Polishing Etched Marble Bathroom Surround in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire

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We were asked to visit a property in Cambourne to look at restoring the appearance of the stone in an opulent marble tiled bathroom. Cambourne is a new area of Cambridge which has been developed over recent years with the creation of many new homes. The gorgeous bathroom design and layout of this home was was a key feature of the property.

The owner had employed a general cleaner to give their house a spring clean. Unfortunately, they had used inappropriate products whilst under taking the clean of the marble tiles in the bathroom which ruined its appearance. This is an easy mistake to make, people are often unaware that polished stone such as this should only be treated with specialist products. Many household cleaning products are too strong to be used on natural stone and can cause damage, so always read the label.

Marble Bathroom Tile Surround Cambourne Before Restoration

As you can see from the pictures, the products the cleaner used etched the surface of the marble ruining the polished appearance and they were at a loss to restore it.

Marble Bathroom Tiled Floor Cambourne Before Restoration

Restoring Polish to a Marble Tiled Bathroom

I wasn’t surprised to find that they couldn’t restore the polished appearance of the Marble, as a hard stone needs to be burnished to build up a polish. I suspected that the product the cleaner used on the stone much of been acid based as only an acidic product would have had this effect on the stone.

To restore the polished appearance of the Marble I used a set of six-inch diamond encrusted burnishing pads which come in 400, 800, 1500 and 3000 grit and are applied to the stone with a hand-held buffer. Starting with the coarse 400-grit pad I worked up through the series of pads gradually building up the polish; water was used to lubricate the polishing process and I rinsed the tiles in between with more water to remove the soil generated and used a wet vacuum to remove the resultant soil.

Normally I use this process to burnish stone floor tiles using much larger pads fitted to a floor buffer but within the restricted space of a bathroom this isn’t practical and so it did take some time to polish all the Marble tiles.

Sealing a Marble Tiled Bathroom

Once the stone had dried, we applied a couple coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour intensifying impregnating sealer that will provide durable protection going forward making it very easy to clean. One litre covers approximately 15m² to 20 m² (150 to 210 sq. ft.) so a small amount goes a long way.

Marble Bathroom Tiled Floor Cambourne After Restoration

Once complete the natural features of the marble really stood out and the bathroom looked stunning, certainly our client was over the moon with the results and much relieved the damage caused by the cleaner was resolved.

Marble Bathroom Tile Surround Cambourne After Restoration

To avoid further issues during cleaning we recommended the client use Tile Doctor Stone Soap going forward. This product has been specially formulated for the regular cleaning of polished stone, it helps build patina and will keep it fresh.

The client was so satisfied with our work they asked us back to complete a deep clean of the patio.

 

Source: Marble Tile Cleaning and Polishing Service in Cambourne, Cambridge

Polishing a Dull and Scratched Travertine Tabletop in Cheshire

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One of my customers for who I recently polished their Marble floor was over the moon with the results and wondered and if I could achieve the same effect with a Travertine table which had many scratches to the top. The table was at his house in Heswall which is located on the Wirral, on the Eastern side of the Dee Estuary with lovely views across the river towards North Wales.

Travertine Tabletop Before Polishing Heswall Wirral

The table was a lovely piece of stone furniture, but I could see it was badly marked, scratched and had lost much of its surface sheen. Whilst this was a slightly unusual request, the polishing process works equally well on any type of stone so apart from the physical issue of working on a raised surface, I couldn’t see a problem with working on the table and anticipated that it would come up quite well. We agreed a cost and I arranged a time to come back and complete the job.

Travertine Tabletop Before Polishing Heswall Wirral

Cleaning and Polishing a Travertine Table

When polishing floor tiles, I would normally use large Tile Doctor 17-inch diamond encrusted burnishing pads fitted to a rotary floor buffer, naturally that simply wouldn’t work on a table however, I do have a small hand-held buffing machine that’s perfect for getting into small spaces and polishing stone wall tiles which would be perfect for this situation.

To restore the polished finish on the table I was able to use the hand buffer together with a set of four 6-inch diamond encrusted burnishing pads of different grits from coarse to very fine. The process involves working through the pads in sequence. I started the polishing with the coarse 400-grit pad and a little water, this coarse pad removes the scratches and ingrained dirt. The table was rinsed down and then the 800-grit medium pad was applied which is the first step in the polishing process. Again, this pad is applied with water to lubricate and the table was rinsed down afterwards. The process was repeated with the 1500-grit fine pad and then the 3000-grit very fine pad to bring up a really nice shine to the Travertine table, I should mention the last pad is applied dry with only a tiny amount of water sprayed onto the surface.

Sealing a Travertine Table

The last step was to seal the stone to protect it going forward for which I used two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. The sealer is rubbed into the top then the excess polished off after ten minutes. Once the sealer was dry the table surface was then buffed with a white pad to bring up the finish even further.

Travertine Tabletop After Polishing Heswall Wirral

The client was really pleased with the result, the table looked like new; he was so glad he had asked me to look at it following the work on his floors. Before leaving I talked to him about the best way to look after his table in the future and recommended for regular cleaning that he use Tile Doctor Stone Patina Spray which has been especially formulated for the regular cleaning of stone worktops.

Travertine Tabletop After Polishing Heswall Wirral

 

Source: Travertine Tabletop Cleaning, Polishing and Sealing Service in Cheshire

Renovating Dull Marble Counter Tops in Cheshire

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Although most of the work we do involves floor cleaning you should know we also cover stone worktops in Kitchens and countertops in bathrooms. An example being this opulent bathroom with Marble countertops that surrounded the sink and bath.

The bathroom was installed at a house in the up-market area of Bowden which together with the villages of Hale and Hale Barns are regarded as being the wealthiest parts of Greater Manchester. The customer had got in touch to ask if we could restore the appearance of the Marble surrounds which had become dirty and etched through general use.

Marble Bath Surround Before Polishing Bowden Marble Bath Surround Before Polishing Bowden

Restoring the Appearance of Marble Countertops

My first job was to protect the wood panelling and lush red carpet that surrounds the bath, once all was protected we started to use a set of tile doctor six-inch burnishing pads to clean the Marble and restore the polish.

Marble Bath Surround Before Polishing Bowden

The Burnishing pads come in a set of four and are applied to the stone with a little water in sequence from the coarse 400 grit pad which removes etching and then through the medium 800-grit, fine 1500-grit and finally the very fine 3000-grit pad which restore shine to the Marble. I use a hand-held buffing machine to do this and carefully rinse in-between each pad to remove the small amount of slurry which is generated.

The last 3000-grit pad is applied with just a spay of water using what we call a spray burnish technique, this also has the benefit of leaving the stone dry which is exactly how we need it for the next step in the restoration process which is applying a sealer.

Sealing Marble Countertops

To finish off the restoration, I proceeded to seal the Marble tops with Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone protecting it from within. I should add, Ultra Seal is a natural look sealer that doesn’t change the colour of the stone.

The sealer is applied with a soft cloth, left for five minutes and then the excess is polished off with a soft cloth. We also replaced the silicone sealant around the bath and wash basins and once we were finished the bathroom looked newly installed.

Marble Bath Surround After Polishing Bowden Marble Bath Surround After Polishing Bowden

The customer was over the moon that we brought life back to her impressive bathroom.
 
 
Source: Marble Tile Cleaning and Polishing Service in Cheshire

Re-Polishing an Etched Marble Bathroom Counter-top in Northamptonshire

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Marble is known for its premium quality, toughness and aesthetic, making it a very popular choice for bathroom countertops, such as this one at a house in Northampton. However just because it’s tough doesn’t mean that Marble can be cleaned with the usual household cleaners. Like all natural stone, Marble is acid sensitive and unsuitable products can have a very damaging effect on its appearance.

In this situation, the property owner had used a limescale remover to remove some unsightly marks from the countertop. Unfortunately, the product was acid-based and instead of making an improvement it just made it worse and caused severe etching.

Black Marble Vanity Worktop Before Polishing in Northampton

The first photo above shows the limescale marks from where toiletries have been placed on the side whilst wet. Since Northampton is a hard water area, the limescale deposits over time caused these marks to appear.

Burnishing a Damaged Marble Bathroom Countertop

The only way to effectively remove the Limestone deposits – while at the same time rectifying the damaged caused by the botched cleaning attempt – was to use a system of hand-held diamond encrusted pads and hand help blocks of various grits to cut back the stone and re-polish it, a process we call burnishing.

Before officially beginning the burnishing process, I ran a few tests to determine the type of pad I would need to use to achieve the best results. I found that, in most areas, I would need to use the Tile Doctor 400 Grit (Coarse) pad to resurface the tile and remove the damaged layer of stone, but in some areas where the etching was worse, I would need to use the 200 Grit (Very Coarse) pad.

After burnishing the affected areas with the Coarse and Very Coarse grit pads, I started to incrementally polish the stone to achieve a high-quality shine, working my up through the Medium, Fine and Very grit pads.

Black Marble Vanity Worktop During Polishing in Northampton

No chemicals were used during this process – only water for lubrication, combined with the six-inch diamond encrusted burnishing pads fitted to a hand-held buffing machine.

Sealing a Marble Bathroom Countertop

The final part of the restoration was to seal the stone to maintain a long-lasting, deep polished appearance. To do this, I used Tile Doctor Shine Powder, which is a crystallising sealer in powder form. The powder is applied directly and combined with water, before being worked into the stone to seal it.

Black Marble Vanity Worktop After Polishing in Northampton

The customer was very happy with the results and the level of shine achieved. I gave the customer a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Stone Soap, which is our aftercare cleaner for polished natural stone, along with instructions on periodic maintenance to help maintain the finish we had achieved for as long as possible.
 
 
Source: Marble Worktop Polishing and Renovation Service in Northamptonshire

Restoring the Appearance of a Tiled Kitchen Worktop

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Tiled kitchen worktops work really well, but just like any other kind of tiled surface they will need regular cleaning and maintenance to keep them looking great. Kitchen worktops in particular can fall into poor condition quickly when exposed to all manner of dirt and stains resulting from food preparation, with the grout lines often suffering the most which if you have tiles in your shower is a problem I’m sure you will be familiar with.

Mosaic tiled worktop before grout colouring

The grout lines on this Mosaic tiled kitchen worktop had become discoloured following years of exposure to soaps and washing up liquid from the nearby sink, as well as, most likely, food and drink spillages. The property was in the picturesque village of Silverdale, Morecambe Bay, and the owner had decided it was time to have the worktop professionally refreshed. This was a job that would only take a few hours to complete, and would involve both grout cleaning and recolouring.

Mosaic tiled worktop before grout colouring

Cleaning and Recolouring Dirty Grout for a Mosaic Worktop

Before beginning the restoration, I had to decide upon the best method. I realised that if I took out the grout to replace it completely I may have dislodged or even damaged the tiles – especially considering that they are at least 30 years old and give the age of the tiles it would be difficult if not impossible to find replacements if they were damaged.

As a result, I opted to clean the tiles and grout using Tile Doctor Oxy Gel. This product is a strong alkaline-based cleaner in gel form designed to break down dirt and grime, including soap scum and mildew stains. While it can be used on both horizontal and vertical surfaces, it is particularly suitable for the latter as the gel is able to dwell for a long time without running down the wall. Oxy Gel proved to be very effective in restoring the grout lines to top form, but I chose to follow by steam cleaning the area to get rid of any bacteria.

Mosaic tiled worktop during grout colouring

To finish the restoration, I recoloured the grout lines using our fresh White grout colourant – one of 10 available colours. Tile Doctor’s grout colourant seals and rejuvenates existing grout joints, and is equally effective for interior or exterior applications, including bathrooms and kitchens. The colourant was left for a little while to cure, before I polished off the excess with white sponge pads.

Mosaic tiled worktop after grout colouring

The result was a quick and effective transformation for the Mosaic tiled kitchen worktop that left the customer very happy!
 
 
Source: Worktop Tile Cleaning and Maintenance Service in Lancashire

Polishing and Sealing Marble Night Club Bar Top

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Revolucion de Cuba is one of the biggest and busiest bars in Manchester. With the sheer amount of customers that visit the bar, the Marble counter top had become very worn and dull.

Stains and spillages are inevitable in an environment like this, but this can cause long lasting damage to the sensitive natural stone if proper maintenance is not provided. The bar owners hold very high standards for the appearance of the venue and as such were keen to get the Marble bar top back to looking its best. They called the Derbyshire Tile Doctor and I was more than happy to see what I could do.

Revolucion De Cuba Bar Top Before Polishing Manchester Revolucion De Cuba Bar Top Before Manchester

Burnishing a Marble Bar Top

When it comes to restoring high-end polished stone surfaces, such as Marble and Limestone, we usually opt to use the process known as burnishing. Which involves the use of several different grades of diamond encrusted pads to remove dirt and stains, as well as gradually restoring a smooth and aesthetically pleasing polish to the stone. In our system we use four pads, ranging from Coarse to Very fine grit pads.

I started with 400 grit six-inch Coarse pad on the bar top fitted to a hand buffer with some water added for lubrication, this action removed the old sealer, stains and scratches on the surface. Before moving on to the next pad I made sure to rinse the bar top and then removed the slurry with a wet vacuum. This process was then repeated with the 800 grit Medium pad before moving on to the 1500 grit Fine pad to begin to smooth down the surface ready for the final polishing. This was a long section of Marble so the whole process took some time as you can imagine.

Revolucion De Cuba Bar Top During Polishing Manchester Revolucion De Cuba Bar Top Before Manchester

After finishing with the third pad I carefully filled the visible cracks and holes in the stone using epoxy resin mixed with marble powder, before leaving to dry completely overnight. The next day I returned to the venue and went over the bar top with the final of the four pads, the 3000 grit Very Fine pad (this time without water as lubrication) to achieve the final polish.

Revolucion De Cuba Bar Top After Polishing Manchester Revolucion De Cuba Bar Top After Polishing Manchester

Sealing a Marble Bar Top

After completing the polishing process, I began sealing the Marble. I opted to use Tile Doctor Ultra Seal, which is a premium natural-look penetrating sealer formulated to provide maximum stain protection, making it ideal for use on natural stone bar tops and kitchen counters.

Revolucion De Cuba Bar Top After Polishing Manchester

It’s really important to polish off all the excess sealer that doesn’t penetrate into the stone, and to do this I used the Tile Doctor three cloth system. Once the fresh sealer had been applied, I went over the surface once more with the 3000 grit pad to leave an extra smooth and shiny finish.

Revolucion De Cuba Bar Top Before and After Manchester

The bar owners were very pleased with the work, opting to take up our maintenance plan program to ensure this great Marble bar top continues to look as good as it does now in the future!
 
 
Source: Marble Tile and Stone Cleaning and Sealing Service in Derbyshire

Limestone Table Restoration in Edinburgh

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Here is a Limestone table that we stripped, cleaned and sealed in Edinburgh city centre. As you can see from the photographs below the old sealer/wax coating had started to deteriorate and wear off in places leaving the table looking dirty and the client hated the waxy/yellow shine finish it left so asked us to remove the old seal completely and make the Limestone look completely natural.

Limestone Table Before Refinishing Edinburgh City

Cleaning a Limestone Table Top

To remove the remaining wax coating the table was smothered in strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an effective cleaning product that will strip off old sealers when used in a concentrated form. The solution was left to dwell for a while before being scrubbed in by hand and then rinsed off with water.

To make the job easier the table was cleaned in two sections and the process repeated a number of times in order to remove all the wax. Once complete the table was given a final clean using Tile Doctor Neutral Clean which is a PH neutral cleaning product to remove any trace of Pro-Clean and neutralise the stone before sealing.

Limestone Table During Refinishing Edinburgh City

Sealing a Limestone Table Top

The table was dried thoroughly before being sealed using three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a penetrating sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone improving its natural colours and protecting it against staining from within.

Limestone Table After Refinishing Edinburgh City

The difference was remarkable and my client was delighted with the result.
 
 
Source: Stone Restoration Services in Edinburgh

Polishing a Travertine Table

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Here’s a quick job I did at a house in the town of Preston, located on the north bank of the River Ribble. My customer had a Travertine table top that had become dull and lost its shine however being a polished stone I knew it should be possible to burnish the shine back.

Travertine is very popular for both commercial and residential use, as it is a natural material with unique features and characters that distinguish it from other types of stone. It can be used for floor tile, kitchen flooring, bathroom wall tile, patios and, in like in this case, table tops.

Travertine Table Top Before Restoration Preston

Burnishing a Travertine table top

My first main task was to restore a nice polished finish to the table top. I did this using a system of four small six inch Tile Doctor Diamond encrusted burnishing pads. The pads come in different grits and attached to a small hand held buffing machine are used in turn with a little water starting with a Coarse grit before moving on to pads with Medium, Fine and Very Fine grits. Despite being quite a physical task, the impact the process of burnishing can have on a dull surface in a short space of time is incredible (as the photos show).

Travertine Table Top During Restoration Preston

Sealing a Travertine table top

After completing the burnishing, the second half of the job centred on sealing the newly polished table top. This was done using one coat of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal, which is a solvent-based, penetrating sealer specially designed to provide maximum protection against dirt and stains.

Ultra-Seal is particularly useful for sealing table tops in kitchens upon which food is prepared and served. It also accentuates the natural look of the Travertine while allowing the stone to breathe moisture. The product is suitable for use on most types of natural stone, including Marble, Granite, Slate, Travertine, Limestone, and more.

Travertine Table Top After Restoration Preston

 
 
Source: Professional Tile, Stone and Grout cleaning and polishing services in Lancashire

Refurbishing a Marble Onyx Countertop in Hampstead

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My client asked me to take a look at a very dirty Marble Onyx countertop in her home in Hampstead which is located within the London Borough of Camden. Interestingly, Hampstead is home to more millionaires than any other area of the UK so if you’re going to find bathrooms of this standard this is the place.

Marble Onyx Countertop London Before and After Cleaning

This particular worktop had been heavily soiled by roughly fifteen years of soap scum and old sealer. It would take a thorough clean as well as a fresh seal to get this countertop back to looking its best. Marble is a fantastic type of stone which has, throughout history, been used to forge beautiful, yet resilient surfaces.

Cleaning a dirty Marble Onyx countertop

I immediately set to work cleaning the countertop using a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. Pro-Clean is an alkaline product and therefore suitable for use on natural stone, meaning that, along with Marble, it is also suitable for use on Limestone, Granite, Slate, Travertine, and others. After leaving it to dwell on the surface for a short period of time, I began scrubbing the solution of cleaner into the Marble, and gradually the years of soap scum, old sealer and ingrained dirt began to come off. It was amazing just how quickly I was able to remove many years of muck with a bit of elbow grease.

Following this, I rinsed off any excess cleaning product with clean water and then left the surface to dry, before I began the process of burnishing the Marble countertop using small six inch burnishing pads starting with a coarse pad and then moving up to super fine. After the burnishing process was complete, I gave the surface a rinse followed by an additional polish with a buffing pad until the shine was fully restored to the worktop.

Marble Onyx Countertop London Before and After Cleaning

Sealing a Marble Onyx countertop

After ensuring the countertop was fully dry following the cleaning and burnishing processes, I set about providing the surface with a fresh seal. My choice of sealer was Tile Doctor Colour Grow, an impregnating sealer which is designed to both provide durable surface protection, whilst also intensifying the natural colours within the stone. I applied a layer of Colour Grow carefully to the countertop, and the Onyx shades within the Marble really came to life once again.

Marble Onyx Countertop London Before and After Cleaning

I was very happy with the results overall, as was my client. It is very rewarding to think that hard work can go a long way to quickly restoring a surface which had been hidden for so long by many layers of muck.
 
 
Source: Marble Countertop Restored in Hampstead

Refurbishing 12 Marble Bathroom Worktops at Abingdon Science Park

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This job required the cleaning of Marble Worktops in twelve toilets at a very nice office in the Abingdon Science Park. The building was occupied by a company called Sophos who you may have heard of and over a period of time the Marble had become stained through the build-up of Limescale from the water supply and the cleaning company servicing the office could not clean it off. I’ve seen a few horror stories of stone surfaces being damaged through the use of acidic Limescale removers so the cleaning company was quite right not to touch it.

Marble Bathroom Worktop Abingdon Before

Polishing Marble Worktops

To remove the Limescale it would be necessary to hone the Marble using a set of small six inch burnishing pads fitted to a handheld buffing machine. The process involves starting with the coarse 400grit pad with a little water which cuts through the Limescale and then moving on to the 800, 1500 and finishing with 3000 grit to hone the surface and build the polish backup. The water helps lubricate the activity and the surface needs to be rinsed down between each pad.

Sealing Marble Worktops

When the surface was dry I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer which impregnates the pores of the stone to protect it, it also enhances the natural colours in the stone.

There were twelve of these to do so as you can imagine it took me a while to get round.

Marble Bathroom Worktop Abingdon After

If you are experiencing a similar problem with highly polished Marble do get in touch as we can achieve a mirror finish.
 
 
Source: Limescale stained Marble bathroom worktops honed in Oxfordshire office

Putting the shine back on a Marble kitchen worktop in Prestbury

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This beautiful Marble kitchen worktop has been installed in a house in the village of Prestbury some years earlier and was now looking rather dull and spoiled by wine glass marks. The polish can be restored on these worktops in a similar way to that of a Marble floor the only difference being you have to use smaller more manageable burnishing pads.

Marble kitchen worktop Prestbury before

Polishing a Marble Table Top

After protecting the floor with sheets I proceeded to re-polish the Marble worktop with a set of six inch burnishing pads fitted to a hand held machine. Similar to floor burnishing you start with a coarse pad to remove scratches and ingrained dirt lubricated with a little water and then move onto the polishing pads from Medium, Fine through to Super Fine. You need to wash down the Marble in-between each pad as the water does become soiled from the burnishing process.

Marble kitchen worktop Prestbury after
For the regular maintenance of Marble and Granite worktops we recommend the use of Tile Doctor Stone Patina spray which helps build up lustre on the stone as well as cleaning it.
 
 
Source: Stained Marble Table Top re-polished