Stone

Semi Riven Slate floor Before and After Cleaning Hornby

Brazilian Grey/Green Semi-Riven Slate Floor Hornby Kitchen

Rough Slate is notorious for homeowners to maintain as dirt can quickly become trapped in the rough surfaces. The example on this page is that of Brazilian Semi Riven Slate installed in the Kitchen of a house in the village of Hornby, which while naturally cleft from the rock loses none of its texture and style and yet has a much smother appearance than the typical rough Slates from China. Less processing means it’s not quite completely smooth but it is a lot less expensive to buy than say a honed or polished Slate which is more difficult to maintain due to various polishing techniques required to keep up the appearance. Brazilian Slate is in fact one of my favourite slates to clean and also one of the most rewarding of Slates to seal as the sealer really does bring out the colour and character of the stone.

Sealers provide a protective barrier on natural stone floors and without it dirt can penetrate into the pores of the stone making it more and more difficult to clean effectively. Unfortunately on this floor the new homeowners were unaware on what sort of Stone it was and had no idea how to look after it which resulted in the sealer wearing down prematurely and the floor becoming dull and un-inviting.

Semi-Riven Slate floor Before Cleaning Hornby Semi-Riven Slate floor Before Cleaning Hornby

Cleaning Black Semi-Riven Brazilian Slate Tiles

To restore the appearance of the Slate floor we started by taping up the edges of the new kitchen units to protect the wood from splashing. This was followed with an application of a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-clean worked in with a black buffing pad fitted to a buffing machine running at slow speed (working at a slower speed results in less splashing). The pads can struggle to reach the edges and corners so these were cleaned by hand.

Once we had finished on the main floor area we then concentrated on the grout using a steam cleaner and more Pro-clean scrubbed in with a narrow stiff brush.

Last step of the cleaning was to rinse the floor with water to remove any trace of cleaning products from the Slate and then dried off the floor the best we could with our high wattage wet vacuum machine and left the floor to dry off naturally over night.

Sealing Black Semi-Riven Brazilian Slate Tiles

The next day we returned to seal the floor checking first that the floor had completely dried. The customer had requested a matt finish however we have worked on Brazilian Slate many times before and we knew how good they can look with this Satin finish sealer. Naturally its the customers decision so we offered to do a test piece and let them decide if they didn’t like it we would strip off the test piece and apply a Matt finish sealer like Tile Doctor Colour Grow instead.

The floor was dry so a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go were applied to one Tile so that they could appreciate how it would look. Luckily the customer agreed with us and so we set about sealing the whole floor with Seal and Go.

To speed up the drying process Air Blowers were installed as we worked and it wasn’t long before the sealer was dry and the customers were able to walk on the floor and inspect every area before we left. I’m please to report that they were over the moon with the floor and my recommendation of sealer.

Semi-Riven Slate floor After Cleaning Hornby Semi-Riven Slate floor After Cleaning Hornby

To maintain the slate tiles going forward we always give our customers a free bottle of Tile Doctor pH neutral tile cleaner, which is a little incentive for them to provide some feedback via our website.

Professional Semi Riven Slate Floor Renovation in Lancashire

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Rockform Tiles Preston Front

Rockform Tiles Preston

I took the photographs below at Rockform who we often use for sourcing difficult to find tiles. Tony and Mark who run the shop have been in the business for many years and have a vast wealth of knowledge so I can highly recommend them; they can be found on the (A6) Garstang Road at Brock, Near Preston.

Rockform Tiles Preston
Rockform Tiles Preston Rockform Tiles Preston
Rockform Tiles Preston Rockform Tiles Preston

Rockform Ltd can be found on the (A6) Garstang Road, Brock, Near Preston, Lancashire, PR3 0RD

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Kendal Tile and Stone Photo5

Kendal Tile and Stone

I took the photographs below at Kendal Tile and Stone who we are one of the local suppliers we use to source replacement tile and grout etc. We have built a good relationship with Kendal Tiles since they started their operation over 7 years ago, it’s run by a small team of very experienced tile retailers including co-owners Rob Milligan and James Turner in fact Rob used to be an employee at the shop and he liked the business so much he bought the business.

Kendal Tiles are not just retailers who are looking to push products these guys really know their Onions so if you require valuable and factually correct advice on Tiles, Stone, Adhesives and Grout then I can highly recommend them; so if you live in the South Lakeland area do pop in and take a look, they can be found in the Shap Road Industrial Estate, Kendal.

Kendal Tile and Stone
Kendal Tile and Stone
Kendal Tile and Stone
Kendal Tile and Stone
Kendal Tile and Stone
Kendal Tile and Stone
Kendal Tile and Stone
Kendal Tile and Stone
Kendal Tile and Stone
Kendal Tile and Stone
Kendal Tile and Stone
Kendal Tile and Stone

Kendal Tile and Stone is situated on the northern outskirts of Kendal in Chancel Place, Shap Road Industrial Estate, just off the A6 ‘Shap Road’, postcode LA9 6NZ.

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