Problems With Topical Sealer
San Diego homeowners called us because they’d had their travertine floors professionally cleaned and sealed, but the sealer had become problematic. Scratches and traffic patterns in the sealer were evident, and it had lost much of its shine. We explained that a topical sealer had been used on their travertine, which usually is not recommended. We told them that our natural polishing process gives the floor a true, lasting shine, and that our impregnating sealer would not have the same problems as the topical sealer used by the previous contractor.
Stripping, Restoration, and Sealer Reapplication
First, we stripped the travertine floor, removing all the old sealer. We honed the floor to remove any surface damage, and then polished the floor to restore the reflective finish. The homeowners requested that we not bring the floor to a highly reflective polish, but to give it a finish somewhere between soft matte and polished. We finished up with an application of impregnating sealer to inhibit staining.
The homeowners were very pleased with the results.
For more information about travertine restoration, such as etch removal, lippage removal (leveling uneven tiles), crack and chip repair, stain removal, sealing, filling naturally-occurring travertine holes, as well as honed, slightly polished, or high-gloss polished finish, watch one or more of these short videos: Floating Travertine, Travertine Strip, Hone, and Repolish, and Travertine Repair, Restoration, and Polishing or visit our Travertine Services page.