Natural stone cleaning and sealing in DC Ranch and Silverleaf
Large stone floors, frequently travertine or limestone, and the neighborhood where the wrong cleaner has done the most damage. $1.275/sqft cleaned after 15% off. pH-neutral products, never acid.
Calls answered 7am to 8pm · same-day service usually available
Measure the stone areas and ring us. That square footage is your price.
North Scottsdale, along the McDowell foothills · built Late 1990s to present
Travertine at scale
Most of the stone through here is travertine, laid across very large areas. Entries, great rooms, hallways, kitchens, and frequently right out through to the patio in a continuous run.
That is lovely and it is also a lot of porous surface. Travertine is full of natural voids, some of them filled at the factory and some of them open, and every one of those collects material. A travertine floor does not simply get dirty on top, it absorbs.
At this scale the square footage matters. A 1,500 sqft run of travertine is $1,912.50 cleaned at the discounted rate, or $2,550 cleaned and clear sealed. Those are real numbers and you should have them before anybody arrives rather than after.
Where the color enhancing sealer earns its money
Travertine that has gone flat is the single best candidate for it, and this neighborhood is full of exactly that.
Stone loses depth as the original sealer wears and soil works into the surface. What was warm and varied reads pale and chalky, and cleaning alone brings it partway back. Color enhancing sealer takes it further, deepening and richening the natural color rather than adding a color to it.
It is $2.125/sqft after the discount against $1.70 for clear seal, so on a 1,000 sqft floor that is about $425 more. Whether it is worth it depends entirely on your stone, which is why we would rather show you a test area than sell it over the phone. Full page on it.
What we find that somebody else did
More etching in this neighborhood than anywhere else in the city, and almost none of it accidental in the way people assume.
It is not usually spilled wine. It is a cleaning product, either something from a store used by the household or something used by a company that treated a stone floor like a tile floor. Vinegar-based cleaners, anything marketed for hard water, and most general-purpose bathroom products are acidic.
The result is dull patches that do not come back with cleaning and are not hidden by sealer. We will point them out during the walkthrough and tell you plainly that cleaning will improve everything around them while leaving them exactly as they are. More on that here.
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.
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.
How we do it
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
Questions from DC Ranch and Silverleaf
What does it cost in DC Ranch and Silverleaf?
Interior stone: cleaning $1.50/sqft or $1.275 after the 15% off, clean plus clear seal $2 or $1.70, clean plus color enhancing $2.50 or $2.125. Adding grout color seal takes it to $2.75, $3.25 or $3.75 before the discount. Pool decks are $2, $3 or $4 per sqft depending on sealer. Grout repair from $150, not discounted. $150 minimum per visit.
What products do you use on stone?
pH-neutral and stone-safe, always. No acidic cleaners on natural stone under any circumstances, because acid etches marble, travertine and limestone on contact and that damage cannot be undone. It is worth asking anybody else you get a quote from the same question.
Can you remove etch marks or dull spots?
No. Etching is physical damage to the stone surface rather than a stain on it, so it takes honing and polishing with diamond pads to remove. That is refinishing work and we do not offer it. Cleaning and sealing will make the floor look considerably better overall and the etch marks will still be there.
What is the difference between clear and color enhancing sealer?
Clear protects without significantly changing how the stone looks. Color enhancing deepens and richens the natural color for a more saturated finish. Both protect against staining. The enhancing option is a genuine visual change and it works best on travertine and slate that have gone flat.
How often should stone be resealed?
Every one to two years depending on the sealer and the traffic. There is a test that settles it: put a few drops of water on the stone and wait five minutes. Beading means the seal is working. Soaking in and darkening the stone means it has worn through.
Can grout color seal be added to any package?
Yes, and you are never required to take a higher stone tier just to get the grout done. Over 40 colors, either restoring the original or changing it entirely.
Elsewhere in Scottsdale
Troon and far north Scottsdale · McCormick Ranch and Gainey Ranch · Old Town Scottsdale · Grayhawk and Kierland · South Scottsdale
Calls answered 7am to 8pm · same-day service usually available
$1.275/sqft cleaned after the discount. Call or text, 7am to 8pm.