This client in Henley-on-Thames had a large and no doubt expensive Travertine patio installed at the rear of his property. The patio was now looking rather grubby with the usual staining and dirt you would expect with an outside patio that had not been professionally cleaned for several years. Additionally, many holes had formed in the stone which in turn had filled with dirt making effective cleaning difficult.
I went over to survey the stone and work out what would need to be done to renovate its appearance. The patio measured 150m2 and I recommended cleaning the patio, filling the holes and then honing the stone with a set of burnishing pads to brink back its appearance, a process which would take three days due to its large size.
Happy with my quote a date was set for the work to start with the proviso that it may need to be re-arranged if the weather was bad.
Deep Cleaning a Travertine Patio
Work started up with an application of Tile Doctor Patio & Driveway Cleaner which was left to dwell so it could breakdown the soils. The patio was then scrubbed with a Carbide Brush fitted to a rotary floor scrubber whilst spraying water onto the stone from the tank fitted to the machine. This hard-wearing brush gets right into the holes in the stone ensuring a very effective clean.
After scrubbing the whole area, the patio was inspected and any stubborn stains spot-treated using the same process. Once I was happy the patio was rinsed thoroughly with water and left it to dry off.
On the second day my attention turned to the holes in the stone which were filled by floating an epoxy grout filler into the holes and grout tiles. Again, it was a very large area to cover so this work took up the whole day.
On day three I quickly went over the patio again with the carbide brush to remove any detritus that had appeared overnight and then replaced the brush with the first burnishing pad in the set of four to being the honing process.
Applied with water for lubrication the first pad is 400-grit which opens the pores in the stone so the deep-seated dirt can be flushed out. The pad is run over each Travertine tile at least three times and then the soiling that is generated is rinsed off and extracted with a wet vacuum. This process is then repeated with the finer pads which were 800 and 1500 grit, these pads gradually close the pores in the stone and restore its polished honed appearance.
Once complete the patio was transformed, looked very inviting and was ready for the first of many summer pool parties. I did offer to seal the Travertine when finished but my client decided to do that themselves, it’s a straightforward process, just time consuming. I recommended Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal for this as it won’t alter the natural appearance of the stone and keep it looking very light in colour.
Spring and early Summer are the perfect time to have your patio renovated in time for the warm weather. Tile Doctors have the right equipment and experience to do the work quickly, efficiently and they cover the whole of the UK. So why not give them a call on 0345 512 0122 and arrange for your nearest Tile Doctor to pay you a visit.