Restoring a Travertine floor - your help please

[Rob 192]

I am new here and I am hoping some of you knowledgable folk can help with my problem.

I laid a Travertine floor in our kitchen 3 years ago which until recently looked superb.

Unfortunately about 6 months ago my wife had a little accident and managed to drop a bottle of Jif lemon juice on it. This imediately started fizing and was obviously reacting with the limestone, we washed it down with clean water, but straightaway, you could see the outline of the spillage, where it appeared to have lightly etched the surface. After about a couple of weeks, the area was already begining to discolour, so I gave it a thorough scrub and once dry, I re-sealed it with the original sealer (Tops Tiles, Travertine sealer).

A month or so later, the area began to stain and is now a darker colour than the surrounding floor.

I think I need to do a full restoration of the floor and re-hone the surface as appropriate. Can anyone explain the process and the materials needed - I am extremely practical and have no concerns about doing this myself if I can just be steered in the right direction.

Also, what sealers should I use on completion, I suspect the one I used originally was of fairly poor quality (Tops Tiles)

I attach a photo showing the problem

 

[enduro]

That will need removing and replacing with a new tile. If you tell us the area you are from a forum member could do this for you or you could do it yourself if the have the right tools.

 

[diamondtiling]

Hi Rob and welcome to the forum

Travertine is very porous and needs to be sealed on a regular basis, not just when laid. The stain looks as though its penetrated the tile and it may prove difficult to remove. Can you not replace that particular tile and then set about cleaning the floor and grout?

LTP are in my opinion the best to use for sealers etc.

Goodluck

 

[Rob 192]

Guys, thanks for the quick response. Silly as it may sound, I hadn't actually considered replacing any tiles - the stain actually extends to about 5 tiles, but even so, it may be easier to do this than prat around trying to clean and re-hone the surface.

Assuming I do this, it would be good to clean off the remaining floor and start again with the sealing - is there a product suitable to clean off the original sealer.

Rob

 

[Del W]

Hello Rob,looks like you will have to replace the tiles.The staining seems to be in the tile rather than just on it.

 

[enduro]

Have a look at LTP range of products everything you need will be on there site. Your local Tile Giant stocks most of the products. LTP Grimex would be your best cleaner, just test on a small area before using...Then choose a sealer you want, Matt, sheen etc.

 

[DHTiling]

Just a reply to an above comment first, if stone is sealed properly you do not have to keep sealing it regularly, just thought I would point that out.

The etching you have could be
Corrected to blend a lot better than it is now,resurfacing might work and would be my first thing to do before tile replacement

You only need to so that one tile ,unless the floor is looking tired,then you could do a full clean

This is not a DIY process IMO , so do be careful

 

[Rob 192]

Dave

It's probably not aparent from the photo, but the stain extends to the tiles above and to the left the one which looks worst affected and there are splashes on about another 4 tiles.

When you say a full clean is not a DIY process, could you say why? As I said, I'm very practical, being in the building trade and can turn my hand to most things. I just need pointing in the right direction, can someone take me through the process. Thanks.

R

 

[DHTiling]

Rob,when i get back on the main PC , I will link to some products to try

My DIY point was just to prevent others thinking it is easy to do

 

[enduro]

Test your cleaner on a tile first to make sure it is suitable. First you need to sweep or vacuum the floor. Mix the cleaner with hot water to the right dilution rate (adding more cleaner than they say will not clean it any better) Then apply the cleaner to the stone with a mop and agitate with a rotary scrubber and leave to dwell on the floor for around 10-15 mins, now scrub the grout joints with a grout brush. Then remove the cleaner from the floor with a wet vac and rinse the floor with water to remove any cleaner residue. Depending on the soiling two cleans may have to be done. Then wait 24hrs for floor to be totally dry before applying any sealer...There you go a quick version of how to clean your floor.