Polishing Marble Archives - Devon Tile Doctor

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

Marble Tile and Grout Cleaned and Polished in Crediton Devon

Grout Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor in Crediton

This customer in Crediton originally enquired about grout cleaning for their Kitchen floor, however after speaking to them on the phone I discovered their tiles where Marble and so I suggested they may be interested in our stone polishing service as well.

Interested in the possibilities I arranged a time to pop over to the house and conduct a survey and test clean. I’m based in Crediton, so it wasn’t long before I was able to pay them a visit. Whilst there demonstrating grout cleaning, I explained how Marble responds wonderfully to our diamond pad burnishing system and would be possible to go one step further and make this floor a ‘wow’ feature again. I conducted a quick demonstration of the burnishing process which went well, and they agreed it was definitely something they would like to have done and were happy to book me in for both jobs.

Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Crediton

Having agreed my quote the only thing that was left was to agree a date to do the work which would take two days. As it turns out they had planned a holiday and so I it was agreed I would do the work whilst they were away to minimise disruption.

Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Crediton

Deep Cleaning Grout and Marble Kitchen Tiles

To start, I added low level protection to then the bottom 7 inches or so of the kitchen units and walls to stop any slurry splashes. After this I applied a coat of Tile Doctor alkaline cleaning/stripping product called Remove & Go and left to dwell and soak into the stone. This emulsified and broke down what remained of the existing sealer and ingrained dirt in the grout lines which was causing the discolouration.

After ten minutes the solution was then worked into the floor using a Black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary floor buffer. Where needed I also used a stiff grout brush along the grout lines until I was satisfied it was as clean and White as it could be. The soiled liquid was then rinsed off the floor and extracted with an industrial wet vacuum.

Next I started the burnishing process with the application of a coarse 400-grit diamond pad fitted to the rotary machine. Using only water for lubrication the pad was worked into each tile until I had covered the whole area. I then repeated this process through 800 and 1500-grit pads extracting the slurry between each pad with the wet vacuum. The pads deep clean the Marble and slowly refine the surface to build up the polished appearance.

After the 1500-grit pad I put several floor fans in place to accelerate the drying of the Marble floor before applying the last pad in the burnishing system which is a very fine 3000-grit polishing pad which adds lovely shine to the Marble and is applied dry with only a little water sprayed onto the tile.

Once done the burnishing work had been completed and it was time to let the floor completely dry out overnight so it would be ready for sealing the next day.

Sealing a Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor

I arrived in the morning and began work by inspecting the floor and taking a few moisture readings to ensure it has completely dry. I was happy with how clean the Grout looked and how well the Marble had responded to the burnishing process. The floor had that smart, eye-catching polished appearance and just needed sealing to protect it from dirt becoming ingrained into the pores of the stone.

Having discussed choice of sealers with the customer previous we had agreed to seal the floor with Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is a great choice for Marble as it contains a colour enhancer that intensifies the lovely natural mineral colours in the stone which otherwise are lost when dry. Two coats were needed, allowing the first coat to dry before applying the second.

Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor After Polishing Crediton

A few days later I heard back from the clients who had just arrived back from their holiday, they were overjoyed with the results I achieved not just to the grout but how well their Marble floor now looked. For aftercare cleaning of polished stone floors, we recommend using Tile Doctor Stone Soap, it’s compatible with sealers and helps maintain the patina on the stone.

Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor After Polishing Crediton

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

Grout Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor in Crediton Read More »