slate tiles

Riven slate floor Before and After Sealing at Boston Farmhouse

Riven Slate Tiles Rejuvenated by Deep Clean and Seal in Boston

While fantastic to look at, Riven Slate tiles can be particularly difficult to keep clean. The natural unevenness of the stone causes dirt to become more easily trapped and more difficult to remove. Over time, heavy buildup of ingrained dirt can have the effect of dulling the colours in the stone. This was the case with this large area of Riven Slate tiles at a very busy farmhouse in the Lincolnshire port town of Boston, the original namesake for the perhaps more famous city in Massachusetts, USA.

Riven slate floor before cleaning at Boston farmhouse
The property owner couldn’t figure out the best way to improve the situation and so called me in to see what could be done. Upon inspecting the tiles first hand I decided that the best course of action would be a very deep clean and the application of a fresh sealant to offer long-term protection against ingrained dirt.

Riven slate floor before cleaning at Boston farmhouse

Cleaning Dirty and a Dull Riven Slate Tiles

The cleaning process was split into two main components. Firstly, I scrubbed a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean into the tiles to remove the initial layers of soil buildup. Pro Clean is our go-to cleaner for most natural stone due to its reliability and the fact that, unlike a lot of supermarket floor cleaners, it isn’t acid-based and so won’t damage the stone.

Since the ingrained dirt problem was quite severe, I opted to also clean the tiles using our van-mounted pressure cleaning system. This very efficient system applies hot water under pressure to the to stone to penetrate deeply and eradicate particularly stubborn ingrained dirt. It then automatically extracts the soiled water back into a tank in our van.

Riven slate floor during cleaning at Boston farmhouse
Satisfied that the floor had been cleaned as throughly as possible, I then installed several turbo dryers to thoroughly dry the flooring, allowing it to be ready for sealing the next day. Efficient drying was especially important here due to the amount of water used in the cleaning process; many tiled floor owners will already know that sealant cannot be applied if any moisture remains.

Riven slate floor during cleaning at Boston farmhouse

Sealing Riven Slate Tiles

To seal the tiles I used four costs of Tile Doctor Seal and Go. This is a topical sealer, meaning it forms a robust layer of protection on the surface of the tiles. Seal and Go also helps to enhance colour while providing a natural look matte finish that complements the natural stone.

Riven slate floor before cleaning at Boston farmhouse
Looking at the photos of the floor before and after my work you can really get an idea of the transformation achieved in a short space of time. What a difference! The property owners were very pleased with the results, especially now that they are aware of the best way to keep their lovely Riven Slate tiles clean and protected.

Riven slate floor before cleaning at Boston farmhouse
 

Professional Riven Slate Tiled Floor Restoration in Lincolnshire

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Italian Riven Slate Before and After Cleaning

Italian Riven Slate tiled floor cleaned and sealed in Boston

This Italian Riven Slate tiled floor installed in the dining room of a house in Boston, Lincolnshire was in need of a good clean and re-seal. If you look closely at the photographs below you should be able to see large areas where the surface has faded and become soiled which was probably due to the sealer wearing off allowing dirt to settle in the riven surface of the slate.

Italian Riven Slate Before Cleaning Italian Riven Slate Before Cleaning

Cleaning Italian Riven Slate floor tiles

We set about scrubbing the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad together with a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an effective Tile and Grout cleaner especially recommend for stone floors due to its alkaline formula. It’s also quite good at stripping sealers from floors however this wasn’t too much of a problem on this floor.

The next step was to get into the grout lines with stiff brushes in order to give the grout a good scrub, this step has to be done by hand as the scrubbing pads can struggle to reach the grout. The next step was to remove the soiled cleaning solution with a wet vacuum and wash the floor down with clean water to remove any remaining cleaning product and neutralise the floor before the next step of sealing.

Sealing Italian Riven Slate floor tiles

Once the floor was dry we came back to seal it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which really does help to bring out the natural colours in the slate and will protect the tile and grout from stains going forward.

Italian Riven Slate After Cleaning
The job took two days in total and the customer was absolutely delighted with the improvement in the floor.

Italian Riven Slate tiles restored in Boston

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Slate Floor Before and After Cleaning and Sealing

Riven Slate Floor Cleaning in Lincoln

Riven Slate Floor Cleaning in Lincoln

Slate floors especially riven slate can be a nightmare to keep clean as the uneven surface of a riven tile traps dirt and makes it difficult to clean. Our client in Lincoln had this issue, however as you will see from the pictures below we managed to get it looking like new again.

Slate Floor Cleaning

The Slate Floor Cleaning process involved a good cleaning with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean Tile and Grout cleaner, it’s an alkaline rather than acidic product that doesn’t harm the surface of the stone but is very effective at cleaning. We left the product to dwell for a while before giving the tile a good scrub to lift the soil and dirt trapped into the pores of the riven slate floor tile. Once the slate tile and grout were looking clean we gave the floor a good wash down to remove any remaining chemical and neutralise the floor.

Slate Floor Before Cleaning and Sealing Slate Floor Before Cleaning and Sealing
Slate Floor Before Cleaning and Sealing

Sealing the cleaned Slate Floor

We left the floor to dry overnight and came back the next day to seal it using Tile Doctor Pro-Seal which is gives the floor a natural look and really lifts and reveals the colours in the slate. You can see from the photographs the difference and how amazing the colours are.

Slate Floor After Cleaning and Sealing Slate Floor After Cleaning and Sealing
Slate Floor After Cleaning and Sealing

The client was so pleased he has booked us in to return and do some more work for him.

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