travertine tile cleaning

Travertine Tile Grout Before After Cleaning Sunbury-on-Thames

Professional clean of a Travertine Tiled floor in Sunbury-on-Thames

This client got in touch about cleaning their Travertine Tiled floor which they were struggling to get clean. They had been using all the usual household floor cleaners, but nothing was having the desired effect. The property was in the lovely village of Sunbury On Thames within the borough of Spelthorne. I’m based in nearby Shepperton and so it wasn’t long before I was able to pop over and take a look at the problematic floor.

Travertine Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Sunbury-on-Thames

It turns out the Travertine floor which was installed throughout the hallway and kitchen had not been professionally cleaned since its’ installation twelve years prior. As you can see from the pictures, the old sealer that was protecting the Travertine had long since worn off and this in turn had allowed soils and spillages to penetrate deep into the pores of the stone and grout. The sealers demise may have been accelerated with the use of overly strong cleaning products but given it not been professionally cleaned for twelve years it was well overdue a deep clean and reseal.

I discussed with the client what we could do to clean the floor and demonstrated my proposed cleaning process on part of the floor. They were very satisfied with the demonstration and were happy to go ahead with my quote. The work would take two days to complete, one day for cleaning and a second day for sealing.

Travertine Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Sunbury-on-Thames

Deep Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Floor in Sunbury-on-Thames

Working in sections I started by spraying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean on the floor and left if to soak in while I set up a floor buffing machine with a black scrubbing pad. After about ten minutes I ran the buffing machine over the working area, the machine was set to run at slow speed to reduce splashing. This action broke down the soils and helped lift the marks and stains out of the stone.

Tile Doctor Pro-Clean is a concentrated, multi-purpose high-alkaline cleaner, stripper and degreaser. The strong dilution of one-part cleaner to two parts water would ensure it would clean the floor and strip off any old sealers present on the tiles. Once the Travertine had been cleaned in this way, I ran a narrow brush along the grout lines to ensure they were also scrubbed clean.

Travertine Tiled Floor During Cleaning Sunbury-on-Thames

After scrubbing a low-pressure rinsing machine was used to rinse the floor with water and extract all the dirt and cleaning products off the floor. After a final inspection the floor was then left to dry out overnight to leave the stone ready to receive a new seal the following day.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor in Sunbury-on-Thames

I returned the next morning and tested the floor with a moisture meter to ensure the Travertine was dry. The results were good, so we set about applying two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone thus preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there. The sealer really brought put the contrast back into the stone by enhancing the colour whilst giving it the protection it needed to prevent future spillages staining the tiles.

Travertine Tiled Floor After Cleaning Sunbury-on-Thames

The client was very happy with the result, the finished floor looked much lighter and 100% cleaner, the beauty of the natural stone was really apparent, and the grout which was once dark and was now white again.

For aftercare I recommended they avoid purchasing supermarket floor cleaners, the majority of which are too strong for sealed stone and let them with a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This is a pH neutral solution that will not prematurely erode the sealer and is highly concentrated, so a small bottle lasts a long time.

Travertine Tiled Floor After Cleaning Sunbury-on-Thames

 

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Travertine Tiled Kitchen Ottershaw After Cleaning

Travertine Kitchen Floor Cleaning in Ottershaw

This Travertine tiled kitchen floor in Ottershaw, Surrey, was in need of a deep clean, strip out the old sealer and re-seal to ensure easy maintenance in the future. Being a high traffic area the tiles had accumulated a high amount of soil over the years. There was also marking from breakfast stools which are visible in the picture.

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Ottershaw Before Cleaning Travertine Tiled Kitchen Ottershaw Before Cleaning

Firstly, I rotary machine scrubbed the floor using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean high alkaline cleaner. This broke down the soil and released it along with the remaining old sealer which was then pressure rinsed to ensure all of the dirt was removed from the pores. Following this, I used diamond encrusted burnishing pads to cut back through the stone and remove the marks from the chairs and fine scratches. After restoring the surface to a satin finish with the finer pads, the floor was left to dry out.

Cleaning Travertine Tiles

I gave the floor a scrub with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong alkaline tile cleaning product safe to use on Tile, Stone and Grout, this was mopped onto the floor and then scrubbed in using a rotary machine; grout lines were done by hand using a stiff scrubbing brush.

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Ottershaw Before Cleaning
This broke down the soil releasing it along with the old sealer and the tiles then pressure rinsed to ensure all the dirt was removed from the pores of the tile.

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Ottershaw During Cleaning Travertine Tiled Kitchen Ottershaw During Cleaning

In order to remove stubborn marks, fine scratches and finish the floor was cut back and re-polished using a set of diamond abrasive burnishing pads fitted to a heavy rotary machine. You start with the coarse pad which cuts through the stone and removes any remaining old sealer and soil and then smooth off the surface ready to receive a new seal using the medium, fine and extra fine pads until a highly polished finish is achieved.

Sealing Travertine Tiles

The floor was then left for twenty four hours to allow it to dry and then I returned to seal the Travertine and Grout using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is an impregnating sealer that repels liquid and soil so contaminates cannot become ingrained in the stone making it easier to clean in the future. As you can see from the pictures, it transformed the look of the floor and brightened up the kitchen.

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Ottershaw After Cleaning Travertine Tiled Kitchen Ottershaw After Cleaning

 

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