kitchen

Travertine Kitchen Floor Before and After Cleaning Parwich

Dirty Travertine Kitchen Floor Deep Cleaned and Polished in Parwich

A few years ago, my client moved into a house in the village of in Parwich which sits in the Derbyshire Peak District. They had good methods for cleaning but complained that the Travertine tiled kitchen floor never actually looked clean afterwards. The main problems were the grout and the holes in the Travertine tiles both of which attracted dirt and proved difficult to clean effectively.

Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Parwich
Ideally, they would like the Travertine to have a sheen finish, so I went over to take a look, discussed what treatment could be done to get the floor looking its best and showed them some examples. We also discussed the different types of sealers that could be applied to protect the floor once it had been cleaned. They were happy for me to do the work, so we agreed a date for my return.

Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Parwich

Deep Cleaning and Polishing Travertine Kitchen Tiles

When I returned my first task was to add protection to the beautiful wooden kitchen, so it wouldn’t get splashed during the cleaning process. Once that was done I set about burnishing the stone floor with a set of diamond encrusted pads fitted to my rotary buffer machine running as slow speed. I started with the coarse 400-grit pad lubricated with water and then after running it over the whole floor I rinsed off the resultant residue with water which was then extracted with a wet vacuum.

The next step was to get the grout clean and for this a ran a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along the grout lines and then scrubbed it in by hand using a stiff grout brush until I was happy with the result. Pro-Clean is our go to product for grout cleaning and being alkaline based its safe to use on all types of tile and stone. The now soiled cleaning solution was rinsed off with water and then extracted as before using the wet vacuum.

This burnishing process was then continued using an 800-grit and then a 1500 grit burnishing pads, again with water to help lubricate. These medium and fine pads slowly start to build the polish back on the stone and close the pores. As before water was used to rinse off the residue and the vet vacuum used to get the floor as dry as possible afterwards.

The last pad in the set of four Burnishing Pads is the very fine 3000-grit pad and this pad is applied dry with a small amount of water sprayed onto the floor as you go, we call this process a spray burnish and it really adds the nice subtle sheen the customer was looking for.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

The last step in the renovation process was to seal the floor with a suitable sealer which will protect the Travertine from staining going forward and make the floor much easier to clean.
Having discussed sealers with the customer at the beginning the choice was clear and two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal were applied to the floor. Ultra-Seal is a premium product that soaks into the pores of the stone protecting it from within but without enhancing the look of the stone in anyway.

Travertine Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Parwich
It’s probably difficult to appreciate the full difference from the photographs above by my customer was very happy with the improvement and they now have the floor looking the way they wanted.

Travertine Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Parwich
 

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Limestone Kitchen Floor Before and After Cleaning Chesterfield

Dull Limestone Kitchen Floor Burnished and Polished in Chesterfield

You can’t beat the natural beauty of a stone floor, but you will find that over time the protective sealer wears down and dirt becomes ingrained in the pores of the stone. This process is so gradual you might not notice it until one day your looking at old photographs and realise the difference.

On this occasion a customer of mine had a Limestone tiled floor installed in the Kitchen of her house in Chesterfield fifteen years prior. It had never been deep cleaned and resealed since being installed and having recently completed a house extension with a new Limestone floor she realised just how dirty and tired the original floor now looked.

Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Chesterfield Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Chesterfield

I went over to take a look at the floor, demonstrate the cleaning process and discuss the different sealers we have available. She has happy for me to do the work and specified she didn’t want the floor to have a gloss appearance, so a matt sealer would be best.

Deep Cleaning a Dirty Limestone Tiled Floor

I returned a few weeks later to carry out the work and started by adding protection to the Kitchen units. The Limestone has quite ingrained and had quite a few scratches in the stone that would need to be grinded out so fitted a very coarse 100 grit diamond encrusted burnishing pad fitted to my heavy rotary floor buffer. You apply water to help lubricate the process and then once finished the floor is rinsed with more water and the soil extracted with a wet vacuum.

The next step was to get the grout as clean as possible by applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and then scrubbing it by hand with a stiff narrow brush. This action released the dirt from the grout and was rinsed away again with water extracted using the wet vacuum.

This burnishing process was then repeated using a 200 grit and then 400 grit burnishing pads to refine the finish of the stone and close the pores, again water was used to rinse off the soil and the vet vacuum used to get the floor as dry as possible.

Whilst drying the floor with the wet vacuum I also inspected the floor and identified areas for further spot treatment. I also noticed a few places where the grout had crumbled and needed replacing and so this was raked out and re-grouted with a beige grout.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Floor

The next morning, I returned to the property to finish off the floor with the matt sealer we had discussed earlier. The floor must be dry before applying the sealer, so I took a few readings with a damp meter first to ensure that was the case. This is important as it’s not unusual for sealers to go milky or ever peel off later if the floor hasn’t been thoroughly cleaned or wasn’t dry when the sealer was applied.

Limestone Kitchen Floor During Cleaning Chesterfield
All was well, so I started applying the sealer which in this case was Tile Doctor Ultra Seal, it’s a matt sealer that protects the stone from within by impregnating the pores with sealant without altering its appearance.

Limestone Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Chesterfield Limestone Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Chesterfield

My customer was very happy with the result and now has two matching Limestone tiled floors, she also left the following short comment on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Great job, faultless ….. thanku
Anne M, Chesterfield

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Terracotta Floor Before and After Cleaning and Sealing in Matlock

Restoring the Look of Badly Stained Terracotta Kitchen Tiles in Matlock

Having an effective sealer in place is essential for ensuring the long term condition of tiled floors in fact a lack of sealer can make cleaning the tiles exceptionally difficult as the sealer prevents dirt becoming ingrained in the tile.

Terracotta Floor Before Cleaning and Sealing in Matlock
This property owner, living in the former spa town of Matlock in Derbyshire, was experiencing problems with their Terracotta tiled kitchen floor since they had applied some kind of wax to act as a sealer, and this had worn off within a few weeks. After this happened the tiles were not sealed again, making cleaning a big problem. Terracotta is a highly porous stone and thus easily soaks in spillages and stains, and allows dirt to become very easily trapped.

Terracotta Floor Before Cleaning and Sealing in Matlock
In this situation, the property owner resolved to contact me about some professional maintenance. I suggested that the tiles would need a deep clean followed by the application of a fresh, high quality sealer. The work was agreed on and I made my way down to the property the following week.

Cleaning a Dirty Terracotta Tiled Floor

When I arrived at the property and saw the tiles first hand it became clear that a professional clean had been in need for a long time: greasy looking stains were particularly prevalent and covered large areas of the kitchen floor.

To remove I mixed a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean, which is a multi-purpose, high-alkaline cleaner, stripper and degreaser, and, working in small areas, applied it to the floor. Working in small sections was important because the stone is very porous and quickly soaked in any product laid down. I scrubbed the cleaner into the stone using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad, with the dirt and stains coming away nicely. Pro Clean is highly versatile and can be used for similar cleaning purposes on most types of natural stone floor.

After cleaning each section, I quickly removed the excess dirty water and chemicals with my wet vax machine. Once the whole floor had been cleaned I rinsed it several times with fresh water just to make sure all cleaning chemicals were gone. I then left the floor to dry completely for 36 hours.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Floor

When I returned to the property, I conducted several damp tests to check for any areas of the floor that needed further drying. As is almost always the case, there were a few areas that remained slightly damp, and I set about speeding the drying process along using my heat gun. In fact, it actually took me more than three hours to get the floor completely dry, but this was worth the effort as even the slightest excess moisture can damage the performance of the sealer.

Once the floor was finally dried I began sealing the floor with one coat of Tile a Doctor Colour Grow sealer. Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer that penetrates deep into the pores of the stone, thus acting as a shield against ingrained dirt, and also raises the colour of the tiles to provide an aesthetically appealing appearance. sealer. After sealing with Colour Grow, I left the floor to dry for couple of hours and then applied six coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go, which is a topical sealer that builds up durable protection on the surface of the tiles.

Terracotta Floor After Cleaning and Sealing in Matlock
The combination of through cleaning and the application of not one, but two high quality sealers really did wonders for the appearance of these Terracotta tiles. Looking at the final results you wouldn’t have believed they had been without a proper clean and seal for so long! Needless to say the customer was exceptionally pleased and will surely be able to keep her floor looking great for a long time to come.

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Travertine Floor After Burnishing in Ashbourne

Dull Travertine Kitchen Floor Burnished and Polished in Ashbourne

This customer had some real difficulty in getting their fantastic Travertine tiled kitchen area looking as good as it should. The cleaning methods they had previously employed were unable to prevent the tiles from appearing dull, and the customer was also unable to deal with the displeasing marks and small cracks damaging the stone.

Travertine Floor Before Burnishing in Ashbourne
Keen to get the floor back to looking its best, the customer called me down to their property, which overlooks the beautiful countryside area of Ashbourne, to see what could be done to restore the tiles.

Travertine Floor Before Burnishing in Ashbourne

Burnishing a Dull Travertine Tiled Floor

Upon my arrival at the property, I assessed the situation and resolved that the best way to restore the polish and general appearance of the floor was to use a process known as burnishing. The burnishing process, which involves the application of four diamond encrusted polishing pads of varying grit, works to grind away ingrained dirt while smoothing and polishing rough surfaces. Most commonly we use burnishing to restore the shine to Limestone and Marble tiles, but it can be used on most types of natural stone floor where a deep polish is required.

To start the process, I applied the Coarse 400 grit burnishing pad to the floor using a small amount of water as lubrication in order to break down and remove any old sealer from the stone. Once this had been done across the entirety of the floor, I removed any soiled water with a wet-vac machine; this removal of soiled residue was repeated after each use of a burnishing pad.

Next, I moved on to the Medium 800 grit pad which is less coarse than the 400 grit, but still rough enough still to break down layers of ingrained dirt. I followed this up with the application of a Fine 1500 grit pad, which started to smooth down the rough areas of the surface to prepare the floor for a final polish with an even finer burnishing pad later on. Before moving straight on to the final of the four pads, I took the time to carefully fill in the all of the small cracks and holes in the stone, before leaving the floor to dry until the next day.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

The next morning, I returned to the property to finish off the floor restoration. As soon as I arrived I used a damp tester to make sure the floor was completely dry. Noticing a number of small damp spots, I opted to use my heat gun to speed up the drying process.

Once the floor was completely dry, I used the Very Fine 3000 burnishing pad – the last of the four – without any lubricant to finally achieve a high quality polished finish. For polished floors it is recommended to use an impregnating sealer that penetrates into the pores of the stone rather than sitting on the surface of the floor, as this ensures the quality of the polish isn’t damaged.

As such I opted to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow to seal the tiles. This is a colour intensifying sealer that provides durable surface protection and allows the surface to breathe whilst enhancing the natural colours in the stone. It’s important that any sealer that doesn’t penetrate into the stone is removed by polishing it off with a cloth.

Travertine Floor After Burnishing in Ashbourne
After completing the seal, I went over the floor for a final time with the 3000 grit diamond burnishing pad to leave a smooth and shiny polished finish. Needless to say that the customer was very happy with result as they had never before been able to get the floor looking this good!

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