Limestone floor restoration

[Spud]

went to a job on friday to clean a limestone floor ,the client had called me earlier on in the week asking for a price ,I gave them 2 options one for a chemical clean and reseal and one for grinding the surface off the floor,arrived on site on friday for the cleaning job but could not do it as the floor definitely needs regrinding ,I am going there tomorrow to do this and will take some before and after pictures

 

[jonnyc]

Why do you have to regrind floor Gary..

 

[Spud]

Why do you have to regrind floor Gary..

there is a residue/lacker on the stone Jonny ,grimex wouldnt touch it the only way i found of easliy removing it was to sand the floor back ,i did a test area by hand and it came up really well ,the customer doesnt like the idea of using strong hcl based solvents to remove the contaminants so its going to have to be sanded

 

[Gazzer]

Look forward to seeing the photos.

 

[White Room]

Look forward to that.....

 

[jonnyc]

there is a residue/lacker on the stone Jonny ,grimex wouldnt touch it the only way i found of easliy removing it was to sand the floor back ,i did a test area by hand and it came up really well ,the customer doesnt like the idea of using strong hcl based solvents to remove the contaminants so its going to have to be sanded

gary , i used to strip loads of floors that had what paris ceramics called pc1 and pc3 sealers on them.they were very heavy duty and sat in face of tile.they could be removed with stainaway but unfortunately that is not made any more, but nitromors does the same thing.i would give thata go or lithofin wax off a try before regrinding the floor.if you can send me a pic of the sealer and where tile was brought from this may give me a clue what is on it. catelnau laso used to sell a heavy duty surface seal for their limestone and this can re removed as well.

 

[enduro]

Or you could try Aquamix Sealer & Coating remover. I have had great results with this product stripping some really bad floors.

 

[MARBLE_TONY]

Honing powder

 

[Spud]

thanks for the advice guys ,wished I would have read it before I went to site today ,I totally under estimated just how tough getting the lacquer off the tiles would be ,I went through 10 36 grit double sided sanding discs and my machine over heated several times ,the floor is looking really good however and a major improvement on how it looked previously ,I do need to remove some small areas of residue and will try the nitromors tomorrow ,I have some pictures of the before and after and will upload them once I have done the job ,thanks again guys I found this particular floor much harder than any one I have ever done before the sealer looked like yacht varnish and clogged the pads no end

 

[afright]

gary , i used to strip loads of floors that had what paris ceramics called pc1 and pc3 sealers on them.they were very heavy duty and sat in face of tile.they could be removed with stainaway but unfortunately that is not made any more, but nitromors does the same thing.i would give thata go or lithofin wax off a try before regrinding the floor.if you can send me a pic of the sealer and where tile was brought from this may give me a clue what is on it. catelnau laso used to sell a heavy duty surface seal for their limestone and this can re removed as well.

Have used nitromors on a terracotta floor cleaned up a treat.

 

[Spud]

the nitromars wouldnt work or wouldnt work quick enough so i finished it of by sanding it through to 120 grit ,it has turn out fairly well but utmost respect to the guys that do this for a living every day just drying th floor out with a tempest air blower and will reseal it with ltp matt stone once its bone dry

 

[jonnyc]

the nitromars wouldnt work or wouldnt work quick enough so i finished it of by sanding it through to 120 grit ,it has turn out fairly well but utmost respect to the guys that do this for a living every day just drying th floor out with a tempest air blower and will reseal it with ltp matt stone once its bone dry

good luck with that.
just be sure that the matt stone is compatible with residue of what was left in the stone. i have a couple of disasters way back when i was advised one sealer on top of another old one and it had a very bad chemical reaction and i had to replace.
sealer supplier were very good and wont name them but they paid for most of it as wrong info given even though only verbally.

 

[Spud]

good luck with that.
just be sure that the matt stone is compatible with residue of what was left in the stone. i have a couple of disasters way back when i was advised one sealer on top of another old one and it had a very bad chemical reaction and i had to replace.
sealer supplier were very good and wont name them but they paid for most of it as wrong info given even though only verbally.

Thanks Jonny i will do a test sample on your advice as you are a top man on stone

 

[Apexgrange]

you should buy more discs and a kleever machine ha ha always strip surface based sealers gary solvent based strippers are always the first and most cost affective ways
the solvent can be brought in 25 litre containers.
also consider diamond polishing pads i can show you a few samples

good luck mate

 

[Pebbs]

Gary, if you ring me, I have a Kleever, you can borrow it, 110v ok?

Pebbs

 

[hillhead]

I used a Klindex machine this week with superb results.
The Kleever good Lynn?

 

[Pebbs]

Yes its good, but to much for me, its dragged me across the floor a couple of times, wheres the brake...brake....brake!!! opps!

Lynn

 

[Stable400]

Reading with interest but also feel out of my depth. We have an Indian stone floor installed j. The kitchen and the cooker and sink area has gone really dark due to traffic and water, it's also dirty. Would appreciate any advice on how to clean it without damaging my lovely kitchen. Thank you

 

[C&S]

I would be carefull using Nitromors on Limestone, sounds harsh to me. I would take off the surface using diamonds personally if the customer is against chemicals and is willing to spend a little bit on diamonds.
I did a similar floor in November, took the surface off and went up through the grades and finished with a polish.