Marble/Stone Floor Care

Ashley Faulk · January 15, 2009, 06:10 AM

Hi everyone,
I am Ashley w/R.I.C.
Our company has been in business since 1988 and specializes in carpet, tile, upholstery, water damage, window cleaning, etc.
I am looking to expand our services to encompass marble and stone maintenance.
If you have thoughts or experience on this subject please let me know. I also need to know how/where I can get my technicians trained/certified to do this and where I can look for products.
Thanks for your help.

Robert Akin · January 15, 2009, 06:31 AM

Hello Ashley,

Welcome to the site. Here are a few website with info and classes. The first one is IICRC and if you scroll down to the bottom it has a list of classes Welcome to the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification! The Certifying Body for the Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Industry, Representing Certified Firms and Technicians World-Wide - International. The second one is Dirtygrout.com if you search through there they have a forum to go through with a lot of info.

Rob

Bud Cline · January 15, 2009, 07:26 PM

Ashley before you absorb some of the misinformation that is so readily available these days please go to the Marble Institutes website and familiarize yourself with their information. They would be the one of the cornerstone organizations of the industry.

Marble Institute of America: Consumer Resources - Natural Stone Care and Cleaning

Ashley Faulk · January 16, 2009, 10:59 AM

Robert,
Thanks for the info, I really like the dirty grout website.
The ceramic cleaning video was exceptional - I have looked into utilizing colored grout in the past for our ceramic cleaning. Have you used this before? If so do you think the hand application or the roller application is better for commercial use?
Regarding the stone flooring - Are you aware of any instructors through the IICRC or other organizations that come on site to complete training as long as you pay their fee and travel expenses?

Robert Akin · January 16, 2009, 12:43 PM

Ashley Faulk said

Robert,
Thanks for the info, I really like the dirty grout website.
The ceramic cleaning video was exceptional - I have looked into utilizing colored grout in the past for our ceramic cleaning. Have you used this before? If so do you think the hand application or the roller application is better for commercial use?
Regarding the stone flooring - Are you aware of any instructors through the IICRC or other organizations that come on site to complete training as long as you pay their fee and travel expenses?

Ashley,

I just recently found those sites because of a problem we are experiencing with floor care. It has cost me a lot of time and frustration with improper floor care and we are always the first ones called when there is an issue. We have customers that cannot seem to understand that even a new floor has to be maintained properly.

I have never used any of the color grout products and have little knowledge on this but am like you in the process of learning. From what I have learned so far its not to difficult. I am going to take a class next month on commercial carpet cleaning and would like to also take a stone and tile class to. I do not know if they have instuctors that travel. There is a class that I have heard good reviews about called This Stone House ( link to it ) Stone restoration, cleaning stone, marble repair, cleaning marble, marble polishing.

One more comment on the color grout subject. I have seen a customer used the saniglaze system in a commercial building and did not like the fact that they used a white color to recoat the grout. It shows dirt very quickly. I would have thought a more neutral color matching the existing grout color would have been a better choice.

Hope this helped!

Rob