polishing

Marble Tiled Floor Renovation Macclesfield

Polishing a Dull Marble Kitchen Floor in Prestbury near Macclesfield

The photographs below are of a Marble tiled floor at a property in the pretty East Cheshire village of Prestbury near Macclesfield. The Marble tiles ran through much of the ground floor including the hallway and kitchen. The Marble had lost its shine and the once cream grout was going black with dirt, additionally there were a couple of deep-seated stains which I suspect was from a spillage of some sort.

Marble Floor Before Polishing Prestbury Macclesfield Marble Floor Before Polishing Prestbury Macclesfield

Interestingly before contacting me my client hadn’t realised, it was expensive Marble tiled floor, and thought it would need replacing. Fortunately, I recognised it straight away and was able to advise that it just needed polishing and the grout cleaning.

I quoted for cleaning the Marble tiles, restoring the polished appearance using a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads, cleaning the grout, spot treating the stains and sealing the floor to protect it. My client has happy with the quote which was considerably cheaper than replacement and a date scheduled for the work to begin.

Marble Floor Before Polishing Prestbury Macclesfield

Cleaning/Renovating a Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor

To restore the polished appearance of the Marble I used a set of four burnishing pads which are applied to the floor in sequence from coarse 400-grit through to a fine 3000-grit. The pads are fitted to a rotary machine and run over the floor until each tile has been burnished using only water to help lubricate. The first pad cleans up the stone and removes old sealers. this is then followed with the finer 800-grit, 1500-grit and finally a 3000-grit pad. Except for the 3000-grit, each pad is applied with water and the floor is rinsed and the soil extracted afterwards with the wet vacuum.

Marble Floor During Polishing Prestbury Macclesfield

There was a lot of area to cover so I did this work in sections and during the rinsing and extraction process gave the Grout lines a good clean using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean tile and grout cleaner and a handheld scrubbing brush. Fortunately, the Marble tiles were large format so there were less grout lines to clean. The Pro-Clean really gets to into deep seated dirt and grease which tends to accumulate in the grout.

Marble Floor Before Polishing Prestbury Macclesfield Marble Floor Before Polishing Prestbury Macclesfield

To take out the deep staining I sprayed on a product called Tile Doctor Reduxa, it doesn’t dissolve the stain like most cleaning products it seems to attach itself to the contaminates which can then be lifted out by evaporating with heat from a heat gun. It takes a little time to do but it’s very effective and innovative.

After a final rinse with water and extraction with a wet vacuum, the floor was then left to dry off overnight assisted by the under-floor heating.

Sealing a Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned on the second day and started by checking the floor was dry by taking several moisture readings with a damp meter. The readings were good, so I proceeded to seal the floor using a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Ultra-Seal.

Marble Floor After Polishing Prestbury Macclesfield Marble Floor After Polishing Prestbury Macclesfield

Ultra-Seal is an ideal sealer for Marble as it seeps into the stone and occupies the tiny pores within thereby preventing dirt from accumulating there. Additionally Ultra-Seal is almost invisible and won’t change the natural colour of the stone which was perfect for my client who was happy with the colour of the beautiful Cream Marble as it was.

Marble Floor After Polishing Prestbury Macclesfield

Once done the floor looked transformed and for aftercare, I left a bottle of Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is designed for the regular cleaning of polished stone and helps maintain the patina. I’ve also offered to pop back once a year to do a maintenance clean which involves giving the tiles a quick polish with a 3000-grit pad and top up the sealer.

 

Professional Restoration of a Marble Tiled Kitchen in East Cheshire

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Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Before and After Polishing Wilmslow

Polishing a Dull Travertine Kitchen Floor in Wilmslow

This is a Travertine tiled floor installed at a property in the popular Cheshire town of Wilmslow around 16 years prior. It had previously been maintained by a Tile Doctor colleague about three years ago and the owner was hoping the floor could be given a simple maintenance clean and seal. This is a service we provide as part of an annual maintenance plan, unfortunately after surveying the floor it was clear they had left it far too long, the floor had lost its shine and it would now need to be resurfaced with a set of diamond burnishing pads and then resealed.

Travertine Floor Before Polishing Wilmslow Travertine Floor Before Polishing Wilmslow

Naturally burnishing the floor costs more than a simple seal and polish but if you are going to opt for the quicker maintenance plan route it does need to be done at least annually and possibly more frequently if it’s a floor in frequent use such as a kitchen. We agreed a price for the work, and I arranged a time with them to return and renovate the floor.

Travertine Floor Before Polishing Wilmslow

Cleaning/Renovating a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

To restore the polished appearance of the Travertine I used a set of four burnishing pads which are applied to the floor with a rotary machine. You start with a coarse 400-grit pad using water to lubricate and running it over each tile at least three times. This first pad cleans up the stone and removes old sealers. This is then followed with the finer 800-grit, 1500-grit and finally a 3000-grit pad. Except for the 3000-grit, each pad is applied with water and the floor is rinsed and the soil extracted afterwards with the wet vacuum.

The Grout lines were also deep cleaned with a scrubbing brush and Tile Doctor Pro-Clean tile and grout cleaner. The product really gets to into deep seated dirt and grease which tends to accumulate in the grout. After a final rinse and extraction, the floor was then left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned on the second day and started by checking the floor was dry by taking several moisture readings with a damp meter. The readings were good, so I proceeded to seal the floor using a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. Colour Grow is an ideal sealer for Travertine as it seeps into the pores of the stone enhancing the natural brown colours in the process. It also offers great protection going forward.

Whilst I was there I had noticed that one of the doors had scratched the floor, fortunately the polishing process had got the scratches out of the stone but to prevent future scratching I helped them remove the door so a carpenter could shave off a few mm’s from the bottom.

Travertine Floor After Polishing Wilmslow Travertine Floor After Polishing Wilmslow

My customer left the following feedback:

“Second time had Travertine floor restored, cleaned & sealed, the first time was 3 years ago. Great job done then by Simon Bywater. This time Kamila did a really professional job on the kitchen limestone floor. A bit more expensive this time, but a good job was done. Have left instructions for her to contact me in 12 months time for annual maintenance on the same floor, hopefully to prevent restoration being required! Highly recommend the service.”

The floor looked great and they should now be able to maintain it in between the maintenance visits, with day to day cleaning using Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner.

Travertine Floor After Polishing Wilmslow

 

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tiled Kitchen in East Cheshire

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Marble Bathroom Counter tops Before and After Polishing Bowden

Marble Bath Surround Polished in Bowden

Although most of the work we do involves floor cleaning you should know we also cover stone worktops in Kitchens and countertops in bathrooms. An example being this opulent bathroom with Marble countertops that surrounded the sink and bath.

The bathroom was installed at a house in the up-market area of Bowden which together with the villages of Hale and Hale Barns are regarded as being the wealthiest parts of Greater Manchester. The customer had got in touch to ask if we could restore the appearance of the Marble surrounds which had become dirty and etched through general use.

Marble Bath Surround Before Polishing Bowden Marble Bath Surround Before Polishing Bowden

Restoring the Appearance of Marble Countertops

My first job was to protect the wood panelling and lush red carpet that surrounds the bath, once all was protected we started to use a set of tile doctor six-inch burnishing pads to clean the Marble and restore the polish.

Marble Bath Surround Before Polishing Bowden
The Burnishing pads come in a set of four and are applied to the stone with a little water in sequence from the coarse 400 grit pad which removes etching and then through the medium 800-grit, fine 1500-grit and finally the very fine 3000-grit pad which restore shine to the Marble. I use a hand-held buffing machine to do this and carefully rinse in-between each pad to remove the small amount of slurry which is generated.

The last 3000-grit pad is applied with just a spay of water using what we call a spray burnish technique, this also has the benefit of leaving the stone dry which is exactly how we need it for the next step in the restoration process which is applying a sealer.

Sealing Marble Countertops

To finish off the restoration, I proceeded to seal the Marble tops with Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone protecting it from within. I should add, Ultra Seal is a natural look sealer that doesn’t change the colour of the stone.

The sealer is applied with a soft cloth, left for five minutes and then the excess is polished off with a soft cloth. We also replaced the silicone sealant around the bath and wash basins and once we were finished the bathroom looked newly installed.

Marble Bath Surround After Polishing Bowden Marble Bath Surround After Polishing Bowden

The customer was over the moon that we brought life back to her impressive bathroom.

Professional Marble Vestibule Polishing in Cheshire

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Travertine Tiled Floor Before and After Polishing in Eaton

Large Travertine Floor Polished at an Eaton Barn Conversion near Congleton

This customer who lives in Eaton near Congleton had a new barn conversion built with a 120 sq. meters of polished Travertine floor tiles. Unfortunately, he was unable to appreciate the beauty of the floor due to builder’s walking all over them for a few weeks without any protection. With dirt being trodden into the tile they were now in need of a deep clean and polish to bring back the shine and restore the real beauty of the tiles.

Polished Travertine Floor Before Cleaning Eaton Polished Travertine Floor Before Cleaning Eaton

Cleaning and Burnishing Polished Travertine Tiles

After giving the floors a good brush to remove grit etc. the next stage was to apply a set of tile doctor diamond encrusted burnishing pads to take off the ingrained dirt and restore shine to the tiles.

The first pad was a coarse 400 grit which fits onto a rotary machine with water spread on the floor as lubrication. The pads literally scratch off the dirt and the resultant slurry is then removed with a wet vacuum. The floor is then washed and the process was repeated with the next two pads which are 800 and 1500 grit. These pads are much finer and restore the finish of the stone, again the floor is rinsed in between each pad to remove the slurry each time.

Polished Travertine Floor During Cleaning Eaton Polished Travertine Floor During Cleaning Eaton

The floor is then left to dry off overnight which is much quicker when underfloor heating has been installed.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Entrance Hall

When I came back the next day I finished off the burnishing process using the last floor pad which is applied dry to the floor with a few squirts of water. This final pad is 3000 grit which is super fine and builds up a high gloss shine on the Travertine.

To finish off the process I then sealed the floor using a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the Travertine occupying the pores and preventing dirt from becoming ingrained into the stone. Colour Grow also enhances the natural colours in the stone and in this case, it did a great job of bringing out the brown shades in the Travertine.

Polished Travertine Floor After Cleaning Eaton Polished Travertine Floor After Cleaning Eaton

The customer was over the moon with the finish and asked if I would come back in three weeks to buff the whole floor to a high shine ready for a party that evening.

Polished Travertine Floor After Cleaning Eaton Polished Travertine Floor After Cleaning Eaton

 
 

Professional Travertine Floor Polishing in Cheshire

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Marble Tiled Enterance Congleton Before After Cleaning

Marble Entrance Hall Restored Through Burnishing in Congleton

A fantastic Marble tiled entrance hallway is the first thing you see when you open the door to this property in Congleton. Unfortunately, polished stone does need regular maintenance to keep its appearance, especially in high traffic areas such as this vestibule which had lost their shine, leaving them looking dull and unexceptional. Needless to say, the property owner was keen to get the floor restored to its former glory. That’s where I stepped in.

Marble Tiled Enterance Congleton Before Cleaning

Cleaning and Burnishing a Marbled Tiled Entrance Hall

There was no evidence of old sealers present on the floor, so I started deep cleaning the tiles and grout lines using a solution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean mixed with clean water.

A quick word on cleaning here, as an alkaline-based cleaner, Tile Doctor Pro-Clean is suitable for use on natural stone floors, including acid-sensitive stone such as Marble and Limestone. Many everyday household cleaners from the supermarket are acidic, which will erode the life of the sealer and a strong acid can etch the surface of sensitive stone, so make sure to source the correct cleaning product to avoid this problem.

The cleaning solution was left to soak into the tiles for ten minutes before being worked in to give a thorough clean using a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. The soiled cleaning solution was then removed with a wet vac machine, and the floor washed down with clean water.

The next step in the restoration was to restore the polish on the surface by burnishing the floor using the Tile Doctor four pad burnishing pad system. This involved the application of a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads fitted to a floor buffing machine. Each of four the pads are used in sequence from the coarse 400 grit pad through to the 3000 grit extra Fine pad applied in sequence with a little water to lubricate and giving the floor a rinse in-between each pad to remove the slurry.

Sealing a Marble Tiled Entrance Hall

To finish off the restoration, I proceeded to seal the floor using Tile Doctor Shine Powder, a sealer in crystallised powder form which increases the polish and durability of the floor which is especially useful in a high traffic area..

Marble Tiled Enterance Congleton After Cleaning

Once I had polished off the excess, the floor had an exceptionally high shine and a robust, durable surface. Now that the entrance hallway has been completely restored it is a real asset to the house. The customer was very happy with the result and will surely be showing off these beautiful Marble tiles to their guests.
 
 

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