It’s often difficult for a set of photographs to capture the difference what cleaning and sealing a stone floor can make, however I think you will agree the photographs below which were taken at the Standard Triumph working men’s club in Coventry present an amazing outcome.
The slate floor had one coat of sealer applied by a tiler some ten years ago and due to the nature of the environment it had been covered in drink spills and the resulting cleaning products, overtime this had made floor sticky and dull.
Slate Tile Cleaning Process
The initial step in the Slate Tile Cleaning process was to get it completely clean and free of any residual chemicals, we did this with the application of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean (a strong 1/2 mix with water) which we left to dwell for 15 to 20 minutes allowing it to chemically soak into pores of the slate tile. We then scrubbed the floor with a heavy weight floor buffer permitting the scrubbing action to break the soil down, we worked the soil and grout lines four square metres at a time, removing the soiled water with a wet and dry vacuum. The slate floor was then rinsed down with cold water applied at a pressure or 1200 psi with a special Spinner Tool. The whole cleaning process took around 8 hours to complete.
An inspection of the cleaned slate floor revealed ten years of wear and tear had resulted in a few holes which we repaired before leaving the floor to fully dry overnight.
Sealing the Slate Tile
The next day we sealed the surface with 5 coats of a Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a water based sealer best for Slate floors that provides stain resistance and a durable low-sheen finish. Sealers do break down over time and given the high foot traffic over this floor we have agreed to go back once a year to provide a tile cleaning and sealer top up.
