Ultra-Seal Archives - South Essex Tile Doctor

Travertine Kitchen Floor Renovation Billericay

Travertine Kitchen Diner Floor Tile and Grout Renovated in Billericay

Earlier this year I was asked to visit a property in Billericay near Basildon to quote for renovating an extensive Travertine tiled floor. The Travertine floor has been laid 15 years prior in the large Kitchen, Utility and adjacent dining room and has not been maintained correctly leaving it vulnerable to ingrained dirt.

Travertine Kitchen Diner Floor Before Renovation Billericay

Natural stone floors look fantastic when first laid but will only remain so if the sealer is maintained. Natural stone and especially Travertine is porous and the sealer will prevent dirt from becoming ingrained in the stone keeping it on the surface where it’s easy to clean away. In this case the sealer had long since worn off and the Travertine was absorbing dirt leaving it looking permanently dirty despite cleaning.

After discussing the problems with the owner, I recommended deep cleaning the Travertine and Grout with an abrasive pad and alkaline cleaner and then sealing to protect the stone going forward. I worked out a plan for its renovation and provided them with a quote which was accepted and a date scheduled.

Deep Cleaning Travertine Tile and Grout

To deep clean the stone and grout it was sprayed with a 1:4 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was then let to soak into the floor for a good ten to fifteen minutes. This gives the Pro-Clean time to breakdown and digest the soils and any remaining old sealer. Next the floor was scrubbed with rotary machine fitted with a Black Pad to release the dirt from the floor into the solution where it could be extracted with a wet vacuum.

Pads can struggle to reach into the recesses of the grout line so this was also hand scrubbed using a pollybrush and more Pro-Clean to get it as clean as possible. This process sounds straightforward but it was a large floor with several sections to complete so it took all the first day to complete.

Before finishing for the day, the floor was inspected and any stubborn marks spot cleaned until I was happy with the whole floor. The floor was then rinsed with water to remove any remnants and then dried with the wet vacuum.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor in Billericay

I returned the next day and started by checking the floor was dry using a damp meter. The readings were fine so the first coat of what would be two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal was applied. This sealer doesn’t contain any colour enhancer so it leaves the stone with invisible hardwearing protection and a very natural look. The sealer ensures dirt can’t penetrate the pores of the stone thereby keeping it on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away.

Travertine Kitchen Diner Floor After Renovation Billericay

The transformation was quite dramatic and the customer was very pleased and shocked at how it had changed. Regarding regular cleaning, I recommended using Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a pH neutral cleaner. It won’t strip the sealer like the previous products they had been using and should ensure the floor is kept in this condition for many years to come.

Professional Renovation of a Travertine Tile and Grout in South Essex

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Polish Restored to a Large Marble Tiled floor in Brentwood

1 Comment / Brentwood Tile Cleaning, Marble Tile Cleaning / Matthew Tyler

The photographs below are of a very impressive and beautiful Marble tiled floor at a substantial property in Brentwood. The client had two big dogs, and it had been a while since the floor was last professionally maintained. The owner called me in to give the marble a deep clean, seal and re-grout in some areas. Happy to help I arranged an appointment to call in and survey the floor.

Marble Tiled Floor Before Polishing Brentwood

The marble tiles were as I suspected, the sealer had started to wear down in the high traffic areas and now dirt was getting ingrained in the stone, it had also lost its polished appearance in some areas. The ground floor measured approximately 80 to 90m2 and ran into the orangery, kitchen, utility, WC and hallway so it was a large job. From the visit I was able to work out a detailed quotation which was accepted and a date set for the work to start.

Marble Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Brentwood

Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Tiled Ground Floor

Work started with the grouting which involved raking out the areas of loose grout and replacing with new. Whilst this was setting I moved onto cleaning other sections of the marble flooring using a set of Tile Doctor Burnishing Pads which are run over the tiles in sequence from coarse to extra fine.

The coarse 400-grit pad opens the pores in the stone and flushes out ingrained dirt and residues. Water is used to lubricate the process, and this turns into a dark slurry as the work progresses. Once each tile has been burnished several times with the coarse pad, the floor was rinsed with more water and the slurry extracted with a wet vacuum.

The coarse pad is then swapped for the 800-grit pad which is the first of three finer pads that gradually close the pores in the stone and rebuild the deep polish. Again, these are applied with water and the floor rinsed and extracted afterwards to remove the slurry.

Next step was to deep clean the grout lines using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted with 4 parts water and scrubbed in using a stiff grout brush. The pads also help clean the grout but can struggle to reach into the recesses of the grout line, so I find doing this step by hand is the most effective way to get the grout clean.

After another rinse and extraction to remove soiling from the grout cleaning work we moved onto the final step in the stone polishing process by applying the very fine 3500-grit burnishing pad. This pad is applied dry with only a little water using a process we call a spray burnish leaving the marble smooth with a deep light-reflecting finish.

Marble Tiled Floor During Cleaning Brentwood

Sealing a Marble Tiled Ground Floor

The floor had underfloor heating which really helped the drying process, and I was able to finish the floor with the application of two coats of sealer. The client wanted a natural finish, so Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal was used for this as it doesn’t change the appearance of the stone. This is an impregnating sealer that penetrates deep into the stone protecting it from within and ensuring dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away.

Marble Tiled Floor After Polishing Brentwood

Once complete the Marble had a consistent deep mirror finish which my client was delighted with and left the following five-star feedback which is always appreciated:

“We could not be happier with the meticulous job Matthew carried out refurbishing our hallway, kitchen and conservatory marble floors. They all look better than when they were first laid! We would without hesitation recommend Matthew, you will not be disappointed.”

For aftercare I recommended Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is a gentle yet effective cleaning product that contains a patina enhancer and won’t impact the sealer.

Marble Tiled Floor After Polishing Brentwood

Professional Renovation of a Large Marble Tiled Floor in Essex

Polish Restored to a Large Marble Tiled floor in Brentwood Read More »

Travertine Kitchen Floor Renovation Gidea Park Romford

Dirty Travertine Kitchen Floor Tiles Renovated in Gidea Park Romford

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Romford Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning / Matthew Tyler

These photographs are of a Travertine kitchen floor at a property in Gidea Park near Romford. The floor was approximately 20m2 and had been laid 20 years ago. Although it had been sealed the client had been cleaning the floor with the wrong products and that had stripped the sealer off the floor. As a result, dirt had become ingrained into the pores of the stone making it look very dirty.

Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Gidea Park Romford

My client was so unhappy with its appearance they were seriously considering taking the Travertine tiles up and replacing it with something more manageable, as they could never get it to look clean. You can imagine their relief after I visited and advised them that the floor could indeed be recovered.

After surveying the stone floor, I worked out a plan for its renovation and provided them with a quote which they were happy to go ahead with.

Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Kitchen

I started the cleaning with the grout lines which had darkened with accumulated dirt. To do this I applied a 4:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along the grout lines and left it to soak in for ten minutes. The grout lines where then scrubbed by hand until their original colour returned. Although harder work, I find this method works better than using pads with a machine as the pads can struggle to reach into the recesses of the grout lines.

To get the ingrained dirt out of the stone and restore the beautiful appearance of the Travertine I used a set of Tile Doctor Burnishing pads. These are applied with a rotary buffing machine starting with the coarse 400-grit pad and worked into the stone with more Tile Doctor Pro-Clean.

Travertine Kitchen Floor During Cleaning Gidea Park Romford

After rinsing and extracting I then moved onto the 800 and 1500-grit pads, using only water this time for lubrication and rinsing and extracting after each pad. The last 3000-grit pad was applied with a little water sprayed onto the tiles to bring up a polish on the stone.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

The floor was left to dry overnight, and I returned the next day to seal it using two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal sealer to give it a nice sheen. This will give the floor hardwearing protection by ensuring dirt remains on the surface where it is much easier to remove with regular cleaning.

Travertine Kitchen Floor After Renovation Gidea Park Romford

My client was very happy with her new floor and relieved that the new sealer would make it much easier to keep clean going forward. She also left a 5-star review and commented:

“GOOD JOB….PLEASED”

On the topic of cleaning, I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a pH neutral cleaner. It will not strip the sealer like the previous products she had been using and should ensure the floor is kept in this condition for many years to come. Obviously, we are on hand in the future if she has any further problems.

Source: Travertine Kitchen Tile Cleaning and Renovation Service in Gidea Park South Essex

Dirty Travertine Kitchen Floor Tiles Renovated in Gidea Park Romford Read More »