Natural stone cleaning and sealing in Scottsdale

What it costs

Grout repair from $150, quoted after we see it and not discounted. Stone showers and wet areas are quoted in person, because size, condition and stone type vary too much for a number given blind. Text a photo for a rough range first.

$150 minimum per visit.

Full pricing with every tier and worked examples.

Work out your own number

Measure the stone areas, length times width, and add them together. That total against the rate is the price, and you can do it before ringing anybody.

A 600 sqft travertine entry and hallway is $765 cleaned at the discounted rate, or $1,020 cleaned and clear sealed. A 1,200 sqft main level is $1,530 cleaned, $2,040 with clear seal.

Rough is fine. Knowing whether yours is a $700 job or a $2,000 one before you talk to anybody is the point, and it makes any other quote easy to check.

pH-neutral products, and no acid on stone ever

The single most important thing on this site, and the reason a stone floor needs a different company from a tile floor.

Acid etches marble, travertine and limestone on contact. Not over time, not with repeated exposure. On contact. It dissolves the calcium carbonate the stone is made of, and what you are left with is a dull patch where the surface used to be.

That damage does not undo. Cleaning will not lift it, sealer will not hide it, and the only route back is honing and polishing with diamond pads, which is refinishing work.

We use pH-neutral, stone-safe products. There is no version of this job where an acidic cleaner touches your floor.

It is worth asking anybody you get a quote from what they use, and treating vagueness as an answer. A great deal of the etching we find on Scottsdale stone was put there by somebody who cleaned it.

Why stone is a different job from tile

The distinction matters because a company that treats them the same will damage your floor, and that damage is not reversible.

Stone is porous in a way glazed tile is not

Glazed tile has a fired surface that repels almost everything. Natural stone absorbs, which is why it needs sealing at all and why unsealed stone in this climate takes on hard water mineral and desert dust rather than just carrying them on the surface.

Stone reacts chemically

Marble, travertine and limestone are calcium carbonate, which means acid dissolves them. Tile does not care. Stone is damaged on contact, and the products sitting under most kitchen sinks are acidic.

Each type behaves differently

Travertine has open voids. Marble shows etching dramatically because it is polished. Slate spalls in layers. Limestone is softer than all of them. The product that suits one can damage another, which is why identification comes first.

Signs your stone needs it

• Stone that looks dull or worn even right after mopping
• Visible hard water spots or mineral buildup
• Stains that will not lift with regular cleaning
• Grout lines between the stone looking dark or dirty
• A previous sealer that no longer beads water
• Traffic areas that look noticeably different from the rest of the floor

How we do it

What cleaning and sealing cannot fix

Being straight about this up front matters more on stone than on anything else, because the damage is permanent and expensive.

Etching is the dull spot where something acidic ate into the surface. Wine, citrus, vinegar, and a great many store-bought cleaners all cause it. It is damage to the stone rather than a stain sitting on it, so cleaning does not lift it and sealer does not conceal it.

Scratches and worn finish in traffic lanes are the same category. The surface itself has changed.

Fixing either means honing and polishing with diamond pads, which is refinishing work and not something we offer. We clean and seal. When what your floor actually needs is a refinisher, we will tell you that instead of taking the job. Full explanation here.

1. Identify the stone and check the existing sealer. Travertine, marble, limestone and slate all behave differently, and the product that suits one can damage another. We also establish whether there is a sealer on there already and what condition it is in.
2. Clean with solutions matched to that stone. pH-neutral throughout, lifting embedded soil and mineral out of both the stone and the grout without touching the surface itself.
3. Seal, if you have chosen to. Clear to protect what is there, or color enhancing to deepen the natural color, plus grout color seal on the lines if you want that.
4. Walk it together. We look at the finished floor with you before anything gets loaded out.

Cleaning always comes first. Sealing over soil traps it under the coating rather than protecting anything, which is exactly why these are priced as tiers rather than sealing offered on its own.

The sealing options

Clear sealer

Protects without significantly changing how the stone looks. The right choice when you like the current appearance and want it to stay that way.

Color enhancing sealer

Deepens and richens the natural color. Best on travertine and slate that have gone flat, and a genuine visual change rather than a subtle one. Full page.

Grout color seal

Can be added to any tier, over 40 colors, either restoring the original color or changing it entirely. You are never required to take a higher stone tier just to get the grout done.

How often to reseal

Reseal every one to two years depending on the sealer and how much traffic the area takes.

There is a test that settles it without anybody's opinion. Put a few drops of water on the stone and wait five minutes. If it beads and sits there, the seal is working. If it soaks in and darkens the stone, the seal has worn through and the stone is absorbing everything else too.

Unsealed stone in this climate is the thing to avoid. Hard water leaves mineral that bonds into a porous surface, desert dust settles into it, and both get harder to remove the longer they sit.

Pool decks are their own thing

Travertine, flagstone and cool deck around a pool take chlorine, constant wet-dry cycling, calcium from splash-out and full sun, all at once. Sealing does more outside than it does indoors, because there is nothing else protecting that stone. Full page on decks.

Where we work

Scottsdale only.

Old Town · McCormick Ranch · Gainey Ranch · DC Ranch · Silverleaf · Grayhawk · Kierland · Troon North · Troon Village · Desert Mountain · Scottsdale Ranch · Ancala · McDowell Mountain Ranch · Pinnacle Peak · Cactus Corridor · Arcadia Park · Villa Monterey · Hy-View · Indian Bend · Paradise Park

DC Ranch and Silverleaf · Troon and far north Scottsdale · McCormick Ranch and Gainey Ranch · Old Town Scottsdale · Grayhawk and Kierland · South Scottsdale

Common questions