Tag Archives: Stain Removal

Renovating a Stained Limestone Fireplace in Chelmsford

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The UK has been experiencing an increasing amount of rain over the last few years and this has resulted in quite a few areas being flooded. One of those areas is the old city of Chelmsford in the middle of Essex which is prone to flooding due to the rivers Cam and Chelmer that run through the town.

Limestone Fireplace Before Flood Stain Removal Chelmsford

I was asked to visit a property in the town that had been flooded over winter and the red dye in the carpet that was lying on the floor adjacent to their lovely Limestone Fireplace had stained the hearth in several places but primarily around the edges.

Limestone Fireplace Showing Red Dye Staining Chelmsford

The fire place had never been sealed and because of this the stone had sucked up the flood water like a sponge. They had drying equipment installed and as the moisture evaporated the red staining became more and more evident. Since then several companies had been to try and remedy the problem and each one was unsuccessful. The couple contacted us, and we went to assess the problem fully equipped to carry out the work.

Cleaning a Dye Stained Limestone Fireplace Hearth

Had the Fireplace been sealed we our first task would have been to remove to ensure we would have no issues sealing the fireplace later. In this case however that wasn’t an issue, so we were able to move straight onto cleaning up the stone using a set of diamond encrusted hand-held burnishing blocks. We started with the coarsest block (50 grit) and rubbed the stone with a bit of added water as lubrication, before wet vacuuming away the excess residue. This process was then repeated with progressively finer blocks (100, 200 and 400 grit), and the hearths were given a final rinse with fresh water.

The burnishing blocks are excellent tools to remove scratches and marks from tile and stone and did a good job of removing the red dye from around the hearth. They also took care of some marks that had appeared where the owner had placed a couple of slate tiles on the flat part of the hearth.

Limestone Fireplace Showing Rust Stain Spots Chelmsford

Along with these marks were some corrosion spots where a metal ornament had been sitting on the hearth for several years. I treated these with Tile Doctor Rust Away which is a specialist product for removing rust stains from tile and stone after a few applications the stain was gone.

Limestone Fireplace Showing Rust Stain Spots Chelmsford

Sealing a Limestone Fireplace Hearth

After we had cleaned the fireplace up to the satisfaction of the client we used a smail dryer to dry everything out so that we could finish the job and seal the fireplace the same day. Once the stone moisture levels were at the correct level the Limestone Fireplace was sealed using three coats of Tile doctor Ultra-Seal leaving twenty minutes between coats.

Ultra-Seal is a no-sheen product that impregnates the pores of the stone protecting from within without changing the look of the stone thereby leaving it with a natural appearance. I’m please to say our efforts paid off and the Limestone Fireplace and Hearth is now stain free and looking like new.

Limestone Fireplace After Rust Stain Removal Chelmsford Limestone Fireplace After Flood Stain Removal Chelmsford

 

Source: Limestone Tile Cleaning and Restoration Service in Chelmsford

Dealing with Wine Stains on Limestone in Woking

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Here at Tile Doctor we have developed numerous products and techniques for dealing with all types of situations related to the cleaning of stone, tile and grout. Whilst the most popular work we do relates to the cleaning and sealing of floors sometimes we get asked to resolve more unusual issues such as this Wine Stained Limestone Fireplace at a house in the London commuter town of Woking.

Unfortunately for the customer their teenage son had knocked a glass of red wine from the dining table onto the carpet and over his parent’s adjacent limestone fireplace which despite early attention left noticeable dark spots in the stone. The customer was keen to have the stains removed and had even resigned himself to the possibility of replacing the whole fixture. Naturally this would’ve cost hundreds of pounds; fortunately, however he discovered Tile Doctor on the internet and realised the staining could be remedied reasonably easily with the correct knowledge and products.

Limestone Fireplace Before Wine Stain Removal Woking

Cleaning a Wine Stained Limestone Fireplace

I mentioned earlier Tile Doctor have developed numerous products and techniques and this includes Tile Doctor Reduxa which is designed to lift the stains out of stone, so I decided to try that first.

My method of application was to spray the stain with Reduxa and leave it to soak into the stone for about twenty seconds. Then I worked the solution into the surface of the stain lightly using a smooth 400 grit diamond block. The next step involves using a heat gun to dry out the area. This process is repeated five or six times until the stain completely disappears. The process works by dissolving the stain into the Reduxa which is then evaporated by the heat.

Limestone Fireplace After Wine Stain Removal Woking

I’m pleased to report that the stain was completely removed by the process and no other treatment was required to resolve the problem further. The customer still has to decide however what to do with the carpet…
 
 
Source: Limestone Tile Cleaning and Sealing Service in Woking

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