Cleaning Limestone Archives - Edinburgh Tile Doctor

Vinegar-Stained Tumbled Beige Limestone Kitchen Floor in Kinross

The photos below are from a job I completed earlier this year at a property just outside of Kinross with a Tumbled Beige Limestone Kitchen Floor. The customer had managed to stain the limestone tile with Vinegar which had spilled onto the surface, leaving white etching. Several cleaning methods and products were tried but nothing worked and so I was asked for help.

Vinegar-Stained Tumbled Beige Limestone Kitchen Floor Kinross

Limestone is acid sensitive and vinegar contains Acetic acid with a pH of around 2.5 which unfortunately marked the surface of the stone. The only way to remove it would be to burnish the stone with a series of diamond pads of different grits which would cut through and refinish its appearance.

The trouble with this approach however is it would leave the affected section of flooring looking slightly different from the rest so I recommended the best course of action would be to clean and burnishing the whole floor and then reseal. The floor was due a clean and seal anyway so happy with my quotation and requesting a natural look finish a date was scheduled.

Cleaning Tumbled Beige Limestone Tiled Flooring

Burnishing the floor involved the application of a set of diamond burnishing pads of increasing grits. The first pad applied is a coarse 400-grit which cuts through the dirt and staining on the floor, the pad is applied with a dilution of Pro-Clean and fitted to a rotary machine with extra weights added for increased traction.

The pads can struggle to reach into the recesses of the grout line so more Pro-Clean was scrubbed into the grout using a stiff brush to lift dirt that had becoming lodged there. This process generates a fine slurry which was rinsed away and extracted with a wet vacuum.

The 400-grit pad was then swapped out for a finer 800-grit which is the first stage in the polishing process and the burnishing repeated using only water this time. After more rinsing and vacuuming the process was repeated again using a 1500-grit. The last pad is a super fine 3500-grit that really brings up the polish and this is applied dry with only a little water sprayed onto the tile.

Vinegar-Stained Tumbled Beige Limestone Kitchen Floor After Renovation Kinross

The polishing removed the Vinegar staining and added a lovely subtle sheen to the Limestone and left it looking spotless.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Hallway

The last step was to seal the Limestone which protects the stone by keeping dirt on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away. As mentioned, a natural look was specified so Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal was selected to seal the floor, this is an invisible impregnating sealer that doesn’t change the look of the stone.

Tumbled Beige Limestone Kitchen Floor After Renovation Kinross

Once complete the floor looked like a new installation and the fresh sealer should keep it that way for many years to come. For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use Tile Doctors Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a gentle but effective product that won’t degrade the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Kitchen in Edinburgh

Limestone Hallway Floor Polishing Edinburgh

Impressive Grey Limestone Hallway Renovated in Edinburgh New Town

1 Comment / Edinburgh Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing / Christopher Munro

Our client located in Edinburgh’s New Town area had a large, impressive entrance hallway with a well-used Grey Limestone floor. The tiles had seen many years of traffic and were dull and marked with events of family life. The request was to restore the floor back to how it looked when it was originally laid.

Limestone Hallway Floor Edinburgh Before Cleaning

I visited the property to survey the floor and understand the issues in detail. I could see that the original sealer had worn off with use and dirt was now becoming ingrained in the pores of the Limestone making it difficult to clean effectively. The wanted a slight sheen, but not too glossy, and to have it re-sealed but with a tough sealer that could take the punishment from a young family.

Having measured up the area I was able to provide a firm price, which was accepted and a date agreed for the work to start.

Cleaning a Ceramic Limestone Tiled Hallway

To start the area was cleared of all furniture. The coir matting at the front door was covered and the doorways leading off the hall had their floor entrances protected from any potential water ingress during cleaning.

Limestone Hallway Floor Edinburgh Before Cleaning Adding doorway protection

Work then started with the application of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was diluted and spread across the floor. The Pro-Clean was then left to soak into the pores of the Limestone for ten minutes in order for it to break down the ingrained dirt. The floor was then scrubbed with a coarse 200-grit pad fitted to a rotary floor machine. After this clean, the resultant residue was removed using a wet vacuum.

The pad does clean into the recessed of the grout line but I always find more hand-scrubbing with Pro-Clean helps so after the initial clean I started on the grout. The floor was then rinsed with clean water and removed with a wet vacuum as before.

Limestone Hallway Floor Edinburgh During Cleaning

The next stage was to start the 4-step burnishing process where the floor is burnished and honed using increasing grits of pads from 400 grit up to 3500 grits. The pads are applied using the rotary cleaner with water for lubrication and after each pad the floor is rinsed and the residue removed with the wet vacuum. Once this process has been completed, the floor is left to dry overnight. The last pad is a super fine 3500-grit that really brings up the polish and this is applied dry with only a little water sprayed onto the tile.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Hallway

On my return the next day the sealer we chose for the limestone was Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal. It penetrates into the pores adding protection it from within and enhanced the natural colours in the Limestone in the process. This sealer is oil based which helps to improve the structure of the stone giving it a rich finish with a slight sheen. Additionally, Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal allows for vapour transmission so any moisture building under the floor can pass through and evaporate at the surface.

After the work has been completed the client was advised about the care and upkeep of the floor. The floor needs cleaning with a neutral pH cleaner such as Tile Doctors Neutral Tile Cleaner. This lifts the soiling from the tiles without eroding the sealer and therefore extends the life of the sealer.

Limestone Hallway Floor Edinburgh After Cleaning Burnishing and Sealing

My client was very happy with the end result and felt confident it would stand up to the heavy family use and keep its appearance.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Hallway in Edinburgh

Impressive Grey Limestone Hallway Renovated in Edinburgh New Town Read More »