How to Remove Bitumen and Cement from Stone Flooring

Late last year I was asked to survey a Flagstone floor in Morecambe which appeared to be beyond restoration. The floor had a long history and at some point in its past was covered with carpet which had been secured onto self-levelling cement with bitumen. All the companies that had visited before we got there said nothing could be done with it and recommended replacing the carpet or covering it with vinyl. As mentioned, it had been previously covered with carpet however this is an old floor and damp had been rising though the floor causing the carpet to rot. My client didn't want to entertain that as a solution and so kept on looking for a company that could restore the stone.


Old houses like this one do not have a damp proof membrane installed under the floor and moisture rising through the stone needs to be allowed to evaporate or you will find damp spreads outwards towards the walls leading to rising damp. In this case I suspect the bitumen which acts as a water barrier had either failed or damp was coming up the wall and into the carpet and underlay. Certainly, in our experience, if you have an old natural stone floor like this it is best not to cover it with anything more than a rug.

 Having inspected the floor, I recommended restoring the appearance of the flagstones by grinding the surface down a few millimetres to reveal new stone. We can do this using several different grades of coarse diamond encrusted diamond pads, a process we call Milling.

Cleaning/Repairing a Flagstone Tiled Hallway Floor

After being given instructions to restore the floor we returned on the schedule date and began by removing as much of the loose cement and bitumen by hand using hand tools.


Milling the floor using a very coarse 50-Grit pad fitted with DRB segments (Diamond Resin Blocks). Cutting the surface of the stone like this is hard work and requires the use of a weighted floor buffer to apply the pads. The process is lubricated with water and generates a lot of slurry which is extracted off the floor with a wet vacuum. The 50-grit pad was followed with a 100-grit DRB pad and then 200-grit DRB pad which start the slow process of refining the surface. It’s a two-man job so I brought a colleague along, whilst one was milling the other could take a rest and help with the clean-up.

The milling did a great job of removing the Black Bitumen, Self-Levelling compound and old paint revealing the true beauty ` and colour of the Flagstones, in fact the stone had quite a variance of colour which was lovely to see coming through. Half the pointing was missing so after milling the stone we moved onto replacing what was left of the old pointing and replacing with a modern breathable product.

We called back the next day to finish the stone cleaning by further renovating the stone surface using finer grades of diamond encrusted burnishing pads of 400 and 800-grit. Again, you need to water to lubricate the process and rinse the slurry of the floor with water after each pad, then extract with a wet vacuum. This does leave the floor damp, so once we had finished it was left to dry out for a few days, old floors without a damp proof membrane can take longer to dry and especially so in the Winter months.

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Hallway Floor

Returning a few days later the stone was first checked with a damp meter to check it had dried out before sealing. The moisture readings were fine, so it was then sealed with a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which penetrates deep into the stone protecting it from within and enhancing the natural colours in the process.


The flagstone floor was completely transformed by the process and our client was over the moon with the result. In fact, they have asked us back to do the same in the Kitchen as the vinyl in there has since been torn up and revealed the same stone.


Source: Stone Floor Cleaning and Restoration Service in Lancashire

Combining Sealers for Maximum Effect

These photographs from the hallway of a house in Banbury where old thick slate tiled floor had been laid and the customer was unable to get them clean or restore any colour back into the stone. Cleaning Slate Flagstone Tiles I prepped the skirting boards with masking tape to protect them and Read more...

Putting the life back into Slate Floors

Details below of a tired Slate and Flag Stone floor installed in a house in Cookham, Berkshire; the client was actually the son of an existing client whose floor we had also cleaned recently. The existing sealer had been wearing away over time and the floor had becoming increasingly ingrained Read more...

Putting the shine back on water damaged Yorkstone tiles

The photographs below are from a Yorkstone flagged floor at a house in the market town of Devizes in Wiltshire. The customer had contacted me as the floor was quite dirty and was overdue for a deep clean. Cleaning Yorkstone Paving Flags The floor was quite dirty so I started by making a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-clean mixed 50/50 with NanoTech Ultraclean to add more abrasive power; the solution was spread liberally all over the floor and was left to soak into the stone for a good Read more...

Refreshing A Flagstone Floor

Here's a job I completed not too long ago in the town of Maldon, which sits alongside the Blackwater estuary in South Essex. Although the Flagstone tiled floor in my client's kitchen was - generally speaking - in good physical condition, the surface seal had worn down over time, leaving the tiles looking dull and lifeless. Flagstone is quite a hard wearing stone that is commonly used for both internal and external surfaces, whether this is something as simple as a kitchen floor, or something Read more...

Refreshing the Sealer on a Flagstone Floor

This property was situated in the tiny, yet picturesque village of Grafton Underwood in Kettering, Northamptonshire. The village has only a population numbering a few hundred and, interestingly enough, is the childhood home of the famous 'Bridget Jones' character. I have previously worked on a number of floors in Grafton Underwood, and on this particular occasion I was called to complete the job through a recommendation - which is always welcome! This particular customer had two floors that Read more...

Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Maldon

Here's a job I completed not too long ago in the town of Maldon, which sits alongside the Blackwater estuary in South Essex. Although the Flagstone tiled floor in my client's kitchen was - generally speaking - in good physical condition, the surface seal had worn down over time, leaving the tiles looking dull and lifeless. Flagstone is quite a hard wearing stone that is commonly used for both internal and external surfaces, whether this is something as simple as a kitchen floor, or something Read more...

Stripping and Resealing a Flagstone Tiled Living Room in Grafton Underwood

This property was situated in the tiny, yet picturesque village of Grafton Underwood in Kettering, Northamptonshire. The village has only a population numbering a few hundred and, interestingly enough, is the childhood home of the famous 'Bridget Jones' character. I have previously worked on a number of floors in Grafton Underwood, and on this particular occasion I was called to complete the job through a recommendation - which is always welcome! This particular customer had two floors that Read more...

Restoring Quarry and Flagstone Tiles at a Worcester Farmhouse

This restoration of two different types of tiled floor took place in the kitchen of a farm property in Worcester which had been in same family for generations. The floor was made up of Quarry tiles, some of which were damaged and Flagstones both of which were in true need of a deep clean and seal. Cleaning Quarry and Flagstone Tiles Before I could start cleaning the Quarry floor, we needed to carefully remove and any broken tiles and install suitable replacements including a large damaged Read more...

Old Farmhouse Kitchen Quarry and Flagstone Cleaned in Worcester

This restoration of two different types of tiled floor took place in the kitchen of a farm property in Worcester which had been in same family for generations. The floor was made up of Quarry tiles, some of which were damaged and Flagstones both of which were in true need of a deep clean and Read more...

Stripping and Resealing a Flagstone Tiled Living Room in Grafton Underwood

This property was situated in the tiny, yet picturesque village of Grafton Underwood in Kettering, Northamptonshire. The village has only a population numbering a few hundred and, interestingly enough, is the childhood home of the famous 'Bridget Jones' character. I have previously worked on a number of floors in Grafton Underwood, and on this particular occasion I was called to complete the job through a recommendation - which is always welcome! This particular customer had two floors that Read more...

Refreshing the Sealer on a Flagstone Floor

This property was situated in the tiny, yet picturesque village of Grafton Underwood in Kettering, Northamptonshire. The village has only a population numbering a few hundred and, interestingly enough, is the childhood home of the famous 'Bridget Jones' character. I have previously worked on a number of floors in Grafton Underwood, and on this particular occasion I was called to complete the job through a recommendation - which is always welcome! This particular customer had two floors that Read more...

Restoring the Appearance of a Sandstone Flagstone Floor

This property was situated in the tiny, yet picturesque village of Grafton Underwood in Kettering, Northamptonshire. The village has only a population numbering a few hundred and, interestingly enough, is the childhood home of the famous 'Bridget Jones' character. I have previously worked on a number of floors in Grafton Underwood, and on this particular occasion I was called to complete the job through a recommendation - which is always welcome! This particular customer had two floors that needed re-finishing; the first was a polished Limestone tiled conservatory (which I will cover in a separate post as the process was different) and the second a Flagstone tiled living room; so on a rather dull day in November, I began my work.

Stripping a Flagstone tiled floor

The sealer on the Flagstone tiled living room had failed in certain places, resulting in the floor becoming difficult to clean due to dirt becoming ingrained in the stone. The decline in the sealer is not uncommon, as they do wear down over time - especially in an area of high traffic like a living room. To resolve this issue, the old surface seal needed to be stripped back and re-sealed.

To remove what was left of the old sealer, I applied a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and scrubbed it into the floor using a rotary machine fitted with black stripping pads. I then gave the floor an initial rinse, before paying special attention to scrubbing the stubborn spots, making sure all of the sealer was removed. I then gave the floor an acid wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up in order to remove grout haze and other mineral deposits which were evident. Due to its acidic properties, you have to be very careful with this product on any type of stone, so I didn't let it dwell for too long and made sure the floor was thoroughly rinsed down afterwards, with all solutions extracted using a wet-vac machine.

Sealing a Flagstone tiled floor

The floor was left to dry for more than 24 hours, before I returned to re-seal it using Tile Doctor Seal & Go. This product provides both a stain resistant surface seal and the durable low-sheen finish requested by my client. Seal & Go is suitable for use on internal unsealed, porous surfaces.


I guess the photographs don’t really do the transformation justice however the freshly re-sealed Flagstone living room certainly brightened up what was a very dreary autumn day!


Source: Sandstone Flagstone Cleaning and Sealing Service in Northamptonshire

Combining Sealers for Maximum Effect

These photographs from the hallway of a house in Banbury where old thick slate tiled floor had been laid and the customer was unable to get them clean or restore any colour back into the stone. Cleaning Slate Flagstone Tiles I prepped the skirting boards with masking tape to protect them and Read more...

Cleaning Old Slate Flagstones Tiles in Banbury

These photographs from the hallway of a house in Banbury where old thick slate tiled floor had been laid and the customer was unable to get them clean or restore any colour back into the stone. Cleaning Slate Flagstone Tiles I prepped the skirting boards with masking tape to protect them and then cleaned the floor with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to dwell on the floor for a while before being worked into the flagstones by hand using a stiff bristle brush. Read more...

Yorkstone Flagstone Tile Floor Deep Cleaned and Sealed in Devizes

The photographs below are from a Yorkstone flagged floor at a house in the market town of Devizes in Wiltshire. The customer had contacted me as the floor was quite dirty and was overdue for a deep clean. Cleaning Yorkstone Paving Flags The floor was quite dirty so I started by making a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-clean mixed 50/50 with NanoTech Ultraclean to add more abrasive power; the solution was spread liberally all over the floor and was left to soak into the stone for a good Read more...

Putting the life back into Slate Floors

Details below of a tired Slate and Flag Stone floor installed in a house in Cookham, Berkshire; the client was actually the son of an existing client whose floor we had also cleaned recently. The existing sealer had been wearing away over time and the floor had becoming increasingly ingrained Read more...

Flagstone Tiles Cleaned and Sealed in Glasgow

These photographs are of a Flagstone floor tiled floor installed at a house in Glasgow. They were well worn, looking washed out and overdue a deep clean and re-seal, there was also remnants of adhesive and paint and I suspect the floor had been covered in carpet at some point in the past. Cleaning Flagstone Floor Tiles Working in sections the tiles were covered in Tile Doctor Remove and Go which as the name suggests is designed to safely remove coatings from tiles, this was left to soak in Read more...

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Putting the shine back on water damaged Yorkstone tiles

The photographs below are from a Yorkstone flagged floor at a house in the market town of Devizes in Wiltshire. The customer had contacted me as the floor was quite dirty and was overdue for a deep clean. Cleaning Yorkstone Paving Flags The floor was quite dirty so I started by making a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-clean mixed 50/50 with NanoTech Ultraclean to add more abrasive power; the solution was spread liberally all over the floor and was left to soak into the stone for a good Read more...

Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Maldon

Here's a job I completed not too long ago in the town of Maldon, which sits alongside the Blackwater estuary in South Essex. Although the Flagstone tiled floor in my client's kitchen was - generally speaking - in good physical condition, the surface seal had worn down over time, leaving the tiles looking dull and lifeless. Flagstone is quite a hard wearing stone that is commonly used for both internal and external surfaces, whether this is something as simple as a kitchen floor, or something Read more...