Having accumulated over 35 years experience in the field of ceramic tiles and natural stone it seems only logical to share some of the insights and tips that I have picked up along the way with a wider audience. Hence the Tile and Stone Blog.
I intend to build a useful and hopefully interesting archive of facts and tips on every aspect of living with and and caring for tile and stone installations. So please visit often and send us your feedback or add your comments to the relevant blog post. I look forward to receiving them.
Ian Taylor
The Tile and Stone Blog,
4 Gardd Y Gwanwyn,
Northop Hall,
Mold,
Flintshire,
CH7 6GA
UNITED KINGDOM
We have a large area of black slate patio adjacent to and lower than a heavy clay back garden which partially drains across the slate in winter. This leaves hard water limescale deposits on the slate. How can I reduce the amount of limescale deposited, or make it easier to keep clean?
Hi,
I am not sure you can do anything to prevent the water, laden with minerals from the clay, from getting onto your slate. Unless that is you can dig a small drainage channel at the foot of the slope – you can get small plastic channels about 100 mm in cross section with metal or plastic gratings – that might help if feasible.
Apart from that giving the slate a good clean then (in the summer) sealing it with a good impregnating sealer (either a natural one or an enhancing one – which would make it darker) will help. It won’t stop the deposits from landing on the slate but it will stop them from absorbing into the surface, or just getting a bit of a grip – so it will help cleaning significantly.
Hope that helps
Ian
Hi Ian
We have had a slate hearth put in for the woodburning stove. Unfortunately Cement has bled into the slate (quite a bit). How do we clean this without damaging the slate. Also, what’s best to use to polish up a slate hearth? Many thanks – Sue
Hi,
OK, it is a little bit difficult to advise because I have no way of knowing the quality or origin of your slate. There are many out there – most real geological slate is pretty robust and allows for the use of standard cement removers, however, some are more sensitive, others may have minerals within them that can react. Try to remove as much of the cement as you can by use of a nylon scrub brush, plastic scraper etc. You could try using a nylon scrub pad – even the course black ones with a little water – you may be able to remove some of it that way. After that you will have to try a cement remover – try a mild one, based on phosphoric acid, (we have one called Grout Haze Plus on the All for Stone website) – DO NOT USE A BRICK ACID (which is based on HCL). TEST an inconspicuous area first – if there is no inconspicuous area then try the tiniest amount in the least noticeable spot. BUT try it dilute, pre-wet the surface of the slate then apply the DILUTE cleaner and leave it for a few minutes, scrub, then wipe it up and rinse with clean water. Let it dry and check to see that there has been no ill effect on the slate – look for etching: a dulling down of the surface, and or lightening of the colour.
If all is well proceed to treat the affected area in the same way. If you see any change in the test area – then it may be that you have a sensitive slate OR that there is some kind of factory-applied treatment on it that you are removing – if this is the case, go back to your supplier and ask them how it has been treated – (they may have applied a slate oil for example, if so you can get the same brand and reapply it).
As for polishing, if it has a polished or honed surface this is done mechanically with abrasives and you won’t be able to do that easily, but if you are thinking of some kind of treatment then you have a couple of choices: A slate oil – there are several on the market – easy to apply – they don’t go in very far and will buff off over time – but you just reapply – a bit like topping up wax on a wood table but much less frequently. Or you could use one of a number of impregnating sealers, including enhancing sealers.
Hope this helps
Ian
Thanks Ian. That’s great. Very helpful & much appreciated
Hello Ian,
We have recently applied 511 Seal & Enhance to a travertine floor. Two coats were applied following directions on the bottle. While there is no stickiness, puddling or other noticeable accumulation, there is a very slight greasy feel to the surface. It shows footprints, and is easily marked up when something is dragged across. The factory told me to wipe it down with acetone or paint thinner. This was an interior application. I’m concerned over fumes and safety no matter how much I ventilate. Can anything else be used to eliminate this film? Thanks.
Hi Larry,
OK, the first thing here is how long has it been down, a day? a week? This situation is best dealt with as soon as it occurs, the longer it has the more it will cure or set/harden etc.
If they have told you to use acetone or thinners I am not sure I can offer anything else, they would know their product best right? However, if it was only applied in the last 24 hours or so and is still ‘greasy’ as you say then, one thing you could try is to re-apply the product. This is a trick or technique that can often help. The idea being that the best solvent for the job is the one that keeps the product in liquid form, to begin with. i.e the on that the sealer is dispersed in (incidentally, that company is known for their use of aromatic type, hydrocarbon solvents, so I am pretty sure that the product itself is no better from a fume standpoint than the acetone or thinners they re advising you to use – and you have already used this).
So, do a little test, dab a small amount of the actual product on an affected area, leave it a few minutes (but not so long that it can evaporate) then scrub or rub it, preferably with a white nylon emulsifying pad. Wipe away any residue with a paper towel and let it dry – If this has removed the greasy residue then great, problem solved, and as a bonus, you will not have to worry about having removed any of the actual sealer from the stone, quite the contrary, you will have topped it up, if and where necessary.
If that works, repeat all over. If it fails, then I see no option but to follow their advice.
Hope that helps
Ian
Hi Ian,
We are renting a house and we think the hearth is black slate. It has been stained with white rings from halloween pumpkins that went a bit mouldy and we are struggling to clean it. Do you have any advice as to what we can use? Happy to send photos if that helps.
Thank you,
Miranda
Hi, first thing I would try is an alkaline cleaner. Has the slate been treated at all? maybe with slate oil or something? IF it has after you have cleaned you may need to re do this.
Hope it helps
Ian
Hello, I’d appreciate your advise on my issue.
I’ve just had 50Sq mtr of Marshall’s Towngate sandstone slabs laid to create a patio and path.
It’s be finished over a week so I jet washed it over to remove mud a dirt from on going works.
It came up great and it was gleaming.
Once dry I then applied dry treat stain Proof product to it via low pressure spray.
It’s been dry for around 6 hours now with good weather and it’s seems to have left some very ugly patches that are causing concern.
Please can you give me some advise on how this has happened and what my options are to over come this?
I’d like to send you some pictures of this but I can’t seem to do this on here.
Thank you
Hi James,
OK, Hard to tell I’ll cc this message directly to your email – you can replay to that with pictures if you wish. However, could be a reaction to moisture (I know you said it was dry after power washing – but moisture ca linger underneath even if it looks and feels dry at the surface). Or, it could be one application, using a sprayer is fine, a fast way to apply it, but it should not be left to pool in any areas, and most impregnating sealers require buffing off after application BEFORE they dry. With some solvent-based sealers, and esp on a very porous material like sandstone, it can seem as if the sealer has dried with nothing to wipe off, but there can be a surplus left on which can then cause issues. If you have damaged or surplus sealer residue, then it will need to be stripped off. You could try a test: rub over a little more sealer, (sooner rather than later) to utilise the solvent that it is delivered in (sometimes works) to re-emulsify the sealer, scrub, and buff dry. If that does nothing then you will need a stripper (which may then necessitate re sealing t some degree). At this point, I would contact Dry Treat for their recommended solution.
Hope this helps
Ian
Hello, wondered if you could give me a bit of advice. We have a new porcelain patio which we love but unfortunately so do the birds sitting in the tree above. The patio isn’t sealed and we are currently using a jet wash and putty knife to remove the bird droppings. This is driving us nuts as you can imagine. Would sealing the porcelain make it easier to remove the bird poop? If so, I’ve been told to use an acrylic rather than resin sealer. Many thanks, Denise
Hi, OK, well there may be no easy answer here, most porcelain does not need sealing and indeed cannot actually be effectively sealed, as it is not porous in the first place. The advice to avoid a resin sealer is good as that is the kind of sealer that outdoor paver type people are familiar with and is designed for very porous brick/clay/ concrete type materials. Porcelain just does not have the porosity that would be required to take that sealer in. Porcelain is more like glass than it is brick – in general terms anyway, so there is nothing to actually seal. If you think about it, bird droppings would still land on glass and would dry and be quite hard to shift, it is just that there would be no surface texture for it to get a good grip on so it would be easier to clean.
So, acrylic sealers – I assume they mean the coating type, these are also normally used on very porous materials such as terracotta, but also they are mainly used indoors. Basically, they need porosity to get a grip, and they are just not up to outdoor work, they form a thin, usually shiny coating on top of the tiles, and weather/ the elements. traffic etc will wash/wear it away in no time add to the fact that they cannot get a purchase or good bond on the porcelain in the first place and they will be gone in no time, yes that may facilitate cleaning – but only temporarily and as they wear off they would blister and look patchy, so not an answer I don’t think.
Some porcelain does have a tiny degree of microporosity on the surface and perhaps a traditional solvent-based impregnator may help, you will only get trace amounts to go in where there are pores, (purely by helping to prevent the bird poop from getting too great a grip) but it would still require washing off.
Is there anything you can do to deter the birds? scarers on the tree? Buy a cat (I’m only half-joking). Failing that I think letting a good alkaline cleaner soak on the bird poop for 5 to 10 minutes before jet washing may well help loosen the droppings.
Hope that helps a little
Ian
Hi helpful people. Advice needed! My wife decided to have a go at tiling and put down a small area of black and white porous tiles in a checked pattern. Sealed once with sealer and then applied dark grey grout. The grout has stained the white tiles which look grey and dirty now. Have tried all kinds of cleaning and scrubbing and bicarb paste but nothing has really helped thus far. She is now crestfallen and just wants to rip them up and carpet it!! But I really want to try to salvage it by getting the tiles clean again. Any suggestions please
Sounds like I would try a grout haze product: a mildly acidic cleaner designed to break grout haze – worth a try at least. You could try Grout Haze Plus from All for Stone.
Hope this helps
Ian