Polishing Limestone Archives - Northamptonshire Tile Doctor

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovation Geddington

Pitted Limestone Floor Deep Cleaned, Polished, Filled and Sealed in Geddington

This client from Geddington called me in to renovate their Limestone tiled floor which had been installed throughout much of the ground floor. Limestone like any natural stone is porous and will suffer from ingrained dirt if the sealer isn’t maintained, so it’s not unusual to need work like this doing every three to five years.

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Geddington

I visited the property to survey the tiles and could see the stone had quite a lot of surface pitting which was trapping dirt and making it very difficult to keep clean. Pitting is quite common in this type of stone, and they are usually filled at the factory, however the filler can become dislodged with wear and the problem can be made worse by the use of acidic cleaning products.

Limestone Tile Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Geddington

Limestone Tiled Steps Before Cleaning Geddington

After surveying the floor, I came up with a comprehensive renovation plan that included deep cleaning the stone, filling the pits, polishing, and then sealing. I also made a note to discuss aftercare cleaning at the end so the floor wouldn’t get so bad in future.

Happy with my plan and quote a date was agreed for the work to commence.

Cleaning a Pitted Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

It was a large floor so to minimise disruption to the owner I split the job up into several areas and worked through the following process.

Work started with a general clean of the floor using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean with a focus on cleaning the grout. I used a strong dilution of Pro-Clean, left it to soak into the stone and grout for around ten minutes and then scrubbed it into the floor using a black pad fitted to a rotary machine. I also ran a stiff grout brush along the grout lines to get them as clean as possible. Once done the floor was rinsed and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum.

The next step was to hone the Limestone using a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads. These pads are great for bringing up the polish on a stone floor like this and you start with a coarse 400-grit pad fitted to a rotary floor buffer. Water is used to lubricate the process and the pads are run over each tile three or four times. The floor is then rinsed and extracted as before, and the process repeated with the 800 and then 1500 grit pads.

Once done the floor was looking much cleaner and brighter and ready for the next step which was to fill the pits. To do this I inspected the floor, identifying all the areas that needed attention and then filled those holes with a resin filler that is colour matched to the stone.

Sealing a Pitted Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

The last step was to seal the limestone and for this I used Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the stone, occupying the pores of the stone and thereby preventing dirt from residing there. Sealing keeps the dirt on the surface where it can easily be cleaned away. Ultra-Seal doesn’t contain any colour enhancers, so it leaves the stone with a very natural appearance which is what my client wanted.

Limestone Tile Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Geddington

Limestone Tiled Steps After Cleaning Geddington

The floor was transformed by the work and my client was very happy with the result, they even went to the trouble to leave the following review:

“We are absolutely delighted with the work undertaken by Philip, the Northamptonshire Tile Doctor. He has completely transformed very dirty limestone floors into something of great beauty – better than new. Philip was a pleasure to deal with throughout and we can highly recommend him.”

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Geddington

With regards to aftercare cleaning, I recommended they use Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is designed for cleaning polished stone floors and helps maintain the patina.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Floor in Northamptonshire

Pitted Limestone Floor Deep Cleaned, Polished, Filled and Sealed in Geddington Read More »

Limestone Kitchen Floor Cleaned Sealed Boughton Northamptonshire

Limestone Kitchen Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Boughton

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Northampton Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Philip Vissian / Boughton, Burnishing Pads, Cleaning Kitchen Tiles, Dirty Grout, Dogs, Floor Tiles, grout cleaning, Grout Sealing, northampton, Polishing Limestone, Pro-Clean, Sealing Limestone, Stone Soap, Ultra-Seal

These photos are of a four-year-old Limestone kitchen floor at a property in Boughton that the customer was finding hard to keep clean and maintain a shine. Part of the problem was he owned two dogs and we often warn about the problems of dog urine on sealed tile and stone due to it being high in nitrogen.

Limstone Kitchen Floor Before Clean Polish Boughton

On my initial visit I was able to ascertain that the sealer had almost completely worn off, leaving the stone vulnerable to dirt becoming ingrained into the pores of the stone. I come across this problem a lot, in my experience when stone floors are installed by tilers, they generally apply a single coat of sealant which wears off over time, and as discussed earlier can be prematurely degraded by strong chemicals.

My quote to renovate the Limestone floor was accepted and included a deep clean to the stone and grout, stone polish and then re-seal.

Cleaning/Polishing Limestone Tiled Flooring

I arrived on site on the arranged date and began by scrubbing all the grout lines with Tile Doctor grout brushes and a 3:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. I then moved on to a small handheld polishing machine to clean around the tile edges using 800 and 1500 grit diamond encrusted burnishing pad to achieve a deep clean.

The process was then repeated throughout the rest of the area using larger 17” burnishing pads fitted to a floor polishing machine. The burnishing pads I used come in a set of four starting with 400-grit and moving up to 800, 1500 and 3000 grit, after each pad is applied the floor is rinsed with water and the soil extracted with a wet vacuum.

It took me much of the day to complete this stage of the renovation and the floor was still damp so once done I left for the day, allowing the floor to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned the following day to complete the final polish using the 3000-grit burnishing pad, this gave a high polished finish which the customer had requested. This last pad is applied dry with only a little water splashed onto the tile, a process we call a spray burnish.

The floor was then sealed with three applications of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal Sealant to protect the newly restored and polished tiles. Ultra-Seal is a penetrating sealer that soaks into those recently cleaned pores in the stone, occupying the space and preventing any dirt from becoming ingrained there. It’s also a natural look sealer so it doesn’t change the colour of the stone in anyway and is almost indetectable once applied.

“Hard work from Philip has left us with a kitchen floor brought back to life – cleaned and sealed in little over 24 hours – brilliant job – Thanks”

Before leaving I gave the customer some tips on maintenance and a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Stone Soap to enable him to keep the floor looking its best, this product works well with the sealant we applied and is PH neutral so won’t degrade the new sealer.

Limestone Kitchen Floor After Clean Polish Boughton

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor in Northamptonshire

Limestone Kitchen Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Boughton Read More »

Limestone Tiled Floor Before and After Renovation Wellingborough

Renovating Polished Limestone Floor with Stained Grout in Wellingborough

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Wellingborough Tile Cleaning, Work History / Philip Vissian / Cleaning Kitchen Tiles, Floor Tiles, grout colouring, Grout Sealing, Polishing Limestone, Sealing Limestone, stained grout, Wellingborough

This Limestone tiled floor installed in a kitchen and family room at a property in Wellingborough is a great example of how this material can lose its appearance without a regular maintenance plan in place.

Limestone Tile and Stained Grout Before Cleaning Wellingborough

The customer called me as not only was she concerned that the floor had lost its lustre the grey grout had become very stained and almost black in heavy traffic areas, in fact my customer had originally asked about re-grouting but I was confident it could be cleaned.
I provided a quote which they were happy to accept.

Cleaning/Polishing Limestone Tiled Flooring

The area was a nice wide 6 metre by 5 metre space and except for a few items of furniture that would need moving around there were relatively few obstacles. I reasoned the most efficient way to restore the polished appearance of the Limestone would be to use a set of diamond encrusted Burnishing Pads. These are fitted to a rotary machine and applied to the stone in sequence from coarse to smooth. It’s an effective process that cuts back the layer of dirt on the floor and then we build back up the polish.

We started burnishing the Limestone with a coarse 400-grit pad fitted to a rotary machine and applied with a little water for lubrication. The coarse pad is very good at removing dirt and old sealers from stone and once completed the resultant surface water and loose dirt is removed using a wet vacuum.

At this point I turned my attention to the badly stained grout lines, and applied a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was scrubbed in along the grout lines using a stiff grout brush, this is necessary as the recessed nature of the grout makes it difficult for the rotary pads to reach it.

I then repeated the burnishing process with the medium 800-grit pad and fine 1500-grit pad, the 800-grit pad removes any small surface scratches and the 1500-grit further refines the look of the Limestone slowly restoring its polished appearance.

Renovating Stained Grout on a Limestone Tiled Floor

After the whole floor had been burnished in this way it was given a further rinse with water and the soil extracted as before. I then inspected the floor to see if more work would be needed.

I was not fully happy with how some of the grout lines had responded, some were still slightly stained, and some marks were visible in the high traffic areas. I had already discussed on my initial visit with the client that this might be the case and it was agreed between us that should this be the case I would apply a Tile Doctor Grout Colourant in Light Grey to recolour all the grout lines and achieve a uniform finish.

The stone and grout was still damp from cleaning and polishing, so I decided to leave the grout colouring until the following day.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

On day two I started by grout recolouring all the grout lines, it’s a straight forward process but can be a little tedious where there is a lot of grout to cover. Once complete I allowed the grout colour to dry for a couple of hours before moving onto the next step.

The last pad to be applied in the stone burnishing process is the very fine 3000-grit polishing pad which is applied dry to the tiles using a small amount of water sprayed onto the floor and leaves the stone dry and with a polished silk finish.

The floor was then sealed using two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal Sealant allowing the first coat to dry before applying the second. Ultra-Seal is an impregnating sealer that works by occupying the pores in the stone thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there. It’s also a natural look sealer that doesn’t affect the appearance of the stone

Limestone Tile and Stained Grout After Renovation Wellingborough

My customer was very happy with the transformation of her floor and provided the feedback copies below. In-fact she was so impressed with the results that she also used our services to restore the grout and silicon in one of her bathrooms.

“Phil was on time & easy to deal with and did an amazing job on my kitchen and bathroom floors and the carpets & sofa. No fuss, just a great job. Liz O.”

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor in Northamptonshire

Renovating Polished Limestone Floor with Stained Grout in Wellingborough Read More »

Kitchen Limestone Floor Polishing in Stanwick

Cleaning of Polished Limestone Kitchen Floor Tiles in Stanwick

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Wellingborough Tile Cleaning, Work History / Philip Vissian / grout cleaning, Honing Stone, Kitchen Floor Cleaning, Limestone Steps, northamptonshire, Polishing Limestone, Stanwick

I was contacted by a client from the village of Stanwick regarding their Limestone tiled floors, which were installed throughout the kitchen area and steps leading to the hallway. Polished stone does lose its appearance over time due to wear and this floor was now in need of re-polishing. An appointment was made to visit the client and carry out a survey of the floor.

Limestone Floor Tiles Before Polishing Stanwick

On my arrival I could see that the Limestone tiles had as suspected become dull and the grout needed attention; it was clear that the sealer had worn off in the busier area and dirt was now becoming ingrained in the stone and grout.

To bring back its polished appearance the floor would need to be honed with burnishing and then re-sealed to protect it. This is a straightforward task which would take two days and so I provided a quote to do the work. The quote was accepted, and the job booked in.

Cleaning and Honing Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

My first course of action was to protect the walls and kitchen units using a protective wrap before scrubbing the first area using a hot solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean using a rotary scrubbing machine fitted with a brush head attachment. This process lifted the dirt from the grout and surface of the tiles.

The floor was then rinsed thoroughly with water to remove the released dirt and cleaning solution which was then extracted off the floor with a wet vacuum. I then proceeded to burnish the Limestone using a set of four Tile Doctor Burnishing Pads fitted to a rotary floor machine. As usual I started with the application of a 400-grit coarse pad lubricated with water, this removes any remaining sealers and ingrained dirt from the stone. The slurry generated was then rinsed away using a wet pick up machine. I then repeated this process using the medium 800-grit and fine 1500-grit burnishing pads which slowly polish the stone, rinsing and extracting after each pad. The floor was then allowed to dry off overnight

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned the following day and continued the process using the superfine 3000-grit polishing pad which is the last stage in the polishing process and bought back the polished surface. In this instance I polished the floor to a high shine as requested by the customer. Only a small amount of water is used with this last pad, so it leaves the floor dry and ready for sealing.

To seal I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal Sealant which is an impregnating sealer that protects from within and gives the floor a natural look. The last step once the sealer was dry was to buff the floor to a nice shine with a rotary machine fitted with a white pad.

Limestone Floor Tiles After Polishing Stanwick

As the photos show, the floors were bought back to life with a gleaming high shine finish, the clients were extremely pleased with the results as you can see from their feedback below.

“Phil is a very hardworking and pleasant guy who kept me fully informed at all stages and the floors and patios look great. Many thanks. Michael B, Stanwick”

Whilst I was at the property the client asked me if I was able to clean their flagstone patio, I was able to do this and carried out the work for them, you can see the results achieved in the patio section of my website.

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Honed and Polished in Northamptonshire

Cleaning of Polished Limestone Kitchen Floor Tiles in Stanwick Read More »

Limestone Tiled Floor Before After Cleaning and polishing Yelvertoft

12-Year-Old Limestone Floor Renovation in Yelvertoft

1 Comment / Daventry Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Work History / Philip Vissian / Daventry, Hallway tiles, Honing Limestone Tiles, Kitchen Floor, Limestone Cleaning, northamptonshire, Polishing Limestone, Stone Renovation, Yelvertoft

I was called in to look at this Limestone tiled kitchen and hallway floor that had been installed 12 years prior at a small cottage in Yelvertoft. Yelvertoft is a small village with a population of less than a 1000 people near Daventry, with the Grand Union Canal passing close by.

I always like to do a site visit to survey the floor before recommending a solution, photographs help but you can never be certain until you have had chance to run some tests and discussed the history of the floor with the owner. As it turns out the stone had not been professionally cleaned and sealed since it was installed and was now in a bad state. So much so that my client was concerned it was beyond restoration and had considered replacing the floor.

Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Renovation Yelvertoft

I carried out a cleaning test on a small area and although it was very badly soiled, I found the Limestone responded well to our cleaning processes. The client was quite surprised as they had almost given up on it! We discussed the process involved, which would take two days and worked out a cost for the works. Confident I would do the job well my quote was accepted, and a date set for my return.

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Kitchen and Hallway Floor

Arriving on the first day, we noted that there was a fairly new oak stairway and beam that had been fitted. I protected these and the kitchen units with a protective wrap to prevent any splashes from the cleaning process.

To restore the appearance of the Limestone I started with the application of a set of Tile Doctor Burnishing pads beginning with a very coarse 200-grit pad instead of the usual 400-grit. I reasoned that with the Stone being in such bad condition it could benefit from the coarser pad which gives a very deep clean, removing light and medium scratches by resurfacing the top of the tile. The pads are applied with water to lubricate and the fine slurry generated is rinsed off afterwards with more water and then extracted with a wet vacuum. After applying the 200-grit pad this process is repeated with increasingly higher grit pads to further hone the stone and eventually finishing with a very fine 3000 grit pad to achieve a polished finish.

Once I was satisfied with the Limestone tiles a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and Grout Clean-Up was used to remove the stubborn staining from the grout lines. The floor was given a final rinse and extraction and you could see a huge improvement in the floor which looked lighter and much cleaner.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen and Hallway Floor

I allowed the floors to dry off overnight and returned the next day to apply a sealer first checking for moisture with a damp meter to ensure the floor was dry and ready for sealing.

To seal the Limestone, I chose Tile Doctor Ultra Seal Sealant which is a no-sheen, natural-look, penetrating sealer that is formulated to provide maximum stain protection, especially in food preparation areas like the kitchen. It is also an excellent grout sealer, but mainly it gives a lovely natural finish allowing the variations in the natural Limestone to shine through.

Limestone Kitchen Floor After Renovation Yelvertoft

The pictures and clients’ testimonial really do speak for themselves; I was really pleased that she was so satisfied with the result and had saved a fortune in relaying the floor.

“I was about to replace my Limestone 12 year old floor … then Phil the Tile Doctor worked his magic… I now have a good as new lovely floor, I am absolutely delighted. Thanks, so much Phil.” Louise O, Yelvertoft

Limestone Tiled Floor Professionally Cleaned and Polished in Northamptonshire

12-Year-Old Limestone Floor Renovation in Yelvertoft Read More »

Limestone Tiled Flooring Before and After Renovating Ecton

Honed Limestone Floor Renovated in Ecton

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Northampton Tile Cleaning, Work History / Philip Vissian / burnishing, Cleaning Limestone, Ecton, grout cleaning, Honed Limestone, northampton, Polishing Limestone, Sealing Limestone Tiles, village

I was contacted by the owner of a property in the picturesque village of Ecton who was concerned that her Limestone floor spanning the kitchen and open plan breakfast area was starting to lose its natural appeal and was finding it harder to clean and maintain.

Limestone Tiled Dining Room Floor Before Renovation Ecton

I went over to take a closer look at the floor and carry out a survey. In order determine the best cleaning method I conducted a test on a small area of the floor. This gives the clients confidence in my abilities and a good idea of what result we they can expect. The Limestone was honed smooth but was not polished and the customers were keen not to add too much of an unnatural shine to the floor. The grout lines in some of the more heavily used areas, such as by the sink, were also discoloured and would require a decent scrub with an appropriate cleaning product.

I spoke to the clients about options for the finish to be applied after cleaning and they decided that they wanted to keep the tiles as light as possible with a slight shine. With the clients impressed with the test area I prepared I went away and produced a detailed quote which was e mailed to them along with our general T&Cs and the work was booked in to be completed shortly after.

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Renovation Ecton

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Floor

The floor covered quite a large area, some 38m2, and had some larger items of furniture that needed to be moved before starting. The first task was to scrub the grout lines with a specialist grout brush, designed to work the product into the grout. Limestone is an acid-sensitive stone, so a strong alkaline cleaner was required. I used Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed with warm water at a ratio of 3:1 which was left to dwell for around twenty minutes.

The area was then rinsed with water and the soil extracted before applying a series of diamond impregnated burnishing pads attached to a rotary scrubbing machine, ranging from a coarse 400 grit (200 in some of the more stubborn areas), a medium 800-grit and finishing with a fine 1500 grit to clean the stone. The whole area was then rinsed again and extracted using a wet pick up vacuum. The floor was then left to dry overnight.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Floor

The following day a very fine 3000 grit diamond pad was used to ‘spray burnish’ the floor which uses very little water and ensures that any remaining residues are lifted as well as finishing the floor in the highest level of mechanical polishing possible prior to sealing.

If the clients desired a higher level of shine a powdered high shine sealer would have been worked into the tiles to achieve a highly reflective surface, however the mechanical polish was the highest level of shine wanted.

My client requested a completely natural finish so to seal the stone after cleaning I applied an impregnating sealer called Tile Doctor Ultra Seal. Impregnating sealers soak into the pores of the tile protecting them from within and Ultra-Seal doesn’t alter the appearance of the floor and so maintained the natural appearance of the stone keeping it as light as possible.

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor After Renovation Ecton

Aftercare instructions along with a bottle of suitable pH Neutral Tile Cleaner were supplied.
The customer was thrilled with the result and was surprised at the transformation of the floor, they even left the following feedback on the Tile Doctor website.

“Thank you so much Phil for a professional service resulting in my floor looking just as I wanted it too. You were attentive to all detail. I would strongly recommend Phil as a trustworthy, honest person to anyone who is considering work done. See you again in the Summer Phil to clean my patio. Natalie W, Northampton”

Limestone Tiled Dining Room Floor After Renovation Ecton

Cleaning and Sealing a Limestone Tiled Floor in Northamptonshire

Honed Limestone Floor Renovated in Ecton Read More »