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.
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.
 |
 |
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.
 |
 |
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.
When cleaning sealed tiles with a mop we recommend using two buckets, one containing a neutral pH cleaning fluid such as Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner or Stone Soap and the second where you rinse your mop afterwards, otherwise you will contaminate your cleaning fluid with dirt.