Each stone fails differently.
Marble etches. Limestone stains. Sandstone grows algae. Engineered stone burns. Knowing which is which decides the method, the products and the price.
Marble
Calcium carbonate. Beautiful, and dissolved by anything acidic — which is why it etches and why it can always be brought back. Honed or polished, floors, benchtops, bathrooms.
About marble →
Limestone
Softer and more porous than marble, so it stains faster and wears in the walkways. Restored with a lighter hand and sealed more often.
About limestone →Travertine
Natural voids that fill with dirt and fail over time. Cleaned, re-filled where the fill has dropped out, honed and sealed.
About travertine →Terrazzo
Marble chips in a cement or resin matrix. Ground flat, then polished through the grits like marble. Common in older Sydney apartment lobbies and worth keeping.
About terrazzo →
Sandstone
Sydney's own stone. Soft, porous, prone to algae and salt. Cleaned without stripping it and sealed for the exposure it lives in.
About sandstone →Granite
Igneous, hard, and still stains through the polish. Oil marks drawn out, surface re-polished, sealed with a product that suits its density.
About granite →
Engineered stone
Quartz in resin — Caesarstone, Smartstone, Quantum. Repairable and polishable within limits; heat damage to the resin is the one thing that cannot be undone.
About engineered stone →
Corian and solid surface
Acrylic solid surface. Scratches, burns and dulling are sanded out and the finish restored to matte, satin or gloss.
About corian and solid surface →