Natural Stone Floor Restoration in Dallas

October 14, 2011 By

white marble floor polish Dallas

IMS Texas restored the polish, clarity and gloss of this white marble floor in Dallas.

The process of reviving the original beauty of a natural stone floor in a home or an office is what is referred to as natural stone floor restoration.

Natural stone is used a lot in corporate offices, downtown skyscrapers and the like. Office lobbies are often marble, serpentine or similar stone components. These are beautiful surfaces, but the disadvantage is of course that over time they lose that original luster, deep gloss, clarity and shine. The floor soon appears dull, perhaps “milky” and overhead lights and objects that once reflected brightly in its surface, now are just blurry dimmed forms.

So is there a solution? Absolutely.

IMS Texas Natural Stone Restoration Techniques

Restoration of natural stone floors can sometimes be difficult, but not impossible. At IMS Texas we have excelled for years in restoring a natural stone floor to near original shine and gloss.

Using specialized equipment, fine diamond abrasives, proprietary surface treatments and years of expertise, IMS performs scratch and finish maintenance to restore virtually any natural stone floor to it’s near-original finish. We’ve even conquered previously “untreatable” surfaces like black granite.

We do not use waxes or a topical coating. Why? Because although these may achieve a temporary “deep gloss,” they will not have the clarity of a diamond polish. It will be shiny, but not clear.

IMS Texas provides a consistent, wall-to-wall finish that will match the professionalism, look and appeal of your organization, building and raise your image both in the minds of your staff and your clients.

Call IMS Texas today at (214) 351-9390 for a free estimate on our natural stone floor restoration process.
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Granite Countertops Lost Their Appeal?

September 19, 2011 By

Granite counter top, IMS Texas

Whether you have granite or other natural stone countertop, IMS Texas can restore its luster to near original condition.

Do you have “granite fatigue”?

A recent Los Angeles Times article espoused the idea that in home-building and renovations “granite fatigue” has set in for consumers, builders and renovators. That is, that the recent wild popularity of granite now means that it’s a “been there, done that” option as a material for kitchen countertops and kitchen islands.

Instead, alternatives such as glass, metal and other natural stones, like marble and soapstone are being sought out by homeowners and builders alike. And if you want to go even more exotic, think volcanoes. One contractor uses lava stone in his high-end kitchen renovations.

Regardless of how “hot or not” the surface is, kitchen counters require proper care, particularly because natural stone maintenance is vital to keep your kitchen “cooking,” both literally and from an aesthetic point of view.

Granite countertop cleaning requires specific actions, just as any natural stone maintenance does, whether it is on your counter or floor.

You can read the full L.A. Times article here.

To find out more about countertop restoration, countertop polishing or other IMS Texas service, call (214) 351-9390.
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Counter Top Material Options

September 7, 2011 By

IMS TX granite restoration

Granite is one popular choice for kitchen counter tops

Many homeowners find the task of selecting a kitchen counter top material daunting. The vast types of material, not to mention colors and styles, often make it as difficult as choosing a floor plan.

There is one important issue to keep in mind however, which help makes the process an easier one.

What is the water resistance of the material? As demonstrated in one of IMS stone demonstrations, some natural stones are simply more absorbent than others. In the kitchen, obviously it is of paramount importance to know this information, and to thoroughly test your preferred natural stones, as shown in the video.

Particularly, with kitchens often seeing a variety of substances and not just water, this is a vital action to take so that later down the line, you’re not muttering over stained counter tops, unsightly marks and a “ruined” kitchen.

Once you know the relative water resistant properties of the counter top materials, you’ll likely find it easy to now simply pare the choices from your personal preferences based on look or durability or ease of cleaning.

This article may also help with choosing a material.

Regardless of your choice, IMS Texas has been restoring, polishing and maintaining natural stone surfaces for years. Already known for their stellar natural stone restoration work with some of Dallas’ most well-known buildings and natural stone lobbies and floors, IMS Texas also offers their stone restoration services to homeowners.

To get a consultation on polishing or restoring your kitchen counter top or other natural stone surface in your home, call IMS Texas at (214) 351-9390.
Filed Under: Granite, Marble Tagged With: , , ,

Common Customer Questions: Post Restoration Maintenance

August 26, 2011 By

ims inc logo

No matter which IMS division you need, we ensure that your questions are answered before, during and after our services.

At IMS we usually get a variety of questions from customers, and we make sure they are fully answered before, during and after our service. Here, Account Representative Liz Harrington talks about what she is most often asked after IMS restores a natural stone floor or cleans a carpet:

One of the most common question is, “How do I maintain my floor once IMS has done their service?” A really great thing about IMS is that we actually give you a list within your proposal of all the different ways you should maintain your floor, whether you need to add interior mats to your building, whether you need to add exterior mats to your building, how the janitorial service needs to maintain your floor on a daily basis, what chemicals they should use, what chemicals they should not use, how the floor should be swept, etc. You know, we really want to make sure that when we are finished our customers are educated on how they need to maintain the finish of the floor.

And if our bid includes work on carpet we also include information on how to maintain you carpet on a day to day basis. For example, a janitorial company may use a backpack vacuum and that may not be the most effective vacuum to use on your carpet, so we give education and suggestions on what kind of vacuum you should be using for your specific situation.

We don’t want to clean your carpet or restore your floor only to have it damaged, dirty or in need of attention again just a few months down the road.

Call IMS Texas at (214) 351-9390 for natural stone restoration, carpet cleaning, concrete polishing or any of your interior maintenance needs.
Filed Under: IMS TX Carpet Cleaning, IMS TX Concrete Floor Restoration, IMS TX Natural Stone Restorators Tagged With: , , ,

The Most Common Mistakes Made When Selecting a Granite Countertop

August 24, 2011 By

Choosing a granite countertop, IMS Texas

Once you have your granite countertop, call IMS for professional granite polishing and restoration.

  1. Being Distracted By The Huge Selection Of Engineered Stones On The Market.

    Engineered or man made stones are now in every big box home improvement store and showroom. The colors and selections are so vast that before you know it you have forgotten about the granite material that you wanted in the first place. Engineered stones are a combination of aggregate such as quartz, granite chips, marble chips, and even glass chips combined with a matrix such as epoxy.

    So what are the problems with engineered stones?

    They are not constantly renewable like granite. Granite is there forever. If it wears or scratches it can be diamond polished to look like new again while it is still in your kitchen or bathroom. This is not possible with quartz based engineered stones. Although quartz based engineered stones are very hard and scratch resistant they are not scratch proof. Years of wear will eventually show and when it does you will have no option but to replace it.

  2. Picking The Wrong Granite.

    When shopping for a granite material to use as a countertop you will do yourself a favor if you go into it with a mindset that half of all of the granites that you see are not suitable for the application of a countertop.

    How can one know if a granite material is good for use as a countertop?

    Go to the showroom or big box store and get samples of all of the granite selections that you like. Then, take them home and apply 10 – 20 drops of water in a single area. Allow the water to dwell for 10 minutes and wipe off. If there is darkening from absorption discard the sample. Now, with the samples that passed the water test repeat the same test with mineral oil and discard the samples that fail this test. The samples that have passed the water and oil resistance tests will be excellent materials to use as a counter.

  3. Picking The Wrong Installer.

    By this stage you have endured the frustration of testing and selecting a granite material and you have paid good money to have it installed. However, there are installers out there that simply don’t give a darn. The obvious thing to do is to check references but there is one other thing you can do to ensure that your granite will last and last.

    The biggest problem that we see is cracked counters. Usually we are being contacted because we are restorators and the owner wants to know if there is anything we can do to repair the crack and make it invisible. The truth is that no one can repair a large structural break and make it look like it never existed.

    So what causes these breaks and why do they only appear well after the installers warranty has expired?

    They were not shimmed. Lets take a residential counter as an example. Typically it is made of wood that isn’t cut completely straight. When the flat granite slab is applied to this structure it needs to be shimmed anywhere that it is not flush with the supporting structure. If it isn’t than the granite may eventually crack under it’s own weight. As a tip be sure to open up the cabinets and pull out the drawers when the installer is finished. If you see any gaps with light shining through than those areas may need to be shimmed. Talk to your installer before he begins work and make sure he knows the importance of shimming because many simply don’t care to do it.

For professional granite countertop restoration, polishing and maintenance, call IMS Texas at (214) 351-9390
Filed Under: IMS TX Natural Stone Restorators Tagged With: , ,

Marble Finishing and Polishing

August 17, 2011 By

IMS TX Chase Tower marble restoration

IMS TX restored this marble table to a near-original shine and gloss.

Have you wondered about how marble is prepared for use in commercial and residential buildings?

Below is a short video provided by a UK stone supplier. It shows marble being polished in the production line.

IMS Texas excels at ensuring this marble polish remains as close to “factory” quality as possible. Our nearly 20 years of experience has resulted in techniques for polishing, restoring and maintaining natural stone that rival even the “old-world” masters of Europe.

In fact, our natural stone division and technicians have received international attention for their ability to restore and polish some of the most notoriously difficult stones, such as black granite.

Trust IMS Texas to polish your marble, granite or other natural stone surface by calling (214) 351-9390
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Natural Stone Cleaning Products

August 16, 2011 By

Natural stone cleaning ims texas

There's an army of natural stone cleaning tools, but which one do you take into battle?

Cleaning natural stone surfaces is a common question. Here, IMS co-owner Jason Johonnesson provides the answer:

In other articles and videos we’ve covered in detail the equipment that is needed to perform the second step of stone maintenance [see video Part 2-Janitorial], the cleaning step, and what the janitorial firm is responsible for. Basically, it’s simple. In a nutshell, it is getting them off of mops and onto automatic floor scrubbers or extraction type machines. This makes floor cleaning much quicker, the labor cost is much less and they do a much more thorough job of cleaning the grout, in which case the stone is cleaned as a byproduct.

Another question pertaining to cleaning I get asked a lot is what chemicals, what cleaning products do I recommend? This really isn’t as important as the equipment you use. If you are cleaning the floors every night you can probably just use water and occasionally a stronger solution. What’s important is to not use any type of acidic cleaners. Stone can be very sensitive to acids and there are a lot of acidic cleaners on the market. You want to be sure the pH of your cleaner is above neutral.

I recommend you use a good old run-of-the-mill neutral cleaner. It will not cause any harm to the stone whatsoever. If you prefer, you can buy a dedicated stone cleaner. There are many on the market and so long as it is designed for natural stone or says for “daily use” it will be fine. It’s not rocket science or a big secret. It’s really the equipment, the diligence, and the discipline that gets the floor cleaned. The cleaning solution is secondary.

To have your natural stone floors professionally cleaned and restored, call IMS Texas at (214) 351-9390.
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Natural Stone Restoration and Trade Secrets

August 8, 2011 By

Excerpted from an interview with IMS founder, Larry Johonnesson:

natural stone restoration secrets ims texas

IMS Texas' hard-won technology isn't completely secret, but it's protected to keep it from being messed up.

The stone industry is kind of interesting. Jason [Johonnesson, IMS co-owner] has been involved for many years with Research and Development, in researching various things and sees, from time to time, problems that occur. He has given his technical expertise and lended the old-world European skills to people and businesses here.

I can give you a good example, one in Oklahoma, which was a black granite floor. Handling black granite was something that we really did pioneer and is very difficult to do. I won’t give you our trade secrets on how we did this, but granite is different than marble and a lot of stone men are never trained the difference. They don’t understand it. With IMS, we have a little bit of the old school in us from Europe, so needless to say, we understand the natural progression and development of stone and how it’s done. This is important to us. So Jason lended his expertise to a problem that was existing in Oklahoma, after this gentleman had tried everything, he’d gone in and this black granite had looked just horrible, Jason told him how to fix it. Even though it was simple to us it was still complicated to others.

So Jason just jumped in the car and drove down, because this guy was in a little bit of a legal problem or potentially legal problem at the time I guess I could say, and handled it overnight for him and brought everything back to where in this law firm they loved their lobby again. It was beautiful.

Next thing we know we had people from Oklahoma here. That was just kind of an automatic thing. They wanted to know how we knew these types of things. Some of these things are pretty guarded trade secrets at IMS and we don’t really want to tell these things, but when we see a professional, who is in our industry, that has the same vision that we do, the same honesty that we have, the same expertise or the ability to be that kind of an expert and really deliver the quality to his clientele, and that’s what he is after, we tend to bring them into the fold and give them the missing pieces of the technology. We know it’s important to them. It’s not something we want to hide; it’s something we want to protect. We don’t want it to be prostituted in anyway, so to speak. Those are important things to us.

To have your stone floor looked at by a professional from IMS Texas,
call (214) 351-9390.
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Stone, Marble and Granite Maintenance and Restoration

July 11, 2011 By

Jason Johonnesson, co-owner of Interior Maintenance Specialists of Dallas-Fort Worth, talks about the history of their company in relation to their early expertise at marble restoration, and how this led to a landmark restoration of a black granite floor and the resulting success of IMS’ natural stone restoration and maintenance division.

For more information on granite, marble and natural stone restoration, maintenance and cleaning, call IMS at (214) 351-9390.
Filed Under: Granite, Marble Tagged With: , , , , ,

Travertine and Limestone Floors

July 11, 2011 By

In this video interview, Jason Johonnesson, co-owner of IMS Inc. in Dallas, provides in-depth information on travertine and limestone, including: it’s characteristics, their pros and cons, porous properties, maintenance and cleaning, as well as its use as a natural stone floor for commercial and residential settings. There are tips on where these natural stones are best used, and why.

For more information on how IMS Inc. can clean, polish and/or hone your travertine and limestone floor, call (214) 351-9390.

Filed Under: Limestone and Travertine Tagged With: , , ,
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