The UK has been experiencing an increasing amount of rain over the last few years and this has resulted in quite a few areas being flooded. One of those areas is the old city of Chelmsford in the middle of Essex which is prone to flooding due to the rivers Cam and Chelmer that run through the
I was recently contacted by a lady in the small village of Eldwick near Bingley who wasn’t happy with the condition of her French Limestone floor which had hadn’t been professionally cleaned for some time. The French Limestone tiles had been laid throughout the kitchen and dining room and as you
The following photos show a large black limestone patio that had been installed at a house in the village of
Below are photographs of a Limestone tiled kitchen floor at a house in Knotty Green near Beaconsfield. The stone floor had lost its polish with use and now appeared flat and unattractive additionally the grout had darkened severely with dirt and was overdue a good scrub to get it clean. Natural
Below are photographs of a Limestone tiled kitchen floor at a house in Knotty Green near Beaconsfield. The stone floor had lost its polish with use and now appeared flat and unattractive additionally the grout had darkened severely with dirt and was overdue a good scrub to get it clean.
Natural stone is actually a porous material that needs to be sealed in order to prevent dirt from becoming ingrained however unless its maintained constant foot traffic on floor tiles wears down the sealer leaving the stone vulnerable and difficult to clean effectively.
If you have read other posts on my website, you will know that we find the best way to restore the appearance of polished stone is through the application of a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads of varying grits to grind away dirt and slowly build the polish on the stone.
You start with the application of the coarse 400-grit pad which is fitted to a rotary buffer machine and applied to the floor with water to lubricate the process, the resultant slurry is then rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum. Next is the Medium 800-grit pad and then the Fine 1500-grit pad, both applied in exactly the same way.
Once I had completed the whole floor with three of the four pads I got to work cleaning the grout. For this, I used a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean, our reliable alkaline cleaner, in combination with a handheld scrubbing brush. Once the grout was clean I gave the floor another rinse with water and then removed as much liquids and moisture as possible using the wet vacuum leaving it to dry off fully overnight.
The following day I returned to complete the floor starting with the application of the fourth diamond encrusted pad in the set of four which is a Very fine 3000-grit using a method we call a spray burnish which essentially involves applying the pad dry to the floor with a small amount of water sprayed on the stone. This process closes the pores in the floor and adds a good quality sheen to the tile.
Finally, I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is an impregnating sealer that penetrates into the pores of the stone to provide maximum stain protection from within. This sealer is also completely transparent, so it does not affect the natural look of the stone.
The Limestone responded really well to the treatment and the floor now looks like new.
Source: Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing Service in Beaconsfield
The photographs on this page show the spot restoration of an acid damaged newly installed Limestone tiled floor at a medieval cottage in the historic town on Wokingham, Berkshire. It seems the customer accidentally spilled lime cordial on honed surface leaving dull stain spots on about six to
The photographs on this page show the spot restoration of an acid damaged newly installed Limestone tiled floor at a medieval cottage in the historic town on Wokingham, Berkshire. It seems the customer accidentally spilled lime cordial on honed surface leaving dull stain spots on about six to eight tiles.
After attempting to remove the damage themselves using a variation of different sealers the customer accepted defeat and contacted Tile Doctor to see if the issue could be resolved. If not, they were considering replacing the floor.
Being the local Tile Doctor for the area I was asked to take a look and advise the customer. I explained that the dull spots had appeared because the surface tension of the limestone had been damaged from the citric acidic in the cordial. The affected tiles would essentially need to be re-polished; the customer was eager to see if I could resolve the issue and get all the tiles to be as uniform as possible.
My first task was to identify which tiles needed re-polishing with burnishing pads as once I got going it would be tricky to spot them; I did this by simply leaving post it notes on the affected areas.
To restore the appearance of the Limestone tiles I started with a 400 grit 3-inch pad fitted to a handheld flex machine. You can’t actually buy these 3 inch pads, they are found in the centre of the large 17 inch floor pads. The 400-grit pad is quite abrasive and needs to be applied with water to lubricate. I then followed the 4-stage burnishing process increasing the surface tension with each pad used this to leave the tile with a good sheen and most importantly a uniform appearance with the surrounding tiles.
The Burnishing pads are actually loaded with industrial diamonds and you apply them in sequence starting with the coarse 400 grit pad before moving onto the medium 800 grit pad, fine 1,500 grit pad and then finally the super fine 3,000 grit pad which really brings up the shine. You have to rinse with water between each pad to remove the slurry that is generated. The final 3,000 grit pad is applied with very little water and so the floor is dry when completed.
The last step was to carefully re-seal the tiles that had been burnished so they would blend in with the rest of the floor. I decided on Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal for this, it’s an impregnating sealer that doesn’t alter the colour of the stone leaving them with a natural look.
The process went well and was completed in around four hours, my customer was very happy with the result and left the following testimonial on the Tile Doctor feedback system
“We felt very comfortable with the recommended course of action and Mr Buckland inspired confidence so we were happy to let him get on with the remedy.”
Source: Limestone Tile Cleaning and Sealing Service in Berkshire
