we are experts in travertine. We offer cleaning, sealing, repair, honing, and polishing, and know what it takes to make your travertine look like new!
Travertine is a unique and versatile stone, suitable to a wide range of decorative styles, from rugged and rustic to welcoming old world charm to stunning high-polished elegance. However, your travertine can become dirty or dull-looking, scratched, etched, cracked, chipped, or otherwise damaged with time and use. If this is true of your travertine, don’t replace it! Tru-Clean Surface Care can restore your travertine, not just making it look better, but making it look brand new again.
To Fill Or Not To Fill
Travertine in its original state has naturally occurring holes throughout. Part of travertine’s unique appeal is that it is available in two distinct forms — filled and unfilled. In “filled” travertine, a color-matched material is used at the factory to fill the holes, giving the stone a smooth finish. In “unfilled” travertine the natural holes remain exposed for a rustic, earthy finish. Both filled and unfilled travertine are beautiful in their own right, and both offer their own particular look and feel. If you have unfilled travertine, or the holes in your filled travertine have become exposed, and you want the holes to be filled, we can perform this service for you.
Filling Holes In Travertine: Floating
Travertine floating really has nothing to do with bodies of water. It is the process used to either change unfilled travertine surfaces to the smooth appearance of filled travertine or to repair filled travertine surfaces whose holes have become exposed due to time and wear. For repairs, we use filler tinted to match the rest of the surface, blending the repair site with the surrounding area, then honing and polishing to achieve a uniform finish. Changing a completely unfilled surface to a filled one is basically the same process, but offers a broader array of design choices since you are not limited to a color that matches an existing filler.
Refinishing Travertine
Refinishing is similar to floating, in that you can restore a finish that is uneven or has become dulled by wear, scratches or other surface damage, or alter the finish entirely if you’re looking for a change of pace. Tru-Clean Surface Care is well versed in the types of finishes possible, as well as experienced in the techniques required to achieve them.
Travertine Grinding / Lippage Removal
Whether you want a floor that is flush with its grout lines for easier cleaning or need to remedy uneven tiles that can be hazardous as well as unattractive, Tru-Clean Surface Care can take care of that for you. Using state-of-the-art diamond grinding technology, we can remove excess stone to create a flat, level surface. Once the uneven tiles are leveled (this is called lippage removal), the travertine is honed and polished to your desired finish.
Travertine Honing & Polishing
Tru-Clean Surface Care can hone your travertine surfaces to eliminate surface imperfections such as dull spots, deep scratches, etching and other wear and tear, resulting in a damage-free surface that looks new again. With the damage erased, our expert technicians can then polish your travertine using the appropriate diamond-infused pads or polishing powders, achieving a honed (soft matte) finish that is warm, inviting, and velvety smooth, a gorgeous glass-like polish, or something in between that suits your taste.
For travertine with surface scratches, scuff marks from shoes, peeling sealer, and non-acidic food spills, we can clean and polish your travertine to a phenomenal finish. Travertine polishing is similar to waxing and polishing your cars finish, polishing will not remove deep scratches (you’ll need honing to accomplish this) but will take out most surface imperfections and provide the client with a beautiful, refreshed floor surface.
Deep Cleaning Soiled Travertine
While any travertine surface can become dirty and grimy with use, unfilled travertine with its naturally varying surface texture and inherent holes can be particularly challenging once dirt has had time to accumulate in the hollows and low points. Not to worry, though, Tru-Clean Surface Care can remove deeply imbedded soiling, strip away years of buildup of unsightly topical treatments, remove soap film in showers, get rid of soot on fireplaces, and resolve a host of other travertine cleaning problems, leaving your stone as pristine as the day it was installed.
Sealing Travertine
Some natural stone types are more porous than others, and the more porous a natural stone is, the more susceptible it is to staining. Your travertine will be easier to keep clean with periodic professional deep cleaning services, using non-acidic, highly-effective cleaning solutions. Once your travertine is cleaned and restored, we may recommend you have us seal it to enhance its stain resistance. We say, “may” because not all stone needs to be sealed. Highly polished stone may not even take an impregnating sealer. But, if sealing is recommended, know that sealing represents an inexpensive, preventative measure against stain damage because it buys you time to wipe up spills before they become stains.
Travertine Color Enhancing
Travertine is characterized by its neutral earth tone colors. For certain types of travertine, our skilled technicians can apply an enhancing sealer to intensify the color and enrich its natural beauty.
Travertine Stain Removal
Sometimes, in spite of your best efforts, stains happen. That’s the time to call Tru-Clean Surface Care Whether you’re looking for DIY advice or want to hand the mess off to us, we’re happy to tell you that most stains and discolorations can be resolved.
Travertine Repairs
Before you replace your chipped, cracked, or otherwise damaged travertine, talk to us about our expert travertine repair services. Tru-Clean Surface Care can fill holes and fix travertine cracks and chips, blending the repair site with the surrounding area, then honing and polishing it to match the overall finish of the rest of your travertine floor, countertop or other travertine surfaces.
Replacing Travertine Tiles
It’s rare to find travertine that is damaged so severely it cannot be repaired, but every so often we encounter a tile that just has to be replaced. Don’t worry, we can handle it. Tru-Clean Surface Care can replace your tile, using extra care to avoid damaging neighboring tiles, then level the replacement tile with its neighbors, and match the surrounding finish as closely as possible. Do be aware though — unless you have extra tiles on hand from the original batch, replacement tiles may be noticeably different. Because travertine is a natural stone, even tiles from the same quarry and with the same designation can vary in color and appearance as time passes and the quarry line shifts.
Scheduled Maintenance For Your Travertine
For travertine surfaces with high traffic and use, routinely scheduled maintenance services are highly recommended to keep your travertine looking its best. Tru-Clean Surface Care is happy to provide these services for you.
Tru-Clean Surface Care provides expert interior and exterior travertine services, for all kinds of properties, from homes, apartments, and condos to offices and other commercial properties, warehouses, retail stores, restaurants, hotels, and more. Whether you need minor services like having your travertine cleaned and sealed or major services like extensive repair and restoration, we provide a full range of travertine care and maintenance services.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How much dust will be created during the restoration of my travertine floor?
A. There is no dust created during the restoration process because we use diamond abrasives and water.
Q. Recently a cleaning firm spilled a cleaner that is obviously acid on my travertine. They were sealed, but the damage is still very evident in the form of hundreds of small circles. What would you recommend as a way to repair them, the materials to use, etc? Would it be better to replace the vanities?
A. This is something we hear way too often. Travertine is sensitive to acid etching and improper cleaners can damage it. Impregnating sealers do a great job of protecting your stone from staining agents being absorbed into the stone but they cannot prevent acid etching on the surface. The good news is that you do not need to replace your vanity tops. We can rehone and polish the damage and restore your travertine vanity tops to good as new.
Q. My granite countertops are no longer shiny. How do I get the shine back?
A. Most of the time when a customer asks us why their countertop is not shiny anymore, it turns out that some sort of film is sitting on the surface. This can be a result of sealer that was not properly applied, when one does not use the proper cleanser, or when they clean their granite surface with water and dish soap. (This will eventually lead to soap film build-up.) Give us a call. We can provide solutions for you.
Q. Why won’t the water spots on my travertine clean up?
A. These are likely not water spots, but an etch mark on the surface of the stone. This is what happens when an acidic substance comes in contact with any calcium-based stone. To get rid of the etch marks, the stone will need to be polished out, much like a gemstone would have to be if it were scratched.
Q. Is there routine, daily, or weekly maintenance I should be performing on my travertine floors?
A. The #1 culprit of damage to floors is dirt, (grit, sand & dust). The best treatment for your floor is a dry, untreated microfiber dust mop or vacuum, used every day when possible. For homes, damp mopping is recommended on a weekly basis and whenever there are visible spills. For commercial and high traffic floors, daily damp mopping is recommended. For all-natural stone, use only stone-safe cleaners.
What You Should Know…
At Tru-Clean Surface Care, we can instruct you on the proper day-to-day care of your natural stone and tile floors, countertops, and other surfaces. We offer a free, downloadable Care Guide and can recommend stone-safe Care Products to help you keep your home or business looking great.
Tru-Clean Surface Care is A+ Rated by the Better Business Bureau and a seven-year-in-a-row-winner of the coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award. We are a surPhaces Pro Partner, Stone Pro Certified, and a Certified Firm with the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification.
For more information about our travertine cleaning, polishing, or honing services please visit us online at www.trucleansurfacecare.com or call us anytime at 239-541-4888 – Cape Coral, Fort Myers, and Lee County, 239-206-1935 – Bonita Springs, Naples and Marco Island, or 941-621-2198 – Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte Florida.
