When we arrived at this property in Ayrshire, Edinburgh, it appeared as though the owner’s Travertine tiled floor was in relatively decent condition.
On closer inspection, however, we could see that the grout lines were quite dirty and, while there was still a visible shine to the surface, it had become cloudy, likely due to a lack of sufficient maintenance.
Cleaning and Burnishing a Dirty Travertine Floor
After agreeing with the customer to undertake the work, I travelled to the property in Ayrshire, a county located in the South West of Scotland, on the shores of the Firth of Clyde.
Upon arrival, I set about using a set of large diamond encrusted burnishing pads fitted to a rotary machine to strip the tiles of old surface sealer, break down the layers of dirt, and restore the polished shine. The Tile Doctor burnishing system comprises four main pads of varying grit: I began by applying the Coarse grit pad, before moving on to Medium, Fine and Extra Fine to gradually achieve the desired level of polish.
Sealing a Travertine Floor
The floor was then left overnight in order to allow it to time to dry completely. In the morning I returned to the house and opted to give the floor a final polish with the extra fine burnishing pad before sealing.
My choice of sealer was Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which was applied in two separate coats to protect the floor against wear and tear, while also accentuating the natural shades in the stone thanks to the sealer’s colour intensifying formula.
Edinburgh Tile Doctor
We recommend using a specialist cleaning product such as Tile Doctor Stone Soap for the regular cleaning of stone floors. If you wish to use something else the read the label in detail first, most supermarket tile cleaners are only suitable for Ceramic tiles as they are acidic and this will erode and reduce the life of the sealer over time.