Black Limestone Archives - West Surrey Tile Doctor

Black Limestone Patio Damaged with Brick Acid Rescued in Guildford

This client from Guildford had the front of her house painted by a contractor who managed to splash paint on their black limestone patio. To remove the staining the contractor decided it would be a good idea to rinse the patio with brick acid. It certainly got the paint off but also bleached the colour out of the limestone and etched the surface in the process completely ruining its appearance. Unfortunately, some types of stone can be cleaned with acid however other calcium-based stones are very sensitive to acid and therefore easily damaged.

Acid Damaged Limestone Patio Before Renovation in Guildford

Horrified by the state of their patio they decided to contact Tile Doctor and I was able to reassure them that there was no need to worry and that I would be able to renovate the limestone and restore the colour. I worked out a detailed quote for the work, the will bill for which no doubt would be passed onto the decorator and arranged a time for the work to be carried out.

Renovating a Black Limestone Tiled Patio

To rectify the surface etching the best solution is to burnish the limestone tiles with coarse 100 and then 200 grit diamond pads. These coarse pads cut slightly into the stone to remove the damage. The pads are fitted to a weighted floor buffer and run over each pad several times. The extra weight added to the buffer improves traction with the stone and gives an even result. The process generates a fine slurry which is rinsed with warm water and then extracted with a wet vacuum.

Acid Damaged Limestone Patio During Renovation in Guildford

Normally I would leave the patio to dry off naturally, but the weather was beginning to change, and I was concerned it could rain so the patio was speed dried using an air mover. After an hour I checked the moisture readings had dropped within the correct tolerance and the tiles were ready to be sealed.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Patio

I chose Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal to seal this stone, applying two coats. This is an oil-based product that restores the beautiful black colour to the limestone resulting in a nice finish and made my client happy who wanted the tiled darkened. This product is also rated for external as well as internal use so it is ideal for this application.

Acid Damaged Limestone Patio After Renovation in Guildford

Once complete the Black Limestone looked fantastic much to the relief of the owner; the dark colour had returned and the features in the Limestone were visible. Before leaving I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for regular maintenance going forward. It’s always tempting to use something more aggressive on external stone but doing so will risk the problem repeating.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Patio in West Surrey

Scratched Black Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Before After Renovation Godalming

New Black Limestone Floor Issues Resolved in Godalming

A property developer contacted me looking for a solution to two problems with a Black Limestone floor he had installed in the kitchen of a house in Godalming. The first problem was the sealer used didn’t do anything to enhance the look of the Limestone tiles and the new owner was very unhappy with their appearance which was now light in colour as opposed to the black Limestone he was expecting. Secondly the kitchen fitter had dragged a wooden box with a rogue screw hanging from the bottom across the floor in several places leading to scratches.

Scratched Black Limestone Floor Before Godalming

With direct trains to London Waterloo taking 45 minutes Godalming is a very desirable place to live and a property hotspot. Fortunately for the developer I was able to advise that both problems were fixable. Firstly, I had to remover the existing sealer, tackle the scratches and then re-seal and polish. Keen to have the problem resolved I was instructed to go ahead with the work.

Removing Sealer and Scratches from Black Limestone tiles

The old sealer was not doing anything to enhance the look of the Black Limestone and simply applying a new sealer on-top of the old would not have improved the appearance, so it had to be stripped off first. To remove the old sealer, I attached a coarse 400-grit Diamond burnishing pad to a floor buffer and ran it over tiles with water for lubrication. The process generates a fine slurry so once the whole floor had been burnished in this way the slurry was rinsed off with more water and then extracted using a wet vacuum.

Next, using a small handheld burnishing block I very carefully removed the scratches that the kitchen fitter had caused. Like the burnishing pads these blocks come in different grades and are encrusted with industrial diamonds.

Once happy I was happy that the scratches were gone, I continued to burnish the floor using a medium 800-grit and then a fine 1500-grit pad. These pads are used to hone the stone and build-up its polished appearance. As with the 400-grit pad water is used to lubricate the process and the floor is rinsed and extracted after each pad.

Sealing Black Limestone Tiles

I left the floor to dry off and returned after the weekend to apply the sealer. This is essential for any stone floor as otherwise dirt will become trapped in its pores making it difficult to clean effectively. Sealers can also enhance the appearance of the stone and in this case, we wanted to really bring out its natural dark colour. With this in mind I chose Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that protects from within and includes a colour enhancing agent that improves colour and, in this case, considerably intensified the black colour of the stone to achieve the effect the customer wanted.

Scratched Black Limestone Floor After Burnishing Godalming

Before leaving I ran over the floor with a white buffing pad to add an extra lustre to the stone, by the time I had finished the floor looked amazing. Unfortunately, I never got to hear how the customer felt about the new appearance of their Black Limestone floor however the property developer was much relieved as he thought the whole floor might need to be replaced.

Professional Limestone Floor Renovation in West Surrey

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