Travertine Tile Cleaning

Welcome to my Work History archive where you will find detailed examples of the cleaning and renovation of Travertine tiles carried out in Warwickshire

Cleaning and Polishing Travertine tiles

Travertine is a natural material that has unique features and colouring that no other stone can offer. The distinctive look of Travertine creates some of the most distinguished floor tiles and has proved very popular with commercial and residential use. It can be used for floor tile, kitchen flooring, bathroom walls and floors, and it is often used externally. There are many varieties such as Tumbled and Polished and like all natural stone it needs to be sealed to prevent dirt becoming trapped in the pores. Unlike other stones however Travertine does suffer from pitting however these holes can be filled.

One of the main issues with polished Travertine is the polish starts to wear down with use and eventually becomes dull. Another issue we see is acid etching where strong unsuitable cleaning products used on the stone etch the surface and ruin its appearance. To resolve both these problems the stone needs to be re-polished with diamond encrusted burnishing pads of different grits to hone the stone and bring back that deep shine. If this sounds familiar you should talk to us about our annual maintenance program where we visit you once a year to clean, polish and seal your floor thus keeping it in top condition.

Below you will find detailed examples of work we have carried out in the past, it should give you some idea of what’s involved and what can be achieved with the right techniques and products.


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

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

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

Travertine Tiled Floor Polished in Stratford upon Avon Read More »

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

Cleaning Travertine in Stratford-upon-Avon Read More »

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Warwickshire Tile Doctor

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