How Often Should You Seal Your Natural Stone?

The Importance Of Sealing Natural Stone To Avoid Damage

Natural stone, granite, and concrete add elegance and beauty to your home on countertops, floors, showers, or outdoor spaces. There are many benefits of adding natural stone to your home. Benefits and beauty make it an easy addition, but it’s important to remember that natural stone requires regular sealing to keep it in the best condition.

Sealing is crucial to keeping water and small debris out of your slightly porous natural stone. Erosion, stains, and cracks are common issues if the pores are left unsealed. How often should you seal your natural stone, granite, or concrete?

Sealing is a fairly easy process and the frequency in which you must seal varies depending on what material you are sealing and where the material is located. If you are unsure about sealing the stone yourself, hire Apache Junction natural stone cleaners who will do so safely, avoiding damage.

Benefits Of Natural Stone

Natural Stone’s beauty is enough of an incentive to make it an addition to your home, but beauty isn’t all it has to offer. There are several benefits to adding natural stone, granite, or concrete:

Durability – Natural stone, especially granite is highly resistant to chips, scratches, and cracks, making it a great addition to high-traffic areas.
Heat Resistance – Stone can be highly resistant to heat, which means you can set your hot pots and pans directly on the counter without causing damage!
Low Maintenance – Once your stone is installed and sealed properly, there is not a lot you have to do aside from washing the stone with soap and water once and a while and re-sealing when necessary.
Unique Aesthetics – Being natural, there are many patterns and colors that you can choose from! In some cases, you will be the only one with the exact stone pattern.
Increases Property Value – Stone gives off a luxurious appearance as well as provides durability. These two things can make your home more desirable and increase its value!
Natural Insulation – In hot climates, stone can be a helpful heat-reducer and insulator.
Longevity – When properly cared for, stone can last a lifetime.

When To Seal Natural Stone?

Your Gilbert natural stone restoration company will tell you sealing frequency depends on whether your stone is limestone, flagstone, slate, granite, concrete, or another natural material. It also depends on where the stone is placed or whether it is outside or inside. Thankfully there are ways to find out how long your sealant will last.

Concrete Driveway Sealing

Not everyone remembers that their concrete driveways need to be sealed. Other driveways, like asphalt, grow lighter over time, providing a visual reminder. Concrete, however, is more difficult to figure out.

The good news is, concrete is very durable and doesn’t need to be sealed very often! Professionals will tell you to seal your concrete driveway roughly every 5 years. Depending on where you live and the weather your driveway experiences, you may be able to wait more than 5 years. However, if you notice any cracks, be sure to call a Chandler natural stone restoration company and have your driveway assessed as to when it’s time to seal.

Granite Countertop Sealing

Granite countertop comes with a simple test you can perform to decide if you need a new coat of sealant. Using water, you can test how quickly your countertop absorbs it. Here is how it is done:

Pour ¼ cup of water on your granite
If the water absorbs into the granite immediately, your granite requires immediate sealing. Apply a few coats and do so every year.
If the water takes 5-10 minutes to absorb, your granite still requires sealing. Apply a few coats, but this time you can wait 3-5 years to try again.
If absorption takes 30 minutes or more, your counter is sealed properly and no further steps are needed!

Outdoor Natural Stone Sealing

Some homes have limestone, slate, or flagstone in their outdoor spaces. These stones are frequently used in construction and are very durable. That said, like most natural stones, they must be sealed every few years to remain in peak condition.

An important step to sealing is to remember the grout between the stones. Grout tends to be significantly more porous than the hardest of stones and will need a water-repellent applied during your stone sealing process. If this step is avoided, cracking, crumbling, and even serious expansion can happen, pushing the stones!

Shower Grout Sealing

Similarly to the grout between your outdoor stones, shower grout requires sealant as well. If left unsealed, mold grows, and crumbling can happen. Apache Junction natural stone cleaners suggest you seal your shower grout every year, though if it is new, sealing should happen as early as 6 months.

Find Your Local Phoenix Natural Stone Restoration Company!

If you are looking for a trustworthy and professional company to seal your natural stone, look no further! At Arizona Stone Care, we value your business and want to provide you with the best service possible. We can seal, polish, or clean your natural stone and restore it to its best!

With our 5-star ratings across many platforms, you won’t regret reaching out. Contact us today!