Acid Damage Archives - Devon Tile Doctor

Blue Lias Limestone Countertop Polishing in Salcombe

Stained Limestone Countertop Renovated in Salcombe Holiday Rental

I received an enquiry from a client with a property in Salcombe with an expensive Blue Lias limestone countertop in the bathroom. The property was let out to holiday makers and a previous guest had stained the work surface. From the pictures I could tell that the stone had been damaged by an acid-based product which had been left on the stone for too long and had etched the surface.

Blue Lias Limestone Wash Basin Countertop Before Polishing in Salcombe

Limestone is an acid sensitive stone, so you must be careful what products are used to clean it. Strong cleaning products should be avoided as they will mark the surface, if in doubt check the label for compatibility or purchase a purpose made cleaner such as Tile Doctor Stone Patina Spray

Given the property was a holiday let, they wanted this work carried out during changeover before the next set of guests arrived. Fortunately, it was a small job and after a slight shuffle I was able to squeeze it in between other jobs.

I’ve worked on these issues before so after reviewing the pictures I was able to give them a price that included the necessary materials. Happy with that I was given instructions on how to access the property and the work was scheduled.

Polishing Marks out of a Limestone Countertop

Work began with polishing to remove the deep etching from the countertop. To do this, Tile Doctor Handheld Diamond burnishing blocks were applied to the stone with a little water for lubrication. This started with a coarse 200-grit and then followed up with a 400-grit until all the signs of the white etching had gone. The countertop was wiped clean after each block was applied to remove the small amount of slurry that the process generates.

I then started with a handheld polishing machine fitted with Tile Doctor 6-inch Burnishing Pads working right the way through the system of 400-grit, 800-grit, 1500-grit and 3000-grit. Again, water was used to lubricate, and the resultant slurry was removed after each pad.

Once I was happy, I had burnished out all scratches and brought up the polished appearance of the limestone the stone was dried with a heat gun.

Sealing a Limestone Wash Basin Countertop

Once dry the limestone countertop was sealed with two thin coats of Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which enhanced the dark colours and fossils in this Blue Lias stone. This product is an impregnating sealer that is rated for external use and so an ideal choice for a countertop that might get wet. To finish the job off the stone was buffed using a 6-inch White buffing pad over the surface with the polishing machine to heighten the polished finish that little bit more.

Blue Lias Limestone Wash Basin Countertop After Polishing in Salcombe

The owner of the property was delighted with the results and happy that her guests who were due to arrive the following morning wouldn’t encounter the stained limestone in an otherwise 5-star setting.

Professional Renovation of a Stained Limestone Countertop in Devon

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Viakal Damaged Marble Tiled Wet Room Restoration Dartmouth

Viakal Damaged Marble Tiled Wet Room Restored in Dartmouth

I received an enquiry from an upset customer in Dartmouth whose cleaner had used Viakal to clean their new Marble Tiled wet room. The tiled walls had been sprayed at chest height and then left to dwell for two hours resulting in it running down the wall to the lower half of marble tiling and onto the floor.

Viakal is an acid-based Limescale remover and should never be used on Acid Sensitive stone such as Marble or Limestone. This particular Marble was a dark green and the White etching (damaged areas) caused by the Viakal was very obvious.

Viakal Damaged Marble Tiled Wet Room Before Renovation Dartmouth

After getting in contact with the customer I assured them the chances of me being able to cut out the damage with diamond pads were high. Then after arranging a survey, I visited to carry out a test on both the wall and floor tiles. The tests showed that the floor tiles would need more work than anticipated due to the deeper etching that had occurred due to gravity. The tests showed promise however and I was able to demonstrate the polished appearance of the Marble could be restored.

After the customer had accepted my quote for this work, we booked in some dates for the work to be carried out.

Polishing Acid Etching out of Marble Tiling

I started by giving the Marble wall and floor tiles a clean using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean sprayed onto the walls. The solution was diluted with 5 parts water and left to soak in before scrubbing with a 6-inch black pad fitted to a hand-buffer. This action was needed to remove any sealer that may still be present.

To remove the acid etching I applied a set of diamond burnishing pads starting with a coarse 400-grit and working from top to bottom. Six-inch pads were used again and only water was applied during the process to provide lubrication. Once done slurry generated was rinsed away with more water.

This process was then repeated with the finer 800-grit, 1500grit and 3000-grit pads until the entirety of the walls had been burnished and given a lovely consistent polished appearance. The process was then repeated on the floor tiles using a rotary machine and larger seventeen-inch burnishing pads. Extra weight was added to the machine to assist with the removal of the deeper etching marks in the floor stones.

Viakal Damaged Marble Tiled Wet Room During Renovation Dartmouth

Once all the stone in the Wet Room had been fully burnished/polished and had dried, I returned the next day to seal.

Sealing Marble Wet Room Tiles

Having discussed the different sealer options on my initial visit we had selected to use Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal on the Marble. This is a hard-wearing oil-based sealer that’s externally rated so ideal for wet areas like this. It also enhanced the natural colours in the mineral rich Marble. After I had applied two thin coats (allowing approximately 1 hour drying time between coats) the excess was buffed off with a White buffing pad which further enhanced the polished appearance of the stone.

Viakal Damaged Marble Tiled Wet Room After Renovation Dartmouth

The customer was thrilled with the results and it meant that they could forget about needing to replace the stone and at the same time save themselves a lot of money and disruption.

I spent some time with them after explaining the properties of their Marble and educating them on which products to use (i.e. Stone Soap) and certainly NOT use when carrying out ongoing maintenance.

Viakal Damaged Marble Tiled Wet Room After Renovation Dartmouth

Professional Cleaning and Polishing of a Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor in Devon

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Damaged Limestone Hallway Patio Fully Restored in Exminister

Renovating a New Limestone Patio Damaged by Brick Acid in Exminster

1 Comment / Exeter Tile Cleaning Service, Exmouth Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing / Harry Payne

I was contacted by a very unhappy customer from the village of Exminster who had recently had a new Limestone Patio laid in the Garden of their house in near Exeter. After the builders had finished laying the patio, they must have used some sort of brick acid to clean the stone and remove excess mortar. With limestone being Acid Sensitive, it etched the stone leaving it in a mess. Also, you need to consider the effects of acid rain so leaving an acid sensitive stone un-protected in the UK is a big no no and will result in its degradation over time.

Acid Damaged Limestone Patio Before Renovation Exminster

Exminster is a village on the southern edge of the City of Exeter, and I often find myself working there, so it was no problem to pop down and visit the property to investigate the problem fully.

Whilst at the property and discussing the Patio with the owner I carried out a couple of tests using various products. The testing went well, and my customer could immediately see the potential of the Patio and how the problems could be rectified. The process I had worked out would involve treating the damaged white areas using a series of Tile Doctor Diamond pads to polish out the damage and then restore the colour and protect the Limestone with Tile Doctor X-Tra seal which is an ideal sealer for external stone. Happy to accept our quote a suitable weather window was chosen, and the date was set for the work to be done.

Renovating an Acid Damaged Limestone Patio

I started by adding weight to a Viper rotary floor buffer and then ran over each slab several times with a very coarse a 100-grit milling pad using water for lubrication. The process was repeated using a finer 200-grit milling pad and then a 400-grit burnishing pad again with water to lubricate the process. After each pad the patio was rinsed with water running at high-pressure using a cleaning and extraction system that is fitted into our van.

After the stones had been renovated, I gave them a full deep clean to remove any remaining dirt and staining using Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was worked into the Limestone with a black scrubbing pad. After a final rinse and extract with the van mounted cleaning system I left the Limestone patio to dry out overnight.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Patio

With the weather still in our favour I returned the next day to seal and protect the patio with two coats of Tile Doctor X-Tra seal. This is a truly remarkable product which is fully breathable and can be used both internally and externally. It’s an oil-based sealer so its puts back the essential oils that have been leached out of the stone by the use of brick acid, thereby restoring colour and structure to the stone.

Acid Damaged Limestone After Before Renovation Exminster

My customer was very happy with the transformation and with the summer just around the corner can now enjoy their freshly laid Limestone patio in all its glory. More importantly it is now sealed and protected against future elements.

PS… For aftercare of an acid sensitive and sealed patio like this one you need to be careful what you clean it with. In this case I recommend Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner which has a neutral pH that won’t damage the stone or the sealer. Many of the cleaning products you will find in supermarkets etc. are simply too strong and will weaken the sealer over time.

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