Sealing Marble – Tiling Tips – Tips and Information About Tiling

Italian Marble Kitchen Marble Renovated in Bamber Bridge

15th May 2021 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Bamber Bridge, Classic Floor, Floor Tiles, Kitchen Tile Renovation, lancashire, Marble Floor Renovation, marble tile cleaning, Preston, regrouting, Sealing Marble

The tiles shown in the photographs below are classic distressed Black and White Italian Marble installed in the kitchen of a property in Bamber Bridge which is South of Preston. Some of the tiles had an issue with loose grout which I suspect was due to the suspended wooden floor and a small amount of movement had resulted in the grout cracking. Ideally more support would be needed under the floor to prevent this, in the meantime however I recommended removing the grout and replacing with a flexible grout product that could cope with the movement. The tiles also needed a clean, polish and reseal so it made sense to address the issue with the grout as part of the work. Cleaning and Re-grouting a Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor Working as a two-man team we started by cleaning the floor with a set of diamond burnishing pads starting with a coarse 400-grit, followed by 800 and 1500 grit. Water was used to lubricate the process and the floor was rinsed with water between pads with the fine slurry generated by the process extracted using a wet vacuum. These pads remove ingrained dirt and then slowly refine the appearance of the Marble building up its polished appearance in the process. The next step was to rake out all the grout which as discussed was compromised and needed

Marble Show House Floor Renovated in Wokingham

13th May 2021 Reese Mackie 0 Comments berkshire, Burnishing Marble, grout cleaning, kitchen floor, Marble Floor Tiles, Polishing Marble, Sealing Marble, Wokingham

I had a call out late last year to a property in the market town of Wokingham to survey a dull Marble floor which was installed throughout most of the ground floor. It turns out that the house was only built two years prior and had been the show home for a new development. The owner explained to me that to show off the potential of the new homes the developer had installed quality materials throughout, particularly the marble flooring, however the property had seen more than its fair share of foot traffic because of it. Two years of wear later and the owner was concerned with how dull the Marble floor was and the appearance of small circular stains which had appeared throughout. I explained that Marble which is made from calcium is easily etched by the use of acidic cleaning products and that most tile cleaners you purchase in supermarkets are really only for use on Ceramic or Vinyl floor tiles. I suspect any sealer used on the floor to protect the stone had also been worn away for the same reason resulting in the now dull appearance. After explaining the process, I would use for burnishing the Marble to deep clean and restore the shine I measured up and worked out a quotation. I received a message later that evening comforting they would like to go ahead, and a date was

Marble Posts

Dull Marble Tiles Cleaned and Polished back to Health in Middleton, Greater Manchester

11th December 2018 Reese Mackie 0 Comments cleaning marble tiles, Dining Room Tiles, Honing Marble, Kitchen Floor Tiles, Manchester, middleton, Polishing Marble Tiles, Sealing Marble, Spray Burnish

This customer in Middleton near Manchester wanted to bring the shine up on the tiled floor in their Kitchen and Dining Room, it had been laid nearly fifteen years before and was now dull, lifeless and the grout was also in need of a clean. I was told the tiles were Ceramic however after visiting the property and running some tests if became clear that the tiles were in fact Marble. There are some very realistic Ceramic and Porcelain tiles on the market however you usually find they have a set of repeating patterns whereas with natural stone no two tiles are the same. The floor had lost its shine over the years which is a common problem with natural stone such as Marble which ideally needs to be polished and have the sealer topped up every year to keep it in the best condition. The cleaning test results were so good that the customer booked us in to complete the floor straight away after agreeing the quote. Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Tiled Kitchen and Dining Room Floor We started by giving the floor a general clean with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean paying special attention to the grout where it was scrubbed in along the grout lines using a stiff narrow brush. The soiled cleaning solution was then rinsed off and extracted using a wet vacuum. The next step was to clean and

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Polishing Marble Counter Tops in an Opulent Bowden Bathroom

18th June 2018 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Bowden, Cleaning, countertops, etching, Greater Manchester, Marble Bath Surround, marble cleaning, marble polishing, Polishing, Sealing Marble, Stone, stone worktops

Although most of the work we do involves floor cleaning you should know we also cover stone worktops in Kitchens and countertops in bathrooms. An example being this opulent bathroom with Marble countertops that surrounded the sink and bath. The bathroom was installed at a house in the up-market area of Bowden which together with the villages of Hale and Hale Barns are regarded as being the wealthiest parts of Greater Manchester. The customer had got in touch to ask if we could restore the appearance of the Marble surrounds which had become dirty and etched through general use. Restoring the Appearance of Marble Countertops My first job was to protect the wood panelling and lush red carpet that surrounds the bath, once all was protected we started to use a set of tile doctor six-inch burnishing pads to clean the Marble and restore the polish. The Burnishing pads come in a set of four and are applied to the stone with a little water in sequence from the coarse 400 grit pad which removes etching and then through the medium 800-grit, fine 1500-grit and finally the very fine 3000-grit pad which restore shine to the Marble. I use a hand-held buffing machine to do this and carefully rinse in-between each pad to remove the small amount of slurry which is generated. The last

Marble Posts

Removing Limescale from Black Marble Bathroom Tiles

17th August 2017 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Baldock, Bathroom Tiles, cleaning marble tiles, limescale removal, North Hertfordshire, Polishing, Polishing Marble, Sealing Marble

This customer in Baldock, North Hertfordshire has a beautiful Black Marble bathroom floor which unfortunately was far from looking its best due to a build-up Limescale. Normally this can be removed with an acidic cleaning product however Marble like all natural stones is acid sensitive would be damaged in the process. The only way to remove the Limescale would be to polish it off using a set of diamond pads which would also restore a high shine finish to the Marble floor tiles. Removing Limescale from Polished Black Marble The first step before starting the process was to cover the threshold edges, skirting’s and doors with tape to protect it from splashing etc. Next we used a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean which is an alkaline tile and grout cleaner with hand brushes to clean-up the thin gout lines and remove any grit from the floor. The floor was then rinsed with fresh water to remove the now soiled cleaning product and also steam cleaned to neutralise floor. The water was extracted from the floor using a wet vacuum. Honing Black Marble to Restore Polish To bring back the natural shine we honed the floor using a series of diamond-encrusted burnishing pads. Firstly, I applied a Coarse 400 grit pad to strip away what remained of the old sealer and Limescale,