Monday, January 21, 2013

Cleaning and Sealing Burford Limestone

These Burford Limestone tiles were in an old farmhouse in the village of Rendham in Suffolk. We were called in because the floor had only been laid less than a year prior and it was proving extremely difficult to keep clean. In fact you should be able to see from the photographs a number of stubborn lines and staining.

Burford Limestone Before Burford Limestone Before


Cleaning and Sealing Limestone Tile

To thoroughly clean the Limestone tile we applied Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong alkaline cleaning agent; it’s important to use an alkaline cleaner as even weak acidic products will harm natural stone with continued use. We used 5 litres of Pro-Clean in total, leaving it to dwell on the surface of the tile for a few minutes before actively scrubbing the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. The scrubbing process works the solution into the surface of the tile to release the dirt. The Limestone floor was then rinsed thoroughly with water to clean and neutralise the floor and wash away any remaining cleaning fluid ready for sealing; a wet Vacuum machine really helps at this stage to suck up the water from the floor. We let the floor dry overnight and were back the next day to start the sealing process. To seal the floor we used three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour intensifying breathable sealer that enhances colour as well as providing durable surface protection, two litres of Colour Grow was required to cover the 25m2 area of Limestone with three coats of sealer. You can see from the photographs the improvement in the floor, plus its now a lot easier to clean.

Burford Limestone After Burford Limestone After