re seal or re impregnate honed travertine floor in bathroom?

[scorpy]

Hi guys,
Excellent forum you have here.

Was wondering if you could advise me on re treating a tricky travertine floor in my bathroom.

I have a floor consisting of two inch honed and filled travertine tiles. When laid down, I filled , impregnated and sealed the tiles.
However, due to a damp problem in the bathroom (now corrected), the tiles next to the external wall of the bathroom have become all mouldy with black mould that was due to moisture running down the inside of the external bathroom wall

I tried to remove the mould with a bal microshield tile cleaner and a tooth brush but that did not work. The only cleaning solution seemed to work was with bleach that got the mould out of the honed travertine tiles. However, this has probably effected the impregnator/ sealer that I used originally?

The only other way I can think of removing the black mould is to sand down the tiles to get the mould out but then the tiles will still have to be re impregnated /resealed?

Can any one advise the best solution to go from here?

Many thanks in advance for any replies or advice given..

Regards,

scorps.

[Marble Life Ltd]

You say your damp problem has been resolved may I ask how it was resolved? the mould on the wall tiles what are they stuck on to PlasterBoard?(If so your problem may not be gone) Sanding is not the way to go though it will leave a very rough surface. but whatever you end up treating them with then yes they will need to be re-sealed. Some pictures would be helpful. Also has the bleached not damaged your tiles then?

[scorpy]

Hey aim, thanks for the reply.

I had a bad damp problem due to the outer pebble dash wall absorbing moisture. This was during the winter when the outer block wall of this bathrrom/extension got cold and damp. I coated it with some damp proofer which seems to have prevented most of the damp inside the bathroom when I was running a hot shower. Also, I have added a radiator and high powered extraction fan to replace the smaller extraction fan, which just did not seem to be up to the job of removing the steam/condensation after using the power shower. Though, the condensation created inside by the shower was only really a problem during a cold winter. When the hot steam codensation on the cold ceramic tiled walls, which then ran down onto the travertine floor.

I have tried sanding a sample of spare travertine tile and surprisingly, it leaves quite a smooth finish. Maybe this is a reflection of the rough finish or5 poor quality of the the tiles I have already laid down on the floor. They are tumbled/honed or what ever they are called and have a bit of a pitted finish anyway. Though, I did my best to fill tyhem when they were laid down..

The bleach I used on a corner tile looks o.k. I was thinking of removing these ones anyway if I could not get them clean. What do you mean by bleach damaging the tiles

I was planning to sand the tiles down and reseal them. Then maybe use that LTP protector as a secondary coat. I have used the LTP as suggested by someone on here in my shower cubicle and its very good stuff.

Many thanks again for any input that may be received.

scorpy.

[Bri]

Have a look through the LTP website (link to the left on the sponsors section) they do a selection of cleaning products, just be sure that whatever one you choose is suitable for travertine.

[PHG Wetrooms]

Hi Scorpy,

Re sanding down your travertine tiles, as long as you use a 320 grit or finer you will not leave any visible scratches on the tiles but that is only removing the mould off the surface and not anything that may have got ingrained into the travertine or the grout. A better route would be to use a cleaner such as LTP's Grimex which should get rid of the mould without damage followed by resealing once completely dry with LTP Mattstone.

Re using bleach to clean travertine - most bleaches make a big sales pitch of the fact that they remove limescale, limescale is calcium carbonate as is travertine, marble and Limestone! If you used bleach on a polished travertine (or the other calcium based stones) it will if left long enough or used regularly it will etch the surface and turn that lovely polished surface to matt finish. In your case however due to the stone being honed & tumbled you will not see any change but the bleach will break down any sealant so make sure you reseal properly

Hope this helps

[scorpy]

Thanks again to Bri and PHG Wetrooms,

I used Grimex on my travertine floor and it is good stuff. It removed all the grime except a few bits of dirt that were hard to reach in the pitted surfaces down in the tumbled tiles. Overall, it was 95% effective and very good.

Though, I have underestimated the care that needs to be taken to keep a Travertine floor in good condition.
There were other marks in the tiles that just would not come out and some of the grout marks have just seemed to have stained worse over time. It was my first tiling job on a floor and has a been a big step learning curve. Maybe I should have used ceramic tiles but hey ho!

Anyways, I dedcided the floor was in still not good enough.
I decided to sand down the 3 metre floor and re grout between the tiles.
Very time consuming with 2 inch tiles but there did not seem to be any other way!


I have got the LTP mattstone you suggested and will impregnate/seal with that.
Is there anything else I need to use also to give a good seal to the floor?
The LTP spray protector or something similar? Or will this cause me a problem when cleaning the floor with a weekly cleaner?

Anyhows, I have brought a ivory Bal microflex grout powder again, which goes very well with the stone Travertine tiles. I wish there was a darker colour that suited the little stone tiles but also did not show up markings or dirt as much as the ivory. That said, the ivory looks awrsome and don't think there is a better colour that goes with the natural stone finish . Its all trade off I think.

Anyhows thanks again for your input and any further input into this thread.

Scorpy

[doug boardley]

just the mattstone will do scorpy.

[scorpy]

cheers doug, I owe you one

scorps

[Rich]

Looks like you are being well looked after, how about some before and after pics?

[scorpy]

Hi Rich,

Cheers for the reply.
I am in the process of nearly removing all the grout, while waiting for the dremel to come back repaired for the third time so I can regrout the floor.

Have taken a pic of the floor half half way between getting the grout out though. and will upload on here.

scorps

[scorpy]

Oww, I meant to ask..Does anyone know the brand of a chip restorer/ filler for a steel bath and if theres a like a spray I can use to coat the inside of the bath to get a glossey finish again? Or is this just wishful thinking?


Many thanks in advance for any ideas here