Polishing Travertine Floor Tiles with Burnishing Pads in Cumbernauld

We were contacted by a homeowner from the town of Cumbernauld in Glasgow about cleaning their Travertine tiled floor. The travertine tiles had been laid throughout the kitchen and utility room some years prior and since that time had become dull and unappealing. Kitchens are a high traffic area and more prone to staining than most rooms, in this case the grout had become very discoloured.

I visited the property to survey the floor and check the extent of the problems. I could see that the original sealer and polish had basically been worn down with use over the years and to resolve it would need deep cleaning including the grout, stone polishing, and re-sealing. Having worked out a solution I explained the plan to my client and reassured him that the floor could be renovated, and we would soon have it looking good again. I gave them a price which was accepted and a date agreed for our return to do the work.

Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Kitchen and Utility Floor

This work was carried out over 2 days, on the first day we deep cleaned the stone and grout using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a versatile tile and grout cleaning product. This product was left to dwell for a short while allowing it to soak in and get to work on the ingrained dirt. It was then agitated using the rotary floor cleaner fitted with a black scrubbing pad. Afterwards the dirt is then rinsed away with water and the soiling extracted using a wet vacuum.

Next, a 400-grit diamond burnishing pad was applied to start the honing and polishing and is the first step in restoring the polished appearance of the Travertine. We worked our way through the 400, 800, 1500 then 3000 grit burnishing pads that day, slowly cleaning and re-building the polish. In between each pad the soiling was extracted, and grout scrubbed reapplying Tile Doctor Pro-Clean as required to remove any residues left by the pads. The floor was then left overnight to dry ready for applying the seal the following day.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen and Utility Floor

Returning the next day work began by checking the moisture readings of the floor using a damp meter. The readings were good and it confirmed the floor was dry and ready for sealing. If the floor proved to be damp then the seal would fail to cure properly.

To seal the floor, we had agreed on the use of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that contains a colour enhancer that will provide the stone floor with a lovely semi matt finish. The first coat of sealer was still visible after 10-15 minutes so the excess was buffed off with a White pad and then left to cure for an hour. We then went over the floor with the White buffing pad again just to bring up the shine on the Travertine. Sometimes it is necessary to apply several coats of the sealer, but this floor had taken it well, so this was not needed.

One done the floor looked fantastic, it has a lovely light sheen and the natural brown tones of the floor looked fabulous. The client was over the moon with the work we had carried out.

Before leaving I took time to discuss aftercare cleaning which for a polished stone floor like this, I recommend the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is a gentle cleaning product that won’t impact the sealer and will maintain the patina.

Source: Tile Cleaning and Sealing Products and Services in Cumbernauld Glasgow