Renovating a Silver Travertine Kitchen Floor with Tile Doctor Burnishing Pads in Shenfield Essex

The tiles in the pictures below are Silver Travertine located in the Kitchen of a client in Shenfield which is an affluent suburb of Brentwood. Silver Travertine rich blend of Silver and Grey and displays lots of character when maintained. In this case the floor hadn’t been cleaned and sealed in some years and the previous sealer had now worn down leaving it vulnerable to ingrained dirt and resulting in a dull appearance.

Unhappy with how the floor now looked I was asked to quote for renovating it. The owner was struggling to keep it clean and wanted it cleaning and re-sealing, additionally the grout was stained in places and needed attention.

I called in to survey the floor and was able to see for myself the problems they were facing. I worked out a plan for renovating the stone and grout and discussed what sort of finish they wanted for the floor which would affect the choice of sealer.

The renovation plan led to the creation of a quote which was accepted and a date scheduled for the work to start.

Cleaning a Silver Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

On arrival I applied a 1:3 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to dwell for thirty minutes so it could soak into the pores and break down the dirt, grease, and any remaining sealer. The floor was then scrubbed with a rotary buffing machine fitted with a coarse 400-grit burnishing pad to get the stone clean and free of sealer.

The grout was then hand scrubbed to get it clean as possible; the pads do clean the grout but can struggle to reach into the recesses of the grout line, so I always find following up by hand gets the best result. The slurry was then vacuumed off the floor using a wet vacuum and then rinsed with water and vacuumed again.

Next step was to apply the next burnishing pad in the series which is a medium 800-grit. This is the first step in the polishing process which improves the appearance of the Travertine and adds a pleasing shine to the tile. The pad is run over each tile several times using only water to help lubricate. Once done the floor is rinsed and extracted with the wet vacuum as before. This polishing process was then repeated using a fine 1500-grit.

After another rinse and extraction to the floor was left to dry off overnight with a turbo dryer left in place for several hours to speed things up.

Sealing a Silver Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

Returning the next day, I completed the polishing of the Travertine using a very fine 3000-grit burnishing pad which is run over the floor dry using a little water sprayed onto each tile as you progress. This left the Travertine with a lovely subtle shine; it also leaves the floor dry and ready for sealing.

To get the best from Silver Travertine we had chosen to seal the floor using Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that contains a colour enhancing formula. Two coats were applied leaving around thirty minutes drying time between each coat. Tile Doctor Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer that enhances and improves the colour and texture of natural travertine whilst providing durable protection.

My client was very happy with the improvement in the appearance of the floor, and I think you will agree the Travertine and Grout looks so much cleaner and inviting.

Before leaving I took time to discuss aftercare and recommended the client to use Tile Doctor Stone Soap as a maintenance cleaner.

Source: Travertine Floor Renovation Services and Solutions near Shenfield Essex