Restoring a Sandstone tiled kitchen floor in Farnham

Laid six years ago at a house in Farnham this Sandstone tiled kitchen floor was routinely trampled on by two teenagers, gardening parents and two large dogs. All of this had taken its toll of the sealer which had worn off and without its protection the Sandstone tile and grout had turned an indistinguishable sea of brown.

The floor now needed a deep clean and reseal to restore it appearance and get it looking its best for which I had planned should take two days, the first day for cleaning and drying, the second for sealing and quoted accordingly. My client was happy with the quote and we scheduled a date to do the work.

Farnham is a market town in Surrey and is largest town in the borough of Waverley. It is quite a historic town, with many old buildings, including a number of Georgian houses. With good access links to the A3 and London by train its popular with commuters and I often get requests to work here.

Cleaning a Sandstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

I began by taping up the wooden skirting and the plinths in the kitchen to protect them from splashing during the work. Then armed with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a stiff brush I set about cleaning up the grout. The dirt released was removed with a wet vacuum before it had a chance to dry then using more Pro-Clean and a 17” buffing machine fitted with a rotating black nylon pad I cleaned the tiles.

The unamused dogs had been banished to the garden. I love dogs but they were chasing my machine around, so I needed to keep them out of the way. The floor tiles were surprisingly dirty, and the client was quite shocked by the amount of dirt I manged to extract.

Once finished I left the floor to dry off fully overnight, sealing a damp floor is never recommended and can result in a patchy appearance.

Sealing a Sandstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

Returning the next day, I first checked for areas that needed further attention and then took several moisture readings with a damp meter to check the floor was dry. Satisfied that it was, I was ready to apply the sealer.

We had discussed choice of sealer previously and for this floor I had recommended a Tile Doctor sealer called Seal and Go Extra which would be ideal for her traffic heavy floor. Sealing is an important step as it protects the tiles and grout from dirt becoming ingrained in the stone and improves the look of the stone. Seal and Go Extra is also super tough and should last for years if cleaned with the right product. It sets with a subtle sheen but not a shine which she definitely didn’t want. Three coats of sealer were applied which takes around two hours to be dry to the touch but really needs 24 hours for it to cure.

The sealer brought out the variety of colours in the stone floor and the family were happy with their new floor, now they just had to keep the dogs out of the way for 24 hours!

For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to keep the floor in great condition.

Source: Professional Restoration of a Sandstone Tiled Kitchen in West Surrey