Burnishing Pads Archives - North West Yorkshire Tile Doctor

Polishing Scratches out of a Travertine Tabletop in Morley near Leeds

The photographs below are of a scratched Travertine table at a property in the Morley area of Leeds that I was asked to look at. The tabletop had been cleaned but not with the correct neutral cleaners and had some wear and scratches. The result was over time the tabletop lost its shine, and its owner now wondered if it could be cleaned and polished to restore its appearance.

Scratched Travertine Table Before Polishing Morley Leeds

I was confident that the burnishing pads that we use to polish Travertine floors would work equally well on a stone table and fortunately Tile Doctor provides six-inch version of the pads for this situation.

Cleaning a Travertine Table

Before starting I laid down a protective sheet on the floor and created a boundary around the tabletop with protective tape. Water is used in the burnishing process, and I wanted to prevent this from escaping onto the walls and floor.

I tackled the scratches first by applying a coarse 400-grit burnishing pad attached to a hand-held buffer. Water is used to help lubricate the process and once the pad had been applied to the whole table the soiling generated was sponged off the surface. I then inspected the scratches and where needed polished them out further using coarser hand-held burnishing blocks.

Scratched Travertine Table During Polishing Morley Leeds

Next, I started the process of rebuilding the polish on the table by applying the finer six-inch burnishing pads in sequence starting with 800 then 1500-grit. Each pad was applied with water and then the soiling sponged off afterwards as before. To finish the polishing a very fine 3000-grit pad was applied using a little water to achieve a spray burnish.

Sealing a Travertine Table

This last pad leaves the Travertine dry so it wasn’t long before I could move onto the last step and applying a protective sealer to the table. Having walked through the different sealers and finishes with the client earlier we had chosen Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal to seal the table which is an impregnator that doesn’t alter the appearance of the stone and leaves a very natural finish.

Impregnating sealers work by soaking into the pores of the table preventing dirt from residing there and thereby protecting it from within. This ensures dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away.

Scratched Travertine Table After Polishing Morley Leeds

Once the sealer had dried the work was complete and the beautiful, polished appearance of the Travertine table had been restored. My client was very pleased with the result and left the following feedback:

Chris was very polite, attended punctually and was a clean worker, taking precautions to prevent dust and keep the surrounding area clean. The table looks like new. Thank you, Chris.

For the aftercare of sealed and polished stone table and countertops we recommend the use of Tile Doctor Stone Patina Spray. This is a specially designed spray and buff cleaner that helps maintains the patina on the stone without impacting the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Table in North West Yorkshire

Limestone Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Sealed Brighouse

Limestone kitchen floor in Brighouse

This limestone floor in the kitchen at a property in Brighouse was laid over five years ago and since then the sealer had worn off allowing dirt to become ingrained in the stone and grout lines. It now needed to be deep cleaned with attention to the grout lines and then sealed to protect it going forward.

Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Brighouse

I visited the property to survey the floor and work out a restoration plan that would renovate the stone back to its original condition. The work required was straight forward so it didn’t take long to work out a quotation for the renovation.

Happy with the quote we agreed a date for my return.

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Kitchen

To deep clean and renovate the Limestone I used a set of 17-inch diamond burnishing pads which included 400, 800, 1500 and 3000 grits. Before I could get to work though the wooden kitchen units had to be protected from the cleaning solutions by applying a thin line of clean silicone sealant between the floor and the base boards. Doing this ensures water doesn’t soak into the wood where it can cause them to warp.

The Kitchen was quite small and the equipment proved to be a challenge to operate in such a confined space. I was using a weighted rotary floor buffer and triple motor wet vacuum, so extra care was needed.

I began the stone floor cleaning with the application of a 400-grit pad fitted to a rotary buffer and ran over each tile four to five times using water for lubrication. The soiling generated from this action was then extracted with a wet vacuum and I turned my attention to the grout lines.

Limestone Kitchen Floor During Cleaning Brighouse

To clean the grout, I used a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to soak into the grout for ten minutes before being scrubbed by hand along joint lines. This was then rinsed off and extracted as before. Switching back to the limestone floor the burnishing work continued with the 800 and 1500 grit pads, applied as before with water for lubrication and rinsing and extracting afterwards.

After the end of the first day the floor looked much cleaner, and it was left overnight to dry out.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen

The next day I continued with the stone burnishing using the last pad in the set which is a very fine 3000-grit pad that adds a nice polish to the limestone. This pad is applied dry with only a small amount of water sprayed onto the tiles. This last pad leaves the floor dry and ready to be sealed.

The floor was then sealed with Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which was chosen to keep the floor looking as close to its natural light colour as possible. Ultra-Seal is a virtually invisible sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone protecting it from within and works well on limestone.

Limestone Kitchen Floor After Renovation Brighouse

The client was very happy with the result and the finish, and the new sealer would ensure dirt remains on the surface of the stone where it can easily be cleaned away with a product such as Tile Doctor Stone Soap. I always recommend this product for cleaning polished stone floors as its formula helps maintain the patina.

Limestone Kitchen Floor After Renovation Brighouse

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor in West Yorkshire

Limestone kitchen floor in Brighouse Read More »