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Blue Lias Flagstone Kitchen floor in Odcombe Somerset Before After Restoration

Old Blue Lias Flagstone Kitchen Floor Restored and Sealed in Odcombe, Somerset

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This post comes from the kitchen of a house in the village of Odcombe, which is a few miles west of Yeovil, where the Blue Lias Flagstone floor which dated back to 1780 was far from looking its best. With the exception of ingrained dirt the Flagstones were in good physical condition considering their age but the some of the grouting had come loose and would need replacing as part of the restoration process.

Blue Lias Flagstone Kitchen floor in Odcombe Somerset Before Restoration

If left unprotected dirt becomes ingrained into the pores of stone and once this happens it can become very difficult to keep it clean. A sealer will add that layer of protection but does wear off over time and in this case I suspect it had been quite some time since the floor had been given a deep clean and re-seal.

Deep Cleaning Blue Lias Flagstones

To deep clean the floor we spent two days scrubbing the floor with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a multi-purpose cleaner/sealer remover that’s designed for use on Tile, Stone and Grout. The product is diluted with water and then applied to the floor where it is left to soak into the stone for ten to twenty minutes before scrubbing the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. This process released the dirt from within the pores of the stone and we were able to rinse it away with more water which was extracted using a wet vacuum.

The process was repeated a couple of times to ensure the stone was as clean as it could be and we used stiff brushes along the grout lines where the pad struggled to reach to ensure the grout was also clean.

One done our attention turned to raking out loose grout and replacing it with new in a matching colour to ensure it blended in with the old.

Sealing Blue Lias Flagstones Floor Tiles

We left the floor to dry for a further two days before returning to apply a sealer, it’s important that the floor is dry before sealing as applying a sealer to a damp floor will can have undesirable results.

After the deep cleaning process, the Flagstones were looking cleaning but rather grey so before sealing and to bring the colour back two coats of Stone oil were applied and left to soak in.

Once the Stone Oil had dried it was followed by sealing the floor with Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a water based sealer (so no smell as it dries) that leaves an appealing satin sheen lifting the appearance as well as protecting the stone.

Blue Lias Flagstone Kitchen floor in Odcombe Somerset After Restoration

It took some time to do but I think you will agree this two-hundred-year-old floor has been transformed by the process.

Restoring the Appearance of a Sandstone tiled floor in Somerset

Old Blue Lias Flagstone Kitchen Floor Restored and Sealed in Odcombe, Somerset Read More »

Unsealed and Dirty Sandstone tiled floor Cleaned and Sealed in Taunton

The photographs below are of a very dirty Sandstone tiled floor which was installed throughout the ground floor of a property in the village of Taunton which lies in one of the most picturesque areas of Somerset if not the entire UK.

It appears the tiles had never been sealed following installation and as a result dirt had over the years become ingrained into the pores of the Sandstone making it increasingly difficult to clean eventually causing it to lose all colour.

Sandstone tiled floo -before cleaning in Taunton Somerset

Deep Cleaning Sandstone Tiles

There was no sealer to remove so it was simply a question of giving the tiles a good scrub with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, which being an alkaline product is safe to use on natural stone. We diluted the Pro-Clean with water at varying strengths during the course of the cleaning, left it to dwell and soak into the pores of the stone and then scrubbed it in with hand brushes and also with the assistance of a floor scrubbing machine. This process released the dirt from within the pores of the stone and we were able to rinse it away with more water which was extracted using a wet vacuum.

For the stubborn areas we used a product called Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a powerful stripper usually used for removing sealers from stone floors however we applied this in the same way as the Pro-Clean and between the application of the two products we managed to get the entire ground floor clean over the course of two days making sure to give the floor a good rinse at the end to remove any trace of cleaning product.

Sealing a Sandstone floor

We left the floor to dry for two days before returning to apply a sealer, it’s important that the floor is dry before sealing as applying a sealer to a damp floor will can have undesirable results. We discussed sealing options and for this floor opted for Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone protecting it from within and also enhancing the natural colours. The difference was amazing and the owners were delighted with the results.

The floor was really transformed and the difference was amazing, we were very happy with what we had been able to achieve and the owners were delighted with the results as you can imagine.