I recently cleaned and sealed a stone floor for a customer in Great Barr who called me a couple of weeks later and asked if I could restore his Limestone fireplace. The hearth was heavily stained and that along with the usual soot markings made him decide it was overdue a clean.
Having been to the house before I was able to quote for the work quite easily. It was just a matter of explaining the process and agreeing a date for the work which should only take a day.
Deep Cleaning a Limestone Fireplace
After protecting the surrounding woodwork, I set about cleaning the fireplace first using hand-held 60 grit diamond blocks with only water for lubrication. The water is sprayed onto the stone and the block is worked in using a circular action to get deep into the pores.
The whole fireplace was cleaned using this method before turning my attention to the hearth. The staining on the hearth was worse so for this I first applied a coating of Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel to help breakdown the stains. Being in a gel form makes this cleaning product much easier to handle in a tight space. The gel was left to soak in for fifteen minutes before being scrubbed with a black pad. The hearth was then carefully rinsed and the released soiling extracted with a wet vacuum.
I followed up with further cleaning using the 60-grit diamond block to get the stone hearth as clean as possible. I then rinsed the fireplace, and went through the process again with 120, 200 and finally a 400-grit block to bring up the appearance of the stone. Only was I was satisfied did I give the Fireplace a final rinse and then dried it off with towels, air movers and a heat gun until the stone was fully dry.
Sealing a Limestone Fireplace
To seal the Limestone and make it easier to clean going forward I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal. This product is almost invisible and leaves a natural finish, it works by soaking into the stone, occupying the pores, and thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there.
For aftercare cleaning I left the customer with a bottle of Tile Doctor pH Neutral Tile Cleaner which will help maintain the appearance of the fireplace. The customer was delighted with the results and said that it even looked better than when it was installed over 15 years ago!”
Source: Stone Fireplace and Hearth Cleaning and Renovation Service in Great Barr Birmingham