These Sandstone floor tiles installed in a house in the market town of Uppingham had become completely discoloured and much darker over the years, especially in that well-trodden kitchen triangle between the sink, cooker and fridge. They were now well overdue for a deep clean and re-seal and so we were asked to come and strip back the floor and re-seal it.
Cleaning a Sandstone Tiled Floor
Given the discolouration of the tiles it was likely this was caused by more than just ingrained dirt and that multiple products had been applied to the tiles so I decided the best course of action would be to strip the floor back to its original condition first. With this aim I applied a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a sealer and coatings remover which lives up well to its name. It was left to soak into the tiles for a good thirty minutes before being worked using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. The soiled solution was rinsed off with clean water which was removed with a wet vacuum; stubborn areas were then re-treated in the same way and once I was happy with the general condition of the floor it was given a thorough rinse with water to remove any traces of cleaning product and then left to dry overnight.
Sealing a Sandstone Tiled Floor
We came back the next day and after checking the floor was dry proceeded to apply the sealer which it was so we proceeded to seal the Sandstone with a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer that penetrates deep into the stone, enhances the natural colour in the stone and provides good surface protection, the customer was also after a matt finish and Colour Grow matches the requirement.
Source: Tile, Stone and Grout Restoration Service in Leicestershire
Huge difference, I suspect the tiles went brown with sealers being applied on top of each other, its always best to strip the floor of any coatings and start from scratch.