stratford upon avon

Travertine Kitchen Tile Deep Cleaned Polsihed Stratford-upon-Avon Warwickshire

Dull Travertine Floor with Grubby Grout Renovated in Stratford-upon-Avon

This large Victorian house in Stratford-upon-Avon, had a lovely Travertine tiled floor installed in the kitchen and dining area. Over the years the tiles had lost their shine and the grout had darkened with trapped dirt. The owners had decided it was time to have it professionally cleaned and I was called in to quote for the renovation.

Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Polishing Stratford-upon-Avon

I visited the property to survey the floor, run some tests and discus with the client their main concerns. From that I was able to work out an accurate price for the work which was accepted and a date arranged to carry out the work.

Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

First, I cleaned the grout lines using Tile Doctor Stone Soap which was run along the grout lines and scrubbed in with a brush. It was the grout that needed the most attention and I suspect it wasn’t sealed along with the Travertine when it was laid.

The now soiled cleaning solution was extracted with a wet vacuum, keeping the mess to a minimum. I repeated this process as a few areas that were near the cooking areas which were particularly dirty.

Next, I turned my attention to the Travertine tiles which were actually in great condition and only really needed a polish to buff them up. To do this I used a very fine 3000-grit burnishing pad which used very fine industrial diamonds to burnish the stone and restore its polished appearance. This gentle action of the pad brings up the shine very gently without damaging the stone. The pad is fitted to a rotary floor buffer and run over the floor with a small amount of water which is sprayed onto the tile.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

Once the burnishing was done, I brought the polish finish up further by working Tile Doctor Shine Powder into the Travertine using a white buffing pad. This is a crystalising powder that adds a durable and protective deep shine to the tile.

Travertine Kitchen Floor After Polishing Stratford-upon-Avon

Once complete the Travertine sheen had been restored to the Travertine tiles and looked so much cleaner, additionally the colour had been restored to the grubby grout lines and it was this that had really been bringing the floor down.

The client was very happy with the work we carried out and before leaving I took time to discuss aftercare cleaning for which I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap. This product has been specially designed for maintaining the patina on polished floors and has a gentle formula that won’t erode the protection provided by the shine powder crystals.

 

Professional Renovation of a Travertine Tiled Kitchen in Warwickshire

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Acid Damaged Limestone Tiles Before After Restoration Stratford-Upon-Avon

Black Limestone Floor Ruined by Descaling Solution in Stratford upon Avon

I really felt for this customer who was mortified after accidentally spilling limescale descaling solution on their beautiful Black Limestone floor in Stratford upon Avon. The problem started when attempting to descale a coffee making machine in the kitchen, unfortunately the bottle fell out of his hands and onto the Black Limestone floor, the subsequent attempt to mop it up spread the problem across the floor.

Acid Damaged Limestone Kitchen Floor Tile Before Restoration Stratford Upon Avon Acid Damaged Limestone Kitchen Floor Tile Before Restoration Stratford Upon Avon

Descaling solutions contain strong acids that dissolve the minerals in limescale so they can be easily removed. Limestone being of a similar structure is equally effected however in this case the product was removed quickly and didn’t have time to etch the stone. Unfortunately, the descaler did have time to upset the factory polish leaving a right mess and ruining the appearance of the stone.

I went over to survey the floor and reassured my customer the floor could be restored. There are several products and methods that can be applied to resurface and polish stone floors, so I knew the problem was repairable, it was just a question of finding the best solution for the customer.

Stripping Sealer from Black Limestone Flooring

I reasoned that the underlying stone was not etched by the acid, it was the wax-based factory finish that had been upset so the best course of action would be to strip back the entire floor to the bare stone and then reapply a new sealer that would provide a similar appearance.

To do this I started with the application of Tile Doctor Remove and Go across the whole floor. This product is a coatings remover that is specially designed for use on Tile and Stone, it was sprayed onto the floor and after ten minutes scrubbed in using a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. The resultant slurry was then rinsed off with water and extracted using a wet vacuum. This process was repeated until I was confident that the factory polish had been removed.

Next step was to strip the stone of the black dry added by the factory by giving it an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel. This was necessary to rebalance the appearance of the stone across the entire floor and would result in a consistent appearance one resealed. The Acid Gel was scrubbed into the Limestone, then rinsed off and extracted using the same procedure as before.

After a final rinse the floor was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing Black Limestone Floor Tiles

The next day I first checked the floor was dry using a damp meter, there were no excess moisture issues so I able to go ahead and seal the stone using a product that would bring back the colour and add protection against dirt and staining.

The best product for this was Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that seeps into the pores of the stone protecting it from within and enhancing natural colour at the same time. The only disadvantage of this product is it leaves a matt finish whereas my customer wanted the shiny, easy to clean appearance of the original tile. To resolve I recommended we leave the floor to settle for a while and if no issues develop, I would add a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is compatible with Colour Grow and would give the desired finish.

Acid Damaged Limestone Kitchen Floor Tile After Restoration Stratford Upon Avon Acid Damaged Limestone Kitchen Floor Tile After Restoration Stratford Upon Avon

Due to various commitments on both our parts it was six weeks until I was able to return and top up the sealer with Seal and Go. It was worth waiting for and much to the relief of the owner his Black Limestone floor has been transformed to new again.

Acid Damaged Limestone Kitchen Floor Tile After Restoration Stratford Upon Avon

 

Limestone Kitchen Floor Tiles Restored in Stratford upon Avon

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Quarry Tiled Floor After Restoration in Stratford-upon-Avon

Quarry Tiled Floor Restored in Stratford upon Avon

Located in the hallway of an old vicarage in the historic town of Stratford upon Avon these Quarry tiles had been hidden under carpet for many years and before that it appears had been painted in red brick paint and splattered with plaster and paint from decorating. I was asked if there was anything we could do to restore them and having done a number of these types of renovations before I was confident that would could and got the go ahead to proceed.

Quarry Tiled Floor Before Restoration in Stratford-upon-Avon Quarry Tiled Floor Before Restoration in Stratford-upon-Avon

Restoring a Quarry tiled floor

The first job was to give the floor a really good deep clean and to remove any coatings from the tiles. To do this a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go was left to soak into the floor for about 30 minutes before being scrubbed in using a slow speed rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. I then used a wet vacuum to remove the resultant soiled solution and rinsed the floor down with water. There were quite a few stubborn areas and so the whole process had to be repeated, additionally some of the paint needed to carefully removed using a scraper.

Once the floor was clean I gave it a wash with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which is an acid based product that will remove light grout smears and mineral deposits from effloresce which can leave to white salt deposits appearing on the tile surface and can be quite common on old tiled floors that have no damp proof course.

The cleaning process took up the whole day and after finishing the whole floor was given a thorough rinse with water to ensure no trace of cleaning product remained on the floor.

Sealing a Quarry tiled floor

I left the floor overnight to dry then came back next day and used a damp test meter to verify the floor was dry and ready for sealing. Once happy I proceed to apply four coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which matched their requirements in a sealer exactly as it provides a matt finish brings out the colour in the stone and offers great stain protection.

Quarry Tiled Floor After Restoration in Stratford-upon-Avon Quarry Tiled Floor After Restoration in Stratford-upon-Avon

 

Quarry tiles tiled floor restored in Warwickshire

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Victorian Floor Tiles After Restoration in Stratford upon Avon

Victorian Floor Tile Restoration in Stratford-Upon-Avon

I made another visit back to the historic and famous town of Stratford-upon-Avon recently this time to restore a Victorian Tiled Hallway which had been covered In self levelling cement (don’t ask) which was proving very difficult to remove and I doubt William Shakespeare would of approved.

Victorian Floor Tiles Before Restoration in Stratford upon Avon Victorian Floor Tiles Before Restoration in Stratford upon Avon

Removing Cement from Victorian Tiles

None of the usual methods for removing cement from tile was proving to be effective against this stuff, it was simply too thick so it was necessary to resort to a set off milling disks which grind the surface, I could only go so close to the tile with these however and had to resort to a hand scrapper to remove much of the rest and as you can imagine this took a long time to complete and was quite exhausting work.

Victorian Floor Tiles During Restoration in Stratford upon Avon
The resultant powder was swept and vacuumed from the tile before applying Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which we normally use for removing grout smears, it’s an acidic product that you allow to dwell on the tile for a few minutes and then agitate with a scrubbing pad and then remove shortly afterwards using a wet vacuum and then quickly washing the floor down quickly to ensure the acid is removed.

The next job was to give the floor a deep clean using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed 50/50 with NanoTech UltraClean which was worked into the pores of the Victorian tile and grout using a slow speed rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. The dirty solution was removed and the floor rinsed thoroughly with water, again we used the wet vacuum to remove the water and get the tile as dry as possible.

Sealing Victorian floor tiles

I left the floor overnight to dry overnight leaving an air blower to accelerate the drying time and then came back next day to seal the floor; I used a damp test meter first to verify the floor was dry and ready for sealing. Once happy I proceed to apply four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is an ideal sealer for Victorian Tiles as it leaves a nice shine on the floor as well as providing great stain protection.

Victorian Floor Tiles After Restoration in Stratford upon Avon Victorian Floor Tiles After Restoration in Stratford upon Avon

 

It was an exhausting job and quite a transformation, unfortunately there were a few area’s I could do nothing about but it all adds to the character of the floor.

Victorian tiled floor restored in Warwickshire

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Travertine Stratford-upon-Avon After Cleaning

Travertine Tiled Floor Polished in Stratford upon Avon

Following on from a referral I agreed to travel down to Stratford upon Avon and deep clean this Travertine tiled floor which had not been professionally cleaned for over eight years and was now looking rather dull as you can see in the photograph below, additionally the holes in the travertine had not been filled and was allowing dirt to get trapped into the tile.

Travertine Stratford upon Avon Before Cleaning

Cleaning, Filling and Polishing Travertine Tiles

The first job was to wash the floor down with Pro-Clean to give it a general clean and remove any surface dirt and grit from the floor and then fill the holes with a colour matching grout; there were quite a few holes to fill so this task took some time to complete. Polished Travertine is a very hard stone so restore its finish it needs to be cut back and polished using of a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads fitted to a rotary machine. You start with a coarse pad with a little water, then a medium pad, fine pad and finish with a very fine polishing pad, this takes some time but the effect it quite transforming, it does build up slurry on the floor so it all needs to be washed down again at the end.

Sealing and Buffing Travertine Tile

To keep the floor looking good for longer and protect it from stains it does need to be sealed so once it was dry it was sealed using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer that brings out the colours in natural stone. Then once the sealer was dry it was buffed using a white buffing pad to make sure that I hadn’t left any residues from the seal.

Travertine Stratford upon Avon After Cleaning
The job took three days to complete in total and I think you will agree it’s now looking much healthier.

Travertine tiled floor maintained by Greater Manchester Tile Doctor

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Travertine Tiles After Cleaning

Cleaning Travertine in Stratford-upon-Avon

Travertine Cleaning in Stratford

We started the cleaning of a travertine floor in Stratford (that’s Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire not East London where the 2012 Olympics are being held) using Pro-Clean diluted with water and a floor buffer fitted with a Scrubbing Pad and Grout Brush. For best results it’s best to leave the cleaning solution to dwell on the Travertine floor for five minutes before agitating and scrubbing, this allows the cleaner to penetrate the tile better and lift the dirt out of the floor.

Travertine Floor in Stratford-upon-avon Before Cleaning Travertine Floor Before Cleaning by Tile Doctor Warwickshire
Travertine Floor Before Cleaning

Travertine Floor Cleaning

The floor was rinsed down with clean water and the use of a high pressure floor spinner tool, before being cut back with a set of Twister burnishing pads finishing on the yellow polishing pad.

Travertine Tiles Before Cleaning Travertine Tiles in Warwickshire After Cleaning
Travertine Floor After Cleaning and Sealing

Travertine Floor Sealing

After the Travetine Cleaning the floor was left to dry before sealing with Tile Doctor Colour Grow, we then applied the last Green burnishing pad in the set to lock in the seal and remove any excess sealer from the surface of the tile. The last step was to use Tile Doctor Shine to give leave a durable high shine on the floor. The floor took a full day to clean, seal and re-polish.

The Customer, Mrs Gough was very pleased with the results and left the following comment on the Tile Doctor website:
Mick is a true professional who totally puts you at ease. It was a lot of money for me as I chose the most expensive package but worth every penny.

Travertine Tiled Floor Restoration in Stratford

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