Ultra-Seal Archives - East Surrey Tile Doctor

Large Tiled Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Oxted

Pictured below is a large Limestone tiled floor in the Kitchen and adjacent living space at a house in Oxted. The tiles were looking quite dull, and the grout had darkened with ground in dirt so I was asked to give them a deep clean and polish to restore the beauty and character to the floor.

Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Oxted

Limestone is a very tough stone so to clean the tile and rebuild the polish it needs to be polished using a set of burnishing pads which use different grades of diamond encrusted pads to cut through ingrained dirt and build up the polished appearance. Then I always recommend sealing the tiles to protect them from ingrained dirt and stains.

Secondly, it was a large extensive space and although the tiles were of a standard size it took a large number of them to fill the space resulting in what felt like miles of grout lines, all of which would need scrubbing to get them clean.

Cleaning Limestone Tile and Grout

Before working on the Limestone tiles, I decided to treat the grout to a good old-fashioned scrub with a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and stiff wire brush. I knew this was going to take some time so called in my son to provide some extra manpower. He’s young so can scoot around on the floor all day without feeling it later. The grout soon become much cleaner, and the soiled cleaning solution was then rinsed away with water and then extracted with a wet vacuum.

After a well-deserved, lunch we bought in a floor burnishing machine which was fitted with extra iron weights to help it get more traction on the tiles. The first step in burnishing the Limestone tiles involves the use of a coarse 400-grit pad which is designed to deep clean the stone and strip away any remaining sealer. The pad is fitted to the machine and run over each tile several times using only water to lubricate the process.

Once I’d removed any excess residue with the wet-vacuum, I changed to a medium 800-grit pad, repeated the cleaning process, and again extracted the soiled residue. This is followed by a finer 1500-grit using the same process and then finally a super fine 3000-grit pad which really brings up the polish on the tile and is applied using a small amount of water sprayed onto the stone.

By the end of the first day the floor was already looking so much cleaner and lighter.

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

After leaving the floor to dry off overnight I returned to the property the next day to apply the sealer. Before starting though I gave the floor a quick skim over with an old pad to make sure it was completely clean before sealing.

To seal the Limestone, I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the Limestone to provide durable protection against ingrained dirt without changing the natural look of the tile.

After an hour, I gave the floor a buff with a soft white pad to remove any excess sealer and further bring up the appearance of the stone. Once complete the Limestone had a nice subtle shine and the grout was back to its white colour resulting in the whole floor looking much healthier and attractive.

Limestone Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Polishing Oxted

For aftercare maintenance of polished stone floors, I recommend the use of a cleaning product called Tile Doctor Stone Soap. It’s a gentle but effective floor cleaning product that’s safe to use on sealed floors and helps to maintain the patina on the tile. If looked after correctly this sealer should last three to four years.

Professional Maintenance of a Honed Limestone Floor Tiles in East Surrey

Cracked Travertine Kitchen Floor Repair in Redhill

Cracked Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated in Redhill

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Redhill Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning / Hugh Mcleod

This client from Redhill had her kitchen floor tiled with Travertine tiles following a house extension a few years ago. The extension had enabled the kitchen to be made significantly larger however as the new floor settled a crack developed along the line of the join between the old and new concrete floor causing the Travertine tiles to crack along the line.

I was tasked with removing the broken tiles and existing adhesive, fitting replacement tiles, sealing and re-grouting. Fortunately, the floor did not have electric underfloor heating installed, removing tiles with an electric floor matt stuck to it is bound to break the circuit so best avoided.

Cracked Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Restoration Redhill

I visited the property to get a good understanding of the problems and then prepared a quote for the whole restoration which was accepted. I also had to source new Travertine tiles to replace the cracked ones. Its worth noting that Tile Doctor often gets asked to replace cracked tiles but unless its part of a bigger renovation job like this one we won’t take it on.

Replacing Travertines in a Redhill Kitchen

Removing tile is a noisy, messy operation that can generate dust so I had agreed with the customer that they would clear the room beforehand and remove anything they might need from the cupboards so I could tape them up.

Work started by cutting the grout lines with an oscillating tool and then started removing the tile by knocking out from the centre outwards. Once all tiles where removed this exposed the previous floor adhesive which was carefully removed using a chisel and hammer.

Cracked Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor During Repair Redhill

After a much need lunch break, I mixed up some fresh quick setting flexible adhesive and laid in the replacement Travertine tiles. Later that day I was then able to apply the grout and left the floor to them to set.

Cracked Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor After Repair Redhill

Deep Cleaning and Sealing Travertine Kitchen Tiles

A week later, once the tiles had cured and had time to settle, I returned to deep clean and seal the tiles which would blend in the replacement tiles with the original and make the floor look whole again.

Firstly, I hand cleaned the grout lines with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in with a wire brush. Its hard work but I find this is the most effective way to get grout clean.

The next job was to remove what remained of the previous sealer and top layer of dirt. This was done with a rotating buffing machine and a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads. The first one applied is a coarse 400-grit pad followed by 800 and 1500-grit, working through the pads in sequence. You might be familiar with the grit system from sandpaper, rough down to smooth. The process is lubricated with water and the slurry generated is rinsed off with water and extracted using a wet vacuum.

I left the floor to dry off overnight, they can walk on it during this time, but they needed to be careful of any spillages.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

The second day started with and inspection of the Travertine tile and grout looking for any areas that need further attention. I was satisfied that the floor was looking its’ best and once the preparation was complete, I applied the first coat of sealer.

On this occasion I went with Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is doesn’t change the look of the stone giving a completely natural look. This product soaks into the pores of the stone protecting if from within and should last between three and five years depending on the amount of wear it received and how the floor is cleaned and maintained.

Cracked Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor After Restoration Redhill

Two coats of sealer were applied and after each coat dried, I polished the floor using a very fine 3000-grit diamond pad. The pad is run across the Travertine dry with only a little water sprayed onto the tile using a process we call a ‘Spray Burnish’. I asked the client to keep off the travertine until it’s cured, usually for a couple of hours which is always a good excuse to go out for the evening!

The client was very happy the floor and relieved that the cracked tiles were gone and their kitchen floor looked amazing again. For aftercare I recommended using Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is ideal for the regular cleaning of sealed natural stone floors, many supermarket products are simply too harsh and will reduce the life of the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tiled Kitchen in Surrey

Cracked Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated in Redhill Read More »