Travertine Polishing Archives - Berkshire Tile Doctor

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 »

Silver Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaning Sealing Spencers Wood Reading

Dirty Silver Travertine Kitchen floor in Spencer’s Wood, Reading

This client in Spencer’s Wood, a small civil parish village located south of Reading within Berkshire, had a spectacular Silver Travertine tiled floor that had become grimy, stained and generally dull from use. Unhappy with how it now looked I was asked to quote for renovating it.

I called in to survey the floor and I could see how the grout had become badly stained and the natural pits in the travertine had trapped a lot of dirt which had accumulated over time. Kitchen floors are generally the busiest in any house and with a build-up of dirt, grease and other soils ingrained into the pores of the travertine.

Silver Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Spencers Wood Reading

It was clear any sealer that had once protected the stone was no longer effective. Though the kitchen was the worse effected area the client wanted the whole tiled area cleaned which included the hallway and cloakroom. I worked out a quote for doing the work, which was accepted and a date was booked in.

Cleaning a Silver Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

On arrival I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to dwell for ten minutes so it could soak into the pores and break down the dirt, grease, and any remaining sealer. For best results I then went over the floor with a rotary buffing machine fitted with a nylon scrubbing brush. Personally, I find nylon brushing perfect for cleaning grout and pitted travertine as the brush gets into the depressions releasing the contaminations. The resulting slurry was then vacuumed off the floor using a wet vacuum, the floor was then rinsed with water and vacuumed again.

To improve the appearance of the Travertine and remove any potential imperfections caused by wear and tear, it was given a light burnish using a 400-grit then 800-grit burnishing pads this left the floor with a gentle satin sheen. We could then improve the shine further by adding a 1500-grit followed by 3000-grit however, it was the client’s request that they didn’t want the floor to look “too shiny”.

The burnishing pads are attached to the rotary machine and then run over each tile several times using only water for lubrication. After another rinse and extraction to remove the slurry, the floor was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Silver Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

Returning the next day, the floor had dried out and looked stunning. I damp meter was used to test the floor for moisture and after confirming it was dry, I proceeded to seal the Travertine using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow.

Tile Doctor Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer that enhances and improves the colour and texture of natural travertine whilst providing durable protection.

Silver Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Spencers Wood Reading

The client was thrilled with the outcome of the floor and was glad to have it back to how they remembered it. Before leaving I took time to discuss aftercare and recommended the client to use Tile Doctor Stone Soap as a maintenance cleaner.

Professional Restoration of a Silver Travertine Tiled Kitchen in Berkshire

Dirty Silver Travertine Kitchen floor in Spencer’s Wood, Reading Read More »

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 / 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.

Douai School Upper Woolhampton

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

Communal Travertine Floor Renovated at Douai School – Upper Woolhampton Read More »