The latest how-to movie from my friend A’nge of www.aquamix.com.au in Australia shows how we use Knock Down by Aqua Mix, to hone a marble floor. When you see the end result you may be forgiven for initially thinking it looks dull, compared to the way it was at the start, so why do we do this? – There are a number of reasons; first of all, if a polished floor is badly worn and scratched then the only way to repair it is to re grind and or re polish depending on how bad it has become. However sometimes we may not want the polished finish anyway as it can be harder to maintain. Or, the stone could have been supplied in a honed state in the first place and it needs to be re-honed.
Also some stones such as travertine, do not always polish well, or consistently, they can suffer from hard and soft areas resulting in dull (or chalky) and shiny spots. In such cases it can be much more pleasing to the eye to have a nice, flat, smooth and even finish – hence honing.
You will see that scratches and marks are easily removed leaving the floor with a flat, clean and smooth but non-reflective finish. Once the floor is dry, it should then be sealed (as the honing process removes sealer too). If the loss of colour is an issue, then no problem, make use of an enhancing sealer such as Enrich n Seal to bring back the full colour, but with out the polished surface.
I recently received a question from Chris Rayner, as it is such a common issue I thought I would share it with everyone. Thanks for the question Chris, hope this helps to answer it for you:
Hi, I have a big problem. My Tiler has just started to grout the lovely porcelain tiles in my new kitchen using dark grout on the pale tiles. But the grout has stained the tiles! On close inspection the box of the tiles says they should be sealed and the company accepts no responsibility. Can I get the dark grout out of the tiles? We have already tried HG Cement Grout film remover. Thanks, Chris…
Hopefully, this will help, but a lot depends on the tile and grout:
Having shown you how to apply a coating sealer, it makes sense to show the opposite. Coating sealers, by their very nature, coat the tile or stone, therefore they are in the ‘wear zone’. This means that they will wear much more quickly than their impregnating counterparts. From time to time it may be necessary to strip back a coating sealer so you may start again. Often, when renovating an old, neglected floor, we may not know the entire history of that floor and so we will not know what coatings and polishes may have been used, so again, a complete strip is needed. IN the following video, my good friend A’nge at Aqua Mix Australia shows us exactly how this should be dine. He uses Sealer and Coating Remover to safely remove the sealer then Heavy Duty Tile & Grout Cleaner to help remove all residues.
My buddy A’nge at Aqua Mix Australia has done it again, a great instructional video showing exactly how to apply a coating sealer, in this case to terracotta type floor tiles. In this video you will see exactly how to apply Seal & Finish Low Sheen for a low sheen or satin look.
In addition to this he then adds a high gloss, sacrificial coating with Floor Shine & Hardener. This will both raise the level of the shine to a high gloss (polished wax look without the hassle) and help protect the sealer below. It is easy to maintain, and can be topped up as often as required.
