Knowing the mistakes to avoid when installing natural stone is necessary. You can never go wrong when using STONEarch natural stone pavers on your property. They are not only gorgeous and elegant but durable as well.

Nonetheless, if you want your natural stone flooring lasts, you need to install and maintain it properly. Thereby, knowing the most common natural stone mistakes to avoid will ensure your floors keep its beauty and luxurious look for many years.

Not Purchasing Your STONEarch Natural Stone Pavers In Batches

You’ll just give yourself a headache from the get-go if you don’t purchase your natural stone pavers in full batches, enough to cover the entire landscape project.

The uniqueness and beauty of these stones lie on its organic variations in colour and vein patterns. So when you buy from different batches, your home may end up with floors that look mismatched. This, in turn, can take away a bit of the stone’s appeal.

Natural stones like granite, limestone, slate, and travertine have subtle variations that may look out of place after installation if they don’t come from the same batch.

Moreover, it’s a good idea to purchase a little extra to account for cuts and breakage. Usually, there is a 5-10% extra material requirement for cuts along the border of the project. Plus, there’s also a chance of some breakage on-site due to poor handling by contractors and crew.

Choosing To Work With The Cheapest Installer You Can Get

Don’t get us wrong here. You can still find an excellent installer at a competitive price. But always keep in mind the saying that you get what you pay for.

When considering a paver installer, make sure to ask for pictures of their previous works. You also get addresses and drive around to check them out for yourself. Furthermore, set expectations upfront in terms of the level of quality you would like for your project, and avoid negotiating too much.

Installing natural stone floors correctly needs more labor and proper skills. So if you want high-quality work, expect to pay higher installation fees. Also, you may see yourself dealing with costly problems and repairs in the future if you chose not to hire a professional to do the installation for you. Hiring an expert down the road to repair, refinish, and polish your natural stone flooring can hurt your budget.

Not Selecting The Right Finish

Aside from choosing the type of STONEarch natural stone you want, you also need to choose the right finish and colour carefully.

Homeowners often opt for a honed finish only to see themselves spending extra to have them polished later on. Meanwhile, others choose those with a glossy, polished finish initially and then have it honed because they don’t have the time to keep up with its cleaning requirements.

The most common finishes for landscape stone are natural, flamed, sandblasted, and shot-blasted. These allow for sufficient traction in rain and snow and are still gentle enough for pool decks and patios.

So make sure to consider your needs and lifestyle when selecting the right finish from the start to spare you the trouble later on.

Poor Sealing

As mentioned, these stones are porous. Thereby, you need to properly seal your STONEarch natural stone pavers to help preserve their aesthetic.

Some stones are more porous than other types, which means they often need sealing to protect from discolouration and stains. There are also instances when the poor application of sealant changes the colour or finish of the flooring. Sometimes it can even create weak spots where staining agents and moisture can seep through.

On the other hand, some natural stones are recommended to be sealed to protect them from staining. Likewise, this will ensure that your project maintains the same look for many years to come. However, make sure you use a sealer specifically designed for natural stone. Also, take time to wash your natural stone pavers and clean with a mild brush to remove any debris or excess grout.

Final Words

These are the top 4 common mistakes to avoid when installing natural stone. Knowing how to avoid them is crucial for the long term success of your landscaping projects. If you have any questions about how to install your STONEarch natural stone pavers, don’t hesitate to contact our team. We’re more than willing to answer any questions you may have.

The coronavirus pandemic has overwhelmed many of us already. We’re in a situation right now where pretty much everything is a guessing game. However, just because you’re stuck at home 24/7 doesn’t mean that you have to waste all your time watching movies or taking naps.

There are many things you can do inside your home. But it’s vital to get outside, catch some sunlight, get active, and become productive. I’m sure that before COVID-19 took a hit, there were plenty of Do-It-Yourself DIY landscape projects you had in mind for your backyard. And now, more than ever is the right time to tackle them – given you’re stuck at home and have nothing but time on your hands!

It may not be easy at first, but once you get off the couch and gather your tools, you’ll be motivated all the way. Plus, your immune system and mood will benefit from all that fresh air and Vitamin D. So with that in mind, here are some DIY landscape projects for your backyard while you’re quarantined at home. You can even get the kids to help you out and make it a bonding experience for the entire family! Here are a list of 6 simple DIY Landscape projects for your backyard during COVID-19:

Create A Nice Garden

A nice little garden can turn your landscape even more beautiful. Aside from adding aesthetics in your property, gardening can also take your mind off things. But before starting your garden, clean up your yard first. Get rid of those weeds, and do some mulching and fertilizing. Also, make sure to prepare your ground for planting by composting.

Gardening is not only a relaxing activity. Planting your favorite vegetables or herbs is pretty convenient and will save you money on groceries in the long run. If you’re more of a flower person, consider planting hardy plants like lime hydrangeas, drift roses, and kaleidoscope abelia that will look lovely in any backyard.

Here at STONEarch, we get so caught up in the hardscaping that we sometimes forget what brings real life to a project – all of the beautiful trees, plants, and flowers.

Give Your Children Their Own Corner In The Backyard

If you’re bored during quarantine, imagine what your kids are feeling right now. So give them a special place in your backyard and let them help you execute it. Plan something that will bring out their imaginations and creative juices, maybe even create a small competition between your kids.

Creating this is easy. Choose a nice corner in your backyard. Then add some small pebbles, colored sand, and your children’s choice of mini plants. Cactus and succulents are a good idea and they’re also cheap. You can place them in a container that’s at least 12 inches wide with pretty good drainage and put it in a sunny spot near your kid’s corner.

Let them be responsible for watering the area, taking care of the garden, removing weeds, and ensuring their plants remain healthy. After 4 weeks, you can measure the growth and give the winner some extra dessert at dinner time!

Turn Your Outdoor Space In A Nice Living Area

There are plenty of ways to turn your outdoor space into a stunning living area. You can create a seating area with a pergola so that you’ll have some sha

There are plenty of ways to turn your outdoor space into a stunning living area. You can create a seating area with a pergola so that you’ll have some shade. This is a fantastic place to sit back and to start going through the list of books that you’ve been planning to read for months. Our good friend Steve at Timberkits can give you a hand when it comes to designing the right pergola for your backyard.

Moreover, you may add some plants around it to make the space more inviting. Consider repurposing old cans and have the kids join in on the fun by asking them to decorate them and planting whatever type of plants they want.

Consider incorporating some natural stone copings or landscape pavers into your patio area. If you have some steps leading into your backyard, stone copings can save you a lot of money and they are easy to lift and can be installed with just 2 people. In this picture, you’ll see our Black limestone copings used in this elegant landscape project.

Incorporate Some Mood Lighting

Outdoor lighting is an inexpensive way to enhance your backyard and its ambiance at night. Incorporating your outdoor living space with mood lighting will give it a starry feel. Also, you can use it in several different ways, including along your pathways with lanterns or torches. Or you can drape string lights on your trees. Doing so can make family dinner outdoors an even more enjoyable and intimate experience.

Spruce Up Your Garden Path

Adding natural stone pebbles around your garden path can turn it into Adding natural stone pebbles around your garden path can turn it into something alluring. If you don’t have any available at home, you may contact our STONEarch team for any order request. Our white landscaping pebbles can add a pop of colour to any project.

Create a DIY Backyard Pond

No matter how little space you have available in your backyard, you can easily add a gorgeous pond in it. This DIY landscape project for your backyard is simple and inexpensive. Putting up a simple water feature on a small space can make it look much larger than it is. Plus, the sound of the trickling water is enough to relax anyone. And relaxing your mind amidst this COVID-19 pandemic is the best thing you can do for yourself and your family.

Limestone has been around for many centuries. You can see this material being used for ornamental and building purposes because of its elegance, beauty, and durability. Limestone may not be as tough as granite, but it’s far stronger than alternatives for landscaping such as a wood / composite deck or concrete pavers. And with proper maintenance, limestone pavers can serve you for many years to come.

Limestone is an essential component of concrete and in gravel form, it is commonly used as an aggregate for roads. Interestingly enough, the Egyptian pyramids were made of limestone blocks and the Romans also used limestone mixtures to create a concrete mixture for building many of the structures in Rome.

With these types of historic and timeless structures still standing, it’s safe to say that Limestone is strong enough to withstand North America’s harsh climates and is one of the most durable building materials for landscape use.

How Limestones Are Formed

Limestone is a type of organic sedimentary rock and mostly composed of calcium carbonate. It is formed through the buildup of algae, shell, and coral or direct water crystallization.

Most limestones are produced when mussels, oysters, clams, and other marine animals in warm bodies of water obtain calcium carbonate from the water to create bones and shells. Once these mollusks die, their bones and shells will fall onto the seabed. These shells will then accumulate and form limestone over hundreds of years of heat, pressure, and compression.

You can find limestones in a lot of locations across the globe, from the Indian Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. The amount of shellfish, algae, and corals in these places are abundant, producing a large amount of calcium carbonate. Limestone is abundantly found around the Great Lakes in Canada, and one very popular type of limestone – called Indiana Limestone – is found around the Indiana state in the United States.

Different Types Of Limestone Tile Finishes

Polished limestones

These limestone tiles feature natural pores. Limestone is a porous material and a specific filling helps reduce these pores. After the process, the tiles will undergo some polishing to make them ready for your landscape project. Because of this process, the surface of the tiles becomes shiny, bright, and more reflective. Limestone natural stone tiles with this finish are ideal to indoor use on your walls and floors.

Brushed limestones

Limestones with a brushed finish are the simplest and have subtle colours. They are brushed using wire brushes, giving them a clean, matte finish. They’re mostly used for outdoor spaces.

Tumbled limestones

Tumbled limestones are an additional added step as a part of the finish on the final stone. You can get a flamed finish limestone – for example our STONEarch Silver Valley limestone – and ask for a tumbled finish. With this process, the stone pavers or blocks will have a more matte appearance and it will also slightly round-off the edges of the individual tiles. Tumbled limestones are most commonly used for cobblestone driveway as they are easy to maintain, slip-resistant, and offer a soothing quality and appearance.

Natural limestones

Our STONEarch Black limestone is an example of a natural-finish limestone. This is the most traditional form of processing limestone as it requires taking a natural block of stone and cutting it into individual pavers. Limestone tends to be a flat stone but with a natural finish on our Black limestone, you are left with very little natural clefts that remain on the surface of the stone.

Benefits Of Using Limestone Tiles

Reliable

Limestones are one of the most dependable landscape stones out there. For this reason, Greeks and Romans utilized the hardscape material to build structures and statues that still stand proudly today. Thereby, limestone is a superb choice if you want a natural stone that will last for generations. Also, the stone is dense, strong, and has few pores, making it resistant to freeze-thaw cycles, scratch-resistant, and also allows for an anti-slip surface.

Beautiful

STONEarch limestone is available in a variety of stunning colours, including black, gray, silver, Moderno Beige, brown, red, pink, and even gold.

You’ll find our collection of limestones breathtaking. Likewise, it will add plenty of beauty to your property. And since they are available in different hues, you are sure to find something suitable for the current style of your home. What’s more, the landscape material can enhance colour or blend easily in your home.

Flexible

Limestone is a highly versatile natural stone. It is softer in comparison to other types of natural stones. Thereby, you can cut them into whatever size you want, from small floor tiles to jumbo slabs.

Cost-Effective

One of the reasons why homeowners, architects, and contractors choose limestone over other landscaping materials often is because of its cost-effectiveness. Limestone allows flexibility when it comes to installation and is often a cost-effective choice when it comes to designing your outdoor landscape. Limestone’s upfront cost will not hurt your pockets, and you won’t have to worry about replacing it for many years, allowing you to invest more money into other highlight features of your project such as an outdoor kitchen, fireplace, or swimming pool. A pro tip – our limestone does not stain from chemicals from pools either so it’s a great choice for copings around the pool and surrounding areas.

Eco-Friendly

Using limestone as your landscape material is an eco-friendly choice. It has a short and simple mining process, unlike unit-pavers which require heavy manufacturing and create a lot of pollution for the environment. Moreover, it doesn’t require an extensive finishing method in the factory. Hence, producing these natural stone tiles won’t consume as much energy, which, in turn, helps reduce pollution.

Granite is one of the most popular and widely used natural stones today in landscape, architecture, and decoration. It’s the perfect landscape material for heavily-used surfaces such as outdoor pavings and BBQ kitchen countertops.

You’ll likely see the tough landscaping stone just about anywhere, from buildings and monuments to walkway pavings and driveways. It comes in a wide variety of patterns and colors that can complement nearly any aesthetic. It’s a material that can provide your projects not only with quality but elegance as well.

What Is Granite?

Granites are igneous, crystalline rocks, and considered as one of the hardest natural stones. They are formed far below the earth’s mantle through a combination of pressure and intense heat.

For this reason, they are highly resistant to scratches and heat. Thus, these stones are perfect for your kitchen countertop, vanity top, floors, and so much more. Granite is a practical solution for any interior and exterior designs ideas.

These natural stones are produced from numerous quarries all over the world. They also feature intricate veining that will provide the surfaces of your home with a unique and elegant look that will last a lifetime. And since they yield a massive color palette, you can mix and match them to fit the style you have in mind.

The colours of granite include the following:

• Black
• White
• Gray
• Brown
• Red
• Blue
• Green
• Pink

Different Types Of Uses For Granite

• Paving Stone. Granite as stone pavers or pavings will give your patio or driveway an interesting and colorful look. The natural stone is a beautiful blend of skillful design and craftsmanship that produces a distinctive and lasting finish. The picture above showcases our Sunset granite pavers.

• Granite Tiles. You can use granite tiles as walling and flooring for that high-luster, classic space.

• Copings. Given the strength of granite, copings using our New Ebony and Gray granite are very popular options to put around your pool. We can provide them in different finishes including rock-faced and straight-edge. Most modern design themes prefer using straight edge copings around pools.

• Crushed Granite. Crushed granite comes in lovely colors, making them perfect for your planters or as landscape stone.

• Building Stone. Granite used as blocks can either be finished on one or several sides and rock-faced (rough) all over. You can also combine the surfaces to create a decorative aesthetic.

• Countertops. Granite is most commonly used in homes as kitchen countertops. You can customize its edge finish and shape to fit well with your interior design.

• Curbing. Curbs are often built using granite because the material is more durable than concrete. Additionally, it gives street curbs with a more beautiful appearance.

• Facing Stone. You can use these landscape materials as a decorative veneer or facing and structural element on larger construction projects.

Interesting Facts About Granite

• Granites are the primary element making up the continental crust of our planet.
• Granite natural stone is one of the toughest materials in the world.
• Each piece of granite comes with a unique color and pattern. Their compositions and formations are different, so every slab varies in the veining and design. However, some granites are more consistent than others.
• Granites can endure temperatures up to 100 °C.
• The rarest granite color in the world is red and blue. Their production is quite limited as well.  
• Egyptians were the first to utilize granite as building material for their obelisks and temples.
• Granite landscaping stones do not contain chemicals or emit toxic gases, making them eco-friendly. Their quarrying and production processes are also done responsibly.
• Granites are renewable resources, and you can reuse them for all kinds of flooring and cladding.

Why Should I Choose Granite?

Granite has inherent strength. It can also resist abrasion and has superb weathering durability, making it the best pavement and exterior cladding material. Additionally, the natural stone can take years and years of abuse and still maintain its beauty. This means that granite will not stain from salt, moss, leaves, or other chemicals.

A light rainfall or wash will easily clean all granite, returning them to their natural beauty. None of our granite pavers need to be sealed after installation, and this zero-maintenance attribute is a significant advantage for many of our customers.

Granite landscaping stones are available in a wide array of striking colors. Its longevity and durability makes it ideal on any surface in your home that receives heavy traffic, such as paving, BBQ countertops, and around the pool.

The Novel Coronavirus has quickly turned from an epidemic to a pandemic. It carries ripples across the globe affecting every continent, from Asia to North America. As the entire world prepares to decrease the impact of the COVID-19, businesses including landscape contractors and suppliers are filled with uncertainty. No doubt, the outbreak emphasizes the need for industries, businesses, and society to be ready and resilient long after the restoration of public health.

It’s especially disappointing if you’re working on a number of landscape projects this year and looking forward to completing remarkable ones. You may already be at various development stages with all your projects with some even on advanced design phases. The decision to work remotely or close your physical offices is not something to be taken lightly. And you probably would have not have chosen to do so if there was a better alternative. However, as we all unite for the greater good of society and reducing the burden on our health care system, shifting to remote work and self-isolation is critical.

Fortunately, we should be proud that the landscape industry is not like any other. There is no doubt that we’ll be able to support each other and come together through the difficult times ahead. We have to embrace an optimistic outlook despite the delays we’re experiencing right now. We have to keep going so we can come back stronger after all of these are over.

With that in mind, here are 5 tips to combat COVID-19 for landscape contractors and landscape suppliers:

1. Educate & implement cross-training
2. Over-communicate with everyone
3. Provide flexible work opportunities
4. Develop an emergency response plan
5. Keep workspaces extra clean

Educate & implement cross-training

The majority of employees tend to go to work even if they are sick. So check your sick-leave policy and ensure that it encourages your staff to stay at home when they’re sick.

Also, it’s vital that they know the symptoms of COVID-19, which includes the following:

• Dry cough
• Fever
• Tiredness
• Shortness of breath
• Difficulty breathing (severe cases)

Some patients may also experience:

• Aches and pain
• Nasal congestion
• Runny nose
• Sore throat
• Diarrhea

As a landscape supplier or contractor, it’s also crucial that you recognize these symptoms and actively convince your employees to go home immediately and self-quarantine. Additionally, it’s likely that you’ll experience a higher number of employee absences, so make sure you are prepared for this. Likewise, you may want to cross-train your other workers so that they know how to perform other crucial roles in case of higher-than-usual absenteeism.

Over-communicate With Everyone

Now, more than ever is the time to start communicating regularly with your team. Doing so can help mitigate their concerns and fears by addressing their questions proactively.

Some specific topics to address COVID-19 employee concerns in landscape construction:

• The dynamic actions your company has undertaken to protect the well-being, health, and safety of your workers during the pandemic.
• Opportunities to work remotely for those exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms or employees that have had contact with an infected individual.
• Check options you have for their unpaid and paid leaves in conjunction with government laws or company policies. For Canada, refer to the Canadian Government COVID-19 benefits for Employers and Employees. For USA, refer to the United States Government benefits for COVID-19.
• Tips on how they can stay well in the workplace, as well as measures to ensure their work environment is hygienic. However, make sure that the health tips you’ll provide come from a reliable source like the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Procedures in case of an emergency closure of your worksites and offices.
• Travel adjustments for any staff who has a scheduled trip that’s work-related.

At STONEarch, we are global suppliers of natural stone. We work with natural stone quarries and fabricators from over a dozen countries, managing global supply chains from production to container shipping to rail & truck distribution for our products. We’ve been working closely with everyone to reduce or minimize any delays once projects kick-off again as global conditions begin to ease.

One tip in this time of crisis from Arun Goel, our CEO – “Be transparent with your customers on lead times and add buffer by anticipating potential delays. We’ve already stocked up over 10,000 bundles of natural stone for the 2020 landscape season, and are actively conveying any potential delays on custom orders to all our customers.”

Provide Flexible Work Opportunities

Remote work and flex work are beneficial for your landscaping business. You’ll be able to get things done continuously without the need for anyone to sit behind a desk. Consider including remote work options for those who can do their job at home. This is particularly an option for landscape architects and designers that can continue communicating with clients remotely, sharing pictures of their design ideas, and working on collaborating using tools such as Zoom.

Furthermore, you can use an online time-tracker app, where your staff can clock in and out at the comforts of their home. Likewise, there are online scheduling apps online to make the process even more convenient for both employees and managers to stay in touch. It will also help the team in terms of work delegation. If you have workers who need to go out on the field, they can also use this solution as it’ll lessen the need for physical contact or their presence.

Keep in mind to involve your team when deciding the process to ensure that everyone is clear on what their roles will be.

At STONEarch, we’ve implemented a remote-work policy for all of our office staff effective March 18, 2020. We are continuing to keep the yard open for pickups and for customers on an appointment-only basis. We’re ensuring strict procedures are in place such that yard staff are to maintain at least 6 feet of distance between anyone entering the yard. We also request no one with any symptoms or that has travelled in the last 14 days to enter our yard premises at this time to keep all our employees safe.

Have An Emergency Response Plan In Place

If you haven’t prepared this yet, now is the right time to do so. Your emergency response plan should include how your landscape company will respond to the pandemic, as well as on other potential natural disasters and emergencies. One tip for landscape contractors is to consider donating some of their masks that they keep for job sites to doctors, nurses, and those in need. This will substantially help our medical system in coping with demand and help you also gain some goodwill in the minds of customers.

At STONEarch, we’ve implemented a remote-work policy for all of our office staff effective March 18, 2020. We are continuing to keep the yard open for pickups and for customers on an appointment-only basis. We’re ensuring strict procedures are in place such that yard staff are to maintain at least 6 feet of distance between anyone entering the yard. We also request no one with any symptoms or that has travelled in the last 14 days to enter our yard premises at this time to keep all our employees safe.

Keep Workspaces Clean

You can get or spread COVID-19 through contact. You can pick up viruses, germs, and bacteria from surfaces and transmit them by touch. Encourage your employees to maintain a clean work environment by providing them with hand sanitizer or alcohol and disinfecting wipes.

All landscape contractors should be maintaining distance when they are going for pickups, deliveries, and while on job sites. All door handles, equipment handles, and other surfaces that are commonly in contact should be sanitized frequently. Finally, we encourage all our landscape suppliers to also implement similar policies in their day-to-day yard operations as these will have a substantial impact on the spread of COVID-19.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at stone@stonearch.ca in case you want us to share more information about policies we’ve implemented to stay safe and keep all of our customers also safe. We still have lots of stock so if you need anything, please reach out!

Natural stones can bring out the natural beauty of your space. The landscaping material is not only beautiful and timeless but sturdy as well. Natural stone is perfect for paving, fireplaces, pools, countertops, patios, tables, and many more applications.

However, as durable as these hardscaping materials are, they also need some care to ensure they remain at their best. Here are some helpful ways to clean and maintain your natural stone to make it last.

General Installation Guide

Make sure your natural stone tiles are installed by a professional. And don’t just pick anyone, you should choose your installer with utmost care and consideration. Like any flooring material, the base is the most important part of the installation process.

If the screed moves underneath, it doesn’t matter if you are installing natural stone, unit-pavers, or porcelain tiles, the chance of breakage is high and over numerous freeze-thaw cycles, your project will start to heave causing other problems.

Ensure your contractor is experienced in working with natural stone products, and if possible, ask for some project pictures and also some addresses where you can go and see projects where he or she has installed natural stone and it has withstood a few years of harsh winter.

Here are the following issues you need to take care of for a successful installation:

• Once the materials arrive on the site of your landscaping project, make sure to store them in a secure and clear area. This is to avoid breaking or chipping during the process of handling
• Ensure that there’s a suitable moisture barrier set in place before installing the natural stone tiles on concrete slabs at ground level.
• Avoid using dark mortar when laying light-coloured or white stones.
• As a general rule, some natural stones should be sealed on all sides after installation. If your tiles are not protected, cement in the grout is likely to stain them. As a result, they’ll have slight markings and shadows, which will be nearly impossible to remove. Products that are very dense such as granite and many of our limestones do not need to be sealed as they have been time & weather tested for our climate. Ask a STONEarch expert to give you more direction on whether or not you need to seal the natural stone you’ve selected.
• When your stones are all laid, cover the dry floor area and protect it from any foot traffic until the area is cleaned and ready.

Choosing The Right Sealant Can Make A World Of Difference

Natural stone landscaping materials have veins or sponge-like capillaries which absorb liquids. Most people made the big mistake of applying a lot of trust in its sealant. Doing so can protect the tile’s surface from stains, but it will not stop its etching or discoloration.

Although sealant can make cleaning a lot easier, it will not get rid of the need to maintain the materials regularly to ensure it’s gleaming all the time. Quick touch-ups each season can help make a big difference. It can help prevent buildups that require scrubbing, which may likely damage the surfaces. Professional restoration is also another good option.

General Cleaning Guidelines

Natural stones may have unfavorable reactions to some cleaning procedures and chemicals. Cleaning is the best way to keep your old or new landscape stones beautiful. As they say, prevention is always better than cure. Giving your natural stones proper care can help maintain their durability and lovely aesthetic.

Keeping dirt and grime from settling into the surfaces can help keep the beauty of the stone. These pieces of dirt are abrasive and can damage not only the appearance but the stone’s durability as well. You can prevent dirt buildup on your flooring from foot traffic by doing the following:

• Sweep dirt often using a light brush broom to get rid of dirt on your floors.
• Make sure to wipe down spills right away, especially wine, lemonade, perfume, tomato sauce, orange juice, yogurt, coffee, etc. Use a sponge or cloth.
• Use a small mat or rug near your entrances to provide an additional layer of protection for the natural stone floor underneath.

It is recommended to wash your flooring regularly using a light, gentle water pressure hose. For a deeper clean, you can also scrub using a stone soap or neutral cleaner at the beginning and end of each season. But before doing so, consider the following things:

• Remove any dry soil from the natural surface using a broom.
• Use the right cleaning agent when mopping to avoid damaging your surfaces. Never clean natural stones with water mixed with a regular cleaning solution. The cleaning agent should also have a proper pH balance to avoid ruining your floors or jeopardize the integrity of its protective sealer.
• Rinse the grout and tile thoroughly to get rid of any cleaner left behind.
• Always plan your maintenance when there are a few sunny days to ensure the surface can dry naturally before rainfall or snow.

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