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Marble Polishing, Bring Back the Shine

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 09:30:08 +0000

Polishing Marble to bring back the shine and beauty of your countertop, vanity or floor is just a phone call away

Marble is a much-sought stone for interior design. The most common uses of marble are in counter tops as well as flooring. While marble might look very radiant in these uses, the beauty of the stone will vanish if the owner does not take proper care of the surface. Daily cleaning,and yearly marble polishing and prevention of accidents are the best ways to preserve the quality of marble.

Marble polishing is a relatively easy process on this soft stone. As a result, it removes etches and scratches quickly. Any liquid that is acidic, will surely etch the marble. This is where Colonial Floor and Stone Care can bring in polishing equipment that experienced technicians used to hone down the surface to take all etching away and the use our proprietary method of marble polishing to bring back the brilliant shine. In addition, bathroom marble can also become dull, etch the stone, and also discolor it, leaving the need for marble polishing to bring the bathroom marble back to new. Despite being a stone, these surfaces can still become etched and dull needing marble polishing to renew your counter top or flooring. Ultimately, the best way to prevent long-term damage to your marble flooring or counter top is by preventing the buildup of any kind of damaging substances. Always clean up all spills and keep everything on plastic mats to avoid the spills in the first place. In this way, your marble floors and counter tops will maintain their shine for many years to come.

Colonial Floor and Stone Care is the professional marble polisher to polish your marble counter top or flooring. We are the experts that can help you with all your natural stone care needs. From marble to granite polishing, flooring or counter tops, let us come and give you a free estimate to your home in Miami/Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Call us at Miami Dade County (305) 731-2242

Ft. Lauderdale (954) 566-4555 Palm Beach County (561) 337-1408 Tampa / Clearwater / Sarasota /

St. Petersburg (813) 527-9797

Why is My Marble Countertop looking dull?

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:40:04 +0000

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dWSrW-9IP4

Marble, by nature is a pourus but hard and durable stone. Marble and granite are used now for counter tops, vanities and flooring. If installed and sealed properly the surface will usually last about a year before needing to be professionally cleaned and polished. That is if daily use and cleaning are done properly. But, if you have hosted holiday parties like I recently, you can find that a few spills will really harm and dull that marble.

Spilling things like orange juice or other citris juices, as well as red wine, anything with high acidity will do something called “etching”. As a customer found out over the New Years holiday, if a drink with orange juice is spilled and not found for a day or so after, the etching may not be able to be “buffed” out by the homeowner with a commercial cleaner or using a DIY or home made remedy to try and bring back the shine. If you find that, like our customer, you need to have your marble or granite counter top cleaned and polished, Colonial Floor and Stone Care is there to help. We take pride in helping our customers in Miami/Dade, Broward and Palm Beach county customers to bring back the shine to their natural stone. Give us a call. We have been here for 20 years to help maintain your Stone Care needs and continue to be here today to help.

Getting Ready for the Holidays Fort Lauderdale!

admin — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:21:43 +0000

We are Colonial Floor Care Ft. Lauderdale

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDBgWRV_w50

I love this time of year! Brings back so many memories, family gatherings at my Grandmothers house. Having Family and Friends around from Thanksgiving to New Years, this tradition thankfully goes on.

One of the fondest memories I have is my Grandmother sitting myself and my cousins (all 12 of us) down at the large dinning room table before Thanksgiving and giving each of us old enough to do the task, our own piece of her precious silver she would proudly display on the marble topped buffet during the Holidays and special occasions. These cherished heirlooms, like the ornate carved and marble topped buffet with the beveled mirror that line the back of it; along with this silver service set and silverware were cared for lovingly by my Gram. She had her own silver cleaning poltice that she used. It was a chore that we loved to do to see who could get their piece shine the best!

Then came the month leading to Christmas! Much to do for the children during that time. Popping the popcorn and stringing it for the tree. Creating our own oriments made from tin foil or macaroni and glue. Keeping little hands busy.
It was also a good way for my Grandmother to get her girls (6 of them including my mother) there to do the Holiday cleaning. The polishing of the whole house it seemed. The Mahogany wood moldings around the doorways and entry ways, the hard wood staircase and railing, also Mahogany. The marble, that made up the foyer floor, on the foyer table, around the fireplace in the living room. I remember the women in our family on their hands and knees polishing that marble floor. Once the cleaning and the polishing was done. Our piece of polished silver placed on the newly cleaned and shined marble topped buffet to be displayed and await the next journey in the holiday, The decorating! Decking the halls, getting just the right tree, decorating. Each week a different task until December 25th. Then on to the Feast we would have on Christmas day and again on New years day. Everyone has their fond memories of the Holiday season, I continue to have mine and make new ones for my own family, children and grandchildren.

Today, I do have one of the heirlooms that I remember so fondly. The marble topped Foyer Table. And have hand always polished it the way I was taught growing up. However today, the polishing of the past is no longer the labor intensive job it was 40 years ago I have found. We have the highest quality company in stone care here in Fort Lauderdale. Colonial Floor Care has been in service since 1986 helping people shine up the marble, terrazzo, granite, all natural stone and even concrete! Holiday time is the right time to put your better foot forward, shine up the halls before you deck them. Let Colonial Floor Care help you with the cleaning and polishing, allowing you to Deck the Halls with your Holiday Trim. Call today at 954-566-4555 for Ft. Lauderdale and Broward county and Miami Dade County at 305-731-2242, Palm Beach County at 561-337-140. Start a new Holiday tradition of polishing your marble or other stone surfaces with Colonial Floor Care.

Marble and other Natural Stone Materials in Buildings Around the US

admin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:42:14 +0000

I was just up to Western New York and Pennsylvania to visit my family and friends. And as I was in my cousin’s Grandmothers house, which looks the same has it has for 40 years or longer, I happened to look down at the floor I remember playing on as a child, my eyes caught the pattern of the very old linoleum that had been there for decades. I smiled at my cousin and said “this is patterned after Terrazzo.” She laughed and said “this is linoleum. OLD linoleum at that!” To my amazement I had seen this floor for years and it has only been since I became friends with the owner of Colonial Floor Care; a Terrazzo, Marble, Granite and other stone Restoration Company in South Florida, that I became familiar with this gorgeous type of flooring. I explained to her what cleaning, polishing and restoration was and how it was done.

First inspecting the surface for chips or cracks, also making sure if the Marble or Granite are in tile form, that the tile be inspect for lippage (where the tiles are not in line with each other making one higher than the other, which then will be honed using a special rotary machine to grind the two edges smooth and level). These imperfections have to be repaired with an epoxy/resin type filler that is color matched perfectly to the color of the stone and when dry ground down to a smooth finish. After that is done, it is cleaned with a proprietary poultice to take all the dirt and grime that had been ground into the porous material that natural stone is. After the cleaning is done, the surface is then polished using a large rotary type buffing machine, and in certain instances, these surface have to be ground down to remove scratches and using different grades of grinding pads; polished to a smooth shine. After the work is inspected and approved, then it will be sealed and your floor will maintain this shine for up to 14 years if regularly cleaned properly and maintained correctly. She was impressed I may say at what goes into restoring a natural stone surface. The Marble Institute of America has much information about all types of stone products and helps set the standards for all Natural Stone products

She then reminded me about all the Cobblestone homes and streets we have in rural New York. We, who lived near the “Erie Canal” know all about Cobblestone.(This link will tell anyone who doesn’t know about it’s construction and what it did for the prosperity of all New York will find this very interesting.) Most of the houses surrounding the canal were made from those stones when it was being dug by hand by immigrants. These stones also paved the streets in some of the townships in the area from Rochester to Buffalo. Also another natural building material, Cobblestones were cemented together with mortar of the time. The streets were laid the same way we do with “stone pavers” of today. These homes and to some extent the streets, are still standing as a testament to the beauty and durability of all stone. Not to mention in today’s world, natural stones are now considered an Eco Friendly building material.

I then did some internet searches for places I went to when I was in school near by, such as the Eastman House in Rochester, owned by George Eastman and built in the early 1900’s. Per the historical page on the website ” … Mr. Eastman (1854–1932) built his home at 900 East Avenue between 1902 and 1905. He created a unique urban estate complete with 10.5 acres of working farm land, formal gardens, greenhouses, stables, barns, pastures, and a 35,000-square-foot, 50-room Colonial Revival mansion with a fireproof structure made of reinforced concrete..” The inside was state of the art for it’s day, with all the new modern conveniences. The Eastman House Grand entry way had marble floors, Granite pillars, and ornate sculptures filled the home. I remember going there as a child and teenager for the beauty of the Gardens and patios and side walks of Terracotta and just to be in awe of the Grandeur of the building. Also many government buildings of the early 1900’s and Churches in the area were constructed with concrete, marble, granite and other natural stones.

So I did one more search to find where all this stone would come from, only to find that New York and Pennsylvania had many stone quarries where granite and marble were quarried. Now looking back, as a child and teenager I went swimming in old quarries that had filled naturally with spring water, never even thinking about what wonderful surfaces and building materials came from that filled up hole in the ground.

So I thought, did we have any other buildings using Marble in New York? And the answer is YES, many! The New York State Capitol Building, the New York State Education Building in Albany, NY and the Empire State Plaza in Albany, NY to name a few. New York City is full of them! To numerous to name. I was very impressed, living in a state that not only quarried the stone, but had historical buildings from that stone all over the state. Once again thanks to the Erie Canal when finished to transport these stone materials from quarry to cities all over the state.

I then explained to her what my friend and owner of Colonial Floor Care has educated me about natural stones, such as Marble, Granite, Terrazzo. Not only is this wonderful material used all over the United states, it is Environmentally safe, and lasts for centuries. Now it is currently being used to upgrade and remodel older homes. Colonial Floor Care is South Florida’s Premiere natural stone restoration company. They have been doing Historical restorations in the older homes of South Florida’s from the “great cover up” in the 70’s when it was fashionable to cover up these surfaces with new products such as Shag carpet, tile and linoleum which were not only fashionable at the time, but affordable.

New home owners of today, while taking up these older carpets or tiles are finding hidden Gems under them. Some not knowing what they are looking at, may see dull, scratched, stained or even chipping and cracking in these floors and just want to “cover them up” again. But for the price of installation of good carpeting, tile or hardwood flooring; Restoration of your Marble tile (or slab), Granite, or Terrazzo, will add value to the home along with bringing back the original beauty and durability once considered THE flooring to have! Thus increasing the value of these Mid Modern designed homes.

If you have found what you may think is unable to be restored, please contact us for a free estimate by calling 305-731-2242, and one of our skilled craftsmen will come and talk to you about your individual flooring or surface restoration, polishing and cleaning needs. We are Colonial Floor Care! We care about YOUR personal project.