Travertine Floor Repair and Polish

In this video I repair several areas of travertine stone tiles that have lifted and are hollow underneath. This process secures them in place without having to remove and replace. Also in this video we have the floors polished and sealed professionally. The result is amazing. The floors are beautiful and stay clean! Here are the products I used and the company that did the filling, polishing and sealing.
Tru-Clean Surface Care
Giuseppe D. Mazzola
trucleansurfacecare.com
Epoxy:
www.westmarine...
Hardened:
www.westmarine...
Pumps:
www.westmarine...
Mixing Sticks:
www.westmarine...
Syringe:
www.westmarine...
Mixing Containers:
www.westmarine...

[@VBjoshi-l5h]

What a stroke of luck. I am trying restore my travertine floor laid 20 years ago. and when I relocated kitchen in newbuild extension, came across cowboy builder and tiler's shabby workmanship. tiles need all the TLC to bring to old glory. This time not getting cowboys. Had enough of their corner cutting I am in UK. This time doing it myself. And your video so informative it already gave me 50% confidence that I can and will do it. I am 85 yr old slight female but taking on challenge. watching and rewatching to the video to absorb all information. To get hang of it, I will start in my downstaires shower room before tackling 1600 sq ft area. Thank you for the detailed recordings...

[@bobbygfl]

That’s awesome! Good luck with the project!

[@SuperMan-xy8ui]

Thanks for detailing this process!

[@bobbygfl]

Glad it was helpful!

[@muffinsmcgee9248]

That house is beautiful. I’ve never liked those travertine tiles but I think I’m converted after watching this! They look absolutely gorgeous!

[@bobbygfl]

Thanks!

[@Bluewater9]

Awesome service very professional, beautifully decorated home. I understand the original installers were not so professional, great ending Thank God...

[@bobbygfl]

Thanks!

[@williamday1846]

Beautiful!!!

[@bobbygfl]

Thanks!

[@jennifergorman7723]

Looks great! I have to do mine too and it’s just the same as yours. I was going to attempt doing it my self but now not so sure lol

[@bobbygfl]

Thank you! It was worth the money. Still holding up.

[@randyWCG]

Did you consider whether the subfloor is tight on the stringers? That could explain why there is play in the tiles. I know they have snap off screw kits (for carpeted floors) that you can use to improve the bond. In your case you could use regular screws. You could find the stringers with magnet, a stud finder or even from below. You would be lucky if you can access it from below. Otherwise you could find a drill spot aligned with the subfloor and use a regular screw. Nice video!

[@bobbygfl]

Thanks. It’s a concrete slab. There’s really no other option.

[@etiennesnyman1089]

Thank you for posting, I'm looking to have the same done to my floor and this was helpful to understand what a full restoration looks like. Question: what do you have under your chair legs to keep them from scratching the floor? I have tried felt and hard plastic and neither seem to work well.

[@bobbygfl]

Nothing. The polish causes them to slide better without marking.

[@95asco]

I would love you to show me where West suggest that epoxy can be thinned with acetone????

[@bobbygfl]

Great suggestion! Page 28. Bottom of page under thinning. www.westsystem.com/app/uploads/2023/09/WS-User-Manual-2020.pdf

[@95asco]

If you read that paragraph you will see that the strength and watertight integrity is compromised by the addition of acetone. Acetone should never be used with epoxy aside from cleaning equipment. In your type of application the epoxy simply needs warming in order to make it more liquid it would have been advantageous to have added a filler also. Hope this helps. Kind regards Tony

[@bobbygfl]

Thanks! Agreed on the integrity. For this application it needs to be nearly water consistency to get the flow quality needed to get into the gaps under the tiles. Strength and seal are irrelevant. It’s simply a filler combining with the thin set. Polyester resin would do if I had that. Just needs to flow and cure. For a boat or any structural application I’d never thin it.

[@95asco]

@@bobbygfl It would appear that we could all learn a thing or two from you! :)

[@AzMetsFan]

Great video and thanks for posting. I'm surprised you didn't fill your own holes. This seems easier than what you did to repair the loose tiles but am I mistaken there? I plan to do both in preparation for a professional service to clean, polish and seal. Thank you and beautiful home and dog.

[@bobbygfl]

Thank you. I did actually refill the holes off camera. the company filled them and after a few hours they sink a bit so i refilled. Mainly i did not want to mess with their process. this was expensive and i did not want to give them any reason to day it was wrong. thanks for the comment!!

[@CleanImageofOrlando]

As one that does this for a living, great job on the epoxy injections. We use a larger syringe, so it is a tight fit in the hole to pressurize the syringe to force under the tiles. Looks like the company used Diamond impregnated pads to refinish, I wonder if once you placed all the furniture back, and now have contrast( rugs have no shine), it gives the allusion of the Travertine becoming shinier over time. 3 days to complete seems a little long though, how many sq ft did they refinish?

[@bobbygfl]

about 2500 sq ft. im sure you are correct about the sinner over time and thank you the compliment on the injection. so far everything is holding perfectly.

[@megacleancab256]

Anyone do this work in citrus country fl

[@megacleancab256]

Do you come out to citrus county? I have a bunch of travertine

[@bobbygfl]

I’m sorry I have no idea

[@tinadogmom8586]

How much does something like this cost per sq ft? It looks amazing. Thank you for sharing

[@bobbygfl]

About $30 a foot. They did some extra unquoted work but it averaged out about that.

[@GinoSavarino]

@@bobbygfl No way that was $30. a sq ft. at 2500 sq ft thats $75,000. I that correct?

[@kaellbraga1680]

Seems like $3, not $30 per sqft. $30 would be more than replacing the floors I guess

[@s.s.5453]

Great video, how much did the floor guys charge?

[@bobbygfl]

This was a while ago and I’m not exactly sure but I think somewhere in the $3000 range

[@kishpuna28]

Can I get a different epoxy and hardener brand that's readily available at Home depot? Or is there a reason why you specifically used this brand? I don't want to mess my floor up by using something that's not going to work properly

[@bobbygfl]

I work in the marine industry and have access to west systems. That’s the main reason. Any liquid epoxy would likely work. This brand is designed for boat building so I knew it would penetrate and hold. Zero areas I fixed have released. It’s been two years.

[@jim2611]

Hi, what was that beige-looking paste the guy was using to fill holes? I have a travertine porch and the overhang of the step broke off. I want to put the pieces back with adhesive. regards, Jim, Sydney, Australia

[@bobbygfl]

here's the us link to amazon for the product if you can source it locally: StonePro - Traverfill Light (1 Lb.) (for Repairing Holes in Travertine) by ESP Sales Learn more: www.amazon.com/dp/B084VD5GF2/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_GRDQ26EXHAZSK2341E6W

[@jetlaggedchef6806]

That came out terrific! How much did it cost and how many sq feet did they do?

[@bobbygfl]

Thank you it was rather expensive I think maybe 4000 and probably 1500 ft.²

[@Bentleys-Mom]

Wow Thank you for sharing this vid We also have this type of flooring and didn’t know what to expect in terms of re-finishing the floors or cleaning, sealing and shining them. We also have the same amount of sq ft but I hope it won’t cost that much. It looks great. Did they fill the cracks if there were any? Or just wholes/pockets?

[@bobbygfl]

Yes, they can fill cracks the same was as holes. I only had one small crack and it’s filled, can’t even see it.

[@Yappytrip]

I want to do the same thing to my travertine flooring. Grout definitely needs cleaning and retouch what would you advice? How should I start my project?

[@bobbygfl]

Really the same process. Get the tiles secure, fill all the grout and holes and have it polished. Thanks for the comment.

[@SimplySayNO]

How much did it cost you?

[@bobbygfl]

About 3000.00

[@SimplySayNO]

@@bobbygfl 😩

[@Goldthwaite1]

What color of travertine is your floors?

[@bobbygfl]

It’s tan and cream I don’t know what the actual stone color is called

[@dougd936]

Hollow tiles are from the adhesive having an air pocket

[@bobbygfl]

Yep. Very annoying!

[@dominion1999]

On the contrary…..the chemical used to bleach and polish is oxalic acid, which is acid. It removes the damage surface of stone and it bleaches it, along with the circular motion of the machine. After, it needs plenty of rinse, and then apply alkaline solution to neutralize the oxalic acid.. after the travertine is very dry, the finishing touches are applied, either just polishing or applying a sealer. To maintain the floors, you need a neutral cleaner once a week, in between cleaning you just need water. Never, ever apply more neutral concentrate than what’s instructed as this can cause soap suds accumulating in the stone floor and traffic will make dark dirty stains.

[@bobbygfl]

Thanks

[@ascerplyr]

You are such a smart man and very handsome, too!! I wish i had a man like you. Do you do private consulatations?Can I hire you? :)

[@bobbygfl]

Already happily and thoroughly employed, thank you for the nice comment though!

[@stevencohen4372]

Next time you make a video, please move the camera slowly. This video made me dizzy. Thanks for the information. Our floor needs a lot of work.

[@bobbygfl]

thanks for the tip, i've been working on that.

[@TileStonePro]

$30/sf ? ? ? At that cost I rip out and replace the entire floor!

[@bobbygfl]

Agreed. It was shocking to me.