Limestone is a popular natural stone for flooring, hallways and bathrooms — warm in tone, elegant in appearance, and relatively soft underfoot. Its softness is also its vulnerability — limestone scratches and chips more easily than harder stones such as granite or slate, and requires careful maintenance to preserve its appearance.

Common Types of Limestone Floor Damage

Chips at tile corners and edges — limestone’s softness makes it relatively easy to chip at exposed edges. Corner chips on limestone floor tiles are among the most common repair requests we receive for natural stone floors.
Cracks — running across the face of a tile, usually from impact or settlement movement beneath the tile.
Scratches — surface scratches from furniture, grit or abrasive cleaning.
Etching — limestone is calcium carbonate and reacts with acids. Acidic cleaners, fruit juice, wine and vinegar can etch the surface, leaving dull marks. Etching can be polished out in many cases.
Grout deterioration — cracked or stained grout between limestone tiles can be removed and replaced.

Matching Limestone

Limestone varies significantly in colour and texture between quarries and even between slabs from the same quarry. Matching requires experience with natural stone colour variation. Our technicians work with a wide range of natural stone compounds and can achieve very good results on most limestone types.