Sealing Slate

A client in Keston asked me to freshen up the Chinese Slate floor tiles that had been installed in the Kitchen. Kitchens are the busiest room in the house and overtime the floor had become tired and dull with ingrained dirt, the grout was also stained with dark patches. He had tried cleaning with lots of household products but nothing was improving the appearance.

I visited the property to survey the floor and recommend a solution to the problem. I could see the floor had previously been sealed but it had degraded in several areas and in some places, there was no sealer present at all. Consequently, dirt was able to get into the pores of the stone where it is difficult to remove. All these problems detracted from what should be a very beautiful Slate floor.

To demonstrate my point, I picked a small area of tiling and conducted a test clean followed by the application of a fresh sealer; the floor came up well and my client could see that we could improve the floor significantly. Impressed with the different he was happy to go ahead with my quote and we returned the following month to carry out the work.

Deep Cleaning a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

There was an old topical sealer on the Slate which had to be removed first. To do this I like to use a combination of Tile Doctor Remove and Go combined with and Tile Doctor Nanotech HBU. I applied the solution to the tiles and grout and allowed it to soak in and get to work for around thirty minutes. The two products combined create a powerful solution that will remove the old sealer and start to break down the stains in the tile and grout.

After thirty minutes, I added water to the solution and scrubbed, paying particular attention to the grout lines, then I vacuumed up the solution using the wet vacuum we have on board. I then went over the tiles and grout with my steamer to ensure I had rinsed and removed all chemicals.

When dry I could see the grout staining was far too deep to be able to get perfectly clean so I applied a grey Tile Doctor Grout Colourant to the grout lines. As well as refreshing the grout to give a consistent and uniform colour it also seals the grout, protecting it with an epoxy barrier making it much easier to clean and maintain going forward. When the grout colourant was dry it was now time to apply the sealer to the slate.

Sealing a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

I advised the client to switch from a topical sealer to an impregnating sealer that works by soaking into the stone, occupying the pores, and thereby preventing dirt from residing there.

Happy with my recommendation I sealed the slate with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which as its name suggests contains a colour enhancing formular that it perfect highlighting the natural colours in Chinese slate.

The sealer adds a new level of depth to the Slate and being an impregnator is hardwearing and long lasting. The new sealer will make the floor much easier to clean in future and on that topic I also recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for that purpose.

Neutral Tile cleaner is a pH neutral product that is effective yet mild enough not to impact the integrity of the freshly applied sealer. Many household cleaning products are simply too strong for use on a sealed floor (always check the label) and will break down the sealer which may be the reason for the previous sealer failing in the past.

 

Professional Renovation of a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen in Southeast London