Travertine cleaning and sealing in Double Bay

Most Double Bay travertine we see is in apartment buildings: a lobby that runs from the street to the lifts, a ground-floor terrace, a rooftop or podium pool, or balconies looking toward the bay. Lobbies show traffic lanes and etching near the door where acidic cleaners have been used. Terraces show grey grime packed into the holes, rings under pots and furniture, and dark mould in shaded corners. Balconies pick up salt and atmospheric grime, and podium pools add scale and sunscreen to the mix. Because so much of it is common property, its condition often reflects years of whichever product the cleaning contractor happened to use.

Every travertine job starts by identifying the finish, whether honed, tumbled or brushed, filled or unfilled, because that decides the method and what is realistic. Indoors and out, we use non-acidic chemistry suited to calcium carbonate stone, scrub with a low-speed machine so grime lifts from the pits, and extract the rinse water rather than leaving it to pool. Inside, walls, lift doors and joinery are protected. If parts of the floor are etched, we show you where and explain that honing, not cleaning, is the remedy. We also suggest a pH-neutral routine cleaner for the building's staff, since the daily product matters more than the occasional deep clean.

With the stone clean and dry, any open holes are packed with a colour-matched compound and a penetrating sealer is applied, chosen for indoor or outdoor exposure as appropriate. On terraces and balconies, the sealer keeps rain, salt and spills at the surface; in lobbies, it stops grime being ground into the pores by foot traffic. The finish stays natural and does not make the floor slippery, which is the first question most building managers ask. We log the product and date, which helps strata committees plan maintenance and budget for it, and we can return to check high-traffic areas after a few months of use if the committee would find that useful.