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Flagstone Tiled Hallway Floor Renovated in Spilsby

Renovating a Natural Stone Hallway Floor at Spilsby Rental Property

We were asked by a client who had rented her property out near Spilsby Lincolnshire, if we could restore her very dirty natural flagstone hallway. The previous tenants had subjected the floor to heavy usage and unfortunately it had not been maintained very well. Spilsby is a small market town that has retained its’ character and not changed much since the 19th century. Being about 17 miles East of my base in Woodhall Spa it wasn’t long before I was able to go over and survey the floor.

Natural Stone Floor Before Cleaning Spilsby Natural Stone Floor Before Cleaning Spilsby

As you can see from the pictures the flagstones were very well used and had lost all their natural beauty. The stone would normally have a lovely mixture of colours and grains showing, as you can see these were nowhere to be seen. I suspect the tenants had been using household cleaners on the floor which tend to strip the protective sealant due to their acidic composition leaving the stone vulnerable. The stone tiles were riven so once the sealant had started to break down the dirt soon becomes ingrained in the uneven surface making them difficult to clean.

The client was keen to get the floor looking nice and clean ready for the next tenants to move in so after discussing the process to get the floor looking good again, we agreed a price and booked in a date for the work to be completed.

Cleaning and Restoring a Natural Stone Tiled Hallway Floor

Arriving on the first day, we taped up the skirting and plinth to prevent them getting damaged. A strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was then applied to the stone floor and left to soak in for ten minutes so it could get to work breaking down the dirt and any remaining sealer. Pro-Clean is a professional tile and grout cleaning product that is ideal for cleaning dirty stone tiles like these.

The stone tiles were riven (not a smooth) so we used a Rotovac system to get the tiles clean. The machine scrubs the floor with soft brushes whilst simultaneously extracting the soil using self-contained pressurised water. It’s a very efficient way to deep clean the floor and vacuum all the dirty solution away from the floor. It immediately transformed the look of the stone and achieved a 1st class result in removing all the grime and dirt from the stone.

Natural Stone Floor During Cleaning Spilsby Natural Stone Floor After Cleaning Spilsby

The cleaning process went very well and by the time we had finished the whole area looked much brighter. The natural tones of the stone had come back to life and with the application of a sealer they should stay that way for some time to come. Before this could happen however the floor needed to be dry so we the help of a couple of turbo dryers the floor was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Natural Stone Tiled Hallway Floor

The following day after making sure the floor was dry by testing with the moisture meter, we sealed the floor with two coats of our natural look sealer Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal. This is an impregnating sealer that works by seeping into the pores of the stone thereby preventing dirt and liquid from becoming ingrained there.

Natural Stone Floor After Cleaning Spilsby

The sealer gave the stone a natural look that the client requested, and she was delighted with the end result. Hopefully she will have no trouble renting out the property, the floor now looks stunning!

 

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Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned Sealed Coningsby

Renovating Dirty Travertine Kitchen Tiles in Coningsby

A customer from the village of Coningsby was having trouble keeping their Travertine tiled Kitchen floor clean. Another company had sealed the flooring previously, but it clearly hadn’t lasted and dirt had now become ingrained in the pores of the stone. As a result, mopping the floor wasn’t effective at removing the dirt from either the Travertine or the grout lines.

This was a busy work kitchen that needed to have a floor that is easy to maintain; now frustrated with the way the floor looked they considered having it taken up and replaced but decided to contact Tile Doctor first looking for a remedy.

Travertine Floor Coningsby Before Cleaning Travertine Floor Coningsby Before Cleaning

We visited the property to survey the floor and discuss the issues they were facing with the floor. It clearly needed to be deep cleaned and then resealed properly with a more effective product. I explained our process and discussed the result they were looking for. They were happy for me to go ahead and requested a Matt finish rather than a shine or gloss look as it was a high use kitchen.

Cleaning and Burnishing a Travertine Tiled Floor

I returned on the agreed date and spent the first day removing the old sealer that was no longer working and deep cleaning the flooring. To achieve this, I used a series for burnishing pads of different grits. After each pad the floor was rinsed using our Rotovac system which rinses the floor and extracts the dirty water off the floor at high speed. Although an expensive investment the machine makes light work of cleaning hard floors and saves a lot of time.

Travertine Floor Coningsby During Cleaning

After cleaning the floor, a turbo dryer was installed to speed up the drying process so the floor can be inspected, and any stubborn areas redone. The tiles looked nice and clean, but I could see some areas of grouting needed more work so these were hand scrubbed with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean followed by another rinse to remove the soil.

Travertine Floor Coningsby During Cleaning Travertine Floor Coningsby Floor Drying After Cleaning

At this stage I also noticed a few holes in the travertine that were filled for the customer with a matching colour. This is a common problem for Travertine and unfortunately, they easily attract dirt, so filling makes the floor much easier to clean going forward.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

We returned the following morning and tested the flooring with a damp meter to make sure it was fully dry. All was well and it was ready to seal with our quality impregnator Tile Doctor Colour Grow which protects the floor from within whilst enhancing the natural colours in the stone in the process. The Travertine proved more absorbent than usual for this type of stone and took three coats before a water test indicated the floor was fully sealed.

Travertine Floor Coningsby After Sealing Water Test

You can see from the photo above that the water beaded up on the surface and can be simply wiped away even after a few minutes. This shows maximum protection has been applied. Given my experience with this floor I suspect the previous company had not applied enough sealer and this would explain why it failed, had they conducted a water test then this should have been obvious.

We then gave a final polish with our buffer and a white soft pad to really strengthen the seal and give the best finish. I should mention that Colour Grow leaves a matt finish which matches the customer’s request.

Travertine Floor Coningsby After Cleaning Travertine Floor Coningsby After Cleaning

For aftercare cleaning going forward I left the customer a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner that looks after the seal better than any high alkaline or acidic cleaners like bleach or washing up liquid which will prematurely erode the seal.

The customer was delighted with the results, commenting on how much brighter the whole room looked.

Travertine Floor Coningsby After Cleaning

 

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