Lancashire Stone Expert Details how to Resurface Old Flagstones using Coarse Milling Pads

 The client said when he moved into this house in Lytham St Annes late last year that this room had a really bad smell of damp. The Flagstone floor was covered in carpet and he had the impression that the previous owner’s cat had been known to use it as place to pee!

   

The smell was rank and probably bad for your health so he decided to remove the carpet and the thick underlay underneath. Under that there was some old Vinyl flooring which all came out to reveal the original flagstone floor. As you can see from the pictures it was in a poor state covered in red and white paint, bits of bitumen here and there and the pointing had been lost in several areas of the floor. Additionally, all those layers over the stone would have prevented any moisture from naturally evaporating at the surface thereby resulting in damp.

 

The client had seen what we could do on our website and sent us some pictures of his floor which covered approximately 16m2. I priced for milling the flagstone as a deep clean would not resolve the shaling issues on its own and only a good mill of the stone would do that. Also, it needed all the pointing that was still in place knocking out and new flexible breathable pointing put back in place.

 

Cleaning and Repairing a Flagstone Tiled Hallway Floor

Milling stone is not a low-cost option, but it is a lot more cost effective than pulling up the whole floor and putting in a modern subfloor. Milling involves using a weighted buffing machine fitted with different grits and grades of coarse Diamond encrusted pads which cut into the surface of the stone to reveal new stone underneath, you then apply finer pads to hone and refine the surface.

In this case I used a set of Tile Doctor Milling Pads applied in sequence starting with 50-grit, 100-grit and then 200-grit. Water is used to lubricate the process and keep the dust down, it’s also important to rinse the stone off after each pad and extract the slurry that is generated with a wet vacuum.

The floor was then cleaned with Tile Doctor Remove and Go allowing the product to soak in for ten minutes to loosen deep seated paint staining. The Tile Doctor Remove and Go was then worked in with another 200-grit pad before another rinse and extract again with the wet vacuum.

Older floors like this were installed before the invention of the damp proof membrane so moisture is always a concern. To counter any issues that might develop later such as Efflorescence the last step in the cleaning process was to give the floor an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up, this neutralises any latent salts trapped in the subfloor.

 

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Hallway Floor

The milling, re-pointing and cleaning work took two days and we returned for a third day to apply a breathable sealer called Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal. This product is fully breathable and a great choice for any floors where damp can be a problem as it will allow for moisture to rise through the stone and evaporate at the surface. Being oil-based it also adds character to natural stone and adds an appealing low satin finish.

 

The whole process completely transformed the appearance of the flagstone floor and really suits the property which was a late Victorian four-story house with a basement. Original features like this are very sought after so it makes sense to restore them as it will add value.

 

An additional advantage of the milling process is it also reduces the roughness of the stone surface makes it smoother and easier to clean. On the topic of cleaning its worth mentioning that you should never use a strong bleach-based tile cleaning product on a sealed floor as it will erode the sealer prematurely. For a floor like this you need to use a product like Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner which is a mild but effective cleaning product designed for use on sealed tile and stone.

Source: Flagstone Floor Restoration Services in Lytham St Annes Lancashire

Removing Candle Wax from Premium Lapicida Sandstone Tiles in Yorkshire

This customer who lived in the old North Yorkshire market town of Bedale, had a Lapicida Sandstone floor installed many years prior and over the years the sealer had worn off and dirt had become ingrained into the pores of the stone making it dull and difficult to clean effectively. Based in Harrogate, where they have Europe’s largest stone gallery, Lapicida are a premier Tile and Stone company that specialise in reclaimed Sandstone with prices that range from £79 to £594 per square metre.


Naturally having such an expensive stone floor installed my customer wanted it to look its best however when your living with a stone floor day in, day out you fail to notice the gradual decline in its overall appearance. Then one day you suddenly realise the floor is overdue a deep clean and reseal and call in Tile Doctor; there is an alternative however, simply speak to Tile Doctor about setting up an annual Maintenance Plan whereby we pop by once a year to clean the floor and top up the sealer.

Deep Cleaning a Lapicida Sandstone Floor

To deep clean the floor the sandstone flagstones were covered in a strong 1:3 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to dwell and soak into the stone for ten minutes before being scrubbed clean using a rotary buffing machine fitted with a black pad. The now dirty cleaning solution was then removed using a wet vacuum and then the whole floor washed down with water and stubborn areas re-treated until I was satisfied. Unusually for Sandstone it was all graded and uniformly flat which made cleaning a lot easier.

With the floor clean and all the dirt removed it revealed some black marks, most of which were from candle wax which is very difficult to get off. To tackle this problem a heat gun was used to melt the wax and then it was dappled with a clean cloth. This process was mostly successful, but some still left a faint Mark which the customer was ok with.

After giving the floor a final rinse and drying it as much as possible with a wet vacuum it was left to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Lapicida Sandstone Floor

I returned the next day to seal the floor first checking it for dampness using a damp meter. The flagstones were dry. I was going to seal the Stone with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which would have enhanced the natural colours in the stone, but the customer liked the light appearance of the cleaned stone, so l used Tile Doctor Ultra Seal instead; Ultra-seal is a natural look sealer, so it doesn’t darken the stone. Both sealers are what we call impregnators which work by soaking into the pores of stone protecting it from within by preventing dirt from becoming ingrained.


I’m sure you will agree the floor looks much improved, certainly the customer and myself were both very pleased with the transformation of the floor; my customer even left the following testimonial on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Nigel Stoker was knowledgeable, efficient and very pleasant. My floors are looking amazing. Claire G, Bedale




Source: Lapicida Sandstone Cleaning and Sealing Service in Yorkshire