The Travertine tiled floor installed at this busy hair salon in the village of Kidlington, had seen a lot of wear of the years and was now looking rather sorry for itself. I suspect the floor hadn’t been professionally maintained and the use of acidic cleaning products had caused holes to form Pitts in the stone which then trapped dirt. Owners of stone floors should be careful what they use to clean their floors with, as many products can dissolve the calcium in the stone over time. If a sealer has been applied, they will strip that off the floor first leaving the stone vulnerable to dirt which becomes ingrained in the stone and is difficult to remove.
The natural colours in this stone which were a mixture of red and green hues which are most unusual for travertine, however due to the accumulation of dirt in the pores of the stone it was difficult to appreciate. I discussed with the client the work needed to renovate the stone and agreed a price for the work. This salon was still closed at this point due to lockdown and the salon owner wanted to have the stone floor renovated as soon as possible in time for re-opening.
Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Hair Salon Floor
First, I gave the floor an initial clean using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which as per usual was left for ten minutes to soak into the pores before being scrubbed in with a black pad fitted to a rotary floor buffer. The dirt was then rinsed away with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.
The cleaning process was repeated several times and I then turned my attention to the holes in the Travertine. Holes trap dirt so I spent the rest of the morning carefully filling them with a resin filler in a matching colour.
When the resin was set, I used a set of diamond encrusted buffing pads to hone the stone and blend the filled holes in with the rest of the floor. Lubricating the process with water the first pad to be applied was a very coarse 50-grit milling pad which was followed with a 100 and then 200 grit milling pad. This part of the process opens the pores in the stone so the dirt can be flushed out leaving the stone nice and clean. The next step is to refine the stone using a set of Burnishing pads from 400 up to 1500 grit which closes the pores and rebuilds the polished appearance of the stone. It’s worth mentioning that after each pad I rinsed with more water and the extracted the slurry with a wet vacuum.
Sealing a Travertine Tiled Hair Salon Floor
The floor was left to dry off overnight and I returned the next day to finish the polishing and protect the tiles with the application of a fresh seal. The final step of the polishing process is to apply a very fine 3,000-grit pad to the floor which is done with only a little water sprayed onto the tiles. This last pad really brings up the shine on the Travertine and more importantly it leaves the floor dry which is important when applying a sealer.
With the polishing complete I started applying the first of two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is the perfect sealer for Travertine as it soaks into the pores of the stone to protect against ingrained dirt and enhances the natural colours in the stone in the process. Once the sealer had dried a buffed off the excess using a white pad.
The floor was transformed, and the salon owner was very happy with the work we had carried out. For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap which helps to maintain the patina and keep the floor looking its best. I also discussed our annual maintenance plan, where we return annually for a couple of hours to bring up the polish on the stone and top up the sealer, this is a cost-effective solution to keeping the floor in tip top condition.
Tile Doctor have a range of sealers that cover all types of finish and situations; before having your tile or stone Floor sealed its worth contacting Tile Doctor for advice and to ensure your using the right sealer for your requirements.