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 Suffolk

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 Floor Tiles Before After Cleaning Thurston

Failed Travertine Tile Sealer Resolved in Great Green, Thurston

The pictures below are of a Travertine tiled floor installed in the large Kitchen of a barn conversion in the small village of Great Green near Thurston which is four miles from Bury St Edmunds. The floor had been laid ten years prior and the customer was now finding it increasingly difficult to get the tile and grout clean.

Travertine Floor Before Cleaning Great Green Thurston

I visited the property to survey the floor and quickly confirmed that the problem was quite clear, the sealant had been worn away over the years and now unprotected dirt was getting into the surface and pores of the stone. Once ingrained with dirt it becomes impossible to get them clean with everyday household cleaners. The floor was in the kitchen which being one of the busiest areas in the house so really needed to be protected.

Travertine Floor Before Cleaning Great Green Thurston

I ran a test clean on a small patch of travertine and they could see straight away the colour the floor should have been. It was clear the tile and grout would need a deep clean and then resealed however due to the inevitable wear I advised the customer stone floors like these really need continual attention and recommend that after the initial renovation they consider getting us back in once a year to do a surface clean and seal.

Happy with our test clean and quotation we got the go ahead to do the initial clean and seal and we arranged complete the work the following month.

Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

On arrival I first taped up the skirting boards and kitchen plinths to protect them from splashing during cleaning. The floor was then scrubbed with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was first left to dwell for ten minutes so it could soak into the pores and break down the dirt. For best results I use a rotary buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. Pro-Clean is a multi-purpose tile and grout cleaning product that really gets to grips with ingrained dirt and grease as well as removing the remains of old sealer.

Scrubbing pads struggle to reach into the grout recesses so I scrubbed the grout lines by hand using a wire brush and more Pro-Clean. The resultant slurry was then vacuumed off the floor using a wet vacuum, the floor was then rinsed with water and vacuumed again.

To improve the appearance of the Travertine tiles further it was given a light burnish using a 400-grit then 800-grit diamond burnishing pad. These pads are attached to the rotary machine and then run over each tile several times using only water for lubrication. This action brings up the natural polished appearance of the stone to leave a mild sheen as per the clients’ request. After another rinse and extraction to remove the slurry generated during burnishing the floor was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

The following day I returned and first took some moisture readings from the floor using a damp meter. I needed to be sure the floor was dry enough to accept the sealer as applying sealer to a damp floor is not recommended.

The floor had dried out nicely, so I began the application of the sealer, Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This product is a colour intensifying impregnating sealer that penetrates the stone, occupying its pores, improving colour, and resulting in long lasting protection. I highly recommend this for use on Travertine and it enhances the natural brown colours in the stone beautifully.

Travertine Floor After Cleaning Great Green Thurston

The job took 2 days in total to complete and the clients were very happy with the result. For aftercare I have advised the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap which will help maintain the patina whilst keeping the floor clean. I’ve also made a note to give them a call in a years’ time to discuss giving the floor a light Maintenance Clean and apply a new coat of Colour Grow.

Travertine Floor After Cleaning Great Green Thurston

 

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tiled Kitchen in Suffolk

Failed Travertine Tile Sealer Resolved in Great Green, Thurston Read More »

Restoring the Shine on a Travertine Floor Tiles in Haughley

Restoring the Shine on a Travertine Floor Tiles in Haughley

This travertine tiled floor was in a converted Chapel in the Suffolk village of Haughley. The floor had been laid about 4 years previous as part of the conversion. The owner has been applying sealer to the floor but was finding it difficult to keep clean and as you can see from the photographs it had become dull and lost its shine.

Travertine Tiled Floor Before Travertine Tiled Floor Before

Cleaning Travertine Floor Tile

The Travertine floor tiles were cleaned and polished using a set of diamond encrusted Twister burnishing pads. They really are the best solution for restoring hard floor surfaces such as Travertine, Limestone and Marble. We started with the red pad to remove the existing sealer followed by the white and yellow pads to clean and hone the stone. The wall and floor tiles were then rinsed with water to clean and neutralise the floor ready for sealing; this work had taken much of the day so we left the floor to dry overnight.

Sealing Travertine Floor Tile

We came back the next day to complete the floor starting by adding a final polish using a Green burnishing pad. The last step was to seal using three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which provides stain protection as well as enhancing the colour in natural stone surfaces; a five litre bottle of sealer was required to cover this 45m2 kitchen floor.

Travertine Tiled Floor After Travertine Tiled Floor After

I’m happy to report our efforts restored the shine on this floor and the owner now finds it much easier to maintain.

Travertine Tiled Floor in Suffolk Cleaned and Sealed

Restoring the Shine on a Travertine Floor Tiles in Haughley Read More »

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Suffolk Tile Doctor

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