Travertine Tiles Cleaned and Sealed in a Staines Kitchen
This client in Staines was unhappy with the appearance of their Travertine tiled kitchen floor and I was asked to pop round and see what could be done to improve their appearance.
After surveying the floor, I could see the grout had become badly stained and the natural pits in the Travertine had trapped a lot of dirt which had accumulated and formed black spots. Kitchen floors are the most hard-working in any house and with a build-up of cooking oils and other soils ingrained into the pores of the Travertine it was clear any sealer that had once protected the stone was no longer effective.
My proposed solution was to deep clean the floor with a particular focus on the grout and pitting and then replace the sealer to protect it going forward. I presented my quote, and they were happy to go ahead.
Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor
To get the tile and grout clean I started with the application of a mixture of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean combined with Tile Doctor Remove and Go. Remove and Go is basically a stripper that is very good at breaking down grease and oil, alongside removing old sealer from the stone whilst Pro-Clean is an excellent grout cleaner. This combination makes a powerful cleaning cocktail and was scrubbed into the stone with a Black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine. The scrubbing action gets the cleaning fluid into the pores of the stone and thoroughly flushes out the soiling which is then removed using a low-pressure machine that rinses and extracts using a vacuum.
Once done the floor was inspected and then the process repeated in a couple of stubborn areas, again thoroughly rinsing, and extracting afterwards. All traces of the cleaning products need to be removed as they would undermine the sealer which follows. At this point the floor was looking so much better and I was able to leave it to dry out overnight.
Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor
The following day, work started by testing the moisture levels in the floor with the damp meter. You can’t seal a damp floor so I like to make sure its dry first. The floor was sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer which is an impregnating sealer that works by occupying the small pores in the stone thereby ensuring dirt remains on the surface where it can easily be removed. This product also contains an enhancer that lifts the natural colours and contrasts in the Travertine whilst adding excellent protection against soiling and spillages. The perfect choice for this floor.
As you can see from the pictures the floor was much improved, the modern kitchen looked new again, it had given the room a new lease of life. You must be careful what you use to clean a sealed floor as many household products are simply too strong and will break down the sealer. So, for aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a mild pH neutral cleaner that can be used regularly and will not compromise the newly applied sealant
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