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 Shropshire

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 Floor Before After Polishing Priorslee

Travertine Tiled Floor Cleaned, Polished and Filled in Priorslee

This Travertine tiled floor was installed in the Kitchen, Hallway and downstairs WC at a property in the Telford suburb of Priorslee. It has been some time since it was last sealed and the sealer had now worn-down allowing dirt to become ingrained in the stone, as a result the floor now looked flat and un-interesting. The floor also had several holes that were trapping dirt and needed filling.

Travertine Floor Before Polishing in Priorslee Telford

I surveyed the floor and recommended a process called burnishing which uses a series of abrasive pads to restore the polished appearance of the stone. Once done the floor would be sealed to protect it from dirt and staining going forward. The owner agreed my quote and we set a date for my return to restore the appearance of the floor.

Travertine Floor Before Polishing in Priorslee Telford Travertine Floor Before Polishing in Priorslee Telford

Cleaning Travertine Floor Tile and Grout

Before starting the cleaning process, I spent time protecting the woodwork and removing the kickboards from underneath the kitchen units.
Then working in sections I gave the floor a general wash to remove any grit and clean the grout. Focusing primarily on the grout I applied a medium dilution Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and left it to soak in. The solution was left to dwell for roughly ten minutes in order for it to digest the dirt and remaining sealer. I then used a deck brush on the tiles and a stiff grout brush along the grout lines to scrub the solution in and release the dirty. The floor was then rinsed with water and the now soiled cleaning solution was removed using a wet vacuum.

The next step was to burnish the stone using a set of diamond encrusted pads which are applied to the floor using a rotary floor buffer in sequence from coarse to super fine. First using the 400-grit coarse number 1 pad we put some clean water on the floor and using our rotary machine slowly burnished the area making sure that we passed over each tile 4 times, this coarse pad cuts into the surface grime of the floor and also removes sealers. The resultant soiled water is rinsed away with clean water which in turn is removed using a wet vacuum. This process is then repeated with the 800-grit medium and 1500-grit fine pads, rinsing between each pad until a nice polish is built up on the tile. The floor is then given a final rinse and once we were satisfied that all the slurry had been removed.

Last job for the evening was to inspect the floor and fill the small holes using grout in a colour that matched that of the Travertine. The floor was then left to dry off overnight.

Polishing and Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles

On day two I continued the burnishing process by applying the very fine 3000 grit pad. This last pad is applied dry with only a small amount of water which is sprayed onto the floor and further builds on the polished appearance of the Travertine. This also has the advantage of leaving the floor completely dry and ready for sealing.

Travertine Floor After Polishing in Priorslee Telford Travertine Floor After Polishing in Priorslee Telford

We have several sealers that we recommend for use on Travertine and for this situation I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that occupies the pores in the stone thus preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there. Colour Grow as its name suggests enhances the colours in the stone and when applied to Travertine it does a good job of enhancing the natural brown colours in the stone. My client was certainly impressed with the improvement and was over the moon with when they saw the result.

Travertine Floor After Polishing in Priorslee Telford

 

Travertine Floor Professionally Polished in Shropshire

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Cracked Travertine Tiles After Repair in Worfield

Cracked Travertine Tiles Repaired in Worfield

This customer from the village of Worfield has a Travertine tiled floor in their kitchen/dining room which had a crack across four of the tiles. The dining room forms an extension to the original old building and as you can the crack had occurred along the front of the patio doorway. Potentially this could indicate an issue with the foundation as there was a definite difference in the height of the tiles on either side of the crack.

Cracked Travertine Tiles Before Repair in Worfield

Repairing Cracked Travertine Tile

To repair the crack I cleaned the area, dried it and then filled the crack with a colour matching resin. When the resin was set I started to grind the tiles to bring them back to the same level and then finished by polishing.

Cracked Travertine Tiles After Repair in Worfield
Naturally I mentioned our cleaning and sealing service but as it turns out the customer had only recently cleaned and sealed the floor themselves and so I was only needed for the repair which I think you will agree has turned out rather well, certainly the customer was happy as they left the following feedback on my profile.

“Jozsef has done a brilliant job, would certainly recommend him .”

Travertine Tiled Floor Burnished and Sealed in Shropshire

Cracked Travertine Tiles Repaired in Worfield Read More »

Travertine Tile Cleaning Telford After

Travertine Tiled Floor Refurbished in Telford

This property in Telford had been purchased six months earlier with a view to refurbishing it and had recently started to get it back in shape. The history of the Travertine tiled floor was unknown but there was evidence of the wrong kind of maintenance as the legs of the kitchen cabinet was blown by excess moisture. The new owner did mention that the previous owner had three teenage children and I suspect keeping the floor maintained properly was probably not a priority.

Travertine Tile Cleaning Telford Before Travertine Tile Cleaning Telford Before

Cleaning Travertine Tiles

The first step was to give the floor a general wash to remove any grit and the grout clean so we started by applying a mild dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was spread over the floor with particular attention paid to getting the solution into the grout lines. The solution was left to dwell for 10 minutes in order for it to soak in and eat through any dirt and existing sealer; we then used a stiff grout brush to scrub each and every grout line. Next we removed any trace of product by using a wet vacuum and rinsing thoroughly with clean water.

The next step was to use our diamond encrusted burnishing pads which attach to a rotary machine and burnish the floor with four different grits from coarse to super fine. First using course pad number 1 we put some clean water on the floor and using our rotary machine slowly burnished the area making sure that we passed over each tile 4 times, this coarse pad cuts into the surface grime of the floor and also removes sealers. The resultant soiled water is rinsed away with clean water which in turn is removed using a wet vacuum. This process is then repeated with the remaining pads, rinsing between each pad until a nice polish is built up on the tile. The floor is then given a final rinse and once we were satisfied that all the slurry had been removed we left the floor to dry overnight.

Cleaning Travertine and Limestone Tiles

When I returned the floor was tested using a damp meter to make sure the Travertine had dried sufficiently for sealing. It had so I started to seal it using a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that will occupy the pores in the stone to prevent other contaminates getting in there, Colour Grow also brings out the colours in the stone.

Travertine Tile Cleaning Telford After Travertine Tile Cleaning Telford After

It’s tricky to capture all of this with photographs although you should be able to see the shine now the polish has been restored, the main thing is the customer was very happy with the results and was kind enough to leave the following message.

“We moved into a house with very unloved travertine tiles in the kitchen, bathroom and WC. We were really impressed with Jozsef. He was friendly, knowledgeable and conscientious. He was up front with us about what could be achieved with the tiles and we are very pleased with the results. He worked efficiently, was tidy, prompt and mindful of our very young children. We would definitely recommend Jozsef.”

Travertine Tiled Floor Burnished and Sealed in Shropshire

Travertine Tiled Floor Refurbished in Telford Read More »

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Shropshire Tile Doctor

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