Sandstone Tile Cleaning

Welcome to my Work History archive where you will find detailed examples of the cleaning and renovation of Sandstone flooring carried out in South London

Cleaning and Renovating Sandstone Floors

Sandstone is often used for Kitchen and Hallway flooring, however as with any natural stone it needs to be sealed to protect it and bring out its beauty and colouring. One of the biggest problems we find with stone flooring is with the sealer becoming stripped away prematurely by the continuous use of cleaning agents not designed for this type of surface. Without its protective sealer porous stone quickly becomes ingrained with dirt making it increasingly difficult to clean effectively.

Our method for renovating Sandstone typically involves stripping the floor of any existing sealer/coatings, deep cleaning to extract the dirt and then applying a fresh sealer for which I recommend Tile Doctor Colour Grow as it enhances the natural colours in the stone. If the floor is particularly bad, it’s best to resurface it with coarse milling pads which can remove a thin layer from the surface of the stone.

Below you will find detailed examples of work we have carried out in the past, it should give you some idea of what’s involved and what can be achieved with the right techniques and products.


Indian Sandstone Patio Floor Transformation in Chiswick

Indian Sandstone Patio Transformed in Chiswick

This Indian Sandstone patio renovation was completed in Chiswick during the summer. I thought I would share it with as there was ten years of lichen and grime built-up on the stone that needed removing. Also, patio cleaning is not something that people generally associate with Tile Doctor but the fact is our stone cleaning equipment works just as well outdoors as it does in (weather permitting) so it is something we do.

Indian Sandstone Patio Before Renovation Chiswick Indian Sandstone Patio Before Renovation Chiswick

Indian Sandstone is a very beautiful stone and looks great when its clean, however outside it will soon degrade due to the weather and really needs to be maintained annually to keep it looking at its best. As mentioned earlier this patio had not been touched for ten years and due to the surrounding trees and other vegetation it was badly stained with dirt, algae and lichen turning everything dark.

This project was a difficult one to quote for as you never know what your going to find under all that dirt so I had to set the customers’ expectations accordingly

Deep Cleaning an Indian Sandstone Patio in Chiswick

Cleaning started by pressure washing the stone and mortar to dislodge as much muck and grime as possible and reveal the stone underneath. It was a large patio but fortunately I have a professional high-pressure machine that cuts through the dirt very effectively.

With the soiling removed the next step was to remove ingrained dirt and blackspots from the Sandstone. To do this a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Patio Cleaner was sprayed on to the stone and left to soak in for about forty minutes and agitated with a brush.

I find dwell time is essential for this product so it’s worth experimenting with longer times If needed. This product is very strong and really designed for professional use so If your using it yourself do read the label to make sure its compatible with the stone and do wear protection.

Once done the patio was rinsed with hot water (circa 70 degrees) and the soiling removed with a wet vacuum. It was then inspected and any stubborn stains re-treated.

Indian Sandstone Patio After Renovation Chiswick Indian Sandstone Patio After Renovation Chiswick

This process took a whole day to complete and I managed to get the Indian Sandstone paving incredibly clean. The subtle colours of the stone paving were really evident and made a massive transformation from the original.

 

Restoration of an Indian Sandstone Patio in London

Indian Sandstone Patio Transformed in Chiswick 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 »

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South London Tile Doctor

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