Outstanding Transformation: Our Stone Polishing Service Renovated the Shower, Vanities, and Floor of this Bathroom in Burr Ridge, IL

June 16, 2017

After retiring eight years ago and living in the quaint village of Burr Ridge, Southwest Chicago, this homeowner and her husband were offered a job opportunity in another state that they couldn't turn down. They were both film producers—that's how they met—and the offer was to work with the company they had always dreamt of, but hundreds of miles away.


Having made their decision to take the job, they sought for a licensed real estate broker to sell their property. The couple had put a lot of effort into making their home beautiful, so they were hoping to sell it at a good price. The realtor they hired visited the property along with a home inspector to examine the condition of the house. Among the repairs that were needed, the inspector suggested the homeowners to search for a stone polishing company in Burr Ridge, Chicago to restore the red marble shower floor of the bathroom of the master suite. It was severely stained and looked discolored, faded, and unappealing.

Referred by their real estate agent, the Burr Ridge residents searched online for Sir Grout Chicagos's stone restoration services; the realtor had worked with us before and knew we could help them with their problem. The couple browsed our website to find out more about our previous work in the area. They were impressed and decided to contact us straightaway. We received their call asking if it was possible to schedule a free, in-home appointment for that same week. After confirming our availability, we agreed to examine their bathroom to see what we could do to help.

We went to Burr Ridge on the day scheduled to inspect the shower. Our first impression was how gorgeous the bathroom was; not only was the shower made of red, veined marble, the floor and vanities were covered in marble as well. The room had an interesting design too—the shower was built around a semicircular wall and with glass blocks allowing natural light to enter. However, the marble itself was badly damaged by chemicals and possibly harmful cleaning products. Since this natural stone is composed of calcium carbonate like travertine or limestone, it is sensitive to acidic substances and cleaning products, which can cause it to lose its shine. Furthermore, hard water deposits covered the bathroom floor. These stains occur when the stone isn't properly sealed; hard water (water that contains minerals) penetrates the marble and when it evaporates, the minerals are left behind and adhere to the stone.

After our inspection, we concluded that a deep stone polishing and sealing service will remove the mineral buildup from the shower and give the marble shower its polish back. For a more complete make-over, we also suggested cleaning and polishing the rest of the bathroom floor as well as the two vanities. The homeowners accepted our proposal and asked us to start as soon as we could, since they had already buyers interested in the house.

Our team went back a few days later to start the project. Before beginning our stone restoration procedure, we masked off the adjacent surfaces to avoid damaging them during the process. Once everything was protected, the honing method removed any scratches, hard water stains, and etch marks. Then, our crew of hard surface restoration experts skillfully polished the floor with abrasive materials and polishing powders. Finally, we sealed the stone using Sir Grout's proprietary penetrating sealant Stone Amor—a product that protects natural stones from staining or etching. We completed this for the bathroom floor and the two vanities.

A whole day of work paid off. The red marble looked shiny and the homeowners fell in love with it. They regretted they hadn't had called us earlier, but were excited to see how much value it added to the house.

The couple told us they were hoping to install a marble shower just like this one in their new home and asked us for what could they do to protect it against hard water stains. As natural stone care and maintenance advice, we recommended the homeowners to first seal the stone. Periodical sealing is essential to prevent stains caused by hard water, personal care products, and other agents, especially for marble, which is very porous and prone to etching and staining. We suggested them to use a soap-less, pH-neutral cleaner since they are less likely to damage the stone and grout. Also, we advised them not to use steel wool or any other abrasive tool during cleaning because they might dull the surface.

We later learned from the realtor that the marble bathroom was a success for the house sale! It didn't take long for our customers to find the perfect buyer that could see the value of the improvements they made during the eight years living in the house. The real estate agent even told us that the final buyers chose the house merely for the red marble bathroom.

Do you want your marble to look as shiny as the one in this shower? At Sir Grout Chicago, we offer the best natural stone restoration services in the area! Call us at (773) 923-2084 or fill out the "Request a Quote" form on this site to make an appointment for a free, in-home consultation with us.

If you found this article helpful then let us know in the comments section below. Likewise, feel free to share it using the share options below. Want us to cover another topic of your interest pertaining to Hard Surface Restoration? If so, then like us and follow us on social media, and post to any of our social media profiles the topic you'd like us to discuss: Facebook Sir Grout Chicago, Instagram @sirgroutchicago, and Twitter @SirGrout.