cleaning | Stone Cleaning and Polishing Tips for Flagstone Floors

We were asked by a client who had rented her property out near Spilsby Lincolnshire, if we could restore her very dirty natural flagstone hallway. The previous tenants had subjected the floor to heavy usage and unfortunately it had not been maintained very well. Spilsby is a small market town that has retained its’ character and not changed much since the 19th century. Being about 17 miles East of my base in Woodhall Spa it wasn’t long before I was able to go over and survey the floor.

Natural Stone Floor Before Cleaning Spilsby

As you can see from the pictures the flagstones were very well used and had lost all their natural beauty. The stone would normally have a lovely mixture of colours and grains showing, as you can see these were nowhere to be seen. I suspect the tenants had been using household cleaners on the floor which tend to strip the protective sealant due to their acidic composition leaving the stone vulnerable. The stone tiles were riven so once the sealant had started to break down the dirt soon becomes ingrained in the uneven surface making them difficult to clean.

The client was keen to get the floor looking nice and clean ready for the next tenants to move in so after discussing the process to get the floor looking good again, we agreed a price and booked in a date for the work to be completed.

Cleaning and Restoring a Natural Stone Tiled Hallway Floor

Arriving on the first day, we taped up the skirting and plinth to prevent them getting damaged. A strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was then applied to the stone floor and left to soak in for ten minutes so it could get to work breaking down the dirt and any remaining sealer. Pro-Clean is a professional tile and grout cleaning product that is ideal for cleaning dirty stone tiles like these.

The stone tiles were riven (not a smooth) so we used a Rotovac system to get the tiles clean. The machine scrubs the floor with soft brushes whilst simultaneously extracting the soil using self-contained pressurised water. It’s a very efficient way to deep clean the floor and vacuum all the dirty solution away from the floor. It immediately transformed the look of the stone and achieved a 1st class result in removing all the grime and dirt from the stone.

Natural Stone Floor During Cleaning Spilsby

Natural Stone Floor After Cleaning Spilsby

The cleaning process went very well and by the time we had finished the whole area looked much brighter. The natural tones of the stone had come back to life and with the application of a sealer they should stay that way for some time to come. Before this could happen however the floor needed to be dry so we the help of a couple of turbo dryers the floor was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Natural Stone Tiled Hallway Floor

The following day after making sure the floor was dry by testing with the moisture meter, we sealed the floor with two coats of our natural look sealer Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal. This is an impregnating sealer that works by seeping into the pores of the stone thereby preventing dirt and liquid from becoming ingrained there.

The sealer gave the stone a natural look that the client requested, and she was delighted with the end result. Hopefully she will have no trouble renting out the property, the floor now looks stunning!

Source: Flagstone Tile Cleaning and Sealing Service in Spilsby, Lincolnshire

Cleaning Bitumen off Yorkshire Flagstones

With a floor like this you can’t really make too many promises as to the outcome or how long it will take however we do access to a lot of experience and some very powerful cleaning products so I was confident we could improve the look of the floor significantly.

To start we carefully scrapped off as much of the black bitumen as possible which took a lot longer than I had initially thought. Next I created a strong mixture of two Tile Doctor Products Acid Gel and Nanotech HBU Remover applying it in sections to the floor like a poultice and leaving it to soak in for a while before agitating it with a rotary scrubber. Acid Gel is used to remove minerals such as salt deposits, cement and grout smears and in this case, I felt it would also help to weaken the Bitumen. Nantotech HBU is another strong product which is named after the tiny Nano sized particles it contains and HBU is an acronym for Heavy Build-Up.

Yorkshire Flagstone Floor Covered in Bitumen During Renovation

After being worked into floor it was rinsed off with water to neutralise the acid and the resultant slurry extracted using a wet vacuum. Once a section was clear we moved onto the next and repeated the process, we also spot treated any ugly spots that needed further treatment. It took about a week to complete the cleaning but using this process I’m happy to report we were able to remove about 99% of the Bitumen and the Flagstone floor was now fully visible.

Sealing Yorkshire Stone

The floor was left to dry overnight and I returned the next day to seal the floor first checking it for dampness using a Damp Meter. The flagstones were dry so I then proceeded to seal the floor using a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a matt sealer that impregnates the pores of the stone protecting it from within whilst enhancing the natural colours of the stone.

Yorkshire Flagstone Floor Covered in Bitumen During Sealing

The owner was very pleased with the difference we had made and whilst the Yorkshire stone had been darkened by the Bitumen in places it has defiantly added a lot of character to the floor and blends in well with the rustic wood burner in the hearth.