Earlier this year I received a rather panicky call from a previous customer from Aldermaston for who I completed a floor tile refurbishment back in 2021. It seems that after hosting a New Year’s party with her family and friends she discovered a large scratch on her beautiful Limestone kitchen island worktop.
It was clear something heavy had been dragged across the worktop, and to make matters worse the unknown renegade had covered the affected area with a chopping board and tea towels. Fortunately, the methods and products we use to renovate stone floors can be used to restore stone worktops as well.
After surveying the damage, I could see other stains and marks from general use and so I recommend polishing the whole island worktop to ensure a uniform finish throughout. She was quite relieved to hear that it could be restored as the scratch was very noticeable. Happy with my suggestion and quote we agreed a date for my return.
Repairing a Limestone Scratched Worktop
I decided the best way to tackle the refurbishment would be to use a combination of hand resin blocks and diamond burnishing pads. The soft burnishing pads are particularly messy when working on islands, so my first task was to ensure the surrounding kitchen units and walls were protected with plastic sheeting.
To remove the large scratch, I opted to use a set of hand burnishing blocks starting with 60 grit and working up to 400 grit. The challenge was to be careful not to work too hard to avoid any dipping within the island. I could have used a set of 3-inch milling pads fitted to a hand machine but I find the hand block a lot more controlled even if it is a slower process.
Then the limestone was burnished with a set of six-inch burnishing pads fitted to a hand buffer. The pads come in different grades and are applied in sequence to the surface starting with coarse 400 grit and finishing with 1500 grit to leave a honed but not too shiny finish. Water is applied to help lubricate the burnishing process and I rinsed off residues with towels after each sequence. This was a slow process, but the end results were just what the customer was looking for.
Sealing a Limestone Island Worktop
I returned the next day to apply a sealer and although we were happy with the results, we noticed the island was slightly lighter shade than the surrounding kitchens worktops. So, after a brief discussion with the customer, we decided a colour enhancing impregnating sealer would be the best option when sealing.
Tile Doctor has a range of sealers including an impregnating Colour Enhancer called Colour Grow so that was chosen to seal the Limestone. Three coats of colour grow later and the island was finally restored back to what the client remembered.
For the aftercare of stone worktops, we recommend the use of Stone Patina Spray which is a spray-and-buff cleaner that is designed to enhance the natural beauty and lustre of polished stone as it cleans.
Tile Doctor have the products, equipment and experience to tackle all sorts of stone, tile and grout related problems; internal and external including full Refurbs, removing Limescale and even stain removal with products such as Tile Doctor Reduxa which can lift Red Wine stains out of natural stone.