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Travertine Kitchen Floor Face Lift Burgh Castle Great Yarmouth

Giving a Travertine Kitchen Floor a Face Lift in Burgh Castle

1 Comment / Great Yarmouth Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Nick White

Located in Burgh Castle West of Great Yarmouth, this Travertine stone floor was a classic example of an incomplete installation. By incomplete I mean the tiler had done a fine job of laying and grouting the tiles but had left it at that and not sealed the stone. Natural stone like Travertine is porous and needs a sealer to stop dirt becoming ingrained in its pores, a sealer will also improve its appearance.

Without a sealer this floor now looked very dull, pale, rather damaged with pitting and heavily soiled with ingrained dirt. Pitting in stone like this is a natural feature of Travertine however it can be exacerbated with the use of acid cleaning products. This was a floor in urgent need of a face lift, and I was confident it could be transformed into a very beautiful floor.

I think it is true to say that most tilers will skilfully lay a floor for you but usually don’t have the knowledge, experience or equipment to finish the surface properly and when it comes to sealing many will recommend a product and suggest you take care of it yourself. Naturally if your find yourself in that position don’t insist the tiler does it, better to give us a call and have it done properly.

Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Face Lift Burgh Castle

Filling Pitted Travertine Tiles

Our first job was to backfill the larger pits in the stone which as I mentioned are a natural feature of travertine material, but they can trap dirt and so its best if they are plugged with a suitably rigid filler. Also, if left alone the larger holes can quickly become larger as their edges crumble and break up leading to the entire tile becoming unstable. Replacing a tile in a floor like this is possible however its an extremely awkward job to do and it can be difficult to find an exact match for replacement.

Filling was done using a two-part, neutral cream-coloured polyester compound which gels in about fifteen minutes after addition of the catalyst. After this initial period, the excess product is trimmed off level with the surface of the tile before it sets harder than the stone itself in around sixty minutes. The fully cured compound can then be cut and machined as though it were part of the stone structure.

Cleaning and Removing Scratches from a Travertine Floor Tiles

Our second job was to remove deep scratches caused by the unprotected feet of workmen’s ladders. This was done using Tile Doctor 50-grit and 100-grit diamond hand burnishing pads with a little water as a cutting medium. Shallower scratching present across the rest of the floor was removed using a Tile Doctor 200-grit soft milling pad driven by our Klindex 17″ rotary machine.

This abrasive action produces a fine slurry which was then rinsed with water and extracted using our 400psi Ninja machine in preparation for the next stage of the refinishing process. These machines were an expensive investment for our business however they are very robust and effective producing a good result that saves time.

Next task was to restore the polished appearance of the Travertine which was done using the application of a set of Tile Doctor burnishing pads. The process starts by applying a coarse 400-grit diamond pad, again fitted to the Klindex rotary machine. This cleans the tile and improves the matt finish left by the milling pad; again, the slurry was rinse-extracted before moving on to the next pad in the set. Next came the finer diamond polishing stages of 800 grit and 1500 grit, slurry being removed as before between the grades. By this time, all the scratches had been removed and the Travertine floor had visually pleasing even sheen across the whole surface. The last pad in the set is applied dry with a little water sprayed onto the tile so we left the area to dry out thoroughly overnight with the assistance of our large capacity dehumidifier.

Sealing a Travertine Kitchen Floor in Burgh Castle

Returning the following morning, we found that the floor had dried out perfectly and was ready to be vacuumed and spray burnished with the last pad in the set which is a 3000-grit very fine pad applied using a small amount of water sprayed from a trigger bottle resulting in a deep, rich shine across the floor surface.

Last step in the face lift was to seal the floor with a generous coat of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal, a premium grade penetrating sealer recommended for use in Kitchens and food preparation areas. Having left the floor to soak up as much of the Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal as it could, the excess product was removed and the whole area allowed to dry completely with the assistance of our industrial air moving fan. Finally, the floor was spray buffed to a deep shine using a white maintenance pad.

Travertine Kitchen Floor After Face Lift Burgh Castle

The client was extremely pleased with our results and was amazed at the variation of colours within the stone which had never been visible previously.

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor in Norfolk

Giving a Travertine Kitchen Floor a Face Lift in Burgh Castle Read More »

Quarry Tiled Floor Before and After Renovation Geldeston

Deep Cleaning Quarry Tiles at a Converted Pub in Geldeston

1 Comment / Great Yarmouth Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Work History / Nick White

Tucked away on a back street in Geldeston about a mile away from Gillingham, Norfolk is the newly-restored former Garden House pub which has been converted into a two-bedroom private residence by the new owners. Everything had been renovated to the highest possible standard using local craftsmen and top-quality materials. The last piece of this jigsaw was the renovation of the quarry tile flooring which was laid in a brick pattern and runs from the kitchen through the dining room and into the main entrance hall.

As is often the case during major building works, the floor had been inadequately protected and consequently it had become completely coated in a combination of builder’s dust, plaster, paint and mud from the garden. As it’s such a large area it really needed some attention to get back its lustre.

Quarry Tiled Floor Geldeston Before Cleaning

Renovating a Quarry Tiled Floor in Geldeston

In order to prevent further scratching to the tile surface during the cleaning process our first job was to vacuum the whole area to pick up all the larger bits of debris and grit. Next, the floor was deep-cleaned using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad and a strong solution (1:3 ratio) of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, our high pH combination stripper and cleaner which made short work of the top layer of dust and grime.

Having power rinsed and vacuumed away the resulting slurry, we found that there were a large number of ground-in plaster spots and patches still remaining, which gave the floor an unsatisfactory white spotted appearance. These were removed using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up applied with a 6-inch black scrubbing pad fitted to our hand held DeWalt buffing machine, one of the most useful bits of kit in our tool bag! Great for attacking stubborn areas individually. The whole area was then allowed to dry with assistance from two industrial air movers.

Sealing Quarry Tiled Floor in Geldeston

Returning a few days later, I checked the moisture levels in the floor which were satisfactory, so we were ready to move on to the finishing stage. My original intention had been to seal the grout lines alone with Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal, our no-sheen solvent based penetrating sealer, assuming that the tile surface was in a reasonably good condition. Unfortunately, owing to the age of the floor along with the abuse it had suffered during the building works, I found that the floor had a tired, pale look to it when completely dry. I decided, therefore, to seal and refinish it with four coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go which both deepened and emphasized the colours within each individual tile and gave a pleasing mid-sheen to the whole area.

Quarry Tiled Floor Geldeston After Cleaning

On completion of the job, our client said three words we love to hear… “It looks GREAT!”
It is lovely to have another satisfied client and great to add the finishing touches to their renovation.

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Kitchen in Norfolk

Deep Cleaning Quarry Tiles at a Converted Pub in Geldeston Read More »

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Norfolk Tile Doctor

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