Travertine Kitchen Floor Stripped And Resealed In Wilmslow, Cheshire

Another quick job here in Cheshire, this time in the town of Wilmslow. Much like Alderly Edge, where I recently completed another job, Wilmslow is an affluent area known for its upmarket lifestyle and as a popular option for residence amongst celebrities and famous figures. In fact it is currently, and has previously been, home to several Premier League footballers from the nearby clubs Manchester United and Manchester City.

This job was another case of where a tiled floor had lost its shine due to the sealer wearing away over time. In this instance, my client had a Travertine tiled floor in her kitchen that she wanted to me to restore back to looking at its best.

Travertine Tiled Floor Before Refurbish Wilslow Travertine Tiled Floor Before Refurbish Wilslow

Travertine is a fantastic natural stone which possesses unique features that no other stone can offer. It offers a particularly distinctive design style, making it a popular choice both for commercial and residential use. Many homeowners use Travertine tiles for kitchen flooring, bathroom walls and floors and for external floors, such as patios.

Removing the old sealer

The process of stripping off old sealer can be done effectively and relatively quickly without using a liquid stripper. The best method is to use a series of fine diamond encrusted burnishing pads, which is exactly what I did in this case. The burnishing pads are applied in sequence from coarse, medium, fine and superfine to remove the old sealer without damaging the Travertine and then re-polish to a lovely polished shine.

Applying a new sealer for protection and colour enhancement

One the floor had been burnished, rinsed and dried; I proceeded to re-seal the floor with Tile Doctor Colour Grow. Colour Grow is particularly effective when to seal porous natural stone surfaces such as Travertine and Limestone, whether internal or external. This is because the product is specially formulated to penetrate deep into the pores of the stone, providing durable surface protection from within.

The other key benefit of Colour Grow is that it intensifies the colours within the stone, as you can from the photos. This adds additional character and flair to already impressive household features like this Travertine floor.

Travertine Tiled Floor After Refurbish Wilslow Travertine Tiled Floor After Refurbish Wilslow

The finished results were exactly what my client had hoped for. It goes to show that with the right methods and know-how such a big difference can be made to the appearance of tiled floors. I was very happy to help.
 
 

Maintaining a Polished Stone Floor in Cheshire

Limestone patio stripped and resealed in Alderly Edge

Details below of a Limestone patio I was asked to clean at a property in the affluent neighbourhood of Alderly Edge, Cheshire, famous for being the home of choice for several Premier League footballers. In fact Alderly Edge, which lies not too far south of Manchester and is one of the most sought after places to live in the UK. My client was unhappy with the look of the patio had previously been sealed using a topical sealer, and this had left the tiles looking dull and lifeless.

Limestone Patio Before Cleaning Alderly Edge Limestone Patio Before Cleaning Alderly Edge

Limestone is a fantastic natural stone, popularly used for internal floors as well as patios, it comes in a variety of fantastic colours and shades. What my client really wanted for the patio was a wet look to bring out the character of the Limestone. So, my job was to strip the old sealer off and replace it will one that would achieve the desired finish.

Stripping off the old sealer

To strip the old sealer from the patio, I used a series of fine diamond encrusted burnishing pads which are applied in order from Coarse, Medium, Fine and then Super Fine. The coarse pad is effective at stripping off sealer without damaging the tile, and without the need to use a liquid product. The finer burnishing pads then rebuild the appearance of the Limestone to provide a nice deep shine.

Applying Sealer to a Limestone Patio

The new sealer of choice was Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which can be used on both internal and external natural stone surfaces. Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer which penetrates deep into the pores of the stone, providing both long-lasting resistance and durable protection against ingrained dirt and stains. As you can see from the photos, Colour Grow is also specially formulated to intensify the natural colours in the stone, and it really helped to bring the Limestone back to life again.

Limestone Patio After Cleaning Alderly Edge Limestone Patio After Cleaning Alderly Edge

The finished job left this patio with the wet, polished look my client had requested. She was very pleased with the result and amazed by just how quickly such a marked difference could be made. Another happy client!
 
 

Putting new life into a Limestone Patio in Cheshire

Cleaning a Terracotta Brick floor in Alderly Edge

This is an interesting Terracotta brick tiled floor installed in a house in the village of Alderly Edge. The Terracotta tiles were made in a brick shape which was a popular design found in rural buildings in the 19th century. Although the floor was in good condition the sealer was starting to wear off and being clay Terracotta are porous and trap dirt if not sealed. You can see this in the before photograph below where you can see how the grout and Terracotta has darkened with ingrained dirt.

Terracotta brick tiled floor before cleaning in Alderly Edge

Cleaning Terracotta Brick Tiles

To get the Terracotta tiles clean and free of any remaining sealer I soaked tiles in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and left it to dwell for twenty minutes, Pro-Clean is an alkaline product and so safe to use on tiled floors. Then using a large 17inch black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine and a stiff grout brush proceeded to work the cleaning solution into the tile and grout. The now dirty cleaning solution was removed using a wet vacuum and the floor rinsed down with hot water. Some stubborn areas were spot treated using the same process and once happy with the overall condition of the floor the tiles were thoroughly rinsed three times using hot water to remove any trace of cleaning product prior to sealing and then left to dry overnight.

Sealing Terracotta Brick Tiles

I returned the next day to seal the floor testing it first with a damp meter to make sure it had dried. I then started to seal the tiles and with Terracotta being a very porous material it took eight coats of sealer to do the job. I used Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a topical sealer that gives Terracotta a subtle gloss finish, it’s also water based so it doesn’t leave a smell as it dries.

Terracotta brick tiled floor after in Alderly Edge

 
 

Terracotta Tile Cleaning in Cheshire