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 Hampshire

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.

Pitted Travertine Floor Tiles Before and After burnishing in Andover

Pitted Travertine Tiled Floor Rejuvenated in Andover

1 Comment / Andover Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History /

To restore high quality, polished stone such as Travertine, Marble, and Limestone, we find that the most effective method is to use a process known as burnishing.

It involves the application of specialist diamond encrusted pads of different grits in sequence. The pads with coarser grits grind down out soil buildup, while the subsequent application of finer grit pads gradually hones an aesthetic polish on the surface of the tiles. Tile Doctor’s system consists of four burnishing pads: Coarse, Medium, Fine and Very Fine.

We use burnishing in these types of floor because we find that liquid cleaning products alone do not always achieve the best results. In fact, some household cleaning products can be damaging it not used correctly.

One customer of ours, who lives in Andover which is west of Basingstoke, was having a particularly difficult time keeping her pitted Travertine tiled floor clean, leaving them looking exceptionally dirty and dull and we were asked to restore their appearance.

Pitted travertine floor tiles before cleaning in Andover

Burnishing a Dirty Pitted Travertine Tiled Floor

As mentioned, to restore travertine we find the best method to be burnishing which has the added advantage of tightening up the pores in the stone, creating a natural sheen before any sealer is even applied.

To undertake the burnishing, I used our four pad system, polishing the Travertine with each pad in sequence – starting with the Coarse pad and ending with the Very Fine pad. This achieved a nice, even satin finish, which was ideal because the customer did not want a high shine gloss.

With the stone tiles cleaned and polished, I turned my attention to the grout, which was similarly dirty. To clean this, I opted for a liquid product in the form of Tile Doctor’s high alkaline cleaner, Pro Clean. I applied and scrubbed the product into the grout to eliminate ingrained dirt and stains, before rinsing the whole floor, using a wet-vac machine to remove the dirty cleaning residue, and leaving it to dry.

Sealing a Pitted Travertine Tiles Floor

Once the Travertine tiles were dry, I gave them a final polish in preparation for sealing. My choice of sealer was Tile Doctor Colour Grow – our impregnating, colour enhancing sealer for Travertine, Marble and Limestone. As you can see from the photo below, the sealer really lifted the natural shades in the stone. Both myself and the customer were really pleased with the overall result.

Pitted travertine floor tiles after burnishing in Andover
A bottle of Tile Doctor Stone Soap was left with my very happy customer along with instructions for aftercare. We recommend Stone Soap for the regular cleaning of polished Travertine as it enhances the natural patina in polished stone.

Cleaning and Polishing Travertine Floor Tiles in Hampshire

Pitted Travertine Tiled Floor Rejuvenated in Andover Read More »

Travetine Tiles in Fareham Before and After Polishing

Travertine Tiled Floor Maintenance in Fareham

1 Comment / Fareham Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History /

Travertine is a beautiful natural material which due to its hardness makes a fantastic flooring material. To get the best out of it though it does need to be polished as it does dull over time depending of the amount of wear it receives. I also recommend sealing it as well as this will protect the stone from staining and if you have the right sealer it can enhance the look of the stone even further.

Travetine Tiles in Fareham Before Cleaning

Cleaning Travertine Kitchen Tiles

This Travertine tiled floor in Fareham was due a polish so I gave the floor a quick clean using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean paying particular attention to the grout with a stiff grout brush. The dirty solution was then removed using a wet vacuum and I moved onto burnishing the Travertine to bring up the polish.

Burnishing requires a set of four diamond encrusted pads with different grits from coarse to extra fine and are applied to the floor using a little water to help lubricate the process. It’s also necessary to rinse the floor between each pad to remove the slurry that is generated in the process. Burnishing took most of the day so once finished I give the floor a final rinse and left it to dry off overnight.

Sealing Travertine Tiled Floor

I came back to seal the floor the next day using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone providing protection from within the stone and also enhancing the natural colours of the stone.

Travetine Tiles in Fareham After Cleaning
On reflection I can see I probably should of taken more photographs of this floor, hopefully you can appreciate the difference which was quite remarkable.

Polishing a Travertine Floor in Hampshire

Travertine Tiled Floor Maintenance in Fareham Read More »

Polished Travertine Lymington Before and After Cleaning and Polishing

Cleaning & Polishing Travertine Floor Tiles in Lymington

1 Comment / Lymington Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History /

The photographs below are from a house in Lymington where the Travertine Tiled floor had become dull and were now in need of a re-polish. It’s a fact that depending on the amount of foot traffic they receive all polished stone floors will lose their shine over time and require a re-polish.

Polished Travertine Lymington Before Cleaining

Cleaning Travertine Floor Tiles

To get the shine back on the floor we use a process called burnishing which is done using a set of four diamond encrusted pads, each one has a different grade from coarse through to super fine.

We gave the floor a quick sweep and wash down first to ensure any surface grit and other detritus was removed and then stated the burnishing process with the coarse pad fitted to a rotary machine with a little water. The burnishing pads are very good at removing dirt and sealers from hard stone including Marble; the surface water and loose dirt was removed used a wet Vacuum. And the process was repeated using the Medium and Fine pads. Before moving onto the superfine polishing pad we gave the grout a good scrub using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in using a stiff grout brush. The final Super Fine polishing pad was then applied and the floor given another wash down to ensure any dirt had been removed, the water being extracted from the floor using the wet vacuum.

Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles

The floor was still quite wet at this point so rather than sealing the floor we left it to dry naturally and came back the next day to seal it. It’s important the floor is dry before sealing so we test first using a damp meter in several locations to be sure. Once we were happy the floor was dry we proceeded to seal the Travertine tiles using two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is a natural look sealer that doesn’t alter the look of the tiles but provides the necessary surface protection by filling the pores in the tile so dirt cannot penetrate.

Polished Travertine Lymington After Cleaining and Polishing
 

Travertine Floor Tiles Maintenance in Lymington

Cleaning & Polishing Travertine Floor Tiles in Lymington Read More »

Cleaning Travertine Floor Tiles in Havant Finsished

Cleaning & Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles in Havant

1 Comment / Travertine Tile Cleaning, Waterlooville Tile Cleaning, Work History /

Travertine floor tiles look amazing when they have just been installed but after a few years the polish wears down, dirt starts to become ingrained in the stone and they start to lose their appearance. They do need regular maintenance and potentially re-polishing and these tiles installed in kitchen in Havant were no different.

Cleaning Travertine Floor Tiles in Havant Before

Cleaning Travertine Kitchen Tiles

First job was to remove the kickboards under the kitchen units and cover the free standing fridge with a wrap of plastic, this is a necessary precaution to stop fluids soaking into the wooden kicker boards and splashing the fridge. A dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied to the floor with a mop and left to soak in for around fifteen minutes. The grout lines were then given a good scrub and we ran a scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine over the tiled floor to give it a good clean and remove any lose debris.

Cleaning Travertine Floor Tiles in Havant During
To restore the polished appearance of the Travertine it was burnished using a set of diamond encrusted pads which come in four grades and are applied to the stone floor with a little water in sequence from Coarse through to finally Super Fine which provides the final polish leaving a high shine finish.

Sealing Travertine Tiled Floor

The floor was given another wash and left to dry off overnight and we came back the next day to seal it. We check the floor was dry first and then proceeded to seal the Travertine tiles using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which really enhances the colours in natural stone as well providing excellent stain protection.

Cleaning Travertine Floor Tiles in Havant Finished Cleaning Travertine Floor Tiles in Havant Finished

I think you will agree from the photographs above that the Travertine tiles looks so much better and the natural brown and gold colours in the stone have really come through.

Travertine Floor Tiles Cleaning and Sealing in Hampshire

Cleaning & Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles in Havant Read More »

Farnham Travertine Floor Finished

Travertine Tiled Floor Maintenance in Fareham

1 Comment / Fareham Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History /

I do like a beautiful Travertine Tiled floor however they do need regular maintenance to keep them looking good. This travertine floor installed in the kitchen of a house in Fareham was no different as the tiles were looking dull and the grout was tarnishing.

Farnham Travertine Floor 1

Cleaning Travertine Kitchen Tiles

To protect the kitchen units from water a protective tape was applied around the base and once done we gave the tiles a quick clean using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean working it in with a scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine and then into the grout lines with a stiff hand brush. The dirty solution was then removed using a wet vacuum and we moved onto burnishing the whole tiled floor.

Farnham Travertine Floor Cleaning in Progress
We stated the burnishing process with a red fitted to a rotary machine with a little water. The burnishing pads are encrusted with diamonds and are very good at removing dirt and sealers from hard stone including Travertine and Marble; the surface water and loose dirt was removed used a wet Vacuum. There are four pads in the burnishing system and they are applied to the stone floor in sequence starting with a course pad with a little water and then moving onto the finer polishing pads one after the other until we were left with a high shine finish.

Farnham Travertine Floor Finished 3

Sealing Travertine Tiled Floor

We left the floor to dry overnight and came back the next day to seal the floor. The floor must be dry before sealing otherwise the results can be unpredictable. Once we were happy the floor was dry we proceeded to seal the Travertine tile using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Ultra-Seal which provides a natural look to the stone as well providing excellent stain protection. Two coats of sealer were sufficient to seal the floor.

Farnham Travertine Floor Finished 4

Travertine Floor Tiles Cleaning and Sealing in Fareham

Travertine Tiled Floor Maintenance in Fareham Read More »

Travertine Tiled Floor Finished

Cleaning & Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles in Portsmouth

Portsmouth Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History /

This beautiful Travertine Tiled floor was installed in a Kitchen in Portsmouth; it was in need of a little TLC so the house owner called in Tile Doctor to give it a make over.

Travertine Tiled Floor Portsmouth Before

Cleaning Travertine Kitchen Tiles

Before starting the cleaning we applied clear silicone in order to protect the Kitchen units, otherwise water can soak into the plinths and kicker boards, and this was left to cure while we worked on other parts of the kitchen. There was a paint splatter on one area which we managed to remove using Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was left to dwell for an hour before being agitated with a scrubbing brush, the dirty solution was removed using a wet vacuum and we moved onto burnishing the whole tiled floor.

Travertine Tiled Floor During Cleaning
We stated the burnishing process with a red fitted to a rotary machine with a little water. The burnishing pads are encrusted with diamonds and are very good at removing dirt and sealers from hard stone including Travertine and Marble; the surface water and loose dirt was removed used a wet Vacuum. There are four coloured pads in the burnishing system and they are applied to the stone floor in sequence Red, White, Yellow and finally Green which provides the final polish leaving a high shine finish.

Sealing Travertine Tiled Floor

We left the floor to dry overnight and came back the next day to seal the floor. The floor must be dry before sealing so we test first using a damp meter in several locations to be sure. Once we were happy the floor was dry we proceeded to seal the Travertine tiles using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which really enhances the colours in natural stone as well providing excellent stain protection. The tile must be dry before applying the second coat so we use an industrial air mover to speed up the drying process.

Travertine Tiled Floor Finished
 

Travertine Floor Tiles Cleaning and Sealing in Portsmouth

Cleaning & Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles in Portsmouth Read More »

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