Travertine Cleaning Archives - South East Wales Tile Doctor

Deep Cleaning and Sealing Badly Soiled Travertine Flooring in Cardiff

This property in Cardiff had a Travertine tiled floor installed throughout the ground floor and as you can see from the photos was overdue a professional clean and seal. Looking for help they contacted Tile Doctor for advice and I offered to pop over and survey the floor for them and provide a quote for its renovation. This is a free service we provide to residential customers and there is no obligation to proceed with any recommendation put forward.

I went over to the house to check the floor and test the floor to see which products and methods would work best. I discovered that the property had recently been refurbished which include plastering and decorating all or which had added to the staining and ingrained dirt trod into the Travertine by workmen.

Travertine Floor Before Cleaning Cardiff

The test clean worked well and satisfactorily showed what could be achieved. I was asked to work out a quote which I emailed over later that day and was accepted.

Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Diner Floor

The first job was to carefully remove large lumps of plaster droppings and paint spatters with a sharp blade. It’s a slow job that has to be done by hand but really is the most effective way. Then working in 4sqm sections at a section the floor was sprayed with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean combined 50/50 with Nanotech HBU for extra cleaning power. This was then left to soak into the Travertine and grout for ten minutes to give it time to break down the soiling.

The floor was then scrubbed focusing initially on the grout using a stiff bristle brush and then the Travertine using a handheld black pad cut from a larger 17inch pad. The floor was rinsed and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum.

Travertine Floor During Cleaning Cardiff

The floor was then inspected and the process repeated where needed until the tiles were clean and free of contaminates. The floor was then dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum and then left to dry out overnight

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Diner Floor

Returning the following morning, I used the damp meter to test that the floor was dry, the floor was then ready for me to apply the sealer. The choice of sealer for this floor was Tile Doctor Pro-Seal which provides a natural appearance with hard wearing protection to ensure the stone kept its light appearance and colouring.

Travertine Floor After Cleaning Sealing Cardiff

Once complete the Travertine looked so much lighter and cleaner, the dirt was gone and was the staining from paint and plastering. The customers were delighted with the results and recommended me to their family and friends.

Travertine Floor After Cleaning Cardiff

For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is pH neutral and won’t impact the sealer which can be the issue with many Tile Cleaning products you find in supermarkets.

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1 Comment / Cardiff Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning / Julian Iancono

I actually laid this Travertine floor in Cardiff myself back in 2010 and since then it has experienced a lot of wear and tear. The floor was installed throughout the kitchen and adjacent diner which are some of the busiest rooms in the house, also the client owned dogs which spent a lot of time in the kitchen.

Travertine Floor Before Renovation Cardiff

Deciding it was high time for a refresh the client got in touch to have me return and to discuss some other tiling work they required. During my visit to look at the other work I could visibly see how much this floor needed a thorough renovation. Before starting work I suggested that I carry out a test clean on one tile to show what could be achieved. The demonstration worked well, and the client was delighted to see what could be achieved. This also helped me work out which cleaning products and methods would work best.

The property was close to the buzzing city of Cardiff, thankfully there was on site parking, which can be a bit of a problem when we work this near to the city. Over the years I have invested in a heavy rotary machine and vacuum extractor which give a better clean and makes the work more efficient.

Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Diner Floor

Focusing on the grout I started to clean the floor with a handheld scrubbing brush and a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and Tile Doctor Nano HBU tile cleaner which is also a stripper that helps to remove the old sealers and grease. These two combinations were worked into the tiles with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine. Following that the floor was thoroughly rinsed with clean water and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum.

Travertine Floor During Renovation Cardiff

I was then able to see where the work had been effective on the travertine and grout and was able to identify stubborn areas and spot treat them by hand. Whilst doing this manually takes a little longer it is well worth the effort to achieve the best finish. Once I was satisfied the floor was left to dry overnight for the sealer to be applied.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Diner Floor

Returning the following morning, I used the damp meter to test that the floor was dry, the floor was then ready for me to apply the sealer. The choice of sealer for this floor was Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is also a colour enhancing impregnator. It soaks into the pores of the tiles rather than sitting on the surface.

Two coats of the sealer were applied, waiting for the first coat to dry before applying the next. Knowing they have two large dogs this sealer is usually my preferred choice as it is a very hard-wearing product.

Travertine Floor After Renovation Cardiff

Once complete the floor looked great, and the client was very happy with the work we carried out. We recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is pH neutral and will ensure they can maintain the floor moving forward.

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