A homeowner from Dunster was in touch earlier this year regarding the Sandstone floor in the kitchen of the property they had just purchased. The property used to be a former Magistrates Courthouse and had been converted and having just moved in, they wanted something done to improve the appearance of the stone floor.
You can see from the photograph on this page that years of use had drained the colour out of the tiles leaving it looking dirty and featureless. They thought perhaps that the floor was beyond saving and needed to be fully replaced but wanted my advice first.
I attended the property to conduct a survey and performed a test clean on an inconspicuous area of flooring. I wanted to see which products would work best and give the clients and idea of what could be achieved. The test went well, and they were impressed. I took some measurements and provided a detailed breakdown of the costs. This was gladly accepted, and we scheduled the dates.
Cleaning and Restoring a Sandstone Tiled Kitchen
Upon my arrival, all the furniture had been removed so I was able to begin straightaway with the raking out of loose grout and replacing with new to ensure the floor was structurally sound before proceeding with the cleaning.
Once the grout had dried, a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was mopped onto the floor and left to soak in to the stone and grout. This gives the product time to breakdown the dirt in the stone. After about fifteen minutes the floor was scrubbed using a coarse silicon carbide brush fitted to a rotary machine. These pads work nicely on stone and get into the crevices of the stone and grout lines bringing the dirt to the surface and giving the floor a deep clean. The now dirty cleaning solution was then rinsed with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.
Next step was to check the floor over and spot clean any stubborn areas that needed further attention.
Next a dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up was applied to the floor and scrubbed in using a poly brush. This product is acidic as works to neutralise the floor following the use of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong alkaline, it also further cleans the stone to remove any mineral deposits left from grout or alkaline salts which can be a problem with old floors. Once the floor had been scrubbed the solution was then extracted as before using the wet vacuum. The floor was left to dry overnight.
Sealing a Sandstone Tiled Kitchen
The next day the floor was checked for moisture with a damp meter to ensure it was dry and ready for sealing. All was well so the first of two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow was applied to the floor. This product was chosen as it contains a colour enhancer that helps to bring out the natural colours in the stone, also it’s fully breathable which is an important consideration when choosing a sealer for an old floor that won’t had a damp proof membrane.
The floor was transformed by the clean and seal and looked much cleaner and brighter. I’m please to say the client was delighted with the results and said we had transformed their kitchen. That was great to hear as they won’t be looking to replace the floor anytime soon and it felt like we had rescued the floor and given it a new lease of life.
For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, which is a gentle, yet effective tile cleaning product especially formulated for use on sealed floors.
Never use a steam cleaner or strong cleaning product on sealed tile or stone as this will reduce the life of the sealer. We recommend using a specialist tile cleaning product such as Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner or Stone Soap for the regular cleaning of sealed surfaces. if you do use another product always read the label first, most supermarket tile cleaners are only suitable for use on Ceramic and Vinyl tiles.