kitchen floor

Jerusalem limestone Floor Polishing Mortimer Common Reading

Pitted Jerusalem Limestone Floor Renovated in Mortimer Common

I was called out to a property in Mortimer Common, which is a few miles West of Reading to survey a Jerusalem Limestone floor that had been installed quite some time ago when an extension was added to the property.

Jerusalem Limestone Before Cleaning Polishing Mortimer Common Reading

Over time their once beautiful Jerusalem limestone floor had become dirty, dull and in areas chemically damaged. In an attempt to freshen up the stone floor the customer brought some sealer from a local trade store and applied it to the floor, however the product she purchased was actually a topical sealer (Polish) which left the floor looking worse, in her words made the natural stone looking “artificial”. On very rare occasions topical sealers can be used on honed/polished floors but can easily go wrong that’s why we recommended using impregnated sealers when working on this type of material.

Jerusalem Limestone Before Cleaning Polishing Mortimer Common Reading

Limestone is also acid sensitive so best to avoid the use of strong acidic cleaning products such as bleach which will etch into the stone with use and in some cases open naturally forming cavities in the stone itself, a problem we often refer to as pitting.

Jerusalem Limestone Before Cleaning Polishing Mortimer Common Reading

Cleaning a Jerusalem Limestone Tiled Floor

My first task was to remove the topical seal that was recently applied and deep clean the dirt filled pits and grout. To do this I used a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go left it to soak in for ten minutes and then agitating using a combination of a stiff nylon brush and a Black stripping pad fitted to a rotary machine. I made sure to go over any pits in the stone multiple times to release the trapped dirt. The resultant slurry was vacuumed up as I went along and the floor given a rinse with water afterwards.

Once clean I addresses the small pits in some of the tiles by backfilling them with a rapid setting filling compound that I colour matched with various shades of brown and cream.

Jerusalem limestone Before Filling Mortimer Common Reading Jerusalem limestone After Filling Polishing Mortimer Common Reading

With the old sealer removed and the holes/pits taken care of I continued with the restoration of the floor by moving onto the burnishing process which cleans and polishes the stone. This involves honing the Limestone with a set of burnishing pads starting with a course 400-grit and finishing with a fine 3000-grit. The pads are applied to the floor with a heavy floor buffing machine using water to lubricate the process. The pad is run over each tile around five times and the chalky slurry this process generates is rinsed off afterwards with water and then extracted with a wet vacuum. You then move onto the 800-grit and then 1500-grit slowly building back the appearance of the stone.

Once each of the three pads had been run over the floor it was given a final rinse and then dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum before leaving it to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Jerusalem Limestone Tiled Floor

We returned to the property the following day, by which time the floor had dried completely. I finished the burnishing process with the fine 3000-grit burnishing pad which is brings up the polish even further and is only applied using a little water sprayed onto the tiles.

Jerusalem Limestone After Cleaning Polishing Mortimer Common Reading

Once done I moved onto applying the sealer which for this floor, I chose Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone to provide durable protection whilst enhancing the natural colours in the stone. The customer was over the moon with the results and was stated the floor looked better than when it was installed all those years ago.

Jerusalem Limestone After Cleaning Polishing Mortimer Common Reading

For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is designed for maintaining the patina on polished stone floors.

Jerusalem Limestone After Cleaning Polishing Mortimer Common Reading

 

Professional Restoration of a Jerusalem Limestone Tiled Floor in Berkshire

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Polishing Marble Floors Wokingham Berkshire

Marble Floor Repolished in Wokingham Show Home

I had a call out late last year to a property in the market town of Wokingham to survey a dull Marble floor which was installed throughout most of the ground floor. It turns out that the house was only built two years prior and had been the show home for a new development. The owner explained to me that to show off the potential of the new homes the developer had installed quality materials throughout, particularly the marble flooring, however the property had seen more than its fair share of foot traffic because of it.

Marble Floor Before Polishing Wokingham Marble Floor Before Polishing Wokingham

Two years of wear later and the owner was concerned with how dull the Marble floor was and the appearance of small circular stains which had appeared throughout. I explained that Marble which is made from calcium is easily etched by the use of acidic cleaning products and that most tile cleaners you purchase in supermarkets are really only for use on Ceramic or Vinyl floor tiles. I suspect any sealer used on the floor to protect the stone had also been worn away for the same reason resulting in the now dull appearance.

Marble Floor Before Polishing Wokingham Marble Floor Before Polishing Wokingham

After explaining the process, I would use for burnishing the Marble to deep clean and restore the shine I measured up and worked out a quotation. I received a message later that evening comforting they would like to go ahead, and a date was booked in.

Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Tiled Floor

I should mention that this job was carried out in compliance with the Covid-19 restrictions to ensure it was a safe working environment for both myself and the customer. This includes the wearing of full PPE equipment, increasing air circulation, and ensuring we kept our distance.

My first task was to protect the skirting and the fitted kitchen units from splashing by applying protective sheeting. Once this was done, I turned my attention to the grout which had become dark in places in accumulated dirt. To do this I used a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong alkaline cleaner specifically designed to break down soils, grease and oils on Tile and Stone. The cleaner was sprayed onto the grout lines and left to soak in for a few minutes before being scrubbed in by hand. Some of the grout needed more attention than others and once done the soil was rinsed off the floor with water and extracted using a wet vacuum.

Now the grout was cleaned I moved onto polishing the Marble floor tiles. I did this using the Tile Doctor four stage diamond burnishing system. This consists of applying a sequence of four refinishing pads fitted to a weighed buffing machine. You start with a coarse 400-grit pad and working through to a fine 1500-grit pad, each time removing the stone slurry with a wet vacuum. This process removed the acidic etching and repolished the surface of the Marble to a nice shine. I worked in sections room by room and then left the floors to fully dry off overnight.

Sealing Marble Tiled Flooring

I returned the next day and using a damp meter took a few readings from the floor to check the moisture levels to ensure it was dry and ready to be sealed. Before sealing though I went over the floor with a very fine 3000-grit pad which is applied dry with a little water sprayed onto to the floor, this final pad further builds up the polish and achieve the appearance desired by the customer.

Marble Floor After Polishing Wokingham Marble Floor After Polishing Wokingham

Last step was to seal the floor with Tile Doctor Colour Grow, a colour enhancing seal designed to bring out the natural colours in the stone whilst adding protection from liquid and oil spills. Impregnating sealers like Colour Grow work by occupying the tiny pores in the stone thus preventing contaminates from becoming ingrained in them.

Marble Floor After Polishing Wokingham Marble Floor After Polishing Wokingham

The customer could not believe with how well the floor had come up and were pleased they finally had the floor they had been promised prior to moving in. For aftercare I left them with a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner which is designed for the regular cleaning of tiled floors.

 

Professional Renovation of a Polished Marble Flooring in Berkshire

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Jerusalem Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Before After Renovation Twyford

Pitted Jerusalem Limestone Floor Renovated in Twyford

The owner of this recently purchased property in the Berkshire village of Twyford had inherited a Jerusalem limestone floor that had been installed throughout the ground floor including the Kitchen. The previous owner hadn’t maintained the stone floor very well and as a result it had become dull, patchy and the new owner was finding it impossible to keep clean. The floor was becoming a problem for them and they had been considering ripping it all up and getting it replaced. However due to the size of the floor and potential cost of replacing it they searched for other solutions and contacted Tile Doctor to see if it could be renovated.

Jerusalem Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Polishing in Twyford

I scheduled an appointment with the owners to survey the floor and it wasn’t long before I realised that we could achieve a great result by polishing the Limestone using a set of diamond burnishing pads. To prove how well I thought the floor would clean up I offered to complete a demo within the small utility room. This was arranged and completed a week later, as I expected once I had finished the demo the floor looked fantastic, more importantly the client was ecstatic with the results and couldn’t wait to book us in to complete the rest of the house.

Jerusalem Limestone Floor Before Polishing in Twyford

It was a large floor so I estimated the process would take 4-5 days to complete and would need to work in sections starting with the kitchen then progressing into the study and cloakroom, dining room and finishing off with the entrance hall. Thankfully I had an empty house to work in which helped as I could start sealing the area I worked on the prior day.

Cleaning a Jerusalem Limestone Tiled Floor

The limestone had become quite pitted in the high traffic area, these pits had filled up with soil and become unsightly. My first task was to deep clean the dirt filled pits and grout, to do this I used a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean and a stiff nylon brush making sure I could get into the pits releasing the dirt, then vacuuming up all the chemical slurry as I went along.

The next task was to fill these pits I used a two-part epoxy filler that matched the colour of the stone. Once the filler had dried, I worked through the hand burnishing blocks from 100 grit to 400 and I smoothed out the areas that had been filled.

Now the holes/pits had been filled I continued with the restoration of the floor by moving onto the burnishing process using diamond encrusted floor burnishing pads. This involves honing the Limestone with a set of burnishing pads starting at 400-grit. The pads are applied to the floor with a heavy floor buffing machine using water to lubricate the process. The pad is run over each tile around three times and the fine slurry this process generates is rinsed off afterwards with water and then extracted with a wet vacuum. You then move onto the 800-grit and then 1500-grit slowly building back the appearance of the stone.

Sealing a Jerusalem Limestone Tiled Floor

As I had worked in sections/rooms at a time I was able to allow a full day drying time before sealing. Happy with the depth of colour from the pad system I opted to seal the floor with two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal. I had a range of sealers to choose from an in this case I felt Ultra-Seal would be most suited as it doesn’t change the natural appearance of the Limestone yet will provide years of protection and make it much easier to keep clean.

Jerusalem Limestone Floor After Polishing in Twyford

The owners were over the moon with how the limestone now looked and relieved that their problem floor had been restored. For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is designed for maintaining the patina on polished stone floors.

Jerusalem Limestone Kitchen Floor After Polishing in Twyford

 

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Dirty Tile and Grout Resolved in Maidenhead After

Grout Colouring Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor in Maidenhead

A customer near Maidenhead asked us to take a look at their dirty porcelain floor tile and grout which had degenerated following ten years of traffic from children and pets. Domestic cleaning products were proving ineffective and professional help was now required to get the floor looking healthy again.

Dirty Tile and Grout Resolved in Maidenhead Before Cleaning

Deep Cleaning Porcelain Tiles

To get the dirt out of the tiles they were cleaned with a very mild hot water dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was spread over the tiles and left to soak into the tiles for twenty minutes, during this time the solution was scrubbed into the grout lines using a stiff brush.

The next step was to connect up our van mounted high pressure hot water clean and capture system (see photo below) and rinse the tiles and grout. This system produces very little water or spray because of its unique recovery system to a waste tank in our van. It also neutralises cleaning solutions and the high pressure penetrates into the pores of the tile removing all the soiling and pollutants.

Dirty Tile and Grout Resolved in Maidenhead During Cleaning

Applying Grout Colourant

The powerful pressure cleaning worked well on the tiles but unfortunately the grout lines had absorbed too much soiling and staining over the years which had become ingrained to a depth which could not be removed without replacing the grout. Fortunately there was another option which was to apply a Grout Colourant. Tile Doctor has a range of epoxy based colourant’s available in different colours which are relatively easy to apply and form a barrier over the existing grout to provide a uniform look and durable protection against future staining and discolouration

Dirty Tile and Grout Resolved in Maidenhead During Grout Colouring
The floor was ready for surface traffic in a few hours and I think you will agree the final result has restored this dirty and tired floor to a fresh, revitalised as new finish

Dirty Tile and Grout Resolved in Maidenhead After
My customer was very happy with the results and left the following testimonial:

Hi Tim, Many thanks for the amazing results you achieved with my Kitchen/Conservatory floor, I was blown away by the finish – it looks like new! Thank you for care instructions, we will make every effort to follow carefully.
Best wishes and thank you again. Ms. J Walker

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