Travertine tidy up
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MakenaTile
With stains and popping out filler-you got ground in dirt and old sealer that will prevent new sealer from working right. Sounds like you need a fresh start with this tile- This is how I refinish travertine-
Strip with stripper
scrub grout joints and tile surface with a stiff hand brush using lots of hot water
with a little dish soap in it to help degrease everything. Remove bulk of water by dragging a bath towel over it- ringing out collected water into a bucket- Then - while its still damp-
Wet sand whole floor with 400 grit wet sand paper wrapped around a firm square sponge. (sold in auto parts stores for wet sanding cars/painting prep) Comes in typing paper size sheets for about a dollar per sheet- a kitchen floor will use maybe 4 sheets. (Wear soft type knee pads or a folded towel or you'll get sore knees) Have a bucket of water with some dish soap in it- this time to make it slippery- sand one tile at a time- in a puddle of water- so it slides easily- press down evenly- but not firmly- paper should feel like its gliding on tile- sand in overlapping dinner plate size circles- go over each tile 3 times. Do like 4 tiles at a time- then mop up the dirty water with the bath towel. NOTE* first buy one sheet of 400 and one of 600 grit- go home and TEST clean trying with the 600 and the 400 in a hidden area. Once its dry- observe results. 400 can leave scratches if you press too hard or don't sand an area evenly enough- 600 may not do enough. You'll get a feel for it real quickly.
Rinse whole floor with clean water using a hand towel dripping with water- mop up water with same towel- dry whole floor with clean bath towel. Leave it for at least 4 hours to really dry out- a day is better- Fill all holes. Then seal with commercial grade sealer- one with a 10+ year guarantee on it.
You may want to add a commercial clear coat over it- knowing you want it to be easy to clean. Its made to coat every type of floor surface (except for polished marble and shiny glazed ceramic) Mop on 2 coats- $17 bucks a gallon- GREAT results. It's what they use on all the floors in shopping malls, resorts.
Or rent a floor polishing machine with the red pad on it- use with plenty water.
__________________________
I've been a tile contractor for 7 years- specializing in installing large travertine tile. I
also specialize in "fixing" bad travertine tile jobs- reducing lippage, refinishing surfaces, color correction. I've been a carved stone mural maker for 4 years- meaning: I have lots of wet sanding experience.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do!
Strip with stripper
scrub grout joints and tile surface with a stiff hand brush using lots of hot water
with a little dish soap in it to help degrease everything. Remove bulk of water by dragging a bath towel over it- ringing out collected water into a bucket- Then - while its still damp-
Wet sand whole floor with 400 grit wet sand paper wrapped around a firm square sponge. (sold in auto parts stores for wet sanding cars/painting prep) Comes in typing paper size sheets for about a dollar per sheet- a kitchen floor will use maybe 4 sheets. (Wear soft type knee pads or a folded towel or you'll get sore knees) Have a bucket of water with some dish soap in it- this time to make it slippery- sand one tile at a time- in a puddle of water- so it slides easily- press down evenly- but not firmly- paper should feel like its gliding on tile- sand in overlapping dinner plate size circles- go over each tile 3 times. Do like 4 tiles at a time- then mop up the dirty water with the bath towel. NOTE* first buy one sheet of 400 and one of 600 grit- go home and TEST clean trying with the 600 and the 400 in a hidden area. Once its dry- observe results. 400 can leave scratches if you press too hard or don't sand an area evenly enough- 600 may not do enough. You'll get a feel for it real quickly.
Rinse whole floor with clean water using a hand towel dripping with water- mop up water with same towel- dry whole floor with clean bath towel. Leave it for at least 4 hours to really dry out- a day is better- Fill all holes. Then seal with commercial grade sealer- one with a 10+ year guarantee on it.
You may want to add a commercial clear coat over it- knowing you want it to be easy to clean. Its made to coat every type of floor surface (except for polished marble and shiny glazed ceramic) Mop on 2 coats- $17 bucks a gallon- GREAT results. It's what they use on all the floors in shopping malls, resorts.
Or rent a floor polishing machine with the red pad on it- use with plenty water.
__________________________
I've been a tile contractor for 7 years- specializing in installing large travertine tile. I
also specialize in "fixing" bad travertine tile jobs- reducing lippage, refinishing surfaces, color correction. I've been a carved stone mural maker for 4 years- meaning: I have lots of wet sanding experience.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do!
makena tile, thanks very much fior taking the time to help. To be honest I would prefer not to use chemicals if I can avoid it, so will follow your advice on a small area to test. Can I clarify a couple of things though?
When you say 'dish soap' do you mean plain household dishwashing detergent? it seems too simple (and cheap) to be true.....
Also I have minor cracks and as you say, holes to fill. What would be best to do that with, colour matched flexible grout?
I intend to use Lithofin MN Stainstop
Lithofin MN Stain Stop TILESTOP
to seal after, would you agree that is good?
The tiles are honed+filled travertine, sounds like you have excellent experience with them.....
Excellent gallery by the way, very impressive................
When you say 'dish soap' do you mean plain household dishwashing detergent? it seems too simple (and cheap) to be true.....
Also I have minor cracks and as you say, holes to fill. What would be best to do that with, colour matched flexible grout?
I intend to use Lithofin MN Stainstop
Lithofin MN Stain Stop TILESTOP
to seal after, would you agree that is good?
The tiles are honed+filled travertine, sounds like you have excellent experience with them.....
Excellent gallery by the way, very impressive................
M
MakenaTile
Simple Green cleaner- if you can get it- removes a lot of solvent base sealers- (notably "511" sealer) mix a bucket of it- soak floor for half an hour- or while your sanding. Since its honed- try 600 grit first. The dish washing soap is added to the water for sanding just to make it slippery... and it degreases. So will simple green. Ask the guys here about type of grout- we have a new water clean up epoxy grout here thats good- For normal water mix powder grout: use unsanded color matched grout with liquid laytex additive added for cracks. sanded grout to fill holes- mix thick and add latex.
I recommend sealing for cleaning purposes and to lock in the added grout. A glazing topcoat type to ease cleaning for you. Not what I'd use on most floors- but in your case it makes sense.
I recommend sealing for cleaning purposes and to lock in the added grout. A glazing topcoat type to ease cleaning for you. Not what I'd use on most floors- but in your case it makes sense.
Just bumping some threads related to cleaning travertine. Not all threads will be current discussion but if you would like to reply with some information, go ahead, it may be valuable to somebody in the future. Tile Cleaning and Tile Restoration Forum
There are similar tiling threads here
