clapham

Acid Damaged Black Granite Sink Countertop Renovation Clapham

Renovating an Acid Damaged Black Granite Countertop in Clapham

This Black Granite sink countertop was damaged by a cleaning company during an end of tenancy clean at a rental property in Clapham South London. Granite is a very robust stone, but acidic cleaning products will etch it and damage the factory polish thereby ruining its appearance.

Acid Damaged Black Granite Sink Countertop Clapham Before Renovation

Naturally the landlord was not very happy and was considering having it replaced at the cost of the cleaning company who really should have known better. This however would have taken time to source and replace so after searching for a solution on-line I was asked to pop round and see if I could resolve the problem. We don’t just help resolve problems with tiles, jobs like this add a little variety to our day.

Acid Damaged Black Granite Sink Countertop Clapham Before Renovation

The landlord was relieved to hear that the problem could be fixed when I visited site. My solution was to re-polish the granite using a combination of hand-held burnishing blocks and six-inch burnishing pads fitted to a flex machine. He agreed my quote which he passed on to the cleaning company and we arranged a time to get the work done ahead of his new tenant moving in.

Restoring the Appearance of a Granite Countertop

To bring back the appearance of etched Granite we have found its necessary to use various grits of polishing pads and handheld blocks which are made from industrial diamonds. The larger 6-inch pads fit into a handheld buffer which helps to make the process easier.

I started though with the application of a coarse 200-grit hand block to remove the deeper etching from the damaged areas and then moved on to refinishing the surface with the diamond burnishing pads of increasing grits. Water is used to lubricate the process and remove the fine slurry that is generated. I finished on a 3000-grit pad which is applied dry with only a small amount of water to really bring up the polish and ready for sealing.

Sealing a Granite Countertop

To protect the Granite a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer was applied. This sealer is an impregnator which soaks into the pores of the stone giving long lasting protection, it’s formula also contains a colour enhancer which brought out the dark Black colours in the Granite.

Acid Damaged Black Granite Sink Countertop Clapham After Renovation

Once done the countertop looked new again and my the landlord was so happy the problem had been resolved, I’m sure the cleaning company were pleased as well as it saved them lot of hassle and money to replace the countertop. The cleaning company took our details for any future mishaps, hopefully they had learned a lesson though!

The property was now ready for the new tenant.

Acid Damaged Black Granite Sink Countertop Clapham After Renovation Acid Damaged Black Granite Sink Countertop Clapham After Renovation

 

Professional Renovation of a Granite Countertop in a South London Bathroom

Renovating an Acid Damaged Black Granite Countertop in Clapham Read More »

Sandstone Tiles Before After Cleaning

Resolving Sandstone Flagstone issues in Clapham

Details below of a Sandstone floor installed in the Kitchen of a house in Clapham, South London. The client had not been happy with the floor since it had been installed because the tiler hadn’t applied the seal correctly. The owner had also had a quote from a stonemason who had recommended grinding off the top later of stone. I explained that that would not be necessary and went on to explain the process to restore it. As it turns out my quote was £500 cheaper that the Stone mason but I was confident I could get as good a result and the customer could see I knew what I was talking about and gave the job to me.

Sandstone Tiles Before Cleaning Sandstone Tiles Before Cleaning

Sandstone Tile Cleaning

I began work on the floor using a coarse diamond burnishing pad fitted to a rotary scrubbing machine with a little water. I slowly scrubbed the floor in small areas and removed the old sealer from the whole tile. The next step was to tackle the grout which was done by applying Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in along the grout lines using a stiff grout cleaning brush. After this the pad was replaced on the rotary machine with a medium brush head and the floor was given a good scrub followed by rinsing thoroughly with fresh water.

At this stage it was evident that a couple of stubborn areas were still in need of attention due to the old sealer still being present so Tile Doctor Remove and Go was applied which is a strong sealer stripper and left to dwell for around 40 minutes before being scrubbed in and washed down again.

I can recommend a Wet Vacuum at this point as they are great at removing liquids from floors; at this point I left for the day to allow the floor to dry overnight ready for sealing the next day.

Sandstone Tile Sealing

Then next day when I returned I checked to make sure the floor was dry and ready to seal, there were a couple of little patches I needed to redo and once they were rinsed I dried them using my heat gun. I then sealed the floor with four coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow and when the last coat had dried I demonstrated to the customer that it was fully sealed using a water test.

Sandstone Tiles After Cleaning Sandstone Tiles After Cleaning

The client was really pleased with the results and that I had saved him so much money and left the following comment on our feedback system.

Bill was great and worked hard to restore and protect the floor. We’re very pleased. There has been some accidental damage outside which I’m happy we’ll sort.
Ian Blandford, Clapham

Sandstone Tiles Before and After
 

Sandstone Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in South London

Resolving Sandstone Flagstone issues in Clapham Read More »

Scroll to Top