Recently, I received a call from a local historical home in Blacksburg that is now a public event venue. They’d been recommended to me by someone I’ve done some work for in the past, and have a brick floor they wanted to get cleaned up. It was no longer responding to mopping, and they were getting desperate.
It was unbelievable just how dirty this brick had gotten over time. I knew I had my work cut out for me, so I got to work I first applied the cleaning agent and let it sit for a few minutes to loosen up the soiling that was there. Then, I went over it and scrubbed it thoroughly with a planetary action rotary machine. Finally, I began the cleaning process, where I was flushing the floor with water, and extracting the dirty water from the floor.
Once I’d completed the cleaning process, I applied fans to speed the drying process, and then a stone sealant. Sealant acts much like wax on a car, in that it will provide a layer of protection that makes it harder for dirt to penetrate, and easier to clean in the future. However, much like wax, it will break down over time and needs to be re-applied every 2 to 3 years, at minimum.