Sandstone Tile Cleaning Archives - Merseyside Tile Doctor

Sandstone Tile Cleaning

Welcome to my Work History archive where you will find detailed examples of the cleaning and renovation of Sandstone flooring carried out in North Wales

Cleaning and Renovating Sandstone Floors

Sandstone is often used for Kitchen and Hallway flooring, however as with any natural stone it needs to be sealed to protect it and bring out its beauty and colouring. One of the biggest problems we find with stone flooring is with the sealer becoming stripped away prematurely by the continuous use of cleaning agents not designed for this type of surface. Without its protective sealer porous stone quickly becomes ingrained with dirt making it increasingly difficult to clean effectively.

Our method for renovating Sandstone typically involves stripping the floor of any existing sealer/coatings, deep cleaning to extract the dirt and then applying a fresh sealer for which I recommend Tile Doctor Colour Grow as it enhances the natural colours in the stone. If the floor is particularly bad, it’s best to resurface it with coarse milling pads which can remove a thin layer from the surface of the stone.

Below you will find detailed examples of work we have carried out in the past, it should give you some idea of what’s involved and what can be achieved with the right techniques and products.

White Sandstone Patio Cleaning Liscard Wallasey

Stained White Sandstone Patio Deep Cleaned in Liscard Wallasey

A client from Liscard in Wallasey asked me to look at their White Sandstone Patio which was stained with moss, blackspot, and lichen. I contacted her and arranged to a time to pop over and survey the patio which was installed in the rear garden and down the side of the house.

White Sandstone Patio Before Cleaning Liscard Wallasey

I could see the staining on the patio was the typical result of exposure to the UK weather and discussed the best way to tackle the problems. I recommend applying a powerful patio cleaner to break down the staining and then use a high-power pressure washer to force the dirt out of the stone.

With a plan agreed I worked out a quote which was accepted, and a date was put in the diary for our return and hoped the weather would be on our side.

Deep Cleaning a White Sandstone Tiled Patio

Fortunately, the weather was nice and dry so work began by decanting Tile Doctor Patio and Driveway Cleaner into a large spray bottle from which it was applied to the patio and then was left to soak in. The longer you leave this product the better the result and, in this case, we left it to dwell for two hours so it could really attack the different stains on the patio. In total five litres of cleaner were applied to cover the whole patio by the time we had finished.

The patio was then cleaned with a powerful pressure washer fitted with a spinner tool that gets into the pores of the stone but is gentle enough not to blow the grout between the large white sandstone tiles. The soiled cleaning solution was then rinsed off the patio and extracted using a wet vacuum.

Once done the patio was inspected and spot cleaned where required.

Sealing a White Sandstone Tiled Patio

I discussed sealing the patio with the client, however with the location being so close to the sea I felt that a sealer may struggle to cope in the harsh salty environment and so we decided to leave it unsealed. I did however recommend the Tile Doctor Annual Maintenance Plan; this is where we visit annually to keep the patio in its best condition. The client thought this was great idea.

White Sandstone Patio After Cleaning Liscard Wallasey

The grubby patio was transformed following the cleaning and now looks so much more inviting. They are now ready for summer entertaining assuming the weather stays warm.