Travertine tile is one of the versatile natural stones that has many applications in both interior and exterior design projects. The travertine tiles can be available in various color pallets. This durable material can also be available in different finishes; it all depends on the application that you want to use it for. another reason that have made travertine tile very popular, is its simple maintenance. Like always we do recommend to ask for professional help, but some people like do this task by themselves. Here in this article we will discuss about the reason why you should polish your travertine tiles and then we move on to explain the steps you should take to have polished travertine floors.

Why should you polish travertine floor tiles?

Travertine is known to be a natural material that can pass the test of time. In order to achieve its purpose, the proper care and maintenance of travertine is needed. When time passes you need to restore dull travertine floors to a like-new luster. You just need to have a free weekend and gather some supplies to begin polishing travertine floor tiles. The reason that your travertine tiles need to be polished is that over time they are not as shiny as the day you bought and installed them. The build-up of wax and dirt on its surface has caused this problem. As we mentioned before, the cleaning and polishing travertine tiles is a simple task and can be a DIY projects that you do it yourself over the weekends. Here is the list of the necessary supplies that you need to get and start the process of having a perfect polished travertine floor: 

• Shop vacuum cleaner

• Waterproof tape

• Protective plastic sheeting

• Floor stripper

• Travertine filler compound

• Mop and bucket

• Steam cleaner

• Weighted Buffing Machine

• Polishing powder

• Buffing pads

• Suitable Sealer

Process of polishing travertine floor tiles

As we mentioned above, polishing travertine floor tiles is an easy task that makes your travertine look modern. All you need to do is gather the list of supplies that we named and then flow the steps in below:

Step 1: Clean the Floor

For starters you need to deeply clean the floor and strip the excessive materials on your floor which means that before starting the polishing step of travertine floor, you have to clean the built-up wax and dirt on the surface of your floor. All you need to do is to get a travertine stripper that is especially designed to remove a waxy build-up on the surface of the travertine floor tiles. The ideal tool for applying the stripper to all over the floor is a fresh. When you are done and have covered the whole floor with an even coating of the stripper; you should repeat the mopping process several times with plain water, until you are sure that the grime and wax are removed from the surface of your travertine floor tiles.

Step 2: Clean the Seam

In the second step you should steam clean your travertine floor tiles. To get the best result you can use a steam cleaner and give your floor a deep-down clean. At this point and by steam cleaning your floor, this process helps to break up any residual stripper and grime remained on the floor's surface. The seam cleaning can help to remove some of the shallow and light scratches or stains on the surface of your floor. Also in this step you can clean the grout between the tiles to. To get a polished travertine floor, you should start with having a clean floor which makes the second step of this process essential.

Step 3: Repair the tiles

In this step you should try to fill the travertine cracks, chips, and holes on the surface of your travertine tiles. After you steam cleaned the floor, you have to repair the parts that need to be restored. In this way, your travertine tiles will get a fresh and like-new appearance. You can use filler compounds, like epoxies; using these materials can make it easy for you to patch the cracks, chips, and other glaring imperfections left in and on the surface of the tiles. If you do not have access to epoxy, the next best thing can be grouts. You can also a grout in the same color as your travertine floor tiles. To get the best outcome, you should follow the exact instructions of these material. When you are done you need to wait an appropriate time and let the material cure before you take the next step to have polished travertine. Just remember that it doesn't matter which material you choose to use, but you should make sure to use a color that can match the color of your tiles.

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Step 4: Tape the Edges

Before you get to the fifth step to the process of polishing travertine, you should tape plastic sheeting all around the edges of the room. also remember to Keep all the furniture, baseboards, cabinets, and other surfaces around your floors protected during you polish travertine tiles of the room. when you use plastic sheets and tape them around the room, you are protecting. Note that it is best to use a waterproof tape in this step. If it possible for you to move the room's furniture, you can get them out of the way and prevent damages. Remember that if you want to polish travertine tiles of multiple rooms, you should consider doing this process one room at a time.

Step 5: Now you can Polish

The fifth step, is the main step that you should take to have polished travertine floor tiles. To get the best results, you need to rent a weighted buffing machine and polish travertine floor tiles with it. In this step there are two methods you can choose from and complete the polishing process.

First method:

In the first method, you need to use different grit pads and polish travertine floor tiles until you get the surface to shine gradually. In the first round you should attach a low-grit diamond pad to the bottom of the buffing machine. The low-grit diamond pads will remove scratches, the remaining stains and other imperfections from the top layer of the travertine tiles surface. In this way you can also make the holes and cracks level and consistent with the rest of the floor. When you are done with the first run, you should continue the same process with higher-grit pads and polish travertine tiles to give them a smooth and shiny surface.

Second method:

As for the second method, you can use a polishing powder instead of multiple sanding pads. You should follow the instructions to the polishing powder and if its needed choose the pads type for the weighted buffing machine. In this method, you sprinkle the polishing powder on the floor and use a buffer to get a shiny surface. You can repeat this process several times, until you get the results that you wanted. Also remember by using a higher grit diamond pads, your polished travertine tiles will shin more in the end.

Step 6: Seal the Floor

In the last step, you should finish the process and seal the polished travertine floor. Polishing travertine can be an easy, yet a messy process. When you have achieved the travertines original luster, you should start clean-up and mop the entire travertine floor. When you are done you can have a polished travertine floor for a long period of time in the future. To completely finish this process, you should apply a sealer on the floor and let it rest to dry-off completely. For more information about sealing travertine tiles, check THIS article.

When the sealer has dried, you can remove the tape and protective plastics from room and place your furniture again and enjoy the result.

Get more information about Travertine

Hunters Pavers have been a paver, blocks and retaining wall supplier in Australia for a long time. Here we always try to provide the information and content that you need to know about various types of natural stone. If you have any more question regarding to our travertine products or how to polish them, contact us. our professional experts will help you in any way they can.