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Cleaning Tips Flooring Design Dilemma

Suggestions for dirty tumbled travertine floors in my kitchen

3 years ago

We recently purchased a home that had the "old world" look with tumbled travertine floors in the kitchen and high-traffic areas. When we came in the kitchen floors looked super dirty and I thought getting them professionally cleaned and buffed would make a difference. We got a professional to come in with the heavy steam cleaner (wet vac powered from his truck) and buffing pads, etc. After two full days of cleaning, we noticed some difference, but definitely not the "clean" to our expectation. It has been 8 months since the professional cleaning and my floors look horrible again. The grout and the pores of the tile look dark and untidy. I need some suggestions to make the tiles clean/bright as new or a way to fix them (epoxy over it, tile on tile, replace them completely, etc.). What would you recommend as the best option that won't break the bank and still can give me a desired look. The total sq.ft area of the tumbled travertine floors is 1500sq feet.

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Comments (5)

Boxerpal
3 years ago
After the tiles were cleaned did someone reseal the tiles? I think resealing goes a long way to keeping tile looks better.

Are the tiles honed or polished? Can you provide photos? Sometimes hones can look dull and flat.

We had travertine in our old home. I used to find myself very frustrated with the "dirty" look or the worn lived in look. A friend pointed out to me that the tiles are perfect for a young family. My kids could drop crumps, spill juice or the dogs run around with muddy paws and the dirt didn't show. At the time I did not love the look but now looking back they were beautiful in their own way.

Cleaning Travertine
partim
3 years ago
I also have a "rough" tile floor. Slate-look with lots of pits and crevices.

It made a huge difference when I started drying my floor after mopping. I throw an old bath towel on the floor and walk around on it. Even though I changed my mop water and rinse water frequently, it still made a difference. I guess the water drying in the pits wasn't as clean as I thought.
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winer812
3 years ago
Following. Have the same “old world” aka dirty travertine. Was polished and sealed and a year later looks terrible again.
SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
Well a professional stone professional will come in and GRIND DOWN a little bit of the stone (just like a wood floor). They will add filler (if you wish) to get rid of the pockmarks that travertine is none for. They will then grind OUT the grout and replace with a more appropriate product (that has a lower chance of staining) if you want to do that. Which means you have to pay for it.

The floors are then SEALED and the grout dealt with. And they might need to be sealed again. Many marbles (which travertine is considered) require upwards of 3 coats before it it as water repellant as possible.

Stone floors are HIGHLY desirable...because they can be refinished and refreshed for hundreds and hundreds of years (there are stone floors that have been in use for more than 1000 years in Rome, Ravenna, Milan, Istanbul, Cairo, Tehran, Beijing, etc).

The cost to restore them (not just clean) should be around the price it takes to refinish a hardwood floor....around $5/sf or so. It should be around $8,000.

Now consider the cost to remove the stone: $2-$3/sf

Cost to purchase new material (tile = $4/sf....wood = $6/sf...more stone)

Cost to install new material is on top of those numbers...which means the cost to restore the stone is MUCH cheaper than remove and replace.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
This should never have been installed as flooring and IMO without spending a fortune on trying to refinish and fill now you would be better off to rip it out and start again. Tumbled travertine even as a backsplash is hard to clean so can’t even imagine it as flooring. I had a client who had a stone floor in her bathroom redone it was ridisculously expensive and honestly never looked much better.

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