The pictures below are of a Silver Wave Marble Tiled bathroom floor in a property that was let to the same tenant for the last five years. Unfortunately, Addlestone is a hard water area and the staining on the stone had got so bad it had eaten into the surface slightly. There were also chemical stains all over the tiles due to the use of strong limescale removers which are not recommended for use on Marble due to their acidic nature.
The landlord was concerned the property wouldn’t be able to find a new tenant with the floor in that condition and so wanted it renovated and ideally made to look like new so it could be rented out again. Naturally the request was to do this work as quickly as possible. I worked out a quote to deal with the issues which was accepted and the landlord left me the key so I could get on with the work.
Cleaning a Marble Tiled Bathroom
I started the renovation by cleaning the grout with a strong dilution of alkaline Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a wire brush. The limescale was all over the grout so was difficult to remove but with a bit of elbow grease came away eventually with the use of a coarse burnishing pad. This started with the application of a 100-grit diamond pad which is very aggressive. I’ve found in the past it’s the most effective way of removing chemical stains on stone or at least getting them to a point that they can be easily masked by the sealer.
The slurry from this was rinsed off and extracted and I then worked my way through finer burnishing pads including 400, 800 and 1500-grit ensuring I took my time with the 400 to really work the top of the stone. Due to the small size of the bathroom, a hand-held machine fitted with 6-inch versions of the pads was used. The pads are applied with water and after each pad the resultant slurry was removed with a wet vacuum. This technique removed all the staining but left the marble looking very grey and sad, however the limescale was gone and I wasn’t finished yet.
Sealing Silve Wave Marble Bathroom Floor Tiles
After a final rinse and extraction, the tiles were dried off and then once fully dry a coat of Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal was applied onto the stone which immediately bought the colour back. This is an oil-based sealer rated for external use that soaks into the stone occupying the pores and thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained.
This coat was allowed to dry for a while before the excess sealer was removed with a clean microfiber cloth. Once this had settled, the floor was given a quick polish with a very fine 3500-grit pad and this really finished off the Marble leaving a deep shine.
The work went well and completely transformed the look of the bathroom, certainly the landlord was pleased and has already been in touch about some other work that needs completing.
For the aftercare of Marble tiles, I recommend the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is a mild yet effective cleaner that helps maintain polish.
Source: Professional Marble Tiled Floor Renovation Service in Addlestone Surrey
Tile Doctors have the products, equipment and experience to tackle all sorts of problems including tile refurbishment, removing scratches, grout renovation and even stain removal with products such as Tile Doctor Reduxa which can lift Red Wine stains out of natural stone.