Recently we completed a challenging project color sealing and refinishing the stone floor of a large Boston hotel lobby at the Hampton Inn, which is part of the Hilton Hotel chain. It was a slate tile that was smooth on the surface, unlike some of the rough texture slate tiles.
The main problem was that the grout lines had not been installed correctly, so the grout color was inconsistent. In order to fix the situation, a previous contractor had done a colorsealing job on the grout lines, but it had not covered the grout uniformly. So the grout had a patchy, inconsistent look. NOT what you want in the main lobby of a hotel!
This is a close up of the grout they didn’t like:
The Challenges on This Job
If it were ceramic tile, it would have been easier. Recoloring grout lines with a tinted color sealer product (sometimes called grout staining or grout dyeing) is perfect for ceramic or porcelain floors with a glazed finish. The glaze on top of the tile prevents the liquid colorant from bonding to the tile, so it only bonds to the grout lines where it belongs. But with stone! Yikes, the stone is porous and absorbent, so the tinted sealer gets stuck on the top of the tile, not just the grout lines where you want it! Some stone tiles are so porous, they ‘drink in’ the stain and permanently change the color of the stone, so it looks like the color is ‘bleeding’ over the grout lines into the tile.
And if it were marble or granite tiles installed with a typical thin unsanded grout, it would also have been easier. That’s because we can regrout the traditional thin grout lines of polished marble floors. Unsanded grout is soft enough that we can do that manually.
But, no, this had to be wide grout lines with sanded grout, several thousand square feet. You can’t effectively grind out that much grout in a hotel lobby without making an enormous mess. So…what was the plan?
How We Beat the Challenges!
The only way to do this job was the following steps, in order:
1. Strip off as much as possible of the old wax finish (The stone actually needed a topical coating. The raw stone looks gray and washed out, but it’s a glorious lustrous black when finished with sealer)
2. Scrub grout lines by machine and by hand
3. Rinse the entire area
4. Painstakingly tape off each tile by hand so both sides of each grout line are protecting the tile but leaving the grout exposed – hands and knees time!
5. Manually color sealing over each grout line – More than half a mile of grout lines!…more hands and knees!
6. Remove the tape when dry
7. Apply 2 coats of stone-specific fast drying sealer
8. 4 coats of high gloss acrylic topcoat finish that turns the dull grayish stone to a brilliant deep black.
Only then is the floor is ready for high speed burnishing that brings out a depth of shine and melts the finish onto the stone for a long lasting durable surface.
If we could have done it all at once, it would save time and labor. But with color sealing on hands and knees in a busy downtown Boston hotel lobby, there’s no way to block off the entire floor – people need access to the front desk and exits at all times. So we discussed with the hotel engineer the idea of doing the work in the middle of the night, and going in sections blocked off, always leaving one exit open and one path to the front desk. Doing a long corridor ‘half and half’ this way almost doubles the labor time, but it’s the only way to do it in this setting without inconveniencing the hotel guests.
This is the floor partly done. Grout is recolored, but the finish is only partly applied. The dull gray is the unfinished and the black is the finished area.
The hotel staff was extremely helpful and courteous and they were a pleasure to work with. From start to finish, the work took about 2 weeks and was done:
• As promised, with a clean, consistent light gray grout color throughout,
• A rich glossy black finish on the slate and
• Critically, the color sealing project was no trouble to hotel’s guests visiting Boston from around the world!
We worked an extra weekend night to get the job done in time for a last minute official inspection. We even threw in an extra coat of finish at no charge just to give it the final touch!
This is the finished product:
If you want your floors to look ‘hotel lobby’ quality, feel free to give us a call or text at 617-221-4002 or fill out the form below and we will do our best to make your floors sparkle!
Our contact information:
Act One – Marble and Tile
15 Main Street # 138
Watertown MA 02472-4403
617-221-4002 Text or Call
