Burnishing a Shine on to a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor in Burley in Wharfedale near Ilkley

The photos below are of a Limestone tiled kitchen floor with an inset of coloured stone at a 200-year-old cottage in Burley in Wharfedale near Ilkley. The stone floor was overdue a deep clean and seal and some of the inset flagstones were damaged and uneven. Looking for a solution, the owner had tried other companies before us so by the time I got to look at the floor some repairs had already been attempted although not that successful.

I popped over to survey the floor and recommended re-seating and repairing the cracked and uneven flagstones and then burnishing the floor with diamond burnishing pads to deep clean the stone and restore its appearance, then finally applying a fresh sealer to protect it going forward.

Happy with the quote I was asked to go ahead with the work and a date was scheduled.

Cleaning/Repairing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen

The first job was to repair the stone by carefully pulling out the uneven and damaged sections and then cleaning up the foundation. The existing stone was then cleaned up and fixed back in place, the cracks were then filled with epoxy mastic, colour matched to blend in with the original stone. It’s a lengthy process that requires a lot of attention to detail, but the alternative would have been to source matching replacement flagstones which given the age of the floor would have been tricky.

Once the repairs had set, work started on the burnishing by applying the first of a set of four diamond encrusted burnishing pads. The first pad is a coarse 400-grit which was worked into the floor using a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean for extra cleaning power and lubrication. This combination increases the effectiveness of the pad and together removed ingrained dirt and remaining old sealer. The pad is applied using a rotary machine which had extra weight added to further increase traction with the stone.

Next up the grout was treated to a good scrub with more Pro-Clean which was worked into the grout by hand to ensure the best result. The tiles were a reasonably large format so it didn’t take too long to go round the whole floor cleaning the grout with this method.

The floor was then rinsed with water and the slurry extracted with a wet vacuum before repeating the process with finer 800 and 1500-grit pads that build up a nice subtle polish on the limestone and are applied using only with water. After rinsing the floor and extracting the soiling the last pad which is a super fine 3500-grit was applied dried to the tiles using only a little water sprayed onto the tile. This the final step in the cleaning and polishing process and added a lovely subtle sheen to the floor. These pads bring up the appearance of the stone as well as helping the repairs to blend in.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen

Once the floor was dry as confirmed by a moisture meter the stone was sealed with a single coat of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal. This is a premium almost invisible impregnating sealer which soaks into the stone, occupying the pores and thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there. This ensures dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away.

The result was a fully restored clean limestone floor with a subtle shine. My client was very pleased with the improvement and left the following testimonial: “Very professional and pleasant. Willing to do what was needed to ensure the best job possible “

For the aftercare of polished and sealed stone floors I recommend Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is sealer friendly and contains a patina enhancer that will help the floor keep its polished appearance.

Source: Limestone Floor Polishing Products and Services in Burley in Wharfedale near Ilkley