Tag Archives: kitchen floor

White Moleanos Limestone Floor Renovated in Harrogate, North Yorkshire

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These tiles are White Moleanos Limestone which I must say is not my favourite, you can just breath on them and they will stain, so not a practical choice for any floor really. They had been installed in the kitchen of a house in Harrogate and although it was only a small floor it was trapping the dirty and the owners were pulling their hair out trying to look after it.

I went over to survey the floor and explained to them Moleanos Limestone is a chalky stone from Portugal which is very porous and being so pale meant dirt easily stood out. With porous stone like this you need to ensure that the sealer is kept in good condition otherwise dirt will become ingrained in the pores and once that happens it becomes very difficult to clean effectively. In fact, once the sealer has worn off even dark coloured soles can mark it.

White Moleanos Limestone Floor Before Cleaning Harrogate

I carried out a small test patch, which was successful so once we had agreed a price, they were more than happy to go ahead with getting the work done. We booked a time the following week, the work would take a couple a days, one to deep clean and one to seal.

The property is in a lovely area of Harrogate which is well known for its tourist attractions, it is said that Harrogate spa water contains iron, sulphur and common salt. The town became known as ‘The English Spa’ in the Georgian era, after its waters were discovered in the 16th century. Later in the 17th and 18th centuries its waters (containing iron) were a popular health treatment, and this led to an influx of wealthy but unfortunately sickly visitors which in turn contributed significantly to the wealth of the town.

White Moleanos Limestone Floor Before Cleaning Harrogate

Cleaning a White Moleanos Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

To restore the appearance of the stone I used a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads which clean and slowly hone the stone giving it a natural polished appearance. This is a slow steady process working through the different grades of burnishing pads from coarse to very fine. The pads are applied with water to lubricate and the soil generated is extracted with a wet vacuum afterwards.

Once the burnishing process was completed, I inspected the floor and was pleased to see that the floor was looking significantly better than when I had arrived. I gave the stone a final rinse and extracted as much moisture as possible with the wet vacuum before leaving for the day. The floor was left overnight to be sure that it would be dry before sealing. In the meantime, I asked the client to avoid walking on it.

White Moleanos Limestone Floor During Cleaning Harrogate

Sealing a White Moleanos Limestone Tiled Hallway Floor

I came back the next day and checked the floor was dry. All was well and so I proceeded to seal the floor using three coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which will add the protection the stone needed. Ultra-Seal is a premium, no-sheen, natural-look sealer. It provides maximum stain protection, especially in food preparation areas like the kitchen. It is also great for sealing the grout to prevent colour change from spillages.

White Moleanos Limestone Floor After Cleaning Harrogate

The client was very happy and satisfied with the floor which looked much cleaner and fresher. After discussing after-care they were confident they could keep the floor looking that way going forward.

White Moleanos Limestone Floor After Cleaning Harrogate

 

Source: Limestone Tile Cleaning and Sealing Service in Harrogate, North Yorkshire

Large Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Sealing in Shepperton, Middlesex

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This Limestone kitchen floor in Shepperton was laid new 3 years ago when a new kitchen was installed. The client had called in despair as the floor was just not looking its’ best and they were trying hard to get it clean, using household cleaners which were having no effect. I’m actually based in Shepperton, so it wasn’t long before I was able to pop round and survey the floor. The town has a lot of history and is famous for nearby Shepperton Studios which were built on the grounds of Littleton Park, many famous films have been created here including Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982) and David Lean’s A Passage to India (1984).

Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Clean and Seal Shepperton

As you can see from the pictures, the soil had penetrated the stone as the sealer had broken down over time. The grout lines were particularly bad but also, the small veins and pores had accumulated dirt, mainly due to pets and kids coming in from the garden. It’s worth noting that the use of supermarket cleaning products will have escalated the decline of the sealer, most are simply too strong for sealed surfaces and you should always read the label to ensure its suitable before using it on your floor.

Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Clean and Seal Shepperton Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Clean and Seal Shepperton

This problem is quite common, and the solution is straight forward. Restoring the look of the floor requires removing the soiling with a deep clean and then when the floor is dry apply a new sealer to protect it. I talked the process over with the customer and agreed a quotation for completing the work which was accepted and arranged a convenient date. The work would be carried out over two days.

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

A strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was sprayed on to the floor and after leaving it to soak in for about ten minutes, we mechanically scrubbed the solution into the Limestone using a rotary floor buffer fitted with a black scrubbing pad. The pads can struggle to reach into the recessed grout however to that was manually scrubbed using more Pro-Clean. This process broke down the soil and released it from the stone and grout. Following this, we used a low-pressure rinsing machine and vacuumed all the soil and remaining cleaning product away from the floor.

Whilst I was working on the floor, I got the shock of my life as a bird hit the kitchen window resulting in a loud bang. I rushed outside to find a beautiful Green Woodpecker lying dazed on the floor, the poor thing had knocked itself unconscious. I put him in a cardboard box until he eventually recovered and flew off. I guess being able to drill into trees makes Woodpeckers tough birds who can withstand a knock or two. In this job no two days are the same, you never know what’s going to happen!

Shepperton Woodpecker

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

After allowing 24 hours for the floor to dry, we returned the following morning to apply a new seal. The best sealer for this type of stone is Tile Doctor Colour Grow. It is a colour enhancing impregnator that soaks into the pores of the stone protecting it from within whilst enhancing the natural colours in the process. Impregnating sealers work by occupying the pores in the stone thus preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there.

Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Clean and Seal Shepperton

The client was delighted with the floor which now looked cleaner and fresher. We had managed to restore it back to it looking as it did when it was new, and the new sealer will keep it looking that way for some time to come.

Limestone Kitchen Floor After Clean and Seal Shepperton Limestone Kitchen Floor After Clean and Seal Shepperton

For a free, no obligation quote for cleaning and sealing your stone or tiled floors in Shepperton, Middlesex, please call us on 0345 512 0122

 

Source: Limestone Tile Cleaning and Sealing Service in Shepperton, Middlesex

Large Honed Limestone Kitchen Floor Polished in Daventry

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The following photos show a recent job we undertook at a timber framed house in the village of Upper Boddington, just south of Daventry. The client was having a new kitchen installed but didn’t want to replace the floor as it was generally in good condition, just dull with some staining and general wear and tear.

As the photos show the kitchen units had already been removed and as the tiles were wall to wall this was an ideal time to have this work carried out as the kitchen was being reconfigured and the customer wanted the floor to look uniform throughout, we also included the hallway in the cleaning process.

Honed Limestone Floor Before Restoration Upper Boddington

Burnishing and Cleaning Polished Limestone Tiles

With tiles made of Limestone, Travertine, Marble and other high quality polished stone, we find that the best way to restore appearance is through a process known as burnishing and in the before photo you will see the specialised grinding and polishing equipment we use to achieve brilliant results and a professional finish.

Honed Limestone Floor Before Restoration Upper Boddington

As the tiles were worn and stained in the high traffic areas we applied Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which had been diluted and decanted into a pump-up sprayer. After leaving it to soak in for ten minutes it was scrubbed into the tile and grout using a rotary floor machine and a stiff brush. This was followed by washing and rinsing of floors with water and extracting the soil with a wet vacuum.

The next step was to apply a full set of Tile Doctor Stone Burnishing pads from 200 grit, 400 grit, 800 grit and finishing with 1500 grit for a honed look. We worked through the pads in 10 metre sections at a time lubricating with water and rinsing with water between each pad.

The kitchen and hallway floors were then allowed to dry out fully overnight.

Sealing Polished Limestone Tiles

The next day I returned to the property and completed the polishing process by applying the very fine 3000 grit burnishing pad with a little water and leaves a high shine finish.

The floor was then sealed with three coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal, which is a premium, natural look, impregnating sealer designed to provide maximum stain protection without altering the colour of the stone. The sealer takes an hour to dry and with three coats to apply it took most of the day to finish.

Honed Limestone Floor After Restoration Upper Boddington

The customer was happy with the results and left the following 5-star review on our site.

“Superb Service Chris P, Daventry”

Honed Limestone Floor After Restoration Upper Boddington

 
 
Source: Limestone Tile Cleaning and Sealing Service in Daventry, Northamptonshire

Restoring the Appearance of Bleach Damaged Limestone Tiles in a Staffordshire Kitchen

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First of all apologies for the quality of the photographs on this page, I clearly need to work on my photography skills. Normally photographs like these wouldn’t make the website site however they did capture the stain quite well so I thought they would be worth including. The customer who lives at a large house near Tutbury had a spillage on the lovely Limestone floor tiles in her kitchen which she tried to clean with different chemicals including bleach which just made the problem worse.

The trouble with bleach is it’s a strong acid which will eat through the sealer on your stone tiles, which in this case resulted in whitish circles you can see in the middle of the photograph below.

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor in Tutbury Before Stain Removal

The tiles were overdue a deep clean anyway so the owner called me in to renovate the floor and hopefully remove the staining.

Removing Staining from Limestone Tiled Floor

I started the process by giving the floor an initial clean with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong alkaline tile cleaning product. This wouldn’t address the staining problem but my intention was to get the grout clean and also remove any surface dirt and grit from the floor. The cleaning solution was scrubbed in and then rinsed off with water which was then extracted using a wet vacuum.

The best method for restoring the appearance of Limestone floor tiles requires stripping back the surface of the tile and then building back the polish of the stone using a process we call burnishing. To do this we use a set of diamond encrusted pads which come in different grades from coarse to very fine. The pads are applied using a floor buffer machine and each pad does a different job and you start with the course red pad together with a little water and then carry on with the white, then yellow pad again using a little water removing the soiled water along the way.

Although the floor now looked great the bleach had done more damage than first anticipated and had stripped the stone of its natural oils where the spillage had been. To rectify this I applied Tile Doctor Stone Oil to the floor which I’m happy to say resolved the problem.

Sealing Limestone Tiles

Once the Stone Oil has soaked in I followed up with the application of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a specially designed stone sealer that penetrates into the pores of the stone protecting it from within whilst enhancing the deep natural colours in the stone. The floor was then left for about one hour to dry before working in Tile Doctor Shine powder with a white buffing pad to give a really deep robust finish.

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor in Tutbury After Stain Removal

The floor was transformed after I had finished and before leaving I made sure to advise the owner on the correct way to maintain her floor in future.
 
 
Source: Limestone Tile Cleaning and Renovation Service in Tutbury, Staffordshire

Deep Cleaning White Limestone Tiles in a Oxfordshire Kitchen

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Photographs below of a White Limestone tiled kitchen floor at a house in Wallingford that was proving difficult for the owner to clean effectively. I went around to inspect the floor and could see that the sealer had worn off leaving the tiles vulnerable to dirt becoming ingrained in the pores of the stone. Once this happens it makes the job of keeping the floor clean quite difficult as you really need to get the dirt out of the pores of the stone to do it right and of course once you do dirt will soon become trapped again without a sealer in place.

Given these Limestone tiles were White the dirt was more visible than usual, so the customer was keen to have the floor deep cleaned to remove the ingrained dirt and then sealed to prevent the problem reoccurring.

White Limestone Floor Wallingford Before Cleaning White Limestone Floor Wallingford Before Cleaning

Cleaning White Limestone Kitchen Floor Tiles

To restore the floor back to its original condition I used a set of burnishing pads which are encrusted with industrial diamonds and come in different grades from coarse to very fine. Applied with a little water the coarse 400 grit pad is designed to strip the floor of dirt and old sealers whilst the remaining pads which are a finer restore the polished surface. Between each pad you need to rinse the floor with fresh water which is removed with a wet vacuum before finally being left to dry overnight.

On this occasion I found when I started with the 400 grit pad it wasn’t having the effect I was expecting and quickly established that this floor would need grinding back with a much coarser milling pad first. Fortunately I have numerous different types of pads available and was able to switch to a 50 grit milling pad which not only got rid of any remaining seal but also grinded out the ground in dirt. This does leave the stone in a rough condition so to restore the final finish I followed up with the 400 and 800 grit pads and finished with the 1500 grit pad, rinsing with water between each pad to remove the soil that is generated. It was quote a large floor, so it took two days to complete the process over every Limestone tile.

Sealing White Limestone Kitchen Floor Tiles

To seal the floor, I used Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which works by impregnates the stone occupying its pores and thus preventing dirt from becoming ingrained in there. This particular sealer doesn’t change the appearance of the stone and so leaves it with a natural look. Again, it was a large area, so it took two days to apply two coats. I then returned on day 5 to go over the whole floor with a 3000 grit polishing pad to give the floor a slight sheen.

White Limestone Floor Wallingford After Cleaning White Limestone Floor Wallingford After Cleaning

 
 
Source: Limestone Tile Cleaning and Renovation Service in Oxfordshire

Restoring Limestone tiles in West London

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This Limestone tiled kitchen floor in Hampton, Middlesex, was proving troublesome to keep clean and was now in need of a deep clean and re-seal to ensure easy maintenance in the future. Being a high traffic area the tile and grout had accumulated a high amount of soil over the years and the tiles had lost their shine due to wear on the face of the stone.

Limestone Kitchen floor cleaned in Hampton Before

Cleaning Limestone Tiles

I gave the floor a quick wash down with a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to ensure we had removed any surface soil and grit and then proceeded to burnish the Limestone tiles using a set of diamond abrasive burnishing pads fitted to a heavy rotary machine. You start with the coarse pad which cuts through the stone and removes any remaining old sealer and soil and then smooth off the surface ready to receive a new seal using the medium, fine and extra fine pads until a highly polished finish is achieved.

The grout lines were then scrubbed by hand using more Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a fair amount of elbow grease; the whole floor was then washed down with the water being removed from the floor using a wet vacuum.

Sealing Limestone Tiles

The floor was then left for twenty four hours to allow it to dry and then I returned to seal the Limestone and Grout using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is an impregnating sealer that occupies the pores in the stone so contaminates cannot become ingrained in the stone making it easier to clean in the future. Hopefully you can appreciate from the pictures how transformed the kitchen now looks.

Limestone Kitchen floor cleaned in Hampton After

 
 
Source: Residential and Commercial Stone Floor Cleaining in Middlesex

Limestone Floor Maintained in Coventry

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This Limestone Tiled Floor was installed in the hall and kitchen of a residence in Coventry. The floor had scratch damage in the middle of the kitchen and was dull from the previous use of the wrong cleaning products, the house had recently been sold and the new owners wanted the damage removed and Limestone sealed and polished so it looked new again.

Limstone Tiled Floor Before cleaning Limstone Tiled Floor showing scratch

Cleaning Limestone and Grout

The first task was to give the floor a general clean using a dilution Tile Doctor Pro-Clean with the focus on the ensuring the grout lines were given a good scrub to get them looking clean again. The dirty solution was then removed from the floor using a wet vacuum and rinsed with clean water.

Limestone like Marble and Granite is a very hard stone and needs to be cutback with burnishing pads to get it looking good again; the pads fit a rotary buffing machine and applied with a little water. Tile Doctor supplies a four pad Burnishing set for this purpose and you start off using a coarse pad to cut back the dirt from the floor and then move through the pads until you get to the last one which is very fine and polishes up the stone.

Limstone Tiled Floor Burnishing Pad

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

To protect the floor it was sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is designed to lift the natural colours in the stone and will protect the tile from stains in future.

Limstone Tiled Floor After Cleaning and Polishing3 Limstone Tiled Floor After Cleaning and Polishing

In total the floor took eight hours to clean and re-polish, the scratch was gone and the floor now looks new again, just what the customer wanted.
 
 
Source: Limestone Tiled Floors Maitained in Warwickshire

Polishing Limestone in Surrey

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Beautiful Limestone tiled floor installed in the kitchen of a house in Fulham, the owner was keen to have the floor cleaned and re-polished; Limestone is a very hardwearing material but does need an occasional professional polish to keep it looking its best.

Limestone Tiled Floor Before Limestone Tiled Floor Before

Cleaning Limestone Floor Tiles

The floor was given a quick wash with Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner in order to remove any surface grit and then cleaned using a set of Burnishing pads fitted to a rotary machine. The burnishing pads come in four different colours and you work your way through them starting off with the red pad with a little just water and then carry on with the white pad and then the yellow pad until the floor is thoroughly cleaned. Next step was to use Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along the grout lines with a stiff brush to get the grout clean as well. To bring up the polish on the Limestone tiles I used a green polishing pad which is the last in the set of the four burnishing pads.

Limestone Tiled Floor During Limestone Tiled Floor During

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

Once the floor was dry we set about sealing it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer designed to provide maximum stain protection on natural stone floors whilst bringing out the deep colour in the stone. The last step was to buff the floor to a nice shine with a rotary machine fitted with a white pad.

Limestone Tiled Floor After Limestone Tiled Floor After

This job took me two days, and the owner was extremely happy with the results and said it looked better than when it had first been laid eight years ago.

Limestone Tiled Floor Before and After

 
 
Source: Limestone Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Fulham

Limestone Tiles Polished in Burton Upon Trent

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This Limestone tiled floor was installed in a Kitchen at a house near Burton on Trent. You can see from the photographs below that the Limestone had lost its polished appearance and was trapping dirt on the surface including a few stubborn marks; the grout was also looking grubby and dark.

Limestone Floor Before Limestone Floor Before

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Floor

Restoring the shine on a polished stone such as Limestone, Travertine or Marble requires the surface to be stripped back and then buffed, which we did by using a set of burnishing pads. These diamond encrusted pads come in different grade sand each one does a different job from scrubbing to polishing. I started with the course red pad together with a little water and then carried on with the white, then yellow pads again using a little water removing the soiled water along the way. Finally when I had dried the floor I used a green pad to buff the floor up. This activity took most of the day so left the floor to dry off overnight.

Sealing Limestone Tile

On our return the next day the floor was given a quick wipe with a damp mop to get remove any debris or dust that may have landed on the floor overnight. This soon dried and we were able to apply two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a specially designed stone sealer that brings out the deep colour of the stone. Once this had dried it was given a quick once over with a white buffing pad fitted to a rotary machine on a slow speed, this step ensures any excess sealant is removed off the tiles.

The floor was then left for about one hour to dry before working in Tile Doctor Shine powder with a buffing pad to give a really deep finish. We were still not finished however; the grout was still looking grubby so we agreed with the customer to pop back the next day and apply Tile Doctor Grout Colourant in a Sandstone colour.

Limestone Floor After Limestone Floor After

When we had finished the customer was very happy with the work we done and even commented that it looked better than when they first had the floor laid. I recommended that for future maintenance and to extend the life of the sealer they should use Tile Doctor neutral cleaner, it’s a PH neutral cleaner and so is safe to use on sealed stone.
 
 
Source: Polishing Limestone Floor tiles in Staffordshire

Restoration of Limestone Floor in a Kitchen

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Details below of a Limestone tiled floor clean, polish and seal job we completed recently for a client in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. It’s quite common for a Limestone floor to loose it’s polished appearance over time and start to look dull and dirty and this floor was no different.

Limestone Tiled Floor Before

Stripping the Limestone Tiled Floor

To resolve we had to stripped back the Limestone surface using a set of burnishing pads, these diamond encrusted pads come in a number of different colours each one does a different job from scrubbing to polishing. I started with the red pad together with a little water and this does the job of stripping back the surface of the floor removing any dirt and seal in the process. We then cleaned the grout lines by soaking them in Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an effective alkaline cleaning product which we worked in with a stiff brush by hand; when we were happy with the results the soiled cleaning solution was removed with a wet vacuum and the floor washed with clean water.

The next step was to begin the polishing process by using applying the white, then yellow pad again in conjunction with a little water. Finally when I had dried the floor I used a green pad to buff the floor up. This activity took most of the day so left the floor to dry overnight.

Sealing the Limestone Floor

The next morning I arrived to find the floor had dried out enough for me to seal it which was done using a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a great sealer that impregnates into the stone and lifts the natural colours in the Limestone floor as well as providing stain protection. Once the sealer had dried I then finished it all off with a quick buff using a white buffing pad.

Limestone Tiled Floor After

Hopefully you can appreciate the difference in the photographs above.
 
 
Source: Maintaining Limestone Floor