Travertine Tile Cleaning

Welcome to my Work History archive where you will find detailed examples of the cleaning and renovation of Travertine tiles carried out in Northamptonshire

Cleaning and Polishing Travertine tiles

Travertine is a natural material that has unique features and colouring that no other stone can offer. The distinctive look of Travertine creates some of the most distinguished floor tiles and has proved very popular with commercial and residential use. It can be used for floor tile, kitchen flooring, bathroom walls and floors, and it is often used externally. There are many varieties such as Tumbled and Polished and like all natural stone it needs to be sealed to prevent dirt becoming trapped in the pores. Unlike other stones however Travertine does suffer from pitting however these holes can be filled.

One of the main issues with polished Travertine is the polish starts to wear down with use and eventually becomes dull. Another issue we see is acid etching where strong unsuitable cleaning products used on the stone etch the surface and ruin its appearance. To resolve both these problems the stone needs to be re-polished with diamond encrusted burnishing pads of different grits to hone the stone and bring back that deep shine. If this sounds familiar you should talk to us about our annual maintenance program where we visit you once a year to clean, polish and seal your floor thus keeping it in top condition.

Below you will find detailed examples of work we have carried out in the past, it should give you some idea of what’s involved and what can be achieved with the right techniques and products.


Travertine Tiled Hallway and Kitchen Floor Renovated Welton Daventry

Dirty Tumbled Travertine Floor Renovated in Welton near Daventry

This is a Tumbled Travertine floor with a Honed finish that was installed some years prior in the hallway and kitchen of a house in the village of Welton near Daventry. Kitchens and hallways have the highest foot traffic of any room in a house and without regular maintenance the sealer started to wear down allowing dirt and staining to reach the pores of the tile and grout lines. Travertine is known for its small depressions known as pitting and without the protection of the sealer those areas became heavily soiled. The grout had also darkened with ingrained dirt turning what was a light grey colour into a contrasting black.

Tumbled Honed Travertine Welton Before Cleaning

After visiting the property and surveying the floor I recommended burnishing the floor with a set of abrasive pads to remove the dirt and then resealing with a more durable product. To prove my point, I ran a small test clean on the floor so they could see the potential difference this could make. Happy with the result they asked for a quote which was accepted, and the job was booked in.

Cleaning a Tumbled Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

I started the cleaning process by sweeping and vacuuming the floor to remove any grit and other debris. Then it was cleaned with a 3:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, spraying it onto the floor and allowing it to dwell and make a start breaking down the soiling. The product was then worked into the floor using a stiff brush paying particular attention to the pitted areas and along the grout lines to get them clean. This was followed by rinsing the floor with more water and extracting the soiling with a wet pick-up machine.

The next step was to use the burnishing pad system starting with the coarse pad fitted to a rotary machine and worked into the tiles with a small amount of water for lubrication. The set of pads come in various grits and are actually made from industrial diamonds.

This first 400-grit pad cleans the tiles and removes any remaining sealant that may have been present on the tiles. This was continued with the finer 800-grit pad, again using nothing but water and then rinsing the floor of any slurry generated by the process after each pad.

When the floor had dried, I applied a fine 1500-grit pad to bring up the polish on the Travertine until it had a silky honed finish. There is a fourth 3000-grit pad in the system that brings up the polish even further to achieve a high shine finish, but my client didn’t want that look.

Tumbled Honed Travertine Welton During Cleaning

Sealing a Tumbled Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

To protect the travertine, it was sealed using three coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal sealant which is an impregnating invisible sealer resulting in a very natural finish. Once dry the floor was buffed using a soft white buffing pad.

Tumbled Honed Travertine Welton After Cleaning

You can see from the photos how much cleaner and lighter the Travertine tiles look and that the light grey colour of the grout has been restored. The new sealer will make it much easier to maintain now and with the correct cleaning regime in place the sealer should last a long time. My client was very happy with the work and left the following feedback for me:

“Really happy with our new floor. The service was professional and thorough – definitely worth the money.”

For the regular cleaning of a floor like this I recommend Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is a mild cleaning product that’s designed for use on sealed and polished stone. You must be especially careful when choosing a cleaning product for sealed tiles as many of the products you find in supermarkets are simply too strong and can degrade the sealer prematurely.

Tumbled Honed Travertine Welton After Cleaning

 

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tiled Floor in Northamptonshire

Dirty Tumbled Travertine Floor Renovated in Welton near Daventry Read More »

Travertine Tiled Floor Before After Renovation Brixworth

Travertine Floor Tiles Repaired and Polished in Old Near Brixworth

Polished Travertine is a popular tile which can look stunning, however without the correct maintenance regime in place it can soon turn dull and flat as my customer in the small village of Old near Brixworth discovered. In this case they had 40m2 of Travertine tiling installed in the living room and breakfast room which in particular had become dull, sticky, and hard to clean. On top of that a couple of holes had appeared in the main kitchen walkway areas which was causing concern.

Polished Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Renovation Brixworth

I visited the property to carry out a site survey and conduct a test clean on the stained areas. My customer was relieved to see how well the grout and staining responded to the cleaning and we moved on to discuss how to repairs the holes. We see this a lot with Travertine where natural holes or pitting are usually filed with a resin before being sold but the problem can be exacerbated with the use of acidic cleaning products. Holes also trap dirt which can accumulates quickly as dirt is washed into the holes during cleaning detracting from the appearance of the stone.

Polished Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Renovation Brixworth

To resolve I planned on filling the holes with a resin and then re-polishing the floor to make it blend in. A quote was issued via e mail which was accepted, and a date booked in the diary for work to be carried.

Cleaning and Restoring Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

On the day I arrived the customer had prepared the work area by removing all small items of furniture. My first step was to brush and vacuum the area to remove any loose debris. I then sprayed the floor with a dilution of Tile doctor Pro-Clean focusing on the heavily soiled areas and grout lines throughout the breakfast area and then left to soak in for ten minutes. After scrubbing the grout with a grout brush the area was rinsed with a small amount of water and the area dried using a wet vacuum. This process was then repeated in the kitchen.

Tile Doctor has found the best way to renovate polished stone is to use a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads to hone the stone and build back the polish. Usually this involved applying a set of for or five pads of different grits depending on the severity of soiling and any surface scratches. I started with the coarsest grit and worked through in sequence to the finer grits to achieve a polished finish. Water is used to lubricate the process and the floor is rinsed and extracted between pads.

Once this process was completed, I dried the damaged tiles with a heat gun so I could fill them. I mixed a resin that closely matched the white and brown colours of the Travertine and filled in the holes, smoothing, and polishing with handheld diamond blocks to achieve a smooth finish.

Polished Travertine Kitchen Floor After Renovation Brixworth

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

When we returned the next day, the floor had dried, and I was able to give the floor a final polish with a very fine 3000-grit burnishing pad applied with a little water sprayed onto the tile. Finally, the floor was then sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which provides excellent protection without changing the colour of the stone to provide a natural look.

Polished Travertine Kitchen Floor After Renovation Brixworth

Last step was to provide some advice on how to maintain the floor going forward for which I recommend Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is designed for cleaning polished stone floors. The client was over the moon with the outcome and surprised at the improvement, they also left the following review for me which is always a nice surprise.

Fantastic work, my floor looks wonderful it didn’t look this good when it was laid thirteen years ago, I will definitely look after the travertine now and have the floor cleaned and resealed every year.

 

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor in Northamptonshire

Travertine Floor Tiles Repaired and Polished in Old Near Brixworth Read More »

Tumbled Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Before After Renovation Braybrooke

Pitted and Dirty Tumbled Travertine Kitchen Floor Renovated in Braybrooke

I was called by the owner of a property in Braybrooke who was keen to have their Tumbled Travertine tiled kitchen floor renovated. The floor hadn’t been cleaned professionally for over eight years and the owner was concerned that dirt was getting trapped in the natural holes and crevices (pits) which are a natural feature of Travertine.

Pitted Tumbled Travertine Before Cleaning Braybrooke

I went over to survey the floor at the property in Braybrooke which is a lovely small village in north west Northamptonshire halfway between Market Harborough and Desborough. We carried out a test clean on two separate tiles in the kitchen, the customer was thrilled at how clean they came up and especially with the grout. She said it reminded her how they used to look when they were first installed.

Pitted Tumbled Travertine Before Cleaning Braybrooke Pitted Tumbled Travertine Before Cleaning Braybrooke

A quote to restore the floor was sent and was quickly accepted; a date was then agreed for the work to be completed. The job would take just two days to complete, one day to clean and then a return visit to seal the floor.

Cleaning a Tumbled Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

On our return the first thing we did was to protect the kitchen units by removing plinths and covering base units and appliances with a protective film. This ensures nothing is accidentally damaged during the process.

We then commenced work with a rotary scrubbing machine fitted with a tile brush attachment. This was used to scrub in a hot water dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean mixed 3:1. The slurry was then removed with a wet pick up, followed by cleaning the grout with hand brushes using more Pro-Clean. The strong alkaline product makes quick work of removing the ingrained dirt and grime and removing what was left of the original sealer.

The next step was to burnish the stone with a set of Tile Doctor Diamond Encrusted Burnishing pads which polish the floor to achieve an as new look. The pads are run over the Travertine tiles with water in sequence from coarse to very smooth. After each pad is applied the floor is rinsed with water and the slurry removed with the wet pickup machine.

Fans were left in place to assist drying the floor whilst I spent time filling the larger holes with filler in a colour chosen to match the existing floor as closely as possible.

Sealing a Tumbled Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

The floors were left to dry off fully overnight and I returned the next day to carry out the final polish with a very fine 3000 grit burnishing pad and to apply two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which will protect the stone going forward. Ultra-Seal is a no-sheen, natural-look, penetrating sealer which is formulated to provide maximum stain protection and is especially recommended for food preparation areas like a kitchen.

Pitted Tumbled Travertine After Cleaning Braybrooke Pitted Tumbled Travertine After Cleaning Braybrooke

The floor looked so much better and the customer was very happy that it had been restored to its’ former glory as requested. She really thought the floor was beyond saving. We suggested that she used the Tile Doctor Stone Soap for ongoing cleaning. Most floor cleaning products sold in the supermarket are not recommended for the cleaning of natural stone as they can erode the sealer prematurely so always read the label.

Pitted Tumbled Travertine After Cleaning Braybrooke

 

Renovation of a Tumbled Travertine Tiled Floor in Northamptonshire

Pitted and Dirty Tumbled Travertine Kitchen Floor Renovated in Braybrooke Read More »

Pitted Travertine Floor Tiles Before After Renovation Weston Favell

Pitted Travertine Kitchen Floor Tiles Filled and Polished in Weston Favell

Travertine floor tiles are very appealing and very hardwearing, but without the protection of a sealer to stop dirt becoming ingrained in the pores of the stone their appearance will degrade. Fortunately, this can be remedied as demonstrated in these pictures of a Travertine floor I recently polished at a house in Weston Favell, Northampton.

Travertine Tiled Floor Weston Favell Before Polishing

This owner of the property had called me out as their kitchen floor was looking very sorry for itself and he was concerned that a lot of holes were appearing which was making cleaning the floor difficult as dirt was getting trapped in the holes. I went over and carried out a test clean on two separate tiles in the kitchen and the customer was amazed at how clean they came up and especially the grout.

Travertine Tiled Floor Weston Favell Before Polishing

The kitchen was stunning, but unfortunately the state of the Travertine tiled floor was bringing down its overall appearance. Impressed with the test clean they were keen to get the whole floor renovated so we agreed a price and I scheduled the work in for the following month.

Cleaning and Restoring Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned on the agreed data and made a start by protecting the kitchen units by removing the plinths and covering base units and the appliances with a protective film. We then commenced the cleaning process to remove surface dirt by cleaning with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean paying special attention to the grout lines. The holes in the Travertine were filled with a stone resin, mixing it to closely match the colours of the stone.

The resin was allowed to dry before starting to re-polish the Travertine using a set of Tile Doctor Diamond encrusted burnishing pads. These pads are applied individually to each tile in sequence starting with a coarse 400-grit pad before moving onto the 800-grit and finishing with the fine 1500 grit pad. A little water is used to lubricate the process along the way and the floor is rinsed in between each pad with the resulting residue extracted from the floor using a wet vacuum. The process takes some time, but it really brings up the polished appearance of the stone and the results are well worth the effort. After a final rinse the floor was inspected and then left to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

When we returned the next day, the floor had dried, and we were able to give the floor a final polish with a very fine 3000-grit burnishing pad applied with a little water sprayed onto the tile. Finally, the floor was then sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which provides excellent protection without changing the colour of the stone to provide a natural look.

Travertine Tiled Floor Weston Favell After Polishing

The client was over the moon with the outcome and surprised at the improvement. They were left with a floor that would be easy to clean and maintain.

 

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor in Northamptonshire

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Polished Travertine Kitchen Floor Before and After Polishing Abthorpe Towcester

Travertine Floor Tiles Filled and Polished in Abthorpe Near Towcester

The following pictures show a polished Travertine kitchen and dining room floor at a house in the small village of Abthorpe near Towcester. The stone floor had lost its shine and had become dull and difficult to clean which was mainly due to the holes that had appeared in the surface of the Travertine where dirt had become ground in and trapped. This is a common problem with all Travertine stone, the holes are natural and usually filled at the factory but due to wear and tear over time and the use of acidic cleaning products the filler can become dislodged. The small holes gave the floor an unsightly appearance and become magnets to dirt.

Polished Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Polishing Abthorpe Towcester
We find the best way to restore the shine is to apply a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads, they take off the layer of dirt and then slowly build a resilient polish on the surface; however, to get the best results we would need to fill the holes in the Travertine.

Polished Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Polishing Abthorpe Towcester

Burnishing and Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Floor

I gave the floor a sweep to remove any loose dirt and grit and started with the application of the first pad which is a coarse 400-grit and designed to remove minor scratches, old sealers and ingrained dirt. The pads fit a 17” buffer machine and is applied with water to lubricate the process, then once the pad has been applied to each tile the floor is rinsed with water and the resultant slurry is extracted using a wet vacuum.

Before moving onto the second pad in the set I gave the grout lines a clean with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was scrubbed into the grout using a stiff narrow brush. The pads can struggle to reach into the recessed grout lines, so I usually find this is the best way to get the grout clean.

Polished Travertine Dining Room Floor Before Polishing Abthorpe Towcester
The floor was given another rinse with water and then I continued to work through the medium 800-grit and then fine 1500-grit pads rinsing with water and then extracting the slurry with a wet vacuum after each pad.

The Travertine was now clean and after drying with fans I commenced the task of filling the holes with stone filler that matched the natural colour of the stone as close as possible, in this case the colour we opted for to achieve the best match was Straw. These activities took up most of the day so once I was done filling I left for the day, so the filler and floor could dry out thoroughly overnight.

Polished Travertine Holes Filled Before Polishing Abthorpe Towcester

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

I returned the following day and started by completing the polishing process by applying the last 3000-grit very fine burnishing pad with the 17” rotary machine, the pad is applied dry with a small amount of water sprayed on the floor as you go along. With the floor now fully dry and the filled holes polished flat the last step was to apply the sealer which will protect the floor going forwards.

Polished Travertine Kitchen Floor After Polishing Abthorpe Towcester
With Travertine floors I usually recommend Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer or Ultra-Seal which is a natural look sealer. On this occasion the client preferred the natural look, so I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal and along with the previous polishing the floor now look transformed.

Polished Travertine Kitchen Floor After Polishing Abthorpe Towcester
 

Professional Travertine Tiled Floor Restoration in Northamptonshire

Travertine Floor Tiles Filled and Polished in Abthorpe Near Towcester Read More »

Pitted Travertine Before and After Filled Polished Rushden

Pitted Travertine Floor Tiles Filled and Polished in Rushden

Not only do we carry out the deep cleaning and restoration of all types of natural stone, we can also carry out repairs such as the filling of holes in stone, whether it be limestone, marble or as in this case Travertine. Travertine in particular is prone to a natural process of erosion know as pitting, this results in holes developing that easily fill up with dirt and muck over time and can be a real problem to maintain.

Pitted Travertine Before Filled Polished Rushden
This customer in Rushden called me in, as he felt the floor hadn’t been properly maintained since it had been installed twelve years prior and he was becoming concerned about the number of holes and pits that were appearing in the high traffic areas. The Travertine tiles had been laid in the hallway, kitchen and upstairs bathroom of the property but the problem was most apparent in the Kitchen.

Pitted Travertine Before Filled Polished Rushden

Burnishing and Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Floor

To get the floors clean and restore the polished appearance of the Travertine I decided to apply a set of Tile Doctor diamond encrusted burnishing pads. The process involves the application of four different pads applied in sequence from coarse to very fine, rinsing in-between each pad to remove dirt. As the floor had been installed in the Kitchen and the Hallway it made sense to split the work into two parts and work on each area separately.

The first pad is a coarse 400 grit pad that is attached to a rotary machine running at slow speed and with only water for lubrication. The pad is applied to the stone to removes minor scratches, sealers and dirt. It’s run over the entire floor and afterwards the floor is rinsed with water which is then extracted with the soil using a wet-vacuum.

I then repeated this same procedure with the second pad, which is a Medium 800 grit pad used to remove dirt from minor scratches and holes in the stone. After rinsing again, I went onto the third burnishing pad in the sequence which is a Fine 1500 grit pad that starts to rebuild the polish on the Travertine. I gave the floor another rinse and used the wet vacuum again to extract the water and soil from the floor. The last 3,000 grit super fine pad was then applied with a small amount of water sprayed onto the floor, this last pad really builds a nice shine on the stone.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

Once the burnishing process was completed the floor was left to dry off fully overnight and I came back the next day to continue with the work. I took a few moisture readings to confirm the floor was dry and then applied a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow to seal the tiles. Colour Grow is a colour enhancing sealer that impregnates into the pores of the stone protecting it from within and improving the natural colours of the stone in the process. I particularly like to use it on Travertine as it really does bring out the brown shades in the stone.

Filling Holes in a Travertine Tiled Floor

Once the first coat of sealant had dried I started the work to fill the holes throughout the installation using appropriate colours of stone filler resin. I purposely delayed doing this until the first coat of sealer was in place in order to prevent excess resin from being absorbed into the tile and causing unwanted staining. There were quite a few holes to fill so it took a while to complete, the filler also needs several hours to dry and harden even when assisted with a fan. Excess filler is then polished off using a 17” rotary scrubbing machine fitted with a white polishing pad and any dust is carefully vacuumed up before applying a second coat of sealer. The floor was then allowed to dry before a final polish with a new 3000 grit pad to achieve a high sine finish.

Once the cleaning process was complete and the first coat of sealant had dried I then commenced the repair work by filling all holes throughout using appropriate colours of stone filler resin, the first coat of sealant is to stop the excess resin from being absorbed into the tile and causing staining, the filler is allowed to dry and harden for several hours assisted with a fan on site. Excess filler is then polished off using a 17” rotary scrubbing machine and a white buffing pad. Any dust is carefully vacuumed up before applying a second coat of sealant. This is then allowed to dry before a final polish with a new 3000 grit burnishing pad to achieve a deep sine finish.

Pitted Travertine After Filled Polished Rushden
I’m not sure the photographs really show off the transformation that I had managed to achieve, however my customer was certainly happy and left me the following glowing review via the Tile Doctor feedback system.

My hall and kitchen floor has been down for 12 years and has been a high traffic area. The Tile Doctor has literally made it look like new again. Holes filled, smooth, shiny and new again! My fully tiled bathroom has also been rejuvenated, wall tiles, shower tiles and floor tiles. The water now beads on the tiles like a freshly waxed car, and the walk-in shower has been perfectly resealed. Money very well spent.
Thank you so much! Mr.J. White, Rushden

Pitted Travertine After Filled Polished Rushden
It’s always nice to get feedback like that, it really does make your efforts feel appreciated.

Professional Travertine Tiled Floor Restoration in Northamptonshire

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Travertine Tiled Floor Orlingbury Before and After Maintenance

Travertine Tiled Floor Maintenance Visit in Orlingbury

At Tile Doctor, we have a long history of bringing tiles back to life – typically after they have experienced many, many years’ worth of neglect. If fact you can see photos on our many websites, that show the dramatic difference we can make.

Keeping a floor looking good once it’s been restored is the job of the sealer which will protect the tile from dirt becoming ingrained in its pores. However, sealers do wear off with use so in most cases we generally recommend you ask us to pop back every six to twelve months to give the floor a quick clean and top-up the sealer. We call this a Tile Doctor Maintenance Plan and it’s designed to ensure your tiles always look their best.

By way of example the photographs on this page are of a beautiful Travertine tiled floor, at a property in the Northamptonshire town of Orlingbury. The floor was originally laid around ten years ago and we were called in three years ago to perform a full restorative clean which took a couple of days to complete. The customer was amazed with the results achieved by the initial work and wanted to ensure it remained that way, so we worked out a maintenance plan for the customer and we pop back every year to do a maintenance clean and top-up the sealer.

Travertine Tiled Floor Orlingbury Before Maintenance Travertine Tiled Floor Orlingbury Before Maintenance

One of the advantages of the maintenance plan is that it can be paid for over the course of the year with monthly instalments, or as a one-off payment once the work is completed. The customer can choose either option.

The photos below show the same Travertine tiled floor after we had performed a maintenance clean for the third time. You won’t see a dramatic difference, just a floor that has retained its natural beauty all year round. This annual clean is far less disruptive than the original full restoration service and can normally be carried out over the course of a single day.

Maintenance Clean and Seal for Travertine Tiled Floor

The products and methods involved in the maintenance clean vary depending on the type of stone. To begin with, we vacuum the floor to remove any debris and then perform a light clean with a Tile Doctor product. This product is usually either Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner or Stone Soap depending on if the floor is polished stone.

Neutral Tile Cleaner is a pH neutral cleaner that is specially formulated for regular cleaning and ensures your sealed surface remains undamaged. Stone Soap is a similar product for light duty cleaning but with an additive that help build patina.

If we are restoring polished stone, such as Travertine, Marble or Limestone, we proceed to perform a light polish of the tiles using a very fine 3,000 grit Tile Doctor diamond encrusted burnishing pad fitted to a floor polishing machine.

Travertine Tiled Floor Orlingbury After Maintenance Travertine Tiled Floor Orlingbury After Maintenance

To finish, the floor is dried quickly using a series of fans and one coat of a Tile Doctor sealant is applied to top up the sealant that was originally applied during the restoration clean. In this situation, we applied Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which is an impregnating, colour-intensifying sealant that dries with a matte finish.

Again, you won’t see a dramatic difference in the pictures above, the idea is to maintain the original finish which given time will degrade as the sealer wears off.

Northamptonshire Tile Doctor Maintenance Plan Information

Travertine Tiled Floor Maintenance Visit in Orlingbury Read More »

Tumbled Travertine Kitchen floor before after Cleaning in Lower Boddington

Tumbled Travertine Kitchen Tiles Rejuvenated in Lower Boddington

Some of the world’s best-known Travertine quarries are found in Italy. In fact, the curved columns of the Vatican City are made from Travertine. But the stone is popularly used for flooring in many other countries, including the UK. It’s a form of Limestone which is quite soft and porous, but has unique aesthetic characteristics, including natural pits and voids.

The natural process of corrosion, known as pitting, makes it so that without the right maintenance and adequate sealer, Travertine is very difficult to clean. The small holes that form in the stone can quickly become ingrained with dirt and other muck. Making things worse, many modern cleaning products are not suitable for use on Travertine: they are acidic and over time will cause further corrosion to occur.

Recently, I was called to a property in the quaint Northamptonshire village of Lower Boddington to rejuvenate a tumbled Travertine tiled kitchen floor. The house was a very busy one, with children and dogs running around. Needless to the say the tiles were looking worse for well and were in desperate of restoration, including cleaning, polishing and sealing to brighten the appearance of the floor and protect it from everyday stains and foot traffic.

Tumbled Travertine Kitchen floor Before Cleaning in Lower Boddington Tumbled Travertine Kitchen floor Before Cleaning in Lower Boddington

Cleaning and Polishing Tumbled Travertine Kitchen Tiles

The first thing I needed to do was to remove the plinths from the kitchen units and cover the base units and appliances with a protective film to prevent them from encountering the cleaning products.

Next, I began the process we know as burnishing, which involves the application of diamond encrusted burnishing pads to the tiles to resurface and polish them. In the Tile Doctor system, there are four such pads, each possessing a different level of grit. These pads are fitted to a rotary scrubbing machine and then applied sequentially, starting with the Coarse pad, before moving through to the Medium, Fine, and Very Fine.

A small amount of water is used as lubrication with each pad and I stopped in this case between the application of each pad to soak up any excess moisture using a wet vacuum. The result after completing the burnishing process is a very refined and high-quality polished finish.

After burnishing the tiles, I followed by cleaning the grout lines carefully using a combination of handheld brushes and Tile Doctor Pro Clean, which is an alkaline-based tile and grout cleaner.

Sealing Tumbled Travertine Kitchen Tiles

I left to the floor to dry out completely overnight and would return the following day to carry out a final polish of the tiles and to seal the stone. I did this using two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal, which is a natural-look, impregnating sealer designed to provide maximum protection. You can see the fantastic results in the photos below.

Tumbled Travertine Kitchen floor After Cleaning in Lower Boddington Tumbled Travertine Kitchen floor After Cleaning in Lower Boddington

Before leaving my very happy customer to the enjoy, I left her with customer with a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Stone Soap, a neutral and highly reliable cleaner for natural stone floors such as Travertine. This will assist her in maintaining the appearance and condition of the tiles going forward. Another satisfied customer!

Professional Tile Cleaning, Polishing and Sealing for a Tumbled Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Restoration in Lower Boddington

Tumbled Travertine Kitchen Tiles Rejuvenated in Lower Boddington Read More »

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor After Polishing Daventry Northants

Badly Stained and Pitted Travertine Kitchen Tiles Restored in Daventry

This Travertine Tiled kitchen floor was in a farmhouse close to the village of Newnham near Daventry. The client had called us in because she was concerned that her floor was becoming increasingly difficult to keep clean which was due to the small holes and pits becoming ingrained with soil and it was becoming difficult to remove as the original sealant had worn off.

Hopefully you can see from the pictures the results that can be achieved on a badly stained and pitted Travertine floor. The first photo below shows the extent of the problem due to many holes in the floor, this is a characteristic of Travertine and normally these holes are filled in the factory but the filler does come out over time leaving holes.

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Daventry Northants

Cleaning a Pitted Travertine Tiled Floor

The floor was cleaned using a combination of Tile Doctor Burnishing Pads to re-surface the tile and the application of Tile Doctor Grout Pro-Clean agitated with a stiff brush to clean out embedded soil in the pits and grout lines. The Burnishing pads fit a rotary floor polishing machine and come in a series of different grits which are applied from Coarse through Medium and then Fine and lubricated with a little water.

I also carried out some repairs to the larger holes with a travertine filler that was mixed to match the existing colours. The second picture shows the repairs in progress, the filler is mixed and applied before leaving an hour and then polishing off any excess filler with dry cloth, the floor was then vacuumed and allowed to fully dry overnight allowing the product to harden.

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Daventry Northants

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

The floor was polished and sealed the following day using 2 coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal sealant to protect the grout lines and stone from any staining in future, it leaves a no-sheen natural look which worked very well in the kitchen area.

I waited a for the sealant to dry and then carried out a water repellency test to check it was fully sealed before giving the floor a final polish using a Tile Doctor Polishing Pad.

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor After Polishing Daventry Northants
 

Professional Travertine Tiled Floor Restoration in Northamptonshire

Badly Stained and Pitted Travertine Kitchen Tiles Restored in Daventry Read More »

Travertine Kitchen Tiles After Cleaning Helmdon Close-Up

Badly Stained and Pitted Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated in Helmdon

The following pictures show the amazing results that can be achieved with a badly stained and pitted Travertine floor. Covering an area of approximately 40m2 the tiles had been laid four years earlier in the Kitchen and Hallway of a house in Helmdon Village. The sealer had since worn off and dirt had become ground into the pores of the stone making it very difficult to clean effectively. Travertine does look amazing but does need to be sealed to keep it looking that way.

Travertine Kitchen Tiles Before Cleaning Helmdon
The first few photos show the floor before any cleaning was undertaken and the customers kitchen units which we had wrapped to protect against any splashing. We always take great carewhen working in peoples homes to avoid any damage and we advise that as much furniture as possible is removed from the area to be cleaned. In this case the client was unable to move the large table as they had nowhere to store it fortunately we carry specialist furniture sliders to allow us to move furniture backwards and forwards during cleaning so were able to work around it.

Travertine Kitchen Tiles Before Cleaning Helmdon Showing Pitting

Cleaning a stained Travertine tiled floor

The floor was cleaned using a combination of Tile Doctor Burnishing Pads and Tile Doctor Pro-Clean with a stiff brush to clean out embedded soil in the tile pits and grout lines, I also carried out some repairs to missing grout along the edges and around the oak beams to match the existing colours.

The Burnishing pads are applied individually to each tile in sequence starting with acoarse pad and finishing withthe fine pad. The floor is rinsed in-between each pad and the resulting residue extracted from the floor using a wet vacuum. The pads are encrusted with diamonds and are ideal for bringing back the finish of stone surfaces like Travertine.

Travertine Kitchen Tiles During Cleaning Helmdon
The picture above should give you an idea of the machinery required to achieve professional results.

Sealing a Travertine tiled floor

Before leaving for the day the floor was given a final rinse with water and as much water and moisture as possible was extracted from the floor using the wet vacuum. When we returned the next day the floor had dried and we were able to apply the sealer. On this occasion we used Tile Doctor Colour Grow was applied to both the Travertine tiles and the grout lines, not only will this protect both the tile and grout from staining Colour Grow also enhances the natural colour and beauty of the stone.

Travertine Kitchen Tiles After Cleaning Helmdon
The owner of the property was very happy with the result and left the following comment on the Tile Doctor feedback system, I always appreciate it when clients take the trouble to do that.

“Phil was at all times pleasant to talk to, professional in his approach and accommodating of our needs. Worked very well. Richard , Helmdon”

Travertine Kitchen Tiles After Cleaning Helmdon Close-Up
 

Stained and Pitted Travertine Kitchen Floor Restoration in Northamptonshire

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travertine tile after burnishing steverton

Burnishing Travertine Tiles To Restore Lustre in Staverton

Travertine is a highly coveted and popular choice for tiled floors – and it’s easy to see why. At peak condition, it’s one of the most beautiful and eye-catching types of tile that is available. However, the appearance of the stone tends to suffer heavily from a natural process of corrosion know as pitting, which results in small holes developing that easily fill up with dirt and muck over time. This ingrained dirt is particularly difficult to remove with domestic, supermarket-quality cleaning products.

This customer, who lives in Staverton, near Daventry in Northamptonshire, was very concerned that his Travertine tiled floor had lost its former lustre and shine due to pitting issues, continued foot traffic, and the fact that the sealant has lost its performance over the last few years and hadn’t been topped up. Dirt had therefore been allowed to penetrate both the grout and stone making it look dull and uninviting.

Travertine tile before burnishing Steverton Travertine tile before burnishing Steverton

A quote was issued and accepted to restore the floor to its former glory. It was agreed the work would best be carried out whilst the customer was away on a short break with his family.

Burnishing and Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Floor

I decided the best course of action to bring the floor back to its former glory would be to hone and polish the stone with Tile Doctor diamond encrusted burnishing pads. Our burnishing process involves removal of a very thin layer of the top surface of the stone using four pads of different grits.

The first pad has a Coarse 400 grit. It is attached to a rotary machine and, with only water for lubrication, removes minor scratches, sealers, and the top surface dirt. Working in small areas of four-six square metres each, I applied the pad across the the entire floor, rinsing in between eras and picking up the soiled solution with a wet-vac machine.

I then repeated this same procedure with the second pad, which is a Medium 800 grit pad used to remove dirt from minor scratches and holes in the stone. Next, I mixed up some Tile Doctor Pro Clean and sprayed it on the grout lines, which were only lightly soiled, and used hand brushes to clean them. The next burnishing pad I used had a Fine 1500 grit, which is used to start the polishing process.

Following the application of the first three pads, I stopped to allow the area to dry overnight. To get the best results with burnishing, it is best that the tiles are dry as otherwise you won’t achieve the highest level of shine possible. Returning the following day, I proceeded to apply the final Very Fine 3000 grit burnishing pad to achieve a very high quality polished finish.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

Once the burnishing process was completed, I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal to seal the tiles. Ultra Seal is a no-sheen, natural look impregnating sealer designed to provide maximum protection against dirt and stains. The second coat was allowed to dry for an hour before I re-polished the entire floor with a very fine 3000 grit pad to refine the polish even further.

The fantastic results can be seen in the photos below.

Travertine tile after burnishing Steverton Travertine tile after burnishing Steverton

The customer was very happy with the result, leaving the following feedback:

“Just wanted to thank you for an excellent job in cleaning and returning our dining room and kitchen floor to its former glory. It looks fantastic! The floor definitely benefits from a more honed/polished finish.”

It’s always nice to get feedback like that, it really does make your efforts feel appreciated.

Travertine tile after burnishing Steverton
 

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Pitted travertine after repair Oundle

Polished Travertine Tiles with Pitting Issues Restored in Oundle

Although at first glance this Travertine tiled floor in Oundle appeared to be in decent condition, upon closer inspection however it became very clear that it was suffering from significant pitting issues and had become very dull for a polished stone. While they can’t necessarily be seen in the photographs, the floor had hundreds of small holes across the entire area, along with a few hairline settlement cracks in a few particular tiles.

It is natural for Travertine to become pitted and for small holes to appear over time. To give the stone a smooth appearance these holes are filled at the factory; however, in high traffic areas such as kitchens and living rooms these fillers pop out and the holes quickly fill with dirt and grime, making the floor grubby and difficult to clean.

Needless to say the property owner was keen to have the Travertine restored as quickly as possible to avoid the situation becoming worse.

Pitted travertine before repair Oundle

Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Floor

To begin the restoration, I needed to clean the whole floor to remove the dirt and muck that had become ingrained in the Travertine. I did this using our reliable high alkaline cleaner known as Tile Doctor Pro Clean, which I applied liberally and worked into the stone using the Tile Doctor diamond burnishing pad system, paying special attention to the grout lines.

There are four pads in the system and each burnishing pad is fitted to a rotary machine and ran across the floor in sequence starting with the coarse pad and finishing with the fine pad using a little water to help lubricate.

Pitted travertine during cleaning Oundle
Before applying the final polishing pad, I went round on my hands and knees and filled all the holes and cracks with an appropriate colour filler which did take some time to complete.

Pitted travertine during repair Oundle

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

After allowing the new filler to dry overnight, I returned to the property to polish off any excess by hand with a cloth. Following this, I gave the tiles a final polish with the Very Fine diamond encrusted burnishing pad which gave the floor a uniform polished finish.

To protect the floor in the future the last step was to apply a fresh sealant in the form of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, a fanatic product for high-end tiles like Travertine, Limestone and Marble. Colour Grow is a colour enhancing, impregnating sealer which fills the pores in the stone to prevent trapped dirt and also emphasises the natural colours and shades in the process.

The tiles were then left to dry for two hours. I then opted to test for water repellency to check the sealant would provide adequate protection, with a successful outcome. The final picture below shows the finished results: clean, well-protected Travertine tiles with improved sheen.

Pitted travertine after repair Oundle
My customer was very pleased to have the pitting problem resolved, while also having the floor deep cleaned and sealed and left the following testimonial on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Phil did an amazing job of repairing the holes and cracks and cleaning the pale coloured grout, which now looks like new. Lovely transformation. I have tried the Tile Doctor Stone Soap and this has given the floor a deep shine. I would gladly recommend Tile Doctor to anyone. Sonia A, Oundle

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Travertine Tiled Kitchen with Stained Grout Northampton

Travertine Tiled Kitchen With Badly Stained Grout Cleaned in Northampton

Earlier this month I was in the town of Northampton, to see a client who had reported a problem with her Travertine kitchen tiles. Basically the grout between the tiles was badly stained, to the point of appearing almost black.

Travertine Tiled Kitchen with Stained Grout Northampton
The Travertine tiles were also in need of some maintenance, and so I was commissioned to provide a clean, polish and a fresh seal. Travertine is a popular choice for kitchen flooring due to its relatively high durability and distinct features. My task was to get this floor back to looking its best.

Cleaning badly stained grout

My priority was to address the badly stained grout so I cleaned the grout lines by hand using a combination of hand brushes and Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up. The surface was pre-wet with water, before a solution of Grout-Clean Up and clean water was applied to the surface. The brushes were then used to agitate the solution. Grout Clean-Up contains a mix of concentrated phosphoric acid and cleaner designed to penetrate below the surface of the grout to remove grout stains, smears and mineral deposits.

As you can see from the photos, Grout Clean-Up made an immediate difference to the appearance of the tiles. This product is suitable for use on masonry and acid resistant surfaces. After completing the clean, I gave the floor a thorough rinse to neutralise the floor after cleaning and removed as much of the water as possible using a wet vacuum.

Travertine Tiled Kitchen with Stained Grout Northampton

Burnishing Travertine tiles

Following this, I paid attention to the tiles themselves, cleaning them to achieve a polished effect by using a system of burnishing pads. Tile Doctor burnishing pads comprise a set of four pads varying in grit type, from Coarse and Medium to Fine and Very Fine. I applied all four pads in turn to the floor, stopping to rinse the floor in between each. The result was a high quality polished finish.

I then left the floor to dry completely overnight, before commencing the seal the next day. My choice of sealing product was Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour intensifying sealer that both enhances the natural appearance of the stone and provides a durable surface seal.

Travertine Tiled Kitchen with Stained Grout Northampton
My client was very pleased with the finished product, and left the following comment on the Tile Doctor feedback system: “efficiently done”, yielding “good results”.

Dealing with Stained Grout in a Travertine tiled kitchen in Northamptonshire

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Stained Travertine Hallway Oundle After Cleaning

Renovating A Badly Stained And Hole-Marked Travertine Tiled Floor In Oundle

I recently completed quite a substantial cleaning job at a house in the small, historic market town of Oundle, Northamptonshire. My client had a badly stained Travertine tiled floor that ran throughout her hallway, kitchen, utility area, and toilet.

Travertine is a fantastic choice for tiled floors because it has distinct features which no other stone can offer. It’s not surprising, then, that is popularly used for both residential and commercial flooring. In this case however the appearance of the tiles had been further spoiled by dozens of holes, and my client had attempted to remedy this problem by filling some of the holes with concrete. This had left the floor looking inconsistent and certainly worse for wear.

Stained Travertine Kitchen Oundle Before Cleaning Stained Travertine Hallway Oundle Before Cleaning

Cleaning a stained Travertine tiled floor

On day one, my first job was to address the holes marked the tiled surface. I filled the unsealed holes with matching filler, before re-colouring the concrete that had been previously used as a makeshift sealer, thus creating greater consistency in the appearance of the floor.

Following this, I made a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, which is a high alkaline cleaner which is safe to use on stone, in order to tackle the bad staining on the tiles and grout lines. Once applied to the floor, the solution was left to dwell for a short period of time. By allowing the solution to sit like this, the cleaner is able to seep into the stone, get underneath the dirt and stains, and lift them to the surface. Pro-Clean is highly effective at treating stained tiles, while common acid-based, household cleaning products can cause further damage over time.

To remove the resulting muck from the surface I used a set of Tile Doctor Burnishing pads applying them individually to each tile in sequence from Coarse to Fine, rinsing the floor in-between each pad and removing the resulting residue using a wet-vac machine. The pads are encrusted with diamonds and are ideal for bringing back the finish of Travertine and did a great job of making the filled holes look part of the original floor.

Stained Travertine Kitchen Oundle After Cleaning

Sealing a Travertine tiled floor

After leaving the floor to dry overnight, I returned to the house to seal the newly cleaned tiles. I did this using Tile Doctor Colour Grow, a colour intensifying sealer that also provides a durable surface seal and pleasing finish (as you can see from the photographs).

Overall the job took roughly two days of work to complete and my client was extremely pleased with the results and even left the following comment on the Tile Doctor feedback system:

“Phil was reliable and very professional. Written quote provided detailing in exact detail the work to be done and the products to be used. It was a large area that needed to be treated. Arrived on time and got the job done in good time. Certainly recommend Phil”.

Stained Travertine Hallway Oundle After Cleaning
 

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Travertine Tiles After Cleaning Polishing in Northampton

Polished Travertine Tile Maintenanced in Northampton

Polished stone floors such as Travertine need to be regularly maintained correctly or will lose their sheen over time, additionally grout lines can fill with dirt and light scratches can quickly dull down Travertine and attract yet more soil. This was the case with this Travertine tiled floor in Northampton which had been left too long between deep cleans and now the protective sealer had worn off and were badly scratched and soiled.

Travertine Tiles Before Cleaning Polishing in Northampton

Burnishing Polished Travertine Tiles

To get the surface back to a condition where it can be polished again it’s necessary to burnish the Travertine using a set of diamond encrusted floor pads. The pads come in a set of four and you start with the coarse pad which together with a little water cuts through and removes grime and sealers from the tile. This take a bit of time to get around the whole floor and then you rinse it down to remove any slurry and start again with the medium pad which is of a higher grade and is the first step in the polishing process. Again the floor is rinsed before moving on to the third pad which is a fine grade and is the second step in bringing the polish back.

By this time it was getting late so the floor was given another rinse and I came back the next day to apply the final pad in the set of four which is a super fine pad that is run over the floor and puts the final shine on the polished Travertine. The floor was given another rinse and left to dry so it could be sealed later that afternoon.

Sealing Polished Travertine Tiles

There are a number of sealers that you can use on Travertine and in this case I chose Tile Doctor Colour Grow which in an impregnating sealer that occupies the pores in the stone to prevent contaminates lodging there and also does well to bring out the natural colours in the stone.

Travertine Tiles After Cleaning Polishing in Northampton
All in the job took two days and I’m happy to report the customer was very happy with the results.

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Ceramic Tiled Hallway After

Travertine Kitchen floor Cleaned and Sealed in Brixworth

This house in Brixworth near Northampton had Travertine tiles fitted in the kitchen and Ceramic tiles in the hallway, both of which were in need of a deep clean. It was clear that the sealer on the Travertine tiles had stopped working allowing dirt to become ingrained in the surface causing it to become very difficult to clean, you can see this quite clearly in the photographs below, the grout had also become darker.

Travertine Kitchen Tiles Before Travertine Kitchen Tiles Before

Cleaning Travertine Tile

Travertine is a very hard surface so normally it’s necessary to use diamond encrusted burnishing pad system to clean, strip and polish the floor, in this case however I decided to try a combination of stripping and high pressure clean instead. I started by applying a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a multi-purpose tile cleaner safe to use on natural stone. This was left to dwell on the floor so it could get to work on the dirt before being worked in to the stone using a black stripping pad fitted to a rotary machine. This was then rinsed off with high pressure spinning tool operating at 1200 PSI to blast out the dirt from the pitted tiles and badly soiled grout lines.

Sealing Travertine Tile

The tiles were left to dry overnight and we came back the next day to seal the Travertine tile with two coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which will provide on-going stain protection as well as giving the tiles the glossy finish the customer had requested.

Travertine Kitchen Tiles After Travertine Kitchen Tiles After

Cleaning Ceramic Tile

To tackle the Ceramic tiles in the hallway we used a similar system involving the use of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a scrubbing pad to get the tiles clean; Ceramic tiles however are usually glazed and won’t take a sealer the top layer of Grout however is porous and to protect that we applied Tile Doctor Seal and Go along the grout lines.

Ceramic Tiled Hallway Before Ceramic Tiled Hallway After

 

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