Peebles Tile Cleaning Archives - Edinburgh Tile Doctor

Dirty Travertine Tiled Floor Cleaned and Polished in Ayrshire

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.

Travertine Floor Before Polishing Ayrshire

This was a big concern for the owner, and so they contacted me to see what I could do to remedy the situation.

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.

Travertine Floor During Polishing Ayrshire

After burnishing the main surface of the floor, I used smaller, 6-inch pads to pay particular attention to the edges and corners. Then, to complete the cleaning process, I scrubbed a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean into the grout limes to remove ingrained dirt and stains. I also noticed some holes in the grout as well as some completely missing, and also promptly replaced these with new grout.

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.

Travertine Floor After Polishing Ayrshire

I’m pleased to say that my customer’s worries about this Travertine tiled floor have now been put to rest. The results were very pleasing for both myself and the customer, and I made sure to offer some general tile maintenance advice before being on my way. Another happy customer.

Thomas Wilson
Edinburgh Tile Doctor

Professional Travertine Tiled Floor Maintenance in West Scotland

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Original Marble Tiled Bathroom Floor Restored at a Hotel in Walkerburn

1 Comment / Marble Tile Cleaning, Peebles Tile Cleaning, Work History / Thomas Wilson

Windlestraw is a picturesque Edwardian manor hotel overlooking the Tweed Valley, near Walkerburn in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. One of the bathrooms in the manor was in the process of being refurbished when two layers of floor tiles were removed, unveiling an original Marble tiled floor dating back to the 1920s.

Marble Tiled Bathroom Floor Before Restoration Walkerburn

After the top layers of tile had been removed the Marble was still covered in old adhesive and cement and although Marble is known for its quality and durability the hotel owner didn’t want the building contractor to proceed any further in case they damaged it. The owner was keen to restore the Marble floor as an original feature so we were called in to set the situation right.

Refurbishing a Marble Tiled Bathroom Floor

To restore the floor I used two processes known as milling and burnishing. Milling literally involves grinding down uneven or rough surfaces using very coarse, diamond encrusted pads. The pads are usually used to resolve lippage issues on natural stone but in this case we needed to use the very coarse abrasive pads to grind off the adhesive and cement. I used a set of three coarse milling pads rinsing with water between each pad and starting with a 50 grit pad, before moving on to 100 and 200 grit pads. This process was very effective and ground off the cement and adhesive, while also removing any lippage in the tiles to leave a completely flat surface.

Milling leaves the surface of the Marble tiles clean but in a rough condition and this is where the second process Burnishing comes in. Similar to milling, burnishing focuses on achieving a polished finish with the application of ever finer grades of polishing pads and is often used to bring back the polish on Limestone and Travertine as well as Marble. Moving on to the burnishing, I worked my way through the four diamond encrusted pad system lubricating with a little water and again rinsing between each pad to remove the slurry. The grits go from Coarse (400 grit), Medium (800 grit), Fine (1500 grit) and then eventually Very Fine (3000 grit) and come in a 17” pad for use on a rotary floor machine and were applied twice in sequence to achieve a fantastic polished shine.

Sealing a Marble Tiled Bathroom Floor

The floor was given a final rinse and then dried with a wet-vacuum before we proceeded to seal the floor using Tile Doctor Shine Powder which is a crystallizing powder that is applied directly to the floor and worked in using a buffing pad fitted to a rotary machine.

Shine Powder provides a very high shine (as you can see from the photos), along with a tough durable finish. On top of this, it is suitable for sealing all natural stone, including, of course, Marble, along with Limestone, Granite, Slate and Travertine.

Marble Tiled Bathroom Floor After Restoration Walkerburn

The customer was absolutely delighted with the results as were we although it’s now up to them to ensure the bathroom fitters take appropriate care when completing the room which I’m sure will look absolutely fantastic when complete and no doubt add to the allure of this magnificent hotel in the Scottish Borders.

Professional Restoration of an Original Marble Tiled Bathroom Floor in the Scottish Borders

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Broxburn Tile Cleaning, Ceramic Tile Cleaning, Dalkeith Tile Cleaning, Dunbar Tile Cleaning, Dunblane Tile Cleaning, Edinburgh Tile Cleaning, Encaustic Cement Tile Cleaning, Fireplace Cleaning, Flagstone Tile Cleaning, Glenrothes Tile Cleaning, Grangemouth Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Kinross Tile Cleaning, Kirkliston Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Livingston Tile Cleaning, Marble Tile Cleaning, Musselburgh Tile Cleaning, Peebles Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Sandstone Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, St. Andrews Tile Cleaning, Stirling Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Vinyl Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Thomas Wilson

Edinburgh Tile Doctor

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