Sandwich Archives - North Kent Tile Doctor

Blue Travertine Kitchen Floor Tiles Renovated in Sandwich Kent

Blue Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated in Sandwich

This client from Sandwich had a Blue Travertine floor in their kitchen which is not as common as its ‘Yellow’ cousin but certainly more interesting to look it. It does however have the same maintenance requirements and unless the sealer is maintained will trap dirt. This happens very gradually over many years until one day you look down at the floor and think, ‘How did that happen?!’

Blue Travertine Kitchen Floor Tiles Before Cleaning Sandwich

I visited the property to conduct a free survey of the floor and assured the client that the appearance of their unique Blue Travertine floor could be restored with a deep clean, polish and fresh sealer. I explained the renovation plan and the costs involved which they were happy to accept and a date agreed for the work to start.

Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Kitchen and Utility Floor

On day 1 work started with cleaning the grout lines using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong industrial strength alkaline cleaner. Its applied to the grout lines, left to soak in for a while and then scrubbed in using a stiff brush by hand. This process lifts the dirt from the grout line into the solution and then extracted from the surface using a wet vacuum.

Next, a 400-grit diamond burnishing pad was applied to the stone floor with using water for lubrication. This is the first step in the honing and polishing process that will remove the ingrained dirt and restore the polished appearance of the Travertine. This was followed by the 800 and then 1500 grit burnishing pads, slowly cleaning and re-building the polish. In between each pad the soiling was extracted with the wet vacuum.

Blue Travertine Kitchen Floor Tiles During Cleaning Sandwich

Once done, it was as far as we could do for the day and we left, allowing the tiles to dry overnight.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen and Utility Floor

Returning the next morning work began by checking the moisture readings of the floor using a damp meter. The readings were good and it confirmed the floor was dry and ready for sealing. This check is really important as applying a sealer to a damp floor would impact its ability to cure and result in it looking patchy.

Before applying the sealer, I ran a very fine 3000-grit burnishing pad over the floor to further bring up its polished appearance. This is applied with a small amount of water sprayed onto the tile using a process know as a Spray Burnish. This really finishes off the honing process and by now the floor had a good sheen to it.

The sealer of choice was Tile Doctor’s Ultra Seal a natural look, impregnator that soaks into the pores of the tile protecting it from with and without altering the natural appearance of the honed stone. Two coats were applied and a final buff with a White pad left the kitchen floor looking like you could eat your dinner off it!

Blue Travertine Kitchen Floor Tiles After Renovation Sandwich

My client was very happy with their difference I had made to the Blue Travertine tiles which really looked like they had just been installed.

Lovely guy that came out, arrive in time and kept me informed of progress of the job.do not hesitate to use Tile Doctor.

Before leaving I took time to discuss aftercare cleaning which for a polished stone floor like this, I recommend the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is a gentle cleaning product that won’t impact the sealer and will maintain the patina.

Professional Restoration of a Blue Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor in Kent

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Dirty Terracotta Floor Deep Cleaned and Sealed in Sandwich

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Margate Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Graham Davis

I was called to a property in Sandwich, which is a few miles south of Margate, to look at renovating the Terracotta flooring in the kitchen, dining room and conservatory. The house was originally three cottages and close to the end of a project to convert them into one property.

Terracotta Floor Before Cleaning Sandwich Kent

The floor hadn’t been cleaned in years and the porous nature of the Terracotta tiles meant that the floor had taken on a lot of dirt. During my visit to the property, I carried out a small cleaning test on one of the tiles to show the client what they could expect by way of results. The test went well, and I was able to work out an accurate quote for the renovation. Happy with the test clean and my quote I was booked to do the work and we arranged a convenient date of my return.

Sandwich is a beautiful historic part of Kent, it was one of the Cinque Ports and still retains many of its medieval buildings and older properties. As you may have suspected the town also gave the name to the food, we regularly tuck into courtesy of John Montagu who was the 4th Earl of Sandwich.

Cleaning Dirty Terracotta Floor Tiles in Sandwich

Working in sections I started with the application of a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to soak into the tiles for roughly ten minutes. This was then worked into the Terracotta using a 400-grit burnishing pad fitted to a rotary buffer machine. The process generated a lot of red slurry which was vacuumed away using an industrial wet vacuum. The tiles were exceptionally dirty and more rinsing with water, and vacuuming was needed to remove all the soiling.

Terracotta Floor During Cleaning Sandwich Kent

The pad had struggled to reach into the pits of the tiles and recessed grout so for the next step I chose to fit a nylon wire attachment to the floor buffer and run it over the tiles and the especially the grout. This did the job and cleaned out the puts and the grout lines very well. The floor immediately looked significantly better.

Using fresh water with a weak solution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up, a mop and bucket the floor was given an acid wash to remove any old grout smears and neutralise any alkaline salts that could lead to efflorescence issues later. Once done the floor was rinsed with more water and the solution vacuumed off the floor. The floor was then left to dry for two days so it would be ready for the next step of sealing.

Sealing Old Terracotta Floor Tiles in Sandwich

Two days later I returned on schedule ready to apply a fresh sealer. I was concerned about the amount of water used during the cleaning process, so I started by checking the moisture level of the tiles with a damp meter.

I was happy with the readings so lost no time in applying the sealer. Three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow were applied which is an impregnating breathable sealer that soaks into the Terracotta occupying its pores and preventing dirt from residing there. This product contains a colour enhancing element that really brings out the colour in the Terracotta and being fully breathable it will be able to cope with any moisture rising through the tile which can be an issue with these old floors that don’t have a damp proof membrane.

Terracotta Floor After Cleaning Sandwich Kent

With a sealer now in place protecting the floor any dirt will remain on the surface where it can be easily mopped away. On that note I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for regular cleaning, this will ensure that the floor can be cleaned without compromising the newly applied sealant. Household cleaners tend to contain strong chemicals which will break down the seal prematurely.

The client was very happy and left the following feedback, its short but he gets the message across.

‘Graham did an excellent job thank you’

Professional Restoration of a Terracotta Tiled Conservatory, Kitchen and Dining Room Floor in Kent

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