I was asked to carry out a deep clean and seal on this Limestone floor at a property which is part of the Doddington Hall Estate outside of Lincoln. Doddington Hall dates to the Elizabethan era and I was informed that the limestone tiles were originally from Lincoln Cathedral, so they had a lot of history. The hall is used commercially to host weddings and other events to the floors at the property do get a lot of use.
Unfortunately, years of use had taken its toll on the Limestone tiles, and they had not been professionally cleaned for some time. With this much history the owner didn’t want to take any risks with the renovation and so Tile Doctor was asked to do the work. We have a good reputation however it felt it was a great testimonial to be asked to renovate such a historical floor. Naturally this does come with a certain amount of pressure to make sure this job was high class.
Before quoting, I paid a visit to the property to survey the floor and run some cleaning tests to work out the best approach. A price was given for the work, and I was given the go ahead to get started.
Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Floor
From the testing I conducted earlier I had worked out that the previous sealer had failed and dirt had accumulated in the stone, so work started with the application of a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is our go to Tile and Grout cleaner. The solution was sprayed onto the tile and grout and then left to soak in for at least ten minutes so it can get to work breaking down the dirt and what was left of the old sealer. At this point I also took time to work the Tile Doctor Pro-Clean into the grout using a stiff brush to get it as clean as possible.
The cleaning solution was then worked into the stone using a coarse 100-grit pad fitted to a weighted rotary machine to achieve maximum contact. I started with this pad in order to cut the surface back and remove scratches. The floor was then rinsed with water and the soil extracted with an industrial wet vacuum.
I then followed up with a 200-grit pad lubricated with water making sure to go over each tile three to four times to leave a honed finish. After another round of rinsing and extracting the floor was looking so much cleaner. The whole floor was then checked, and any issues spot treated.
It was a large floor, so it took the whole of the first day to get it clean, then once done I left it to dry out fully overnight.
Sealing a Limestone Tiled Floor
When I returned the floor was lovely and dry, so I was able to seal the Limestone tiles with a breathable impregnating sealer. I chose Tile Doctor Ultra Seal for the job as this doesn’t darken the stone and leaves it looking natural all features that matched their requirements, also the product works by soaking into the pores of the stone protecting it from within so will last for many years to come.
I chose a breathable sealer as properties of this age don’t have a damp proof membrane installed and so its important to use a sealer that will let any moisture in the subfloor rise through the stone and evaporate at the surface.
Once finished the Limestone floor looked transformed by the work and I’m happy to say it met the expectations of the owner who was extremely happy with the results. For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner; this would ensue the newly applied sealer stayed put, most floor cleaning products you find in supermarkets are simply too strong for use on sealed stone and will erode the sealer.
