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Limestone Tiled Floor Repair and Restoration Southall

Cracked Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Fully Restored in Southall

Details below of the restoration of a Limestone floor at a beautiful 1930’s property in Southall. The limestone looked like it had suffered from movement in the foundations as there were many cracks in the tiles throughout the kitchen. Additionally, the grout lines had become darkened with dirt over time and the pitting in the tiles had also attracted dirt, darkening the appearance of the floor.

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning in Southall

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor During Cleaning in Southall

The client enquired about cleaning the floor, repairing the cracks and sealing the tiles so I arranged to visit the property to survey the floor and work out a quote. Once I had made a note of all the issues, I worked out a restoration plan which I used to work out a detailed quote for the work which was accepted.

Cleaning and Repairing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen

The first job was to cover the kitchen unites with plastic wrap and protect any vulnerable areas. Then a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was sprayed onto the floor and left to soak in for ten minutes. The solution was then scrubbed into the tile and grout with a rotary machine fitted with a black pad and by hand using a stiff brush where needed.

A steamer was used to deep clean the pits in the Limestone and lighten the look of them. Next, the cracks were filled using a polyresin filler which was mixed to get the best colour match. there were about 10-15 cracks to fill in total.

Cracked Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Repair Cleaning and Polishing Southall

Once the filler had dried the filler was sanded using a set of handheld diamond hand burnishing blocks of increasingly finer grits. This was done to remove the excess resin leaving a smooth finish and ensure the was no shadowing along the crack.

With the filling complete the next step was to hone the Limestone floor using a couple of diamond encrusted burnishing pads which further clean the stone and bring up its appearance. The process starts with a coarse 400-grit pad which is fitted to the rotary buffer and run over the floor with water which lubricates the process. Once each tile has been burnished three of four times the soiling generated is rinsed off the floor with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

Limestone Kitchen Tiles During Honing in Southall

Limestone Kitchen Floor During Honing in Southall

The pad is then changed for a finer 800-grit pad and the process repeated to leave a natural, matt finish as per the client’s request. Again, water was used to lubricate the process and then a wet vacuum used to remove all the soiling and excess water. Once done the tiles were wiped to remove any residue and then left to dry.

Sealing a Limestone Kitchen Tiles

To seal the tiles Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal was applied with a dry microfibre cloth and then left to absorb into the stone. This is an impregnating seal that does not sit on top of the tile, it soaks into the pores to prevent dirt from residing there. Once the seal had impregnated into the tile the floor was buffed using a white pad fitted to the rotary machine to remove excess sealer and give a consistent and uniform finish.

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Sealed with Ultra-Seal in Southall

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning and Honing Southall

The client was really pleased with the results, and the filled cracks blended well into the floor making them unnoticeable. The process also made the kitchen feel a lot brighter and resulted in the following customer feedback:

“Communication was speedy and my tricky tile problems were resolved better than I thought by Tile Doctor. Visitors have been commenting how much brighter and more detailed my stone floor is now, and the cracks have been stabilised so well. Very happy.”

For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Stone Soap as this contains a patina enhancer that will help maintain the appearance of the tiles.

Professional Restoration of a Cracked Limestone Tiled Kitchen in Northwest London

Cracked Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Fully Restored in Southall Read More »

Altering and Renovating a Black Limestone Kitchen Floor in Northolt

The photographs below are from a 1900’s cottage in Northolt which had a black limestone floor installed in the kitchen. The owners had recently had a new kitchen installed which had a slightly different layout to the original thereby leaving previously covered areas exposed. The client wanted the tiles to be cleaned, and re-sealed and two new tiles installed to cover the newly exposed floor.

Black Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Renovation Northolt

As usual I went over to the property to survey the existing floor and understand the scope of the work required. From this I was able to work out a quote which was accepted and a date agreed for our return.

Cleaning a Black Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

Before starting work all the new kitchen fronts were wrapped in a plastic sheet to protect them from splashing and the plinths (kickboards) under the kitchen removed.

Work then started by addressing the tiling changes which basically involved laying two new pieces of matching black Limestone tile we had procured earlier. The Limestone was then cut to shape and fitted into the newly exposed area of floor with a rapid set adhesive. The floor was then left to set before being grouted in using a matching grout.

Black Limestone Kitchen Floor During Repair Northolt

Black Limestone Kitchen Floor During Cleaning Northolt

Once the grout had set, focus moved onto cleaning the tiles and stripping off any old sealer that was present using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. The kitchen floor was too small to introduce a large buffing machine for this work so after leaving the product to soak in for ten minutes the limestone tile and grout were scrubbed by hand.

Once done, the floor was rinsed with water and the dirty cleaning solution extracted with a wet vacuum. The floor was then inspected and any stubborn areas spot cleaned using the same process. When I was satisfied the floor was as clean as it could be a heat gun was applied to dry the tiles.

Sealing a Black Limestone Tiled Kitchen

Once I was happy the floor was dry it was sealed using a light application of Tile Doctor Stone Oil to enhance the rich dark colour of the limestone. After further drying the floor was sealed with two applications of Tile Doctor Colour Grow to seal in the stone oil and give extra protection and a uniform appearance.

Black Limestone Kitchen Floor During Sealing Northolt

The work completely transformed the kitchen much to the delight of the owner who left the following feedback:

“Great, professional, friendly, efficient service. Cleaned and re-sealed our black limestone kitchen floor tiles, plus fitting a spare. Great job. Would definitely recommend.”

Black Limestone Kitchen Floor After Renovation Northolt

Before leaving we discussed aftercare cleaning for which I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is designed for cleaning sealed surfaces.