Last month, two members of the Green Man team spent the day in the town of Tetbury in the Cotswold’s to rejuvenate a limestone floor in a customer’s kitchen & dining room where is had become dull following constant footfall. This visit followed a short survey we had already carried out at the property so that we knew exactly what kind of flooring we would be working with & knew what processes would bring out the best results.
Once the floor area has been cleared which we ask all our customers to do as much as they can. We then sweep & vacuum the flooring in-order to pick up as much surface dirt as possible. We then use rotary agitation using our eco-friendly solutions to breakdown & remove all the trodden in dirt. We allow enough time for the solutions to dwell as the natural texture of limestone often traps soil and debris which is hard to remove once it has accumulated.
We also manually clean the grout between each tile as well as the edging of the tiles where they meet the kickboards. These areas are often forgotten about when you clean the floors yourself, however both of these areas are magnets for trapping dirt & by spending time cleaning the more intricate areas like this improves the overall finish.
Once the tiles & grout have been cleaned, the slurry is extracted using a wet vacuum, this part of the process is then repeated as necessary before we then rinse the floors which ensures that all cleaning solutions & any remaining dirt is removed. Following a deep clean such as this, we often recommend applying a layer of sealant to the floor to help protect it from future spillages. As well as enhancing the overall appearance, a seal will also increase the longevity of the floor. Before any seal can be applied, the floor needs to be fully dry otherwise there is the potential that the sealant would not be absorbed or could cause a reaction & fail. In this instance we sped up the drying process using air movers so that we could apply the seal the same day due to the kitchen being a highly used space.
We used an eco-friendly water-based seal from Ecoprotec which not only repels water, oil & grease, but is also a colour enhancing stone sealer that we have seen great results with on previous projects. Once applied, it initially gives a glossy look but when dried it leaves a natural finish.
If you would like to arrange a short survey of your limestone floor or any hard flooring, please use the contact us button below. We would be delighted to hear from you.