Travertine Tile Cleaning Archives - Berkshire Tile Doctor

Douai School Travertine Floor Tile Renovation Upper Woolhampton

Communal Travertine Floor Renovated at Douai School – Upper Woolhampton

1 Comment / Bucklebury Tile Cleaning, Reading Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / By Dennis Buckland

This enquiry came from Douai School in Upper Woolhampton which is a listed building near Bucklebury that dates back to 1830. The building was converted in 2003 into a range of extremely individual and stylish apartments. Also nearby is Douai Abbey which is a monastery occupied by Benedictine Monks who used to run the school until it closed.

I was called in inspect the impressive entrance and foyer area and main building itself. During the refurbishment in 2003 the whole area was installed with Travertine tiles with small slate inserts. Once an impressive floor it had deteriorated over the past eighteen years and had never been professionally cleaned since installation. Not only had the floor collected years’ worth of dirt in the pores of the stone the natural holes that were filled in during manufacture had started to pop out leaving an unsightly appearance.

Douai School Travertine Floor Before Cleaning Upper Woolhampton

After surveying the Travertine floor, I carried out a test clean on a small inconspicuous area to demonstrate what would be involved and to verify which method and products would be the most efficient choice. From this I was able to provide an accurate quote, which was accepted, and a date was soon booked to carry out the work.

Cleaning and Polishing a Large Travertine Tiled Floor

Due to the size of the area, I allowed 7 working days it complete the floor, working in sections at a time. This allowed me to cordon off a safe working environment for myself without impacting the residents too much.

I started the cleaning process with the application of a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an alkaline based tile cleaner that breaks down heavy soils and old sealers. It was important to ensure as much dirt was removed from the pores, pockets, and holes in the Travertine as possible. I left it to soak in and get to work breaking down the dirt for roughly ten minutes before scrubbing it in with a rotary floor scrubbing machine. The soil released during this process is then rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum. The section of flooring is then inspected, and the process repeated if needed, stubborn stains were be dealt with by spot treating. Once cleaned air driers where left in place to help speed up the drying process.

Douai School Travertine Floor During Cleaning Upper Woolhampton

Douai School Travertine Floor During Filling Upper Woolhampton

The next task was to focus on filling the holes in the Travertine, I did this using an epoxy resin filler specifically designed to fill in stone. I used a combination of straw and light straw colours to compliment the different tones in the tiles. Once applied the product dries pretty fast however I like to leave a good hour before progressing onto the next stage of the refurbishment process.

Polishing Travertine Tiled Flooring

Now the area had been cleaned and filled my next task was to repolish the Travertine tiles that had lost its lustre over the years. Usually on sedimentary stone I would start with a 400-grit pad and work my way through the 4-stage burnishing system finishing on a 3000-grit. However, filling the holes leaves a residue on the tile which meant I needed to smooth back the surface first with a coarser 50, 100 and then 200-grit soft milling pads. This process generates a bit of soil which needs to be rinsed and extracted between each pad.

I continued with the restoration of the floor by moving onto the burnishing process using a further set of finer pads starting with 400-grit. The pads are applied to the floor as before 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 Travertine Tiled Flooring

As I worked in sections at a time, I was able to allow a full day drying prior to sealing. Happy with the appearance of the floor I opted to seal the floor with one thin coat of colour grow. I had a range of sealers to use however I felt the stone would benefit from the colour enhancement properties colour grow sealer provides.

Douai School Travertine Floor After Cleaning Upper Woolhampton

Because this was a communal space it was necessary to tape the area I was sealing off to ensure there was no foot traffic whilst it was drying. This process was repeated throughout the job and at any one time I would have several areas sectioned for cleaning, drying, polishing, or sealing.

The staff, chairman and residents where over the moon with difference I was able to make. In fact, I have since been invited back to deep clean the chairman’s kitchen and do other jobs for three other residents as they were all installed with the same material. I should mention that for aftercare I leave a bottle of Tile Doctor Stone Soap for maintenance cleaning.

Professional Renovation of a Polished Travertine Flooring in Berkshire

Travertine Floor Red Wine Stain Removal Swallowfield Reading

Red Wine Stains Removed from Travertine Floor in Swallowfield

1 Comment / Reading Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / By Dennis Buckland

Earlier this year I was contacted by a homeowner from the village of Swallowfield near Reading about the removal of Red Wine staining from their Travertine tiled floor. Normally these requests are related to a few slashes of wine following a party however in this case the problem was much bigger.

Travertine Floor Before Red Wine Stain Removal Swallowfield Reading

It turns out that their cottage was undergoing some renovations and had a variety of different trades working on various things throughout. After returning to the property following a weekend away it became apparent that an expensive wine rack had fallen over, and two bottles of red wine had been smashed in the process. Consequently, a litre and a half of red wine had spilt onto the Travertine tile and grout and rather than mopping up the spill the contractors threw over some kitchen roll and then left for the weekend.

If you have a Travertine floor you will appreciate that its best to clean up a mess like immediately, leaving it any longer increases the chance the stain will breach the sealer and stain the stone and grout. In this case it had been left far too long and the red wine had penetrated the tile darkening its appearance, understandably my Customer was not happy.

One of the advantages of being part of a group like Tile Doctor is they have developed numerous products and techniques for dealing with all types of situations related to the cleaning of stone, tile, and grout. Whilst the most popular work we do relates to the cleaning and sealing of floors sometimes we get asked to resolve more unusual issues such as this. Long story short I was able to arrange a visit to the property where I completed a successful cleaning demonstration, happy with the result from the demo the work was booked in.

Removing Red Wine Staining from Travertine

The first task was to clean the tiles to remove any remaining residue wine, I did this using Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner rinsing with plenty of water and extracting the soil with a wet vacuum. Though this did improve the stain slightly it was obvious the wine had penetrated deep into the stone. At this time, the customer was quite concerned that it wasn’t going to budge however I reassured him this was only the first stage of the process and trick up my sleeve.

I mentioned earlier Tile Doctor have developed numerous products and techniques and this includes Tile Doctor Reduxa which is a specialised stain remover that’s sole purpose is to remove acidic stains from stone.

Travertine Floor During Red Wine Stain Removal Swallowfield Reading

Working in small sections Reduxa is sprayed onto the stain tile, left to soak in and the dried out using a heat gun. Each time the treated area is dried in this manner the heat causes the product to evaporate taking the stain with it. It sounds simple but the process needed to be repeated six to eight times until the stain was invisible to the eye.

Following the removal of the stain I needed to restore the finish of the stone in the affected area by applying a series of Burnishing Pads from 400 to 3000 grit. These pads remove old sealers and then re-build the finish on the Travertine. It’s necessary to lubricate with water and then rinse the floor and extract afterwards as the coarser grit pads do generates some soil.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

I returned the next day to reseal the stone however the floor needs to be dry before applying the sealer, so I checked the moisture levels first with a damp meter. Happily, the floor was dry, so I was able to move straight on to sealing by applying two good coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal.

Travertine Floor After Red Wine Stain Removal Swallowfield Reading

Ultra-Seal is a no-sheen, natural-look penetrating sealer that provides maximum stain protection without darkening or changing the appearance of the stone. It’s also an excellent grout sealer.

By the time I had finished the floor looked much fresher and any sign of the wine stain was now long gone, my customer was delighted and much relieved.

Professional Removal of Wine Stains from Travertine in Berkshire

Scratched Travertine Tiled Floor Repaired in Hunt Final

Dirty and Scratched Travertine Tiles Burnished in Hunt

1 Comment / Bucklebury Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / By Dennis Buckland

Travertine, a form of Limestone, is a highly coveted stone that had been in use as a building and flooring material for hundreds of years. In fact, the Romans used Travertine to build the famous Colosseum, the largest building in the world that was built primarily from the material.

It is understandable, then, that anyone who owns a Travertine tiled floor would want to ensure its regular cleaning and maintenance, especially given that Travertine is a relatively soft stone in comparison with other stone, is easily damaged and is naturally pitted. This customer, who lives in the town of Hunt in Berkshire, was keen to have her Travertine tiles deep cleaned, several deep scratched removed and for the pitted holes to be filled.

Scratched travertine tiled floor before cleaning in Hunt

Burnishing and Cleaning a Scratched Travertine Tiled Floor

To clean the Travertine floor, I firstly used a hot clean and capture system, which essentially involves the application of hot water to the floor under high pressure. The system then captures the dirty water and transports it back to a tank on our van. It’s a highly efficient method for cleaning large areas in a short space of time, with great results.

Next, I treated the pitted holes in the Travertine were filled with a coloured matched resin. Pitting is a form of corrosion that occurs naturally in this type of stone, and can be quite unsightly if not treated. Additionally, it’s not unusual for pitting to be made worse by the constant use of weak acid cleaning products which can actually erode the calcium in the stone.

As mentioned, the tiles also suffered from deep scratches in parts, and these were removed using a process we call burnishing, which involves the application of diamond encrusted pads to polish the stone. The scratches were polished out using Coarse 100 and 200 grit diamond pads.

Scratched travertine tiled floor repaired in Hunt

The whole floor was then burnished using the four pad Tile Doctor burnishing system, starting with a Coarse pad and working through Medium, Fine and Extra Fine pads, with rinsing in between each pad and a final rinse at the end of the process.

I left the floor to dry off fully and retuned later to enhance the polish further using Tile Doctor Shine Powder, a crystallising powder product which provides a very durable and deep shine on the Travertine.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

Having successfully dealt with all the problems affecting the Travertine, my last job was to seal the whole floor using Tile Doctor Colour Grow. Colour Grow is an impregnating, colour enhancing sealer that we recommend highly on quality stone such as Travertine, Limestone, and Marble due to the fact that it provides excellent protection and emphasises the wonderful natural shades in the stone.

Scratched travertine tiled floor after restoration in Hunt

The customer was extremely happy with the results and sent over the following feedback for Dennis who worked on the floor:

“Dennis was brilliant – very professional and conscientious – he worked so hard and in 30+ degree temperatures! He has rejuvenated our Travertine flooring to a beautiful, almost mirror like effect – it is now more amazing than it was when it was first laid down.”

Professional Restoration of a Pitted, Scratched and Dirty Travertine Floor in Berkshire

Travertine Tiles Replaced and Polished in Ascot

Ascot Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / By Dennis Buckland

The owner of this home in Ascot had 75m2 of travertine tiles installed on the ground floor and around 10 tiles were damaged and needed replacement; this can be difficult as like most things tiles are created in batches and it can be tricky to find an exact match. Fortunately we managed to source a very close match and set about installing them.

Cleaning Travertine Tiles and Grout

To get the match as close as possible we then set about giving the whole floor a general clean using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a multi-purpose cleaner, it was equally important to concentrate on the grout of the existing floor which needed to be clean to match the new grout of the new floor. Cleaning the floor also ensures any grit is removed from the tile surface prior to the next step which was to polish the floor using a set of Burnishing pads, this is important as grit could get trapped in the burnishing pads and scratch the floor. We washed the floor down with clean water using a wet vacuum to remove the water from the floor before moving onto the next step.

Polishing and Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles

We polished the floor using a set of 17” Burnishing pads fitted to our weighted polishing machine; the pads are diamond encrusted and you start with the coarser Red pad designed to remove sealers before moving on to the White, Yellow and finally Green polishing pad to achieve a high shine finish.

The last step was to seal the floor which we did using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is colour intensifying sealer that enhancing the natural colours in the Travertine tile as well as providing on-going durable surface protection.

We polished and sealed the entire floor to ensure a consistent look; the customer was certainly happy and left the following comment.

“Overall a good job well done. Thank you.
Mr. Wilkinson, Ascot”

Travertine Tiles Replaced and Polished in Ascot

Replacing Damaged Travertine floor tiles and Polish in Ascot

Ascot Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / By Dennis Buckland

This job involved removing and replacing five damaged Travertine floor tiles which can be tricky if you have under floor heating. The travertine floor was laid in the kitchen of a house in the town of Ascot which is famous for horse racing.

Removing the Damaged Travertine floor tiles

As you can see from the photograph below we set about marking up the damaged tiles and then proceeded to cut along the lines with an angle grinder which was fitted with a dust free extraction system. Once the bulk of the travertine was removed we used a hammer and chisel to carefully chop out the remaining edges, grout and tile adhesive. This left large holes to take the replacement tiles which were still available and were secured in place with tile adhesive and matching grout, we left the floor at this point to allow the adhesive and grout to dry.

Cleaning and Polishing Travertine Tiles

The next step was to strip and polish the entire floor using a set of diamond encrusted Burnishing Pads fitted to a rotary machine. You start with a Red stripper pad with water to remove any sealers, moving onto the White, Yellow and finally Green pad which polishes the floor to a high shine. The last step was to seal the floor using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which brings out the colour in natural stone as well as providing durable stain protection.

The re-polishing and sealing really helped to let the new Travertine tiles blend into the floor, take a look at the finished result in the photograph below and see if you can spot the replaced tiles.

Broken Travertine Tile Replacement in Berkshire

Travertine Floor before and after Repolishing

Travertine Floor Re-polish in Hook

Travertine Tile Cleaning, Wokingham Tile Cleaning, Work History / By Dennis Buckland

Photographs below of a Travertine tiled floor we were asked to re-polish in the kitchen of a house in the village of Hook in Hampshire. The main problem was the floor had been sealed very badly and made worse when the tiler tried to rectify the problem leaving a dull and stained floor.

Stripping and Re-Polishing Travertine

To strip the sealer from the floor and get it back to the original condition we used a set of diamond encrusted Burnishing Pads fitted to a rotary machine. You start with a Red stripper pad with water to remove the sealer, moving onto the White, Yellow and Green pads which polish the floor. Once the surface was restored we applied two coats of Tile Doctor Pro-Seal which is a premium, no-sheen, natural look, water based, penetrating sealer formulated to provide maximum stain protection to the Travertine and the Grout.

The customer was over the moon at the finish and I’m sure the tiler breathed a big sigh of relief as well.

Re-Polishing a Travertine tiled kitchen floor in Hook, Hampshire

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Berkshire Tile Doctor