Stone Polishing – Tiling Tips – Tips and Information About Tiling

Achieving a Deep Shine on Polished Marble Flooring in Worcester

21st May 2021 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Callow End, Kitchen Floor Polishing, marble tile cleaning, Marble Tile Maintenance, Polishing Honed Marble, Stone Burnishing, Stone Polishing, worcester

The pictures below are of a Polished Marble floor installed at a property in the village of Callow End which is a few miles South of Worcester. The owner of the house had attempted to clean and seal the floor by themselves and as you can see from the photographs, they ended up dulling its appearance. The physical nature of Marble and natural stone floors in general make them a difficult project to attempt without expert knowledge and the right equipment. I arranged to survey the floor and explained to the client how I intended to restore the appearance of the Marble to how it should look. I demonstrated the process on a small test area so they could get an idea of the result and explained that the floor could look even better than the day it was installed. Tile Doctor has developed a system called burnishing for natural stone floors which involve the application of a set of diamond pads which are used in sequence to clean and restore the polish to the stone. My quote was accepted, and a date set for the work to begin which should take two days. Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Tiled Floor I arrived on the agreed date and started by sealing up the bases of the kitchen kickboards and skirting with silicone to protect against any damage from water ingress. I then vacuumed

Water Damaged Marble Floor Renovated near Wellingborough

19th May 2021 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Earls Barton, executive property, marble cleaning, marble flooring, northampton, Stone Polishing, Water Damage, Water Stains, Wellingborough

I was asked to look at a Polished Marble floor that had been installed in the hallway of an executive property in the Northamptonshire village of Earls Barton and had suffered severe water damage from a burst pipe. Water had penetrated through the ceiling and as the occupants were away at the time two inches of water had flooded the ground floor where it sat for several weeks causing extensive damage and efflorescence to appear in patches all over the floor. The homeowner was extremely worried as this was a very expensive and large Marble floor which was a key feature of the property and didn’t want the disruption of having the tiles lifted and replaced. As you can see from the pictures, there were white etching marks over the surface of the marble ruining the polished appearance and these could not be removed using normal domestic cleaning processes. I wasn’t surprised to find that the owners couldn’t restore the polished appearance of the Marble, as a hard stone like Marble needs to be burnished to build up a polish. I carried out a damp test and cleaned a test area using diamond encrusted burnishing pads, as the floors were still slightly damp I advised the customer to turn on the underfloor heating to assist in drying out the stone for a week, in that time a quote was

Polishing a Damaged Marble Bathroom Countertop in Norfolk

14th May 2021 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Acid Etching, Limelite, marble countertop, Marble Handbasin, Norwich, Polishing Marble, Removing Limescale, Resurfacing Marble, Stone Polishing, Swardeston, Viakal

My client in the village of Swardeston (just south of Norwich) had attempted to remove limescale deposits from a Marble bathroom countertop using a supermarket Limescale remover and ended up making the whole problem worse. The water in Norfolk is exceptionally hard and can quickly leave a thick build-up of limescale in kettles and bathroom fittings. This isn’t a problem to keep on top of using an acidic cleaner like Viakal or Limelite however these products are acidic and not recommended for use on or near an acid-sensitive natural stone such as Marble or Limestone. In-fact the surface of Marble and Limestone is instantly etched when they come into contact with these products thereby ruining the appearance of the stone. This is exactly what had happened to our client in Swardeston and, over time, the surface of her marble vanity unit became severely etched leaving the stone completely dull, pitted, and unattractive. She had assumed the dullness was due to limescale build-up so just kept applying the product which of course exacerbated the problem to the point where the replacement of the large and very expensive twin-basin Marble countertop seemed to be the only option. Removing Limescale and Acid Etching from a Marble Countertop Looking for a solution we were asked to visit

Communal White Marble Tiled Hallway Cleaned and Polished in Cardiff Bay

11th May 2021 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Cardiff Apartments, Cardiff Bay, Listed Building, Marble Floor Renovation, Marble Hallway, marble restoration, South East Wales, Stone Polishing, White Marble

This beautiful Marble Tiled Hallway can be found in a listed building in the heart of Cardiff Bay. Situated on a very grand corner plot the property was previously occupied by various banks which served the financial markets of shipping and coal import/export businesses for over 200 years. The building has now been converted into fourteen very desirable apartments one being the penthouse on the top floor with panoramic views of the bay and even a private lift accessed from the main hallway directly to the lounge! Very impressive. The Marble floor was mostly original and has been added to with similar Marble tiles during previous renovation works. The stone was an off-white marble with various colour veins running through the body. The area of the restoration was the main entrance and hallway to access the staircase and lift to the apartments. Deep Cleaning a White Marble Hallway Floor The main method I used to restore the floor was to apply a set of Tile Doctor diamond encrusted burnishing pads of various grits to rebuild the polish on the floor. Before starting that process however I gave the tiles a general clean with a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean scrubbed in with a coarse black pad fitted to a rotary floor machine (also supplied by Tile Doctor). Afterwards the floor

Marble Posts

Polishing Stains out of Marble Floor Tiles in Northampton

8th November 2018 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Honing Marble, Kitchen Floor Cleaning, marble tiled floor, New Duston, northampton, sealing marble tiles, Stone Polishing, tile polishing

The Marble floor tiles in the pictures below covered a large kitchen, family room and utility area at a property in New Duston near Northampton. The client who was a builder had been recommended our services by one of his own clients, so he contacted us for advice on how to renovate the Marble flooring. I went to the property to survey the floor and could see straight away that the tiles were dull, lifeless with some staining and hardly recognisable as Marble. I recommended the floor was honed through a polished process known as burnishing, followed by the application of a sealer to provide durable protection for the stone. I organised a quote which was accepted, and we arranged a date for the work to start. Apologies in advance for the quality of the photographs, it’s tricky this time of year when the light is failing to capture a good photo. Restoring Polish to a Marble Tiled Floor I began the burnishing process, which involves the application of a set of Tile Doctor diamond encrusted burnishing pads attached to a 17′ rotary machine. At Tile Doctor we work with a four-pad system that allows us to gradually refine the polish on suitable stone floors which generally including Marble, Travertine and Limestone. I started the process by applying a 400-grit coarse burnishing pad