Hi I am a flooring contractor and used honed travertine tile in my entry kitchen and mud room, it looks terrible it looks stained some parts of the tile are duller than others looks like the grout filled areas are stained when looking at it everyone comments ots embarrasing is there something wrng with ,y tile or os this how it is am i stuck wth it? alos I have black honed granite on myisland, HATE IT!!! it looks oily and stained, from day1 they are taking itoff and going to rehone it again, thinking the sealer they put on didnt work but Im so upset cant I just have it dull with no oily look? Thanks so much...

 

Dear Michele:

You neglected to tell me how old your floors are. The duller spots are probably the consequence of the spilling of acidic substances on the floor, which etched it and made it duller. The darkening of the filler, could be just good ol' soil.

What I would do if I were you, is to have a proficient stone restoration contractor re-hone your floors with a good-quality low grit honing powder (150 grit is recommended), like MB-14 ( http://www.stonecarecentral.com). Once the floor is completely re-honed, if the filler is still darker, then it's probably stained (but somehow I doubt that); in which case you will have to poultice the stains off. Apply a good-quality stone impregnating sealer like MB-4, get hold of the right cleaners for routine care and… enjoy!

The same principle applies to your hone-finished black “granite” countertop. The only difference is that, once you have your countertop re-honed, you will have it treated with a good-quality stone color enhancer like MB-6. That will turn your stone permanently and uniformly black, thus minimi z ing the big problem of surface staining that you're experiencing now. I consider that as your only option to “tame the beast”! It works! J

 

May I ask you now to please read and e-sign our Statement of Purpose at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm?   J

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

www.marblecleaning.org – The Only Consumers' Portal to the Stone Industry Establishment!