Removing Excess Sealer with a White Buffing Pad on Travertine in Cheshire
This Travertine Polishing enquiry came from a homeowner in the village of Delamere which is in the middle of the Cheshire countryside, West of Winsford. The customer had recently moved to the area and was unhappy with the dull appearance of their Travertine tiled kitchen floor, there were also small holes in the tiles which needed filling.
Travertine is a natural stone and holes or pitting can appear as thin layers of surface stone break down to reveal a cavity underneath. This is a common problem and can be made worse by the use of strong acidic cleaning products that eat away at the surface over time.
The solution was to fill the holes using a matching epoxy filler, deep clean the grout and then burnish the tiles to remove the dirt and bring up the polish. Happy with my quote we agreed a date for the work to commence.
Grout Cleaning and Filling Pitts in a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor
The first job was to fill the holes/pitts in the Travertine using a purpose made product called Tenax which comes in a variety of colours and is described as an adhesive filler that sets hard.
Step two was to get the grout clean so I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an alkaline tile and grout cleaner. I left this to soak in and breakdown the dirt for roughly ten minutes before scrubbing it in by hand. Once done the floor was rinsed with water and the soil now released from the stone extracted using a wet vacuum.
Polishing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor
To bring back the polished appearance of the Travertine I applied a set of four diamond burnishing pads of different grades in sequence from coarse to extra fine. The first two pads take off any remaining sealer and dirt, the floor is then washed down and the residue removed by wet vacuum. We then go onto the third pad which is a 1500 grit which starts to put a shine back on the stone. The floor is then washed down again with clean water and the slurry removed with the wet vacuum.
The floor is then forced dried by large fans and once dry the last pad is applied which is a 3000-grit pad that puts a high shine on the floor. A small amount of water is sprayed onto the tiles during this process which we refer to as a spray burnish.
Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor
Spray burnishing also leaves the floor dry and ready to be sealed. The owner wanted the Travertine to look as natural as possible so two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal were applied. This is an impregnating sealer which is recommended for use on polished stone and for use in kitchens. To finish and to remove excess sealer the floor was then buffed with a White pad.
I mentioned at the beginning of this post not to use strong cleaning products on Travertine and this advice is especially relevant if the stone is sealed as strong products including bleach can also erode the sealer. For the regular cleaning of sealed Travertine, I would recommend using Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is a gentle but effective cleaner that also helps maintain the patina.
Source: Travertine Floor Cleaning and Polishing Service in Cheshire