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Travertine Kitchen Tiles Before After Polishing Cheltenham

Restoring Polish to a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Cheltenham

These photos are of a Travertine Tiled Floor installed in the Kitchen and Dining area of a property in Cheltenham also known as Cheltenham Spa. The property is situated in a lovely location with Cheltenham being located on the edge of the Cotswolds, which is well known as an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ in Gloucestershire.

The floor which was installed 15 years prior had sadly not been maintained correctly over the years and was not looking its best, any sealer that may have been present on the floor had long since worn off with wear and now dirt had penetrated the pores of the Travertine making it difficult to keep clean and giving it a flat uninteresting appearance. The customer was specifically unhappy with what appeared dull looking marks all over the floor and the grout lines which were heavily ingrained with dirt and had now become black.

Travertine Floor Cheltenham Before Cleaning
Travertine is a natural stone material that has unique colours and features that no other stone can offer. The distinctive designs and natural patterns found within Travertine make it very popular as a flooring material and if treated properly it can look beautiful. I discussed with the client what Tile Doctor could do to improve the appearance of the floor, we agreed the cost and organised a date to get started.

Travertine Floor Cheltenham Before Cleaning

Cleaning Travertine Kitchen Floor Cheltenham

Before starting I protected the wooden skirting and kitchen units with plastic sheeting to ensure they did not get damaged. The floor was then burnished using a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads of different grits using our usual process of lubricating with water and rinsing between each pad. Working my way through the different pads I started with the coarse 400-grit pad, then the 800-grit and finished on the 1500-grit.

The grout lines were then cleaned with Tile Doctor Remove and Go this is a multi-purpose stripper formulated with a long dwell-time that can clean whilst removing most sealers, coatings, synthetic finishes, adhesives and paints; pretty much most things that could have be left on the floor over 15 years! I then rinsed of the now soiled cleaning solution off the floor with water which was then extracted using the wet vacuum. I then left the floor to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing Travertine Kitchen Floor Cheltenham

On my return the next day I applied the last of the burnishing pads which is an extra fine 3000-grit pad really bring up the polish on the stone. This pad is applied dry with a little water sprayed onto the stone using a method we call a Spray Burnish.

The floor was then sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, this product is a colour intensifying sealer which enhances the natural colours in the Travertine whilst adding durable stain protection. I highly recommend colour grow for sealing Travertine as it really does bring out the natural brown shades in the stone. The floor was left to dry and then buffed with a soft white buffing pad to bring the shine further.

Travertine Floor Cheltenham After Cleaning
My customer was very impressed with the result and left the following comment on the Tile Doctor feedback system:

“Our travertine floor has been transformed from a dull, impossible to clean surface to one that looks better than it did fifteen years ago. Every time I walk into the kitchen I stop just to look at it. I am delighted with what you have achieved! Thank you.
Laura C. “

Travertine Floor Cheltenham After Cleaning
 

Polishing & Sealing Travertine Kitchen Floor Tiles in Gloucestershire

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Polishing Travertine Floor Tiles in Cirencester

Restoring the Appearance of Travertine Kitchen Tiles in Cirencester

This customer from Cirencester was not happy with her look of her Travertine floor tiles; in fact, she had been browsing the Tile Doctor web site and realised how her floor should look and got in touch to have it renovated.

Polished Travertine Cirencester Before Cleaning Polished Travertine Cirencester Before Cleaning

I’m based in Dursley which is West Gloucestershire and have made the journey to Cirencester to the East on several occasions to work on tiled floors there. If you have never been it’s worth a visit; it’s a lovely market town which dates back to Roman times and is situated on the lower slopes of the Cotswold Hills.

Burnishing a Travertine Tiled Floor

To get the best from Travertine it really needs to be burnished which is an abrasive cleaning process that involves the application of several different grades of diamond encrusted pad to the stone lubricated with a small amount of water.

The pads are fitted to a rotary buffer and run over each tile in sequence from coarse to very fine. I started with the first of the four burnishing pads which is a coarse 400 grit pad that designed to grind away the dirt and old sealer on the surface of the floor. After applying the first pad, I moved my way through the medium 800 and fine 1500 grit pads to gradually restore the appearance of the Travertine making sure to rinse the floor with water in between to remove the soiling.

Next, I set about cleaning grout lines with Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was diluted with water and then scrubbed in with a stiff narrow brush. The soiled cleaning solution was then rinsed off with more water and extracted using a wet vacuum.

Polished Travertine Cirencester During Polishing Polished Travertine Cirencester During Polishing

The burnishing and grout cleaning took most of the day and I need the floor to be dry in order to seal it so I left for the day and left the floor to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

The next day and before sealing the floor I applied the last pad in the set of four which is a 3,000 grit “very fine” burnishing pad. This final pad really builds the final polish on Travertine tile. The pad is applied with the rotary buffer as before but is applied dry with only a fine spray of water using a process we call a “Spray Burnish”

Once I was happy with polish I proceeded to seal the floor using Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is a natural look sealer the seeps into the pores of the stone protecting it from within but without affecting the look of the stone. The floor was then left to dry for an hour and I finished by giving the Travertine a final buff using a white pad.

Polished Travertine Cirencester After Polishing Polished Travertine Cirencester After Polishing

My customer was delighted and now she has a Travertine tiled floor looking how it should.

Professional Travertine Floor Polishing and Sealing in Gloucestershire

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Limestone-Bathroom-Floor-After-Polishing-Cirencester

Restoring the Appearance of a Polished Limestone Tiled Floor in Cirencester

This customer was looking to rent out his property in the East Gloucestershire town of Cirencester, the largest in the Cotswold District. However, he found that many prospective tenants were put off by the condition of the Limestone floor tiles on the ground floor.

Limestone Bathroom Floor Before Cleaning Cirencester
Over the years, the sealer had worn away and that had allowed for dirt and stains to become ingrained in the pores of the stone, leaving the Limestone tiles looking very dull, unclean and generally undesirable. To boost his chance of finding a tenant for the property, the customer asked me to come in to restore the Limestone tiles to their best possible condition.

Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Cirencester
I arrived at the property and conducted a survey to assess the situation. The customer – not wanting to waste any more time – asked if I could complete the restoration straight away, fortunately I was able to shuffle a few things around and was able to make a start two days later.

Limestone Floor Before Cleaning Cirencester

Burnishing a Dull and Dirty Limestone Tiled Floor

With Limestone, as well as other high-end stone like Marble and Travertine, we find that the best method for restoration is burnishing. This is a form of polishing which involves the sequential application of diamond encrusted pads of different grit levels.

We work with a system of four pads fitted to a buffing machine. The first is a Coarse pad, which grinds away the top layer of dirt and staining from the stone, along with any old sealer. I then moved through the system, applying each in turn the Medium, Fine, and Very Fine burnishing pads to gradually refine the polish on the floor. A small amount of water was used as lubricant between each pad, and I hoovered up any resulting slurry with a wet-vac machine.

Having finished polishing the stone, I paid attention to cleaning the grout lines, applying Tile Doctor Remove and Go, which draws out any ingrained stains and heavy grease build-up, and scrubbing it in with a specialised grout brush. The floor was then left to dry out completely overnight.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Floor

Upon returning to the property the next day, I checked the floor was completely dry and quickly vacuumed up any leftover debris from the previous day’s work. Next, I gave the floor another polish with the Very Fine 3000 grit diamond burnishing pad, vacuumed it again, and it was then ready to be sealed.

Limestone Floor Sealing Cirencester
To do this I used Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which is an impregnating sealer that not only acts to protect the stone, but also intensify its natural colours. The floor was then left to dry for an hour, before I subsequently gave it one final dry polish using the Very Fine burnishing pa fitted to the buffing machine. After vacuuming up any debris, I applied a second coat of Colour Grow, left it to dry, and finally buffed it with a soft white pad.

Limestone Kitchen Floor After Polishing Cirencester
The customer was really pleased with the results, having never expected for the restoration to turn out so well. Undoubtedly there will a queue of prospective tenants hoping to see the property now that the Limestone tiled floor looks so great!

Limestone Bathroom Floor After Polishing Cirencester
 

Professional Tile Burnishing, Cleaning and Sealing for a Dirty and Stained Limestone Tiled Floor Restoration in Cirencester

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