Excess Sealer on Travertine

Q. Your website and articles are extremely helpful. I now know that you don’t have to seal travertine. Here is my problem; my employee applied sealer to filled travertine and didn’t wipe off the excess. I spoke to a rep at the sealer company and used another product, nano scrub, with a white scrubby and rinsed with water. It helped a little to remove the "water spots/dull spots" but not completely. If you look at the floor directly from above you do not see any blemishes, but the tile is in a large area with glass doors that let in a lot of light ,and if you look at tile furthest away you can see these blemishes. Upon further examination I realized that these blemishes are the epoxy spots that are used to fill the travertine. I know epoxy is a very hard substance and the sealer probably didn’t penetrate these areas. I reapplied some of the nano scrub to some areas which helped a little but not completely. Should I buff the floor or polish the floor? Any suggestions. Thanks, Mark

A. Hi Mark. It appears that there is still residue on the floor. The fill probably did retain some of the sealant. One way to address it is to use a floor machine with a horsehair pad to either clean it or, if you have the experience, some honing or polishing powder depending on the look you seek. In that way, you can be assured that the finish will be addressed uniformly throughout the floor. If you cannot do it, a local restorer could easily provide the service. This is should not be a huge job.
 
Don Semi
Granite & Marble Restoration
Dedicated to the Preservation of Fine Surfaces
Denver, CO
www.restoremarbleandgranite.com