Face Lift for Dull and Pitted Travertine Kitchen Floor in Southampton.

This Travertine cleaning Southampton project concerns Travertine floor tiles, a popular tile that can look stunning.

However, without the correct maintenance regime, poor cleaning and foot traffic can soon turn the floor dull and flat as my customer in Southampton discovered.

In this case, they had Travertine tiling installed in the kitchen, dining room and w/c.

Travertine is a natural stone that had seen a lot of wear 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 damaged the tiles and grout lines.

They had to scrub the floor on their hands and knees to remove the spoil from the grout.

But they could not remove the ingrained soil from the Travertine tiles.

The grout would quickly go dark again.

They were looking for a clean floor, that would continue to look clean and display the natural colours in the tiles, without having to scrub the Travertine on hands and knees.

I surveyed the floor and recommended a deep cleaning to restore the appearance of the stone

After cleaning the floor would be sealed to protect it from dirt and staining.

The homeowner agreed to my quote and we set a date to restore the Travertine.

Cleaning and Restoring Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

The Travertine cleaning process can splash strong cleaning chemicals onto walls and other surfaces.

The splashes can stain or damage paint and wax, so we protect these delicate surfaces.

I applied a Travertine cleaner and sealer remover onto the floors and gave the chemical time to soften any remaining sealer and soil residues.

After around 20 minutes, I used a rotary scrubbing machine to scrub the surface residues and soils off the surface of the tiles and grout, leaving a dirty slurry.

I removed the cleaning slurry using our pressurised rinse and capture equipment.

I repeated the cleaning until the soil and old sealer residues were removed.

Travertine Tiles Hole Filling

Holes are a natural feature of travertine, but they can trap dirt, so it’s best if they are filled with a suitably rigid filler.

Also, if left alone the larger holes can quickly become larger as their edges crumble and break up leading to the entire tile becoming unstable.

So the next job is to fill the holes in the Travertine tiles and any areas of missing grout.

We used a high-quality Beige colour filler.

We were careful with the cleanup to leave as much grout as possible in the holes

The resulting grout was only slightly concave, so the holes will not collect soil.

Sealing a Travertine Floor In Southampton.

We offer a number of Travertine sealing options for this floor type.

Giving a matt, satin or gloss finish

After discussing the options with the customer, we decided on a Topical, satin finish film-forming sealer

I applied a high-solids sealer that dried to a pleasant mid-sheen finish.

The sealer acts as a sacrificial wear layer, protecting the surface of the Travertine and the grout.

The sealer also gives more time to wipe spills before they damage the floor

Importantly, the sealer makes the floor much easier to clean.

My client was delighted with the finish.

Travertine Maintenance Advice

Sealers protect your tiles from staining and enhance their appearance, however, they do wear down over time.

This is when dirt can become ingrained in the pores of the tile, so if you do want to keep your stone floor looking its best to ensure there is always a good coating of sealer.

If you have a stone floor in Southampton or the surrounding area that you need help with, please drop me a line.

I’ll be happy to help.

Travertine Cleaning