A client from the village of Rousdon in Devon asked me to take a look at a large Travertine patio which was laid approximately five years ago and was now in a bad state. I contacted her and arranged a time to pop over and conduct a free survey of the patio which was approximately 85m2.
Upon arrival I could see that garden furniture had been left on the patio and not moved for a long-time, this had resulted in rust stains from the metal and wooden furniture which had leached into the travertine causing staining. Normal cleaners and just jet washing would not be able to clear the stains.
I performed a test with our Tile Doctor product – Patio and Driveway Cleaner which is a very strong cleaner designed to remove the toughest mildew, growth and staining on exterior stone and tiled patios and driveways. The test went well and the client was thrilled with the results and asked if I could achieve the same finish throughout the whole patio. I informed her I could, however, we would need to postpone the booking until spring at the earliest so that the weather and air has time to warm up so the products and sealer both do their jobs.
She was happy to take this advice and accepted my quotation.
Cleaning a Travertine Patio Tiled Floor
I returned in April on a warm, dry weekend to carry out the work as intended.
Work started with the generous application of around ten litres of Tile Doctor Patio and Driveway Cleaner which was left to dwell for approximately three hours, checking every 15 minutes on progress. After this time, I agitated the areas using a Viper rotary machine fitted with a stiff bristle brush to work the product into the stone and get into the pits and grout lines.
Immediately after the agitation process I used my pressurised water system to collect the slurry and remove any remaining moss and algae from the patio – this also neutralised the stone from any remaining products and removed much of the moisture from the stone so it could dry out quickly.
In the lasting afternoon sun, the patio dried out quickly with the assistance of floor fans to speed up the process.
Sealing a Travertine Tiled Patio Floor
The following day I ran some moisture tests which confirmed the patio was dry and could accept a sealer. It’s not a good idea to apply a sealer to damp stone anyway but outside even more so as moisture can become trapped in the stone and then freeze over winter resulting in damage to the sealer.
All was well and I was able to complete the job with the application of three coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal. This kept to the brief from the client who had requested a completely natural stone finish.
Once completed the patio was transformed and my client was over the moon with its new appearance which is now ready for summer entertaining. To make sure the patio keeps it appearance they have requested I come back every year going forward to do a spring clean and top up the sealer. I offer an annual maintenance plan for customers with high maintenance floors/patios like this one so I’m more than happy to do that.
Source: Travertine Patio Renovation Service in Rousdon Devon
Serving Devon including Rousdon, Harry Payne is your local Stone, Grout and Tile maintenance expert. Additionally he is an agent of Tile Doctor, the largest professional Tile, Stone and Grout restorative cleaning network in the UK. Tile Doctor has developed products and techniques to handle a multitude of issues surrounding tile, stone and grout, interior, exterior, domestic or commercial.