Black Limestone Archives - North West Yorkshire Tile Doctor

Sandstone Floor Renovation Rylstone Skipton

Gruby Sandstone and Black Limestone Floor Restored in Rylstone Skipton

Pictured is a 100-year-old stone floor laid with a mix of sandstone with black limestone edging and inserts in the hallway of a property in the village of Rylstone near Skipton. It was very grubby and any sealer that may have been present was gone leaving it vulnerable to ingrained dirt. I understood the floor had never been cleaned using neutral cleaners and this is most likely the cause of the sealer deteriorating.

Sandstone Floor Before Cleaning Rylstone Skipton

The stone floor was heavily ingrained with dirt and looking very unappealing which was a shame as it was quite an unusual design. I paid a visit to the property the next time I was in the area and after surveying the floor and running a few tests, I discussed what needed to be done to restore the appearance of the stone. Although the floor was intact there were a few areas where the sandstone had delaminated, and the grout needed replacing.

Keen to have the floor looking its best I worked out a quote for the renovation which was accepted and a date set to restore the floor.

Cleaning a Sandstone Tiled Hallway

To restore the appearance of the stone where it had delaminated, I had to apply some very aggressive diamond milling pads. The strongest was a 50-grit flexi pad which really cuts into the surface of the stone removing a thin layer of the stone in the process. Water is used to lubricate the process, and this also helps to capture the dust that is generated. Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was also applied to help clean any staining. A heavy rotary machine fitted with 17″ pads is used for most of the work and where needed small 4-inch pads fitted to a 110v water fed hand polisher is used for the edges and awkward places.

After the 50-grit pad the floor is rinsed with more water and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum. The process is then repeated using finer 100-grit flexi pad and then the finer 200-grit flexi pad to refine the stone’s appearance, again rinsing and extracting after each pad. More Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was then scrubbed over the grout lines by hand to get them as clean as possible.

Sandstone Floor During Cleaning Rylstone Skipton

At this point attention turned to resolving some of the other issues such as the re-grouting with black grout near the doorways which were edged with black limestone. The thresholds around doorways always seem to experience damage in older properties, I suspect its due to the extra stresses surrounding the door frames.

Sealing a Sandstone Tiled Hallway

The floor was left to dry out and I returned later to seal the floor using three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which we felt would help bring out the blackness of the limestone. This product also allows for vapour transmission which is essential in older properties without a damp proof membrane, it’s also an impregnator that soaks into the stone protecting it from within.

Sandstone Floor After Renovation Rylstone Skipton

Once done I was very pleased with the work and the floor looked so much fresher and the contrast between the sandstone and black limestone was much improved. My client was also pleased and took the time to leave me the following on-line feedback:

“Chris restored our 100-year stone hallway. He did an absolutely wonderful job. A really nice chap who likes his Yorkshire tea. Would recommend to anyone “

For aftercare I recommended they use Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is a gentle yet effective neutral tile cleaner that’s ideal for sealed floors as it won’t harm the sealer.

Sandstone Floor After Renovation Rylstone Skipton

Professional Stone Floor Restoration in North Yorkshire

Gruby Sandstone and Black Limestone Floor Restored in Rylstone Skipton Read More »

Colour Restored to a Newly Installed Black Limestone Patio in Horsforth

I was recently asked to work some Tile Doctor magic on a Black Limestone patio at a property in Horsforth, Leeds. The gentleman had just had the patio and steps paved with Black Limestone in time for the summer, however it had lost its rich dark colour due to the use of the wrong cleaning products and methods. The installer had literally bleached the colour out of the stone as well as etching it. The client had attempted to rectify this himself and made matters worse, so he called us in to see if we could put this right.

Faded Black Limestone Patio Before Renovation Horsforth Leeds

This is in fact a common problem with Black Limestone and Slate patios; builders typically use brick acid after laying a patio to remove excess grout or mortar, but this washes out the oils in the stone which give it that desirable Black colour. Also, many types of stone are sensitive to harsh chemicals such as acids and they can etch the stone.

Faded Black Limestone Patio Before Renovation Horsforth Leeds

I reassured my client that there was no need to worry and that I would be able to renovate the patio and restore the colour. We agreed a price, which he said he would pass onto the builder, and we arranged a time for the work to be carried out. We selected a couple of options, subject to the weather.

Cleaning and Restoring a Faded Black Limestone Tiled Patio Floor

Due to the etching the stone surface had experienced, my first job was to renovate the surface using a series of Tile Doctor Milling pads. These are fitted to a rotary buffer machine that has had extra weights added to increase traction. This was tricky on the steps but with a bit of persistence I endeavoured and successfully completed the first stage. The slurry generated by the pads was then rinsed off with water and this was then extracted with a wet vacuum.

Faded Black Limestone Patio During Renovation Horsforth Leeds

Sealing a Black Limestone Tiled Patio Floor

The patio was then left to dry, luckily, we had picked a good weather window, and the temperature was quite mild for this time of year. Once the moisture readings of the stone had dropped within the correct tolerance, I was able to start the second stage of the restoration which involved applying a sealer.

I chose Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal to seal this stone, applying two coats. This is an oil-based product that restores the beautiful Black colour to the limestone resulting in a nice finish. This product is also rated for external as well as internal use so ideal for this application.

My client was very happy with the result and relieved that we had managed to achieve the finish he had originally hoped for. They were delighted they could now use the new patio to its full potential throughout the summer.

Before leaving I recommended avoiding acidic cleaning products going forward and suggested they make use of our annual maintenance offering, we would then return every spring to get the patio ready for the summer.

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