What Are the Most Challenging Aspects of Limestone Restoration?
Limestone is beautiful, but over time, it will need cleaning and restoration. Unfortunately, many people mistakenly assume that this is easy to do and attempt to do it on their own. This only leads to challenges and can easily damage your limestone rather than restore it.
Limestone restoration is challenging for many reasons and here are some of them:
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Limestone Is Fragile
What most people don’t realize is that limestone is actually very fragile. Homeowners just know it’s a type of stone, and since most stones can withstand quite a bit, they put a lot of force into cleaning and restoring their limestone. However, limestone is very fragile and crumbles easily. If it isn’t cared for properly, it’s easy to damage and ruin.
When cleaning or restoring limestone on your own, it’s easy to scratch and damage it. Even if you’re trying to be gentle, most homeowners don’t know how to properly restore their limestone.
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Cleaners Are Difficult to Find
Because limestone is so fragile, it takes a special type of cleaner. You can’t use bleach or ammonia, but it’s crucial that you have something strong enough to kill bacteria and remove dirt. Finding a cleaner that fits this description can be extremely challenging.
Stores don’t sell industrial cleaners that we have access to, and many of the stone cleaners you find aren’t the right concoction to both clean and protect your stone.
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Using the Right Tools
Most homeowners don’t have the right tools on hand to clean or restore limestone. Instead, they reach for a scrub brush and a mop and assume that those will work well. Unless your goal is to scratch or damage the stone, though, these tools won’t work.
Using the right tools to restore and clean your limestone is important, but you can’t find them in the supermarket or online for a lower price than hiring professionals. Choosing to use other unsuitable tools, though, could severely damage the stone and backfire on you.
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Too Much Moisture Causes Issues
When restoring limestone, it’s going to be exposed to moisture. However, too much moisture can lead to spalling, where the stone expands and cracks. Without expert knowledge on how to avoid and prevent this, many homeowners put their limestone at risk of spalling without even realizing.
Is It Possible to Restore Limestone?
As mentioned, there are numerous challenges to restoring limestone. While limestone restoration is incredibly difficult for homeowners to do on their own, it is possible and can be done safely by professionals.
Professional limestone restorers have all the right tools to restore your stone with. We use professional-grade equipment to ensure that the stone is properly cleaned and restored without being damaged by accident. We also have the right cleaners and know exactly which ones are safe for your stone and which may damage it.
As professional limestone restorers, we have all the proper and necessary training to safely restore your limestone. With years of experience, we’ll be able to bring your limestone back to life without putting it at risk of being damaged, broken, or dulled.
Conclusion
Limestone restoration is an art that most homeowners aren’t well versed in. Unless you have experience restoring limestone, the odds are high that you’ll accidentally damage the stone and create a more significant problem than you initially had. Fortunately, professional restoration companies like ours can safely restore your limestone without damaging it in the process, so call our Orlando area limestone restoration team today to ask us more about restoring your limestone’s original luster!