Diamond Pads Archives - Berkshire Tile Doctor

Red Marble Patio Renovation Newbury 2025

Maintaining Red Marble Patio Tiles Six Years After First Visit in Newbury

I recently had the pleasure of revisiting a property in Newbury that I first worked on around six years ago. The job stood out in my memory—not just because of the work involved, but because the property itself is truly unique. Styled like a Mediterranean villa, the home features a stunning Spanish Red Marble patio that gives it a real wow factor. In fact, we did write about at the time and if you want to visit that post please click here: Red Marble Patio Newbury

Red Marble Patio Before Renovation Newbury 2025

The client had spent the past few years living abroad and had rented the house out in the meantime. Unfortunately, during that period, the patio had been exposed to the elements and was showing signs of neglect. The once vibrant marble was now dull and in need of some serious TLC.

Red Marble Patio Before Renovation Newbury 2025

Cleaning a Red Marble Tiled Patio in Newbury

Given the size of the patio, I worked in sections to manage the restoration efficiently. I started by thoroughly brushing and vacuuming the surface to remove loose dirt and debris—essential prep before burnishing the stone. With water as a lubricant, I began the refinishing process using a 200-grit diamond pad on a weighted rotary machine. This coarser pad did a great job cutting through the built-up grime. I then followed up with a series of diamond burnishing pads starting with 400, 800, and finally 1500-grit to gradually refine the surface and close the pores of the marble for a smooth, polished finish.

In some areas—particularly around the edges—I came across thicker grime that needed to be broken down first. For those spots, I used Tile Doctor Remove and Go, which helped loosen the residue so the diamond pads could do their job more effectively.

Sealing a Red Marble Tiled Patio

I returned the next morning to check that the marble had dried completely and was ready for sealing. Luckily, the weather had stayed warm, which helped speed up the drying process. This time, instead of the Colour Grow sealer I used on my first visit, I opted for a newer product—Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal. It’s especially well-suited for exterior stone and performed brilliantly.

Not only did X-Tra Seal enhance the natural beauty of the stone—bringing out the deep reds and striking white veining—it also penetrates deeply into the surface, offering long-lasting protection from within. It’s a great option for coping with the often-unpredictable UK weather.

It was a real pleasure returning to this property and seeing the transformation all over again. The Marble looks as good as new—and the patio is once again a standout feature of this beautiful Mediterranean-style home.

Red Marble Patio After Renovation Newbury 2025

For aftercare I continued to recommended Tile Doctor’s Stone Soap Cleaner which will clean and help maintain the patina on the stone, also it won’t prematurely erode the sealer like more aggressive cleaning products you find in supermarkets.

Red Marble Patio After Renovation Newbury 2025

Professional Restoration of a Red Marble Tiled Patio in Berkshire

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Badly Stained Travertine Table Polished to New Condition in Newbury

We were recently asked to renovate a Travertine tabletop at a property in the market town of Newbury. This post follows on from a previous article I published about the renovation of their garden room floor tiles where the table was situated. If you haven’t seen that post do take a minute to take a look using the following link: Terracotta Tiled Garden Room Floor Deep Cleaned and Sealed in Newbury.

If you recall the client asked me to do something to improve the condition of the stone table that had sat in the conservatory for many years and was stained with water stains, ring marks and the dirt from the many plants that had been sat on it.

Travertine Tabletop Before Renovation Newbury

Cleaning and restoring a Travertine Tiled Tabletop

The travertine table had been cracked and was heavily stained due to years of standing water from various pots. So, after cleaning the conservatory floor I turned my attention to the table and started the renovation process using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean so I could see the full extent of damage. Being a tabletop, this had to be done by hand, allowing the solution to soak in and then scrubbing it in with a scrubbing brush. Due to the height of the table, it was a bit awkward to use the hot water encapsulation system to extract the dirt after cleaning, but I managed.

The next job was to fill the crack using a two-part epoxy resin designed especially for this sort of work and colour matched to the table. This was then allowed to set before smoothing out with a set of handheld burnishing blocks of different grits.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Tabletop

Once the resin had dried hard the table was burnished using an extended set of diamond encrusted pads starting from a coarse 100-grit all the way to a fine 3000-grit leaving the table with a polished look. Naturally I couldn’t use my floor buffer for this, so I had to use smaller 6-inch pads fitted to a hand buffer. The pads are applied with water for lubrication and the soiling rinsed off as before using the encapsulation system.

Once the Travertine had dried out, I sealed it with Tile Doctor Colour Grow to enhance the colours and textures of the stone. This is an impregnating sealer that works by soaking into the stone occupying the pores and thereby keeping any dirt or liquids on the surface where they can be easily cleaned away.

Travertine Tabletop After Renovation Newbury

The Travertine table was completely transformed by the cleaning and polishing and needless to say my client was very happy with the outcome and was sure his friends would be impressed! For maintenance of the table I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Stone Patina Spray. This is a spray-and-buff cleaner that is designed to enhance the natural beauty and lustre of polished stone.

Terracotta Tiled Garden Room Floor After Renovation Newbury

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tabletop in Berkshire

Badly Stained Travertine Table Polished to New Condition in Newbury Read More »

Limestone Shower Tiles Etched by Vikal Before After Renovation Farley Hill

Viakal Etched Limestone Shower Tiles Restored in Farley Hill

1 Comment / Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Reading Tile Cleaning / Dennis Buckland

This enquiry about a Limestone tiled shower came from a customer in Farley Hill which is a village near Reading. Unfortunately, in an attempt to freshen up their Limestone shower tiles ready for family visit they ended up etching them with a Limescale remover called “Viakal” leaving it in quite a sorry state.

Limestone Shower Tiles Etched by Viakal Before Renovation Farley Hill

Limestone being calcium based reacted with the acid in the product resulting in the surface becoming etched and ruining its appearance. Viakal can be brought from just about every household cleaning aisle however it is acidic and should never be used on natural stone; in fact, if you read the label, you will find they do mention this.

Naturally the owner was horrified but fortunately this problem happens a lot and lot and Tile Doctor have worked out a solution, so after finding us on the Internet we were asked to pop round and work our magic.

Acid Etched Limestone Renovation

To remove acid etching the solution is to burnish the stone and repolish using a set of six-inch diamond pads of different grits from coarse to smooth. However, given the extent of the damage was quite small I decided to start using a set of smaller abrasive diamond hand blocks instead.

The process started by applying a 50-grit hand block to cut back the stone and remove the etching, water is used along the way to help lubricate and remove the soiling. This was then followed by applying a 100, 200 and finally 400-grit block.

Once the etching was removed, I moved onto the application of a set of burnishing pads to re close the pores in the stone and restore its final appearance and colour. The pads are applied to the Limestone tiles in sequence using a handheld buffer with water for lubrication. As with the blocks the sequence runs from a coarse 400-grit to very fine 3000-grit rinsing off the watery slurry with more water as I went.

Sealing Limestone Tiles in a Wet Room

The limestone tiles were then left to dry out and then after an early lunch l returned to apply a protective sealer. The sealer opted for in this case was Tile Doctor Colour Grow which as its name suggests restores colour and beauty to stone. Two generous coats were applied allowing an hour between coats.

Limestone Shower Tiles Etched by Viakal After Renovation Farley Hill

Once done my customer was so relieved the etching and limescale had been removed and ecstatic with the transformation. It’s a beautiful shower that has had its beauty restored. My customer has vowed never uses Viakal anywhere near her shower again and instead would use a natural cleaner like Tile Doctor stone soap.

Professional Limestone Tiled Shower Tile Renovation in Berkshire

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