Frequently Asked Questions about Commercial Hard Surface Care

There are several questions about natural stone and hard surface maintenance that we are commonly asked by our commercial customers. Properly maintaining your hard surfaces can be very difficult without the proper methods in place. To help our customers better train their maintenance staff, we will share some of these questions we are often asked and the answers to them.

What type of floor cleaner should we be using on our marble or terrazzo floor?

The best type of cleaner for a natural stone or terrazzo floor, regardless of finish, should be a neutral cleaner (pH 7).  We would recommend DuPont Revitalizer neutral floor cleaner as the best cleaner for these surfaces.  If you have a dispenser system for the chemicals your environmental services staff uses, then contact your chemical supplier to see what neutral cleaners they have for natural stone.  They should have something comparable to the cleaner above that will be safe to use on your marble or terrazzo.

We have grout and caulk the needs replaced, how do we know what type of grout and caulk to use?

Grout comes in many forms in today’s market.  The most common types of grout are sanded and unsanded cement-based grouts.  There are also epoxy grouts and urethane grouts on the market.  Unless you know if an epoxy or urethane grout was used in the past, we would recommend using a cement-based grout to patch damaged areas.  Unsanded grout is relatively smooth and sanded grout has a gritty texture to it.

Choosing the right caulk is dependent on the location the caulk is being installed.  In an area that comes in contact with water, a silicone based caulk should be used.  Silicone caulks are available in a variety of colors.  Most types of silicone caulk are acceptable to use on the interior of a building or bathroom, but you must use an exterior grade silicone caulk for outside projects.

Our public restrooms are disgusting, please help?

There are many things that can be done in public restrooms to improve the cleanliness and make regular cleaning for your janitorial staff easier.  Depending on the type of hard surfaces in the restrooms, we can design an ongoing maintenance plan that will keep your restrooms smelling cleaner and looking brighter.  Often times, this includes sealing all porous surfaces, sealing grout or even applying a clear sealer to the surface of the floor.  Every bathroom is different, so the ongoing maintenance plan will vary for each area.

The showers in our guestrooms have some soap scum buildup on the surfaces.  What is the best way to clean these showers?

You will want to use a high alkaline cleaner and a nylon scrub brush to remove any soap scum buildup.  The high alkaline cleaner, after it is agitated into the surface, should dwell for about 10 minutes.  After this time, the surface can be scrubbed again and then wiped clean.  This may need repeated a few times, depending on the amount of soap scum buildup present.

The area underneath the urinals in our men’s restrooms is dull, looks yellow and the area has a urine smell.  Our bathroom floors are marble.  What can we do?

Several manufacturers make disposable urinal floor mats to help with this problem.  The mats collect any urine that does not make it to the urinal.  The mats also help absorb of the smell that comes from the urine just sitting on the floor.

The metal treads at the entrances of our elevators look disgusting.  What is the best way to clean these out?

The best way to clean out elevator treads is to use a steel brush, metal polish and acetone.  The steel brush can be used to get out all of the bigger debris in the treads.  The treads should then be buffed with a metal polish and a clean rag.  Finally, the treads can be wiped down with acetone to remove any residue from the metal polish.

We have several hard surfaces in our facility that we are unsure on the best techniques for ongoing maintenance.  Could you offer some suggestions?

GK’s specializes in restoring and maintaining most hard surface materials.  If there are any areas in your facility that you feel could look better (floors, walls, exterior surfaces, interior surfaces, fountains, elevators, escalators, etc…), we may be able to help.  Most of the time, we can restore a hard surface close to its original condition.  After that, we will give you instructions on the best way to maintain these surfaces to keep them looking new.

Give us a call at (440) 937-4457 to set up an appointment for a free estimate.  If you have any questions about properly training your maintenance staff, do not hesitate to call. We are a master distributor of We are a Master Distributor for DuPont StoneTech cleaners, sealers and polishes for natural stone, grout and more. Head over to our website to place an order for your cleaning staff.