Tile Doctor Feeds

Rejuvenating White Metro Stye Bathroom Tiles in Dorking

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 15:26:35 +0000

These clients from Dorking were selling their house soon but were concerned about the appearance of the tile and grout in their shower room and bath. The tiles were White Ceramic laid in the popular Metro style, whilst the tiles looked fine, they were being let down by the grout which had discoloured and was turning a shade of pink and brown. Also, the white mastic sealant was blackening and mouldy in places. Naturally, my clients were keen to ensure that potential buyers were not put off by the bathroom and wanted to get the maximum price for the house sale.

This was a nice straight forward job, the tiles can be easily cleaned, and the mastic removed and reapplied, but it would make a massive difference to the overall look of the room. I gave them a price and they were happy for me to go ahead.

Deep Cleaning a Ceramic Tile and Grout

Firstly, I sprayed the grout with Tile Doctor Duo Clean. This breaks down the accumulated dirt and grime and is left to dwell for 10-15 minutes. Then I brushed the grout with a strong wire brush and showered away the dirt. Permanent discolouration is common so there were places the grout failed to return to its original white colour. To resolve this, I discussed colouring the grout with my customer as removing and re-grouting is a time consuming and expensive option. Additionally, the colourant provides an easy to clean barrier over the grout that will protect it from discolouration going forward.

While waiting for the grout to dry following the cleaning I set about removing the mastic around the shower and walls with a sharp knife.

After an hour of slow cutting the grout was ready for colouring. With a small, stiff paintbrush I painted a White Tile Doctor Grout Colourant into the grout lines, wiping away any excess from the tiles. The colourant dries very quickly so I could apply a second coat where needed soon after.

Once done my final task was to apply the white silicon mastic to all verticals and the bath surround to ensure the bath was watertight. This takes a while to cure so I advised the clients not to use the shower for 24 hours. I should mention the glaze on Ceramic tiles provides adequate protection from dirt, ensuring they are easy to clean and therefore do not require further sealing.

By the end of the day the bathroom looked like a new installation, their trendy Metro style tiles were rejuvenated, and my clients loved the wall of white.

As my client was selling the property there was little point in discussing aftercare, however for your benefit I would recommend cleaning with Tile Doctor Aqua-Pro. This product will neutralise any acid build up caused by shampoos and shower products in the first place and it is these acids that cause discoloration over time.

Now I don’t want to worry anyone about the word acids, the human skin is slightly acidic so the products we use on our skin are designed for this, but if your eyes sting slightly when they come into contact with the shampoo then that is the acid. Naturally, it washes out with water, but you can imagine what it will do to your grout, tiles, and silicone over a long period of time.

Professional Cleaning of a Ceramic Bathroom Tiles in Surrey

The post Rejuvenating White Metro Stye Bathroom Tiles in Dorking appeared first on East Surrey Tile Doctor.

Giving a Travertine Kitchen Floor a Face Lift in Burgh Castle

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 14:14:02 +0000

Located in Burgh Castle West of Great Yarmouth, this Travertine stone floor was a classic example of an incomplete installation. By incomplete I mean the tiler had done a fine job of laying and grouting the tiles but had left it at that and not sealed the stone. Natural stone like Travertine is porous and needs a sealer to stop dirt becoming ingrained in its pores, a sealer will also improve its appearance.

Without a sealer this floor now looked very dull, pale, rather damaged with pitting and heavily soiled with ingrained dirt. Pitting in stone like this is a natural feature of Travertine however it can be exacerbated with the use of acid cleaning products. This was a floor in urgent need of a face lift, and I was confident it could be transformed into a very beautiful floor.

I think it is true to say that most tilers will skilfully lay a floor for you but usually don’t have the knowledge, experience or equipment to finish the surface properly and when it comes to sealing many will recommend a product and suggest you take care of it yourself. Naturally if your find yourself in that position don’t insist the tiler does it, better to give us a call and have it done properly.

Filling Pitted Travertine Tiles

Our first job was to backfill the larger pits in the stone which as I mentioned are a natural feature of travertine material, but they can trap dirt and so its best if they are plugged with a suitably rigid filler. Also, if left alone the larger holes can quickly become larger as their edges crumble and break up leading to the entire tile becoming unstable. Replacing a tile in a floor like this is possible however its an extremely awkward job to do and it can be difficult to find an exact match for replacement.

Filling was done using a two-part, neutral cream-coloured polyester compound which gels in about fifteen minutes after addition of the catalyst. After this initial period, the excess product is trimmed off level with the surface of the tile before it sets harder than the stone itself in around sixty minutes. The fully cured compound can then be cut and machined as though it were part of the stone structure.

Cleaning and Removing Scratches from a Travertine Floor Tiles

Our second job was to remove deep scratches caused by the unprotected feet of workmen’s ladders. This was done using Tile Doctor 50-grit and 100-grit diamond hand burnishing pads with a little water as a cutting medium. Shallower scratching present across the rest of the floor was removed using a Tile Doctor 200-grit soft milling pad driven by our Klindex 17″ rotary machine.

This abrasive action produces a fine slurry which was then rinsed with water and extracted using our 400psi Ninja machine in preparation for the next stage of the refinishing process. These machines were an expensive investment for our business however they are very robust and effective producing a good result that saves time.

Next task was to restore the polished appearance of the Travertine which was done using the application of a set of Tile Doctor burnishing pads. The process starts by applying a coarse 400-grit diamond pad, again fitted to the Klindex rotary machine. This cleans the tile and improves the matt finish left by the milling pad; again, the slurry was rinse-extracted before moving on to the next pad in the set. Next came the finer diamond polishing stages of 800 grit and 1500 grit, slurry being removed as before between the grades. By this time, all the scratches had been removed and the Travertine floor had visually pleasing even sheen across the whole surface. The last pad in the set is applied dry with a little water sprayed onto the tile so we left the area to dry out thoroughly overnight with the assistance of our large capacity dehumidifier.

Sealing a Travertine Kitchen Floor in Burgh Castle

Returning the following morning, we found that the floor had dried out perfectly and was ready to be vacuumed and spray burnished with the last pad in the set which is a 3000-grit very fine pad applied using a small amount of water sprayed from a trigger bottle resulting in a deep, rich shine across the floor surface.

Last step in the face lift was to seal the floor with a generous coat of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal, a premium grade penetrating sealer recommended for use in Kitchens and food preparation areas. Having left the floor to soak up as much of the Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal as it could, the excess product was removed and the whole area allowed to dry completely with the assistance of our industrial air moving fan. Finally, the floor was spray buffed to a deep shine using a white maintenance pad.

The client was extremely pleased with our results and was amazed at the variation of colours within the stone which had never been visible previously.

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor in Norfolk

The post Giving a Travertine Kitchen Floor a Face Lift in Burgh Castle appeared first on Norfolk Tile Doctor.

Full Restoration of a 150-Year-old Clay Quarry Tiled Floor in Askern

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 03:02:58 +0000

The owner of this house in Askern north of Doncaster was unhappy with the state of its Quarry Tiled Kitchen floor and was contemplating having it ripped up. The house was around 150-years old so this would have been a real shame and after a long conversation I managed to persuade the owner into letting us restore it. Restoring the floor is not only a much cheaper option than having a new floor installed, but it is also much better for the environment. On top of that original features like these original clay Quarry tiles are much sought after and add character to the property which otherwise would have been lost.

A previous owner of this property had taken out some of the old thick clay Quarry tiles and replaced them with some modern Quarry tiles that looked very out of place, they ruined the look of the floor and the current owner wanted them replacing as well as numerous tile which were damaged. In addition, there were two areas where renovations had taken place which had exposed concreted sections of floor which needed to be tiled too. All in all, about 150 tiles were to be installed, fortunately I managed to source a batch of suitable reclaimed tiles which would match well with originals.

Askern is right on the edge of the Borough of Doncaster and is only a stone’s throw away from the North Yorkshire border. The history of Askern can be traced back to the 14th century. It really started to grow however in the 19th century when this property was built, due to the local mineral water which made it famous as a Spa town.

Repairing a Clay Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor

The restoration began with the removal of the poorly matched red Quarry tiles and the cracked tiles. Another factor I had to contend with here was the difference in the thickness of the more recent tiles compared with that of the original tiles which were much thicker.

The concreted areas were also carefully dug out so they would be deep enough for a new level subfloor to be poured giving the replacement tiles a good bed to lay on.

As I mentioned earlier there were roughly 150 tiles in different parts of the Kitchen to be installed, grouted, and finally left to set so it took some time to complete.

Cleaning and repairing a Clay Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor

We returned a few days later to start cleaning the floor. My process for this was to apply a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to the floor and then leave it to soak in for about ten minutes. Then I followed up by scrubbing the floor with a rotary floor buffer fitted with a black stripping pad.

After scrubbing each tile several times, the slurry generated was rinsed off with water and then extracted with an industrial wet vacuum. For the more stubborn areas this process was repeated until I was satisfied the floor was as clean as it could be and that all the decades of muck and grime stuck to the old tiles had been removed.

Sealing a Clay Tiled Kitchen Floor

Once I was happy with the floor it was left to dry over a week, this is important as clay tiles can take a long time to dry and the floor needed to be bone dry to achieve the best results when sealing. When I eventually returned six coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra were applied to the floor giving the floor a beautifully satin look and protecting the floor for years to come.

The client was very happy with the work we had carried out and is looking forward to continuing the renovation of the property including the installation of a new kitchen. For after care I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This is an effective cleaner that has a neutral pH formula that will not prematurely erode the newly applied sealer like many stronger supermarket products.

Professional Restoration of Old Clay Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor in South Yorkshire

The post Full Restoration of a 150-Year-old Clay Quarry Tiled Floor in Askern appeared first on South Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Old Terrazzo Tiled Bakery Floor Renovated in Addingham Village

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 14:07:05 +0000

The Terrazzo tiled floor at this house in Addingham, which sits between Skipton and Ilkley, had quite some history to it. Apparently, the property was once the village bakery and originally had a traditional Yorkshire stone floor. However, they struggled to keep the flags clean and as one of the bakers was half Italian, they decided to tile over the stone with Italian Terrazzo tiles. All of this happened nearly 100 years ago but was discovered by the new owners who had managed to trace back the history of the 200-year-old building.

Clearly the Terrazzo had been down for a long time and was very overdue some care and attention. Terrazzo floors are a flooring material which is traditionally made by exposing marble chips on the surface of concrete and then polishing until smooth. They are now, often used in public buildings because the surface is so long-lasting, and it can be refinished repeatedly to bring it back to life.

The client wanted the floor as shiny as possible however the floor was quite pitted due to heavy foot traffic, so it was clearly going to be a challenge. Having worked with all sorts of stone floors I was optimistic I could restore this one to a good standard and quoted for the work which would take two days. The quote was accepted, and we agreed a suitable time to carry out the work.

Cleaning a Terrazzo Tiled Kitchen Floor

To begin I taped up the skirting and plinths in the kitchen to protect them from splashing. Next, I gave the floor an initial clean with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, this is a concentrated, multi-purpose high-alkaline cleaner, which strips and degreases. We dilute it to varying strengths depending on the job requirements. It is a very effective Tile and Grout cleaner and is particularly good for areas that have been neglected or subjected to heavy use.

This was ideal for this floor and the Pro-Clean was left to dwell for a short while before being agitated using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. The process was repeated on the stubborn areas, but it lifted all the ingrained dirt, the floor was rinsed with water, and the soiled solution removed using a wet vacuum. The floor was then left overnight to dry.

Polishing a Terrazzo Tiled Kitchen Floor

Returning the next day, I set about improving the appearance of the Terrazzo tiles using a coarse 400-grit burnishing pad, again fitted to the rotary machine. Water is used to lubricate the process and the pad is run over each tile at least three times. Tile Doctor Burnishing pads are made from tiny industrial diamonds and lightly cut into the surface of the tile to remove pitting and scratches. The water quickly turns into a grey slurry that is rinsed off with water and extracted from the floor as before.

Once done the process was repeated with other finer grit burnishing pads which further refine the surface of the stone to give it a light polished appearance. The Terrazzo tiles benefited greatly from the polishing and I was pleased to see the pitting was gone and the tile was once again smooth.

Sealing Terrazzo Floor Tiles

The polishing process leaves the floor dry, so it wasn’t long before I was able to move onto the sealing the floor in order to protect it from ingrained dirt and staining. My initial thought was to use Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal for this however this product although ideal for Kitchens is almost invisible and the owner had specified a shine, so I opted for Tile Doctor Seal and Go.

I applied the sealer to a small area first to see how it might look and to ensure the Terrazzo would take it without any issues. The tile took the sealer no problem and so three coats were applied, leaving them to dry before applying the next. The floor now had the shiny finish the client had requested.

I was very pleased with the outcome as was the client.

Professional Restoration of a Terrazzo Tiled Kitchen Floor in West Yorkshire

The post Old Terrazzo Tiled Bakery Floor Renovated in Addingham Village appeared first on North West Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Deep Cleaning a Mixed Chinese Slate Floor in Clifton near Penrith

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 13:07:54 +0000

The pictures below are of Chinese Slate floor in the Kitchen of a property in the small village of Clifton just south of Penrith. We often get asked what the difference is between Rough and Semi Riven Slate, and this floor was a mixture of both.

If you look closely at the pictures and check out the darker parts of the floor you will see these smoother Semi Riven Slate, whereas the light copper-coloured parts of the floor were of the rougher textured variety. It’s not that unusual for stone to be mixed in this fashion as it can be supplied from different quarries in order to achieve a particular look.

The blend of different slates makes little difference when it comes to cleaning as the process is essentially the same. I would advise though if you intend to clean the floor using a mop then you should opt for Semi Riven Slate as Rough Slate can shred your mops and make it harder to maintain. We tend to use industrial floor buffing machines which work well on both surfaces so are less effected.

Cleaning a Rough Chinese Slate Kitchen Floor

There was a bit of wax on this floor so to remove this Tile Doctor Wax Away was applied. The product was left to stand for fifteen minutes before being scrubbed into the stone, rinsed and then the soil extracted with a wet vacuum.

We then finished the cleaning with an Acid Rinse which involves scrubbing the Slate with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up. This not only works well at cleaning up the stone and grout but also neutralises the alkaline pH left over from using Wax Away. I am very wary of the pH level of the floor as it could have an impact on the new sealer, giving the floor an acid rinse before sealing also ensures a better bond with the sealer.

Naturally, you can’t leave a strong product like Grout Clean-up on the Stone for long as it could etch the surface so once done the floor was thoroughly rinsed with water and extracted again with a wet vacuum. A mop and bucket and lots of sponges won’t do the job on a large area like this.

Sealing a Rough Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

Once we finished the clean, we left it to dry off overnight and came back the next day to apply the sealer. We were originally going to apply a satin finish sealer, but the client had a big dog with sharp claws which could of scratched and marked the sealer so decided against it. I advised the client to use an Impregnating sealer called Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which lifts the natural colours in the stone, but is not a topical shiny sealer as the seal soaks into the Slate and leaves a a nice matt finish instead. Only two coats of sealer were needed, and the floor looked like new again.

My client was very happy with the difference in the appearance of the stone and how much cleaner the grout was, so much so they the following feedback for us, which is always appreciated.

“Totally impressed with the team they couldn’t have been more professional and even left me with some cleaner. My horrible 12 year old slate tiles look fabulous”

As usual we left a free bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for aftercare, it’s very important not to undo all that hard work by using a product which will damage the seal, using a pH neutral cleaner will keep the seal looking sharp and fresh for years to come.

Professional Restoration of a Rough Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen in North Cumbria

The post Deep Cleaning a Mixed Chinese Slate Floor in Clifton near Penrith appeared first on North Cumbria Tile Doctor.

Victorian Floor Renovation in Malvern Worcestershire

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 14:29:38 +0000

This enquiry was from a property owner in the picturesque Malvern hills who needed some help with a Victorian tiled hallway. The floor had an unsightly concrete door threshold that the client wanted tiling, several tiles throughout the floor were loose and needed restoration and the floor needed a deep clean and seal. All of this was possible so after my site visit, I produced a quote which I sent by email and the work was scheduled.

Designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Malvern is a spa-town that lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills in in Worcestershire. The centre of Malvern, known as Great Malvern, is an historic conservation area and the town dramatically during Victorian times. So, it’s no surprise when I get called to maintain the many Victorian properties here.

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The first day was spent removing the concrete from the door threshold. I didn’t want to cause damage the surrounding area, so I had to proceed carefully and so this part was quite labour intensive.

I then used cement boards which were cut to size to build the floor level, allowed to dry, and then tiled following the pattern from the opposite door. Fortunately, we had managed to source some reclaimed tiles which were very close in colour and size to match the existing floor. Once this was completed, I moved onto resetting the loose tiles. The floor was then left to dry overnight so the adhesive and grout would set.

The following day I rotary cleaned the floor with a 200-grit milling pad and a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, this gave the floor a really deep clean. The floor was rinsed, and the soil removed using a wet vacuum. The floor then needed to dry overnight before we could apply the sealer.

There didn’t seem to be any signs of Efflorescence on this floor, which is where salt deposits appear on the surface due to moisture. It can be particularly common in floors of this age which are too old to be fitted with a damp proof membrane. However, this floor appeared to be ok.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

We retuned the following day and tool a couple of moisture readings with a damp meter before concluding the floor was dry and ready to be sealed. First, I applied a coat of Tile Doctor Stone Oil which is an impregnating sealer that improves character and then followed this up with three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow allowing plenty of drying time between each coat.

Colour Grow is also an impregnating sealer however this product is designed to improve colour as well as provides long lasting durable protection to the floor. This product is also breathable so any future moisture can rise through the tile and not become trapped underneath where it could cause problems.

By the time I had finished the Victorian floor looked transformed, the colours were richer and most importantly my client was very pleased with the result and even left the following feedback.

“We are very pleased with the work”

Before leaving I recommended, they use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to help keep the floor in the best condition, especially in a high traffic area such as the hallway. Using this product will ensure the sealant lasts longer.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Worcestershire

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Stained Encaustic Shower Tiles Renovated in Forest Hill SE23

Tue, 09 Feb 2021 13:31:49 +0000

The client had recently moved into this property in Forest Hill SE23 and the previous owner had used a professional cleaning company to give the house a thorough clean prior to moving out. Unfortunately, they had used an aggressive acid based cleaner on the reclaimed encaustic tiles around the shower, causing white staining. I was contacted to see if it was possible to remove the stains and correctly seal the tiles to protect them.

I was pleased to tell them it was indeed possible to restore the tiles and we discussed how I would do this. I gave them my quote which they accepted, and we arranged a mutually convenient time to carry out the work. Encaustic tiles are quite unusual they were traditionally made from clay, but today, most modern versions of the tile are made using cement and are often referred to simply as cement tiles.

Cleaning and Restoring an Encaustic Tiled Shower

The first step was to scrub the tiles with a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, an alkaline cleaner that is safe to use on Encaustics. The solution was scrubbed into the tile to ensure any remaining soap scum and surface grime was removed. Once done the tiles were rinsed off with water and I moved onto the next of renovating the appearance of the tiles with a set of handheld burnishing pads.

These pads are made from industrial diamonds that clean and remove scratches renovating the surface and closing the pores of the stone. For general cleaning and honing I would normally start with a 400-grit, but with the staining on these tiles, I started with the 200-grit. Once I had gone over all the tiles with the 200-grit pad with water, I then repeated the process with the 400, 800 and 1500 and 3000 pads in sequence. The tiles were rinsed off after each pad and finally left to dry.

Sealing an Encaustic Tiled Shower

Once the tiles had dried it was time to apply a sealer that would further enhance their appearance and protect them. For this I chose to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow as it’s an impregnating, colour enhancing product. It works by soaking into the pores of the tile where dirt can collect, thus protecting it from within.

The sealer was applied thinly with a cloth to all the tiles and allowed to dry for 30 minutes before the next coat was applied. Due to the porosity of these tiles, I applied four coats until I was satisfied, they were fully sealed. Once the tiles were dry, I buffed them with a dry 3000 burnishing pad to leave them with an appealing satin sheen.

The client was pleased with the result and I explained the best way to clean and maintain the tiles for the future would be to use Tile Doctor Aqua-Pro which is designed for use in bathrooms and gentle enough to use every day. They needed to avoid using strong household cleaners on these tiles otherwise the same issue would occur.

Professional Renovation of Encaustic Shower Tiling in Kent

The post Stained Encaustic Shower Tiles Renovated in Forest Hill SE23 appeared first on West Kent Tile Doctor.

Slate Shower Wall Refurbished in Maida Vale W9 London

Sat, 06 Feb 2021 12:32:51 +0000

The photographs below are from a bathroom in Maida Vale W9 which had a lovely Slate tiled wall over a bath with shower. Unfortunately, the Slate tiles had been ruined by the use of harsh cleaning chemicals in an attempt to remove the limescale caused by hard water. The slate had now lost all its natural colour and looked completely washed out. The property had recently changed hands and the new owner was keen to have it renovated.

I went over to take a look and work out a solution, this in itself is a lot trickier these days with all the COVID precautions we need to take when working in someone’s house. It was clear that a strong acidic limescale remover had been used on the slate and this had etched the stone, leached all the natural oils away and generally ruined its appearance.

Fortunately, we have a solution for this (see below) and after conducting a small test I was able to confirm the problem could be resolved and gave them a quote which included a day’s labour, abrasive pads, stone oil and sealer. Our quote was gratefully accepted, and we booked a time in to carry out the work.

Cleaning a Slate Tiled Bathroom

I returned to the property and I set about burnishing the slate wall tiles using a very coarse 200-grit six-inch burnishing pad fitted to a handheld buffing machine. This process resurfaces the stone slightly to remove the etching caused by the limescale remover. I used a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up to lubricate the process and to remove the remaining limescale. Once done the slurry that is generated is rinsed off with more water. In a bathroom, it is easy the slurry can just be drained away. In other areas we would use a wet vacuum.

After the 200-grit pad the surface of the Slate was further refined using a 400-grit pad and then an 800-grit pad, this time only using water and giving the stone a thorough rinse after each pad to remove the soil.

The slate was then left to dry off over lunch and given more encouragement with a heat gun afterwards so I could move onto the next step. This involved applying a coat of Tile Doctor Stone Oil which puts back the natural oils back into the stone improving its appearance.

Sealing a Slate Tiled Bathroom

Once the Stone Oil had fully dried, I moved onto sealing for which I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal; this is penetrating sealer that soaks into the stone to provide maximum stain protection without changing the colour of the stone. It is also an excellent grout sealer which is a bonus.

Before leaving I talked the client about how best to maintain the Slate and left them a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Aqua Pro tile cleaner which will help keep the limescale at bay. It is gentle enough to use every day but will help prevent the previous build-up and unlike the previous products used will not damage the newly applied sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Slate Tiled Bathroom in Central London

The post Slate Shower Wall Refurbished in Maida Vale W9 London appeared first on Central London Tile Doctor.

Restoring a Kitchen and Utility Quarry Tiled Floor in Oswestry

Wed, 03 Feb 2021 14:46:52 +0000

This property in Oswestry was being converted from offices back into a home and I was contracted to renovate the Quarry tiles in the Kitchen. The kitchen had Red and Black Quarry tiles and an ugly piece of concrete sat where the old cooking range was. It did not look good with the new layout of the kitchen, so they wanted the concrete dugout and red and black quarry tiles laid to match the existing. The utility room had the same red and black quarry tiles and the other half had older and larger format quarry tiles which they wanted to keep as a feature.

Cleaning and Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Kitchen and Utility Floor

On day one my first step was to dig out the concrete from the area where the old range had been by breaking it up with a hammer drill fitted with a chisel attachment. The hole in the floor was then brought to the right level using a fibre reinforced levelling compound called Bal level max which sets in four hours. Once set I was able to tile with matching Quarry tiles that the client had provided together with others, I had managed to source from a reclamation yard. This process took up most of the first day and the newly laid tiles were left to set overnight.

The utility floor was in the worst state and needed the most work. It had previously been covered with a self-levelling compound, probably so it could be covered in Vinyl. I removed the thin compound and then deep cleaned the floor. Apart from the self-levelling compound in the utility area, the entire area had a thick layer of plaster dust and residue from the building process.

To deep clean the Quarry tiles, I gave the floor a good scrub with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and then after extracting the resultant soil with a wet vacuum I followed up with another scrub of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up. These products which helped to deal with the plaster dust, the levelling compound, and the cement-based residue. For best results I leave the cleaning products on the tiles for a good ten minutes before scrubbing in with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine. Once done the tiles were rinsed down with water and then the soil was extracted again. In a few areas I needed to repeat the process to get the floor clean.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Kitchen and Utility Floor

I left the floor to dry off overnight and returned the next day to seal the tiles. The first job was to use the damp meter to ensure the floor was dry enough. If the floor is not dry, then the seal will not cure. I had chosen to seal with Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which is a solvent based sealer which is colour intensifying, it provides durable protection to the surface of the tiles as well as allowing the surface to breath. On this floor the colour of the red and black quarry tiles was really enhanced too. The floor was transformed, and the sealer really helped the old and new tiles blend in.

The client was very happy with restoration and couldn’t wait to get the new kitchen completed.

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Kitchen and Utility in Shropshire

The post Restoring a Kitchen and Utility Quarry Tiled Floor in Oswestry appeared first on Shropshire Tile Doctor.

Vinyl Covered Quarry Tiled Floor Restored in Cheam

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 14:55:07 +0000

The owner of this property in the South London suburb of Cheam got in touch about restoring a Quarry tiled floor that had been covered with Vinyl tiles. After surveying the floor, it became clear that some of the original Quarry tiled floor was missing and had been replaced with concrete before covering with Vinyl.

To fully restore the Quarry tiles floor, it would therefore be necessary to dig out the concrete sections and tile with matching quarry tiles which had been supplied by the client. Once done we would then need to renovate both the old and the new sections of floor and seal them to achieve a consistent appearance. I was also asked to dig out an old matwell and prepare it for a new mat as part of the work.

This was a large job, but following a site visit I was able to provide my client with an accurate price and arranged a time to carry the work out which would take five days.

Removing Vinyl Tiles

The first part of the job was to lift the existing Vinyl tiles which had been laid on top of the Quarry tiles. I used a heat gun to help loosen the adhesive and then assisted with a steamer scrubbed Tile Doctor HBU Nanotech stripper into the floor to remove the glue and bitumen from the surface of the newly exposed Quarry tiles.

Restoring the Appearance of a Quarry Tiled Floor

The soiled solution was extracted with a wet vacuum and I followed up by giving the Quarry tiles an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel. The Gel is applied to the tiles and then scrubbed in with a Black pad fitted to a rotary machine. This process removes old traces of cement and grout from the quarry tiles and further cleans them up. After this the floor was rinsed thoroughly and the soil extracted with a wet vacuum.

The next focus was on digging out the concrete areas mentioned earlier and then preparing the subfloor for tiling with self-levelling compound, which of course needs time to set. Once ready the replacement tiles were fixed in place making cuts as necessary and placing them to follow the original floor pattern. This may sound quite this sound straight forward, but this part of the job took some time to complete. The floor was left for a couple of days so the new tiles could set and the whole area could dry out before sealing.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor

I returned later to seal all the Quarry tiles with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which brings out the deep Orange colours in the tiles whilst adding protection from staining and ingrained dirt. This sealer works by occupying the pores in the tile so dirt cannot become ingrained there. Four coats of sealer where applied across the whole floor leaving a nice matt finish that was consistent across the whole floor.

Before leaving I discussed with the client the best way to maintain the floor in the future and recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a pH neutral cleaner. This is important as its gentle enough to use frequently and won’t strip off the newly applied sealer like many household floor cleaners will. Its supplied in concentrated form so a small amount of cleaner goes a long way.

The client was delighted with the results, they were very pleased to see the back of the tired Vinyl floor and pleased the floor now looked consistent throughout.

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Hallway in South London

The post Vinyl Covered Quarry Tiled Floor Restored in Cheam appeared first on South London Tile Doctor.

Dirty Victorian Floor Tiles Deep Cleaned and Sealed in Twickenham

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 12:20:08 +0000

This Victorian floor in Twickenham, Middlesex was in good physical condition for its age but needed a good deep clean. Our customer had informed us that they had never cleaned or sealed the floor in the sixteen years that they had lived there so it was well overdue.

I went over to survey the floor and completed a test clean on a small section of tiling to see which products/techniques would work best. I like to do this as it demonstrates to the client what can be done, and it allows me to come up with an accurate price for doing the work.

As you can see from the pictures, there was quite a difference in the test patch compared to the rest of the floor. Years of foot traffic from the street had taken its’ toll and the floor was very dirty. Luckily, the floor was in very good condition and had not worn too badly.

Once they had seen the test patch, they were confident that it would be worth go ahead with my quote. It would ensure that the period feature was retained for many years to come. The colours on the floor were quite faded so it would be nice to get it restored.

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I started the cleaning process by first taping up the surrounding skirting boards and doors to ensure they were protected from potential splashing. Cleaning involved spraying the Victorian tiles with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a dedicated Tile and Grout cleaning product. This was left to soak in for about ten minutes and then scrubbed in using a black pad fitted to a heavy-duty rotary scrubber.

This gives the floor a good mechanical scrub and works wonders releasing the ground-in dirt and soil from the tiles. The strong dilution of Pro-Clean will also remove any remaining sealers from the tile, however after sixteen years I doubted there would much trace of sealer left. Once done the floor was rinsed with water and all the soils removed with a wet vacuum.

Following the initial clean the colours were already much stronger. Next step however was to improve on that by giving the floor an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up. This removes mineral deposits and generally brightens up the appearance of the tile. After another round of scrubbing the floor was rinsed with our high-pressure washer and then vacuumed, extracting all of the dirty water and dirt away in one go. The floor was looking a lot better and was left to dry overnight.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

After allowing the floor to dry overnight, we returned the next day to seal the floor. First, checking the floor was dry using the damp meter. Floors of this age can take a little longer to dry as there is no damp-proof membrane so it’s always worth checking as applying a sealer to damp tiles is not a good idea.

Once I was satisfied it was dry eight coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go sheen finish sealer were applied. This takes a while to do as each coat needs to dry before applying the next. The sealer will protect the Victorian tiles for dirt and stains, it also enhanced the colours in the tile and will make it easier to keep the floor clean going forward.

My client was very pleased with the floor and mentioned that they should have called me in sooner! For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Clean which is an effective cleaner with a neutral pH, its designed for cleaning tiles without degrading the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in South Middlesex

The post Dirty Victorian Floor Tiles Deep Cleaned and Sealed in Twickenham appeared first on South Middlesex Tile Doctor.

Geometric Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored in Bedworth

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 14:28:57 +0000

This customer in Bedworth called me in to remove a matt tray from their Victorian Tied hallway and restore the floor back to its original condition. The house had been in the same family for some generations and at one point the owner’s father had covered the floor with a thin layer of bitumen to secure a carpet. The carpet had since been removed but as a result the floor was very dark from bitumen stains.

Bedworth is actually very close to my base in Coventry, so it wasn’t long before I was able to call round and survey the floor to provide a quote for doing the work. Naturally due to COVID I wear PPE and when working in the property increase ventilation and work out a schedule with the homeowner to maintain distance and minimise contact.

Restoring a Geometric Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

My first job was to remove the matt well and the surrounding tiles so I could fit replacements that match the existing geometric pattern. Finding replacements wasn’t difficult however as I’ve been restoring old floors like this one for many years and have built up a collection of old Victorian tiles from various manufacturers such as Minton.

Matching the original pattern was a bit like building your own jigsaw puzzle as each replacement tile had to be shaped and hand cut until I had the design worked out. Once the replacements were fitted and secured in place with adhesive. Once done I left the property so the floor could set and be ready for deep cleaning the next day.

To remove the staining and restore the appearance of the original tiles I milled them using very coarse abrasive floor pads fitted to a weighted floor buffer and applied to the floor using water to lubricate. The resulting slurry was removed using a wet vacuum and the floor given a deep clean using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was scrubbed in using a black pad fitted to the rotary machine. The soil was then rinsed away with water and extracted using a wet vacuum.

These old floors don’t have damp proof membranes fitted and I was concerned that the old Bitumen and Carpet will have prevented moisture from rising through the tile trapping damp underneath the floor. This trapped moisture under the floor had been given chance to evaporate but this takes time, and I was concerned that salts contained within the moisture could rise through the tile later to be deposited on the surface later, a process known as efflorescence.

To counter this, I neutralise the salts by giving the tiles an acid wash with Tile Doctor Acid Gel. As well as neutralising salts it also removes other mineral deposits such as grout haze and prepares the tile to achieve a better bond with the sealer.

Sealing a Victorian Geometric Tiled Hallway Floor

Due to my concerns over moisture, I left the floor two weeks to fully dry out before returning to seal the floor and protect it from dirt and staining going forward. For sealing I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Extra Seal which has a breathable formula which will cope with any moisture rising through the floor. Two coats give the tiles an appealing glossy finish and helped the new and old sections of the floor blend well together so you would never know the difference.

My client was very happy with the transformation of their hallway floor and before finishing up I took time to discuss how to care for the floor going forward. It’s important to use a Neutral Tile Cleaner on sealed floors like this as other products are simply too strong and can actually strip a sealer off the tiles over time.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Warwickshire

The post Geometric Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored in Bedworth appeared first on Warwickshire Tile Doctor.

Marble Floor Repolished in Wokingham Show Home

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 15:22:51 +0000

I had a call out late last year to a property in the market town of Wokingham to survey a dull Marble floor which was installed throughout most of the ground floor. It turns out that the house was only built two years prior and had been the show home for a new development. The owner explained to me that to show off the potential of the new homes the developer had installed quality materials throughout, particularly the marble flooring, however the property had seen more than its fair share of foot traffic because of it.

Two years of wear later and the owner was concerned with how dull the Marble floor was and the appearance of small circular stains which had appeared throughout. I explained that Marble which is made from calcium is easily etched by the use of acidic cleaning products and that most tile cleaners you purchase in supermarkets are really only for use on Ceramic or Vinyl floor tiles. I suspect any sealer used on the floor to protect the stone had also been worn away for the same reason resulting in the now dull appearance.

After explaining the process, I would use for burnishing the Marble to deep clean and restore the shine I measured up and worked out a quotation. I received a message later that evening comforting they would like to go ahead, and a date was booked in.

Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Tiled Floor

I should mention that this job was carried out in compliance with the Covid-19 restrictions to ensure it was a safe working environment for both myself and the customer. This includes the wearing of full PPE equipment, increasing air circulation, and ensuring we kept our distance.

My first task was to protect the skirting and the fitted kitchen units from splashing by applying protective sheeting. Once this was done, I turned my attention to the grout which had become dark in places in accumulated dirt. To do this I used a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong alkaline cleaner specifically designed to break down soils, grease and oils on Tile and Stone. The cleaner was sprayed onto the grout lines and left to soak in for a few minutes before being scrubbed in by hand. Some of the grout needed more attention than others and once done the soil was rinsed off the floor with water and extracted using a wet vacuum.

Now the grout was cleaned I moved onto polishing the Marble floor tiles. I did this using the Tile Doctor four stage diamond burnishing system. This consists of applying a sequence of four refinishing pads fitted to a weighed buffing machine. You start with a coarse 400-grit pad and working through to a fine 1500-grit pad, each time removing the stone slurry with a wet vacuum. This process removed the acidic etching and repolished the surface of the Marble to a nice shine. I worked in sections room by room and then left the floors to fully dry off overnight.

Sealing Marble Tiled Flooring

I returned the next day and using a damp meter took a few readings from the floor to check the moisture levels to ensure it was dry and ready to be sealed. Before sealing though I went over the floor with a very fine 3000-grit pad which is applied dry with a little water sprayed onto to the floor, this final pad further builds up the polish and achieve the appearance desired by the customer.

Last step was to seal the floor with Tile Doctor Colour Grow, a colour enhancing seal designed to bring out the natural colours in the stone whilst adding protection from liquid and oil spills. Impregnating sealers like Colour Grow work by occupying the tiny pores in the stone thus preventing contaminates from becoming ingrained in them.

The customer could not believe with how well the floor had come up and were pleased they finally had the floor they had been promised prior to moving in. For aftercare I left them with a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner which is designed for the regular cleaning of tiled floors.

Professional Renovation of a Polished Marble Flooring in Berkshire

The post Marble Floor Repolished in Wokingham Show Home appeared first on Berkshire Tile Doctor.

Kitchen Tile Replaced and Grout Recoloured on Ecclesall Road, Sheffield

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 14:22:15 +0000

The owners of this property in Sheffield’s famous Ecclesall Road were so fed up with the discoloured White grout in their Porcelain Tiled Kitchen they decided to replace it themselves. So, armed with new grout and a grout removal tool from a budget supermarket chain they set about the work. Unfortunately, twelve of the tiles became chipped at the edges during the process and what started as a good idea soon turned into a DIY disaster.

Having given up on the project they called Tile Doctor to see if we could get it restored for them. Having completed a lot of tile renovation work in Sheffield I got the call to visit the property and come up with a plan to resolve the situation. It’s difficult to repair chips in Porcelain tiles, especially along the edges so I recommended removing and replacing the chipped tiles and then give the floor a facelift by recolouring the grout back to white. I also recommended throwing the cheap grout removal tool in the bin in case they were tempted to use it again.

If you’re not familiar with Sheffield, you should know that the Ecclesall Road stretches 3.6 miles from the city centre South West of Sheffield to Whirlow. It’s a busy trading area with shops, restaurants and many green spaces, its also considered to be one of the most affluent districts.

Cleaning and Repairing a Polished Porcelain Tiled Bathroom

We started by removing all the grout from around the damaged area taking care to avoid damaging the neighbouring tiles as we chiselled the damaged tiles out. Once all 12 polished Porcelain tiles were removed and the debris cleared up replacements were fixed in place then and grouted them.

Luckily, the client had been able to source some of the same tiles, which avoided the need for a complete renovation.

We left the tiles to set and dry overnight and returned the next morning to compete the next part of the job to renovate the grout.

Grout Colouring a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen

Before applying the Grout Colourant, the floor was given a general clean and then the grout given a scrub using Tile Doctor’s Grout Colourant Pre-Treater. This product cleans and slightly etches the surface of the grout to ensure a stronger bond with the colourant.

Once the grout was dry a White Tile Doctor Grout Colourant was applied over all the grout joints. This is a delicate job which needs patience, and you have to remember to remove any excess colourant off the tile quickly before it dries. It’s worth mentioning that the Tile Doctor Grout Colourant range is available in 10 different popular shades, so it is a very versatile product, which can bring back to life many tiled surfaces. In this instance it made the grout look sparkling white, now the grout lines have been coloured the grout will stay stain free and bright white.

Professional Restoration of a Polished Porcelain Tiled Bathroom in South Yorkshire

The post Kitchen Tile Replaced and Grout Recoloured on Ecclesall Road, Sheffield appeared first on South Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Renovating a Marble Handbasin Countertop in Swardeston

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 14:17:49 +0000

My client in the village of Swardeston (just south of Norwich) had attempted to remove limescale deposits from a Marble bathroom countertop using a supermarket Limescale remover and ended up making the whole problem worse.

The water in Norfolk is exceptionally hard and can quickly leave a thick build-up of limescale in kettles and bathroom fittings. This isn’t a problem to keep on top of using an acidic cleaner like Viakal or Limelite however these products are acidic and not recommended for use on or near an acid-sensitive natural stone such as Marble or Limestone. In-fact the surface of Marble and Limestone is instantly etched when they come into contact with these products thereby ruining the appearance of the stone.

This is exactly what had happened to our client in Swardeston and, over time, the surface of her marble vanity unit became severely etched leaving the stone completely dull, pitted, and unattractive. She had assumed the dullness was due to limescale build-up so just kept applying the product which of course exacerbated the problem to the point where the replacement of the large and very expensive twin-basin Marble countertop seemed to be the only option.

Removing Limescale and Acid Etching from a Marble Countertop

Looking for a solution we were asked to visit the property and whilst there immediately realised what had happened to the stone.

Fortunately, we were able to offer a much cheaper option involving the application of a series of diamond burnishing pads that could cut back the surface of the Marble and repolish it back to its original appearance. We are able to do this due to our investment in a Rotex hand-held random orbit polisher which is ideal for working on relatively small areas or confined spaces.

First, using only water as a cutting medium, we removed the surface of the stone with a 90mm 400-grit diamond pad fitted to the Rotex machine. This cut the surface back, removing all the pitting and light scratching, leaving the stone perfectly smooth and ready for the repolishing process. The slurry produced by this process was thoroughly and carefully rinsed away and the next stage of repolishing begun.

Polishing was done using the Rotex again, but this time fitted with an 800-grit diamond pad which cuts the stone more finely and start sto improve the dull surface left by the coarse 400-grit pad. Again, the slurry produced was rinsed away and a 1500-grit diamond pad was applied to the stone surface, cutting even more finely and beginning to restore the shine back to the marble top.

Once the slurry from this stage had been rinsed and extracted, we dried the work area using a heat gun before finishing the burnishing operation using the Rotex with a very fine 3000-grit diamond pad. For this last stage, a small amount of water is misted over the surface of the stone surface from a trigger bottle. This produced the shine we were after and really brought the stone’s natural colours and features back to life.

Sealing a Marble Countertop

In order to provide the Marble countertop with good fluid resistance two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal were applied to the stone. This is a premium grade penetrating sealer which soaks into the pores of the stone to seal it without leaving any kind of synthetic finish behind. This allows the natural beauty of the polished stone to shine through whilst protecting it from staining. A quick spray buff with a white maintenance pad to remove any smears from the sealing process and we were done.

My client was staggered at the result we had achieved and was so relieved that replacement of the sizeable and very expensive Marble top had been avoided. For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Stone Patina Spray which is spray-and-buff cleaner that is designed to enhance the natural beauty and lustre of polished stone as it cleans.

Stone Countertop Professional Renovated in Norfolk

The post Renovating a Marble Handbasin Countertop in Swardeston appeared first on Norfolk Tile Doctor.

Chinese Slate Floor Revival in Harrogate

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 13:30:14 +0000

The pictures above are of a 12 metre squared Chinese slate floor in the kitchen of a property in Harrogate which had been laid ten years prior. You can see from the photographs that the grout had darkened and the slate itself had lost a lot of its character and colour.

Sealers typically last between three to five years so by now there was little protection left and so dirt had become trapped in the pores of the stone and grout making it difficult to keep clean. It was now overdue a deep clean and the application of a fresh seal.

I went over to survey the floor and provide a quote for stripping off what was left of the original sealer, cleaning the floor, and then resealing. I had been recommended by a previous customer so happy with my track record and the price I quoted, they asked me to do the work. They had received a quote from another firm which as it turned out was a lot more expensive than mine.

Cleaning a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

Given there was little sealer left to remove I decided to start by scrubbing the floor with a strong concentration of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to soak into the slate for ten minutes. Then I worked the solution in with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. Pro-Clean is a very versatile product that will strip the sealer off a floor when used in a strong dilution with water, it will also remove deep seated dirt too.

Due to the riven nature of the tiles however I found the black pad was struggling to reach into the crevices of the tile so to achieve the desired result I resorted to scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees with a scrubbing brush. Its important that the floor is as clean as it possibly can be before sealing otherwise you simply lock the dirt in and it will never look clean.

Sealing a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

The floor was left to dry off overnight and I returned the next day to apply the new sealer. First, I checked to ensure that the floor was fully dry using a damp meter. The sealer would not cure properly if the floor damp and this can detract from the finished appearance.

I was happy with the readings, so I started to apply the first coat of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which I felt was the best product sealing Slate. The stone needed four coats; each one being left to dry before applying the next. Seal and Go is a stain resistant sealer which results in a low sheen silky appearance, it is good on surfaces such as the Chinese Slate which tend to be more porous and being water based it does not leave a smell as it dries.

The client was very happy with the result and mentioned to me that it had never looked that good even when new.

For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which will keep the floor in the best condition. This is a pH neutral cleaner which can be used daily and won’t compromise the newly laid sealer like many of the stronger products you find in supermarkets.

Professional Cleaning of a Chinese Slate Kitchen Floor in North Yorkshire

The post Chinese Slate Floor Revival in Harrogate appeared first on North West Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Filthy Limestone Floor Deep Cleaned in a Godalming Kitchen

Sat, 02 Jan 2021 03:46:32 +0000

My client had recently moved into a bungalow in Godalming where they inherited the Limestone tiled kitchen floor pictured below. The previous owner had not looked after the floor very well and by the time they moved in it was pretty filthy. Limestone is a natural but porous stone where, unless sealed, attracts dirt into its tiny holes and as you would expect Cream Limestone shows the dirt easily. The protective seal had long since worn off this floor and was now ingrained with dirt it was now looking permanently dirty.

Before quoting I conducted a small test clean to work out the best method to renovate the stone and this also gives the client a good idea of how the floor will look after its finished. They were delighted with the initial result and happy with my quote gave me the go ahead.

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

On arrival first I helped the customer remove his tables and chairs and I then set about tapping up the plinths in the kitchen and the skirtings to protect them from cleaning solutions and equipment. The cleaning equipment I have invested in works more efficiently in open spaces, so it’s worth spending time at the beginning preparing the area first.

Next, I used a deck brush to apply a mixture of water and Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to the dirtiest tiles. Tile Doctor Pro-Clean works well when left to dwell for ten minutes or so. I also applied the same product to the grout over half the room so it could get a head start breaking down the dirt. Then using a stiff brush, I scrubbed the grout clean. Once it was worked loose, I extracted the now dirty solution with a wet vacuum.

With the grout clean I turned my attention back to the tiles with where the Pro-Clean had been left to soak in. Giving them a quick brush, I noted that what appeared to be permanently ingrained dirt had now come loose. To get the tiles really clean I used a 17″ rotary machine fitted with diamond encrusted buffer pads. This removes the tiny dots of dirt on the stone and with it comes any existing sealer and dirt.

A set of four burnishing pads were used, starting with a 400-grit, and finishing with a 3000-grit pad. The first 400-grit pad is coarse, and the grits become smoother as you work through the set. Water is used to lubricate the process and the released dirt is extracted in-between using the wet vacuum mentioned earlier. This process does take time but by the end of day one the floor was looking a lot better.

The next step is sealing however the floor needs to be bone dry for that, so I left a couple of industrial fans in place and left the Limestone to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

Returning the following day my first job was to ensure the floor was dry by taking multiple moisture readings with a damp meter. The readings were good, so I was able to make a start applying the sealer which for this floor was Tile Doctor Ultra Seal.

Ultra-Seal is an impregnating sealer that soaks into those small holes in the stone I mentioned earlier, I occupies the pores thus preventing dirt from becoming ingrained. The other feature of this sealer is it doesn’t change the appearance or colour of the stone leaving it with a very natural finish. Two coats of sealer were applied, leaving the seal to dry between each coat.

After the final coat was dried, I gave it a final polish with a soft nylon pad and the floor was finished. Before leaving we discussed after care which for this floor, I recommended Tile Doctor Stone Soap and I requested that the customer to stay out of the kitchen for a couple of hours while the sealer cured. They were over the moon with the new floor and could not believe the difference it had made to their kitchen.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Kitchen in West Surrey

The post Filthy Limestone Floor Deep Cleaned in a Godalming Kitchen appeared first on West Surrey Tile Doctor.

Unloved Victorian Hallway Floor Renovation in Barnsley

Wed, 16 Dec 2020 15:24:38 +0000

A young couple recently bought a house in Barnsley and were renovating it from top to bottom, included in the plan was the desire to have the previously unloved Victorian floor made beautiful again. The house stands in an area of Barnsley famous for its’ big Victorian villas and quite rightly they felt it was important to ensure period features like this original floor were correctly maintained.

Due to the floor being covered up for many years the floor had developed damp staining, it also had a lot of paint splattered on it. There were also some loose tiles that needed fixing back in place and the layer of old floor polish was present which would need removing.

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I started by protecting all the skirting boards, doors and carpets bordering the tiles from splashing. The loose tiles were then cleaned up and then secured back in place using a fast-setting adhesive.

Once the adhesive was set, I turned my attention to stripping and cleaning the floor starting with the application of a coarse 200-grit diamond pad fitted to a weighted rotary buffing machine. The pad was lubricated using a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove & Go which was applied to small sections of the floor and left to soak in for ten minutes first. I run the buffing machine at a slow speed to minimise splashing. Remove & Go is amazing at removing old floor coatings (i.e. sealers), dirt and grime from the floor. When the diamond pad had been used on each section of the floor for five minutes the slurry was vacuumed up using a wet vac machine and I moved onto the next section. Once the whole floor had been cleaned in this way it was time to start the next step.

Old floors like this which don’t have the benefit of a damp proof membrane, and have been covered up for a long time, can suffer from efflorescence issues due to moisture being trapped in the tile. This will result in white salt staining appearing on the tiles for days, weeks and sometimes months afterwards. To counter this the alkaline salts are neutralised by giving the floor an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel and leaving it to dwell for five minutes before going over the floor again with the coarse diamond pad. The slurry was again removed with a wet vacuum and the floor was scrubbed clean with damp cloths.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I returned a few days later once the floor had dried to seal the floor. The client wanted a satin finish so knowing the floor had damp and efflorescence issues I opted for Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra. This is a topical sealer which leaves a lovely satin finish but also allows for the floor to breathe. six coats were required to make the floor look perfect, allowing the lovely colours to come through.

Once complete the floor looked much brighter and the colours really shone through. The owners were really happy with the renovation we carried out and before leaving I took time to discuss how best to maintain the tiles going forward including the use of Neutral Tile cleaner.

Professional Renovation of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in South Yorkshire

The post Unloved Victorian Hallway Floor Renovation in Barnsley appeared first on South Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Renovating Flagstones Covered in Concrete Screed and Bitumen in Carnforth

Mon, 14 Dec 2020 14:50:29 +0000

The owner of this Flagstone floor at a property in Carnforth was told by a damp specialist to remove the carpet and underlay and have the floor taken out and skipped. Then to install new hardcore and concrete put in place but with a Damp Proof Membrane installed in between, then once fully cured (four weeks at least) they could have a new carpet, tile or wood floor etc. installed. All good advice, however, the owner of the house wanted to keep as many original features as possible and wasn’t keen on the proposal.

Looking for an alternative solution they reached out to Tile Doctor and so I went over to take a look. After surveying the floor, I came up with a completely different solution which involved milling the stone with coarse abrasive pads to remove the screed and bitumen and then resurface with diamond encrusted burnishing pads of medium and fine grits which would result in a smooth finish. Not only would this be much easier to clean going forward it would also be much more attractive, especially once sealed.

Happy with our alternative we arranged a date to come and do the work which would take three days, two days to prepare the floor and a third to apply a sealer.

Cleaning a Flagstone Tiled Ground Floor

Milling a floor is arduous work and requires the use of a heavy rotary machine that can apply weight onto the stone so the milling pads can really get a bite into the surface. Because of this I roped in a colleague to help take some of the strain. Some of the areas of bitumen and screed were so prominent we used an SDS hammer action drill with a flat bit to chisel them off first, this can leave a few marks in the stone which we then level out with the milling pads starting with a 50 grit and go all the way up to a 400 grit

We used a lot of water during this process to help lubricate the abrasive action of the milling pads, this also helps to rinse off the soil that is created, all of which is extracted with a wet vacuum.

Next step is to give the floor an acid rinse with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which is designed to neutralise any alkaline salts in the stone that could result in efflorescence later.

With the floor cleaned up the last step was to re-point between the Flagstones using a breathable pointing product called GFtK 800.

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Ground Floor

Sealing was the next step however the floor was still quite damp after the initial renovation, so it was left for a few days to dry out first.

We selected a fully breathable sealer for this floor, this is an important requirement for a floor with no damp proof membrane as it will allow moisture to rise through the flagstone and evaporate at the surface. The concrete screed and bitumen covering will have prevented this previously which is dangerous as a build up of moisture in the stone can lead to it crumbling and you risk moisture reaching out to the walls where it can lead to rising damp.

Tile Doctor has three breathable sealers to choose from and in this case the customer decided to go with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that protects from within and enhances the natural colours in the stone.

The floor was completely transformed by the end of the third day, you would not have known it was the same floor. It was now clear of all the previous coverings and now looked like a characterful old Flagstone floor should.

Before leaving I recommended, they use Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner for everyday cleaning, being pH neutral it won’t prematurely erode the sealer allowing it to work for longer. I also advised that it’s possible that parts of the stone may go a shade darker in winter and a shade lighter in summer due to the moisture rising through the floor.

Professional Restoration of a Flagstone Tiled Ground Floor in Lancashire

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Reviving a Beige Moleanos Limestone Floor in Harrogate

Mon, 30 Nov 2020 05:47:11 +0000

I recently went to survey a floor in Harrogate which I immediately recognised as beige Moleanos Limestone which comes from Portugal. If you have been reading my previous posts you will remember I am not a fan of this type of stone as it is very difficult to clean, polish or seal. This particular floor was laid around 5 years prior and was now looking quite dull and was in need of reviving.

The client didn’t want to spend much so l suggested l could spray burnish the floor to get her shine back again and remove the splash marks. We do this a lot for owners of polished stone floors as part of an annual maintenance package, it is a low cost option that uses a very fine 3,000 grit burnishing pad to renovate the stone and bring up the shine. However, I pointed out to her that this process wouldn’t clean her grout which was making her floor look scruffy.

I priced up the different options and after weighing up the quotes I’m pleased to say she decided to go for a full clean and seal. The full process involves the use of different grades of diamond encrusted burnishing pads from low to very fine grits to renovate the Limestone and also a chemical clean of the grout followed by a fresh seal.

Cleaning a Moleanos Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned on the scheduled date and after preparing the floor I started cleaning the Limestone by running over the tiles with a 400-grit coarse burnishing pad lubricated with water. The soil was rinsed off with more water and extracted with a wet vacuum. This process was repeated with the 800 and 1500-grit pads which starts to build-up the polish on the stone.

I then turned my attention to the grout with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to soak into the grout for ten minutes before scrubbing it by hand with a stiff brush. After a final rinse and extraction with the wet vacuum the tile and grout were looking much cleaner and was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Limestone Moleanos Tiled Kitchen Floor

On Day 2 I stated with the application of the 3,000-grit pad which is the last step in the polishing processed and builds up a lovely satin finish on the stone floor. This is done using only a little water and is basically the spray burnish technique I referred to earlier. This process has the added advantage of leaving the floor dry.

With the stone tiles looking lovely and the grout clean the last step was to seal it all in and protect it from dirt and future staining with the application of a sealer. For this I used two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal.

My client was very pleased she had spent the extra money to achieve the floor she had always wanted, apparently it had never looked this good even when new. We discussed the annual maintenance plan to ensure the floor remained looking this good.

Professional Renovation of a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor in North Yorkshire

The post Reviving a Beige Moleanos Limestone Floor in Harrogate appeared first on North West Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Restoring a Sandstone tiled kitchen floor in Farnham

Sun, 29 Nov 2020 04:32:41 +0000

Laid six years ago at a house in Farnham this Sandstone tiled kitchen floor was routinely trampled on by two teenagers, gardening parents and two large dogs. All of this had taken its toll of the sealer which had worn off and without its protection the Sandstone tile and grout had turned an indistinguishable sea of brown.

The floor now needed a deep clean and reseal to restore it appearance and get it looking its best for which I had planned should take two days, the first day for cleaning and drying, the second for sealing and quoted accordingly. My client was happy with the quote and we scheduled a date to do the work.

Farnham is a market town in Surrey and is largest town in the borough of Waverley. It is quite a historic town, with many old buildings, including a number of Georgian houses. With good access links to the A3 and London by train its popular with commuters and I often get requests to work here.

Cleaning a Sandstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

I began by taping up the wooden skirting and the plinths in the kitchen to protect them from splashing during the work. Then armed with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a stiff brush I set about cleaning up the grout. The dirt released was removed with a wet vacuum before it had a chance to dry then using more Pro-Clean and a 17” buffing machine fitted with a rotating black nylon pad I cleaned the tiles.

The unamused dogs had been banished to the garden. I love dogs but they were chasing my machine around, so I needed to keep them out of the way. The floor tiles were surprisingly dirty, and the client was quite shocked by the amount of dirt I manged to extract.

Once finished I left the floor to dry off fully overnight, sealing a damp floor is never recommended and can result in a patchy appearance.

Sealing a Sandstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

Returning the next day, I first checked for areas that needed further attention and then took several moisture readings with a damp meter to check the floor was dry. Satisfied that it was, I was ready to apply the sealer.

We had discussed choice of sealer previously and for this floor I had recommended a Tile Doctor sealer called Seal and Go Extra which would be ideal for her traffic heavy floor. Sealing is an important step as it protects the tiles and grout from dirt becoming ingrained in the stone and improves the look of the stone. Seal and Go Extra is also super tough and should last for years if cleaned with the right product. It sets with a subtle sheen but not a shine which she definitely didn’t want. Three coats of sealer were applied which takes around two hours to be dry to the touch but really needs 24 hours for it to cure.

The sealer brought out the variety of colours in the stone floor and the family were happy with their new floor, now they just had to keep the dogs out of the way for 24 hours!

For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to keep the floor in great condition.

Professional Restoration of a Sandstone Tiled Kitchen in West Surrey

The post Restoring a Sandstone tiled kitchen floor in Farnham appeared first on West Surrey Tile Doctor.

Full Victorian Hallway Floor Restoration for Property Developer in Smethwick

Thu, 26 Nov 2020 14:13:51 +0000

A property developer contacted me earlier this year regarding a Victorian tiled hallway they had discovered at a property in Smethwick in the West Birmingham district of Sandwell. The property was being renovated into apartments and a fully restored tiled hallway would give the property the wow factor when entering the property.

I went over to the site to take a look and could immediately see the floor really was in a real mess. The tiles were covered in old flooring, adhesive, paint, screed, and plaster etc, I could see it was going to take some work to shift that lot. There was also an interior doorway that needed retiling. None the less these old Victorian floors are durable so none of that phased me and I was confident of a good result.

Restoring a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I got the go-head from the developer and started work by tacking the loose tiles around one of the inner doorways. I seem to see a lot of this around door thresholds I can only assume its due some movement in the subfloor that can happen between different sections on a building.

With that section out of the way I started removing the screen from some of the more stubborn areas. For this I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up and after letting it soak in for fifteen minutes to soften the compound, I was able to scrape it away with some assistance from a steamer.

When this was completed, I covered the floor with a strong combination of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and Remove & Go and left to dwell a good 20 minutes this time, topping it up every so often so it didn’t dry out. These products combine to make a powerful tile cleaner/coatings remover that would make quick work of cleaning up the floor. The cleaning cocktail was then scrubbed into the tile with a 200-grit diamond pad fitted to rotary machine. The slurry was then then removed using a wet extraction vacuum.

After reviewing the whole floor, I picked out those areas that needed more attention which were a few stubborn areas and the edges of the floor where the rotary machine can struggle to impact. I resolved those problems by hand with small diamond blocks which come in several coarse grits. Once I was finished tackling those, I took a step back to look at the floor and was really pleased with how the restoration was going, it was unrecognisable from when I had first come to view it.

Original Victorian floor were laid well before the invention of plastics and the damp proof membrane and in many cases are laid on top of compressed rubble. As a result, it’s important to allow moisture from the subfloor to be able to rise through the tile so it can evaporate at the surface. The previous coverings will have restricted this from happening and so I was concerned about the possibility of moisture and salts being trapped in the floor. Salts especially can be an issue as when they do make it to the surface, they can leave unsightly white deposits of the surface of the tile a process known as Efflorescence.

To counter this, I gave the whole floor an acid rinse with more Grout Clean-up worked in with a 400-grit diamond pad, this would neutralise the salts and give the tiles a further clean. It will also help neutralise the pH levels in the tiles after the use of the alkaline cleaning products earlier. To do this I applied and scrubbed it in with a 400-grit diamond pad to help with any issues. The floor was then rinsed with water and extracted as before to remove any trace of product.

Sealing a Victorian Hallway Tiles

The floor was left to dry for two days and on my return, I checked the floor for moisture with a damp meter to satisfy myself it was fully dry and ready to accept a sealer which was the last step in the restoration.

For this floor I chose to go with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a hard-wearing impregnating sealer that will cope with the foot traffic you would expect in a busy hallway. Colour Grow is also fully breathable so will cope well with any potential moisture rising through the tile and being a colour enhancer, it would help to make the beautiful colours in the Victorian tiles stand out.

My customer was very happy with the result which was a total transformation and should do well to attract new tenants to the property when its finished. For aftercare I left the customer with a bottle of neutral tile cleaner to maintain the floor, its important to use a neutral pH product on sealed tiles as stronger products will reduce the life of the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Sandwell

The post Full Victorian Hallway Floor Restoration for Property Developer in Smethwick appeared first on Birmingham Tile Doctor.

Quarry Tile Repairs and Restoration at a period cottage Bozeat

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 15:23:58 +0000

The following photos are of a Quarry tiled dining room floor in a period cottage located in the small village of Bozeat. My customer had removed a carpet and discovered them underneath, as you can see from the photographs however the tiles were in a poor state of repair. Undaunted the owner wanted to restore them as a lovely period feature and contacted Tile Doctor.

I went over to survey the Quarry tiles and could see the floor had not faired well under the carpet over the years, several tiles were cracked and 40 to 50 tiles were loose and would needed resetting to stop them moving underfoot, especially in the high traffic areas. I discussed with them that Tile Doctor could repair the floor and clean it and would be able to restore in a few days. They were happy to go ahead with my quote and we arranged a mutually convenient time to carry the work out.

Cleaning and repairing a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor

My first course of action was to deep clean the floors using Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel which is an alkaline cleaner. Working in small areas the Gel was worked in using a stiff brush on a rotary machine using a little water. As this process was completed in each area, I rinsed off the resulting slurry away with water and then extracted using a wet vacuum. The initial clean removed most of the black staining and paint spots which had occurred over the years, but more work was needed.

The next step was to apply Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up to further clean up the tiles and tackle the cement residue and other staining. I used a repeat of the cleaning process and rinsed twice with plain water to ensure all traces of product were removed. The next step was to tackle the broken and loose tiles however it was now the end of day one, so after assessing the floor for all repairs required, I installed a portable dryer to aid drying and left for the day.

The next day I returned to begin repairs starting by lifting all the loose tiles, working in one square metre sections at a time. Fortunately, my customer had already managed to obtain reclaimed tiles from a reclamation yard so that saved me a job. The colours matched with the originals; however, the reclaimed tiles were slightly larger than the originals and needed to be cut into shape as required. Working methodically, I re-laid the tiles on a fresh bed of screed and grouted them in to match the original floor as best possible.

After the repairs were completed I allowed the floor to fully dry for four days, I needed the tiles dry and the newly laid adhesive and grout to set and bed in before the next step. Before leaving I gave my customer strict instructions not to walk over these areas whilst I was gone.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor

Returning later the following week, I first checked the floor was dry using a damp meter, once satisfied I was able to start the sealing process. The customer had requested a silk finish, however because of the age of the cottage and the possibility of damp in this old floor my choice of sealer was limited to those that are fully breathable.

On this occasion I chose to apply several coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra, this product will allow the floor to breathe and provide the desired finish. It was a good decision, and as hoped it enhanced the appearance of the floor beautifully.

My customer was very happy with the renovation and the transformed floor and left the following feedback:

“Friendly service, reasonably priced and a good standard of work. Has breathed new life into my old quarry tile floor.”

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Floor in Northamptonshire

The post Quarry Tile Repairs and Restoration at a period cottage Bozeat appeared first on Northamptonshire Tile Doctor.

Restoration of an iconic Terrazzo Floor in Doncaster

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 02:16:50 +0000

This beautiful Terrazzo floor was uncovered in the hallway of a house in Doncaster, as you can see it had taken a bit of a beating over the years, but the owners were keen on having it restored. Restoring period features like these are a great idea as they are very sought after and can add a lot of value to a property.

The floor had spent many years below carpet and nails had been hammered through the floor to hold carpet grippers in place. Along with this there was a lot of glue and paint to remove. However, I was confident that we could get the floor restored, I gave them a quotation for the work, and they were happy to proceed as soon as possible.

Doncaster is a hot spot for terrazzo floors, apparently there was a big Italian community there in the early part of the 1900s. Doncaster is also famous for its rich rail heritage; the main Doncaster train station is on the East Coast mainline and you find many original station buildings have Terrazzo floors in the public areas.

Cleaning a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway Floor

The first job was to remove as much of the paint, glue and other contaminates as possible. These were scraped off the floor by hand using a razor-sharp scraper.

We then moved onto using a set of five diamond burnishing pads of different grits to cut through the top layers and grime to eventually bring this floor back up to its’ former glory. Starting off with the most coarse pad first I started to go over the floor a pad at a time, each pad is fitted to a rotary machine which has extra weight added to it to make the pads work ever better. Each time a pad is changed, it is slightly less coarse, this starts to polish the floor up to a shine eventually ended with a very fine diamond pad. Water is added at each stage and removed with the wet vacuum before the next pad is used.

Gradually the original floor started to shine through, the colours were quite pronounced, and you could see the floor was a lovely example of terrazzo. After a final rinse to remove the soiling generated by burnishing, I turned my attention to filling the many holes where the nails had been.

Sealing a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway Floor

The floor was left to dry off overnight and the following morning I returned to seal the floor with several coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. I choose this product as its designed to enhance the subtle colours in the floor and its fully breathable which is an important consideration when sealing floors in older properties. Damp proof membranes are a common feature these days but are a relatively recent invention. With older floors you need to allow the floor to breathe so the moisture in the sub floor can rise and evaporate at the surface, without this the moisture will reach out to the walls where it can cause rising damp.

The result was a highly polished floor just the way it would have looked when it was first installed 90 years ago. As you can imagine the owners were over the moon with the transformation.

Professional Restoration of a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway in South Yorkshire

The post Restoration of an iconic Terrazzo Floor in Doncaster appeared first on South Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Cleaning up Grout Haze on a new Porcelain Patio in Ely

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 16:18:35 +0000

Earlier this summer I was called out to this job in the garden of a house in the city of Ely to inspect a freshly laid porcelain tiled patio with grout haze issues. The builder who had installed the patio hadn’t removed all the grout from the textured surface of the tile before it had dried. This was probably due to the hot weather which reduces drying times and has caught many tilers out. Multiple repeat visits by the builder trying followed who spent countless hours trying to remove the grout haze, unfortunately due to the textured surface of the tile he was unable to remove it and the patio was left looking awful.

Like the builder we are increasingly finding modern grouts, which although more durable, are very difficult to remove. Fortunately belonging to the Tile Doctor network, I had already been made aware of this problem and was able to offer a solution.

I arranged to pay the property a visit to demonstrate a potential solution and quote for resolving the issues. Even though the grout haze was indeed difficult to remove it wasn’t impossible if you know how. The demonstration came out well and relieved that they had finally found a solution to the problem booked me in to get the work carried out.

Cleaning a Porcelain Tiled Patio Floor

On my return I started with the application of a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up. This product is ideal for removing grout haze or smears as they often referred to; however, being acidic we don’t recommend it for use on every surface so if your using it yourself do check the label first. I left it to soak in for ten minutes before being agitated with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary buffer

The weather was good, so it wasn’t a problem working outside and once all the grout smears were removed, I finished off by giving the whole patio a high-pressure rinse. I use a van mounted rinse/extraction system for this that applies warm water at high pressure onto the patio to dislodge dirt and then extracts the waste into a separate tank in the vehicle. It was an expensive investment but makes light work of jobs like this.

It took around four to five cleans to complete the job, by the late afternoon the grout haze was gone, and the porcelain patio looked completely transformed. It was quite a warm day, so the patio soon dried allowing my client to use it later that day. I should mention that this variety of Porcelain tiles were not the micro porous type and therefore did not need to be sealed.

Relieved the problem was finally resolved and happy with the result my client left the following feedback:

Amazing service, they were able to provide us with a quote and demo before we agreed to work. We are so happy with the results we have as our patio slabs looked ruined to the eye but the Tile Doctor managed to get them looking brand new.

Professional Renovation of a Porcelain Tiled Patio in Cambridgeshire

The post Cleaning up Grout Haze on a new Porcelain Patio in Ely appeared first on Cambridge Tile Doctor.

Red Wine Stains Removed from Travertine Floor in Swallowfield

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 14:37:51 +0000

Earlier this year I was contacted by a homeowner from the village of Swallowfield near Reading about the removal of Red Wine staining from their Travertine tiled floor. Normally these requests are related to a few slashes of wine following a party however in this case the problem was much bigger.

It turns out that their cottage was undergoing some renovations and had a variety of different trades working on various things throughout. After returning to the property following a weekend away it became apparent that an expensive wine rack had fallen over, and two bottles of red wine had been smashed in the process. Consequently, a litre and a half of red wine had spilt onto the Travertine tile and grout and rather than mopping up the spill the contractors threw over some kitchen roll and then left for the weekend.

If you have a Travertine floor you will appreciate that its best to clean up a mess like immediately, leaving it any longer increases the chance the stain will breach the sealer and stain the stone and grout. In this case it had been left far too long and the red wine had penetrated the tile darkening its appearance, understandably my Customer was not happy.

One of the advantages of being part of a group like Tile Doctor is they have developed numerous products and techniques for dealing with all types of situations related to the cleaning of stone, tile, and grout. Whilst the most popular work we do relates to the cleaning and sealing of floors sometimes we get asked to resolve more unusual issues such as this. Long story short I was able to arrange a visit to the property where I completed a successful cleaning demonstration, happy with the result from the demo the work was booked in.

Removing Red Wine Staining from Travertine

The first task was to clean the tiles to remove any remaining residue wine, I did this using Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner rinsing with plenty of water and extracting the soil with a wet vacuum. Though this did improve the stain slightly it was obvious the wine had penetrated deep into the stone. At this time, the customer was quite concerned that it wasn’t going to budge however I reassured him this was only the first stage of the process and trick up my sleeve.

I mentioned earlier Tile Doctor have developed numerous products and techniques and this includes Tile Doctor Reduxa which is a specialised stain remover that’s sole purpose is to remove acidic stains from stone.

Working in small sections Reduxa is sprayed onto the stain tile, left to soak in and the dried out using a heat gun. Each time the treated area is dried in this manner the heat causes the product to evaporate taking the stain with it. It sounds simple but the process needed to be repeated six to eight times until the stain was invisible to the eye.

Following the removal of the stain I needed to restore the finish of the stone in the affected area by applying a series of Burnishing Pads from 400 to 3000 grit. These pads remove old sealers and then re-build the finish on the Travertine. It’s necessary to lubricate with water and then rinse the floor and extract afterwards as the coarser grit pads do generates some soil.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

I returned the next day to reseal the stone however the floor needs to be dry before applying the sealer, so I checked the moisture levels first with a damp meter. Happily, the floor was dry, so I was able to move straight on to sealing by applying two good coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal.

Ultra-Seal is a no-sheen, natural-look penetrating sealer that provides maximum stain protection without darkening or changing the appearance of the stone. It’s also an excellent grout sealer.

By the time I had finished the floor looked much fresher and any sign of the wine stain was now long gone, my customer was delighted and much relieved.

Professional Removal of Wine Stains from Travertine in Berkshire

The post Red Wine Stains Removed from Travertine Floor in Swallowfield appeared first on Berkshire Tile Doctor.

Re-colouring of Grout on Ceramic Tiled Worktops in Guildford

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 10:10:03 +0000

The Splashback and Worktops in this Guilford Kitchen had been made from Glazed Ceramic tiles. However, the kitchen units had been extended several times and each time it seems a different shade of grout had been used. Dark grey, light grey and even grout with a brown tint in places. Naturally, she wanted a consistent colour throughout, and the grout needed a good clean.

You don’t see so many tiled worktops these days, Granite, Marble, Corian and laminates are more popular however it was an interesting project, and I was happy to help. I was confident we could achieve a consistent appearance by recolouring the grout which would also make the grout easier to clean and give the appearance of the Kitchen a lift.

Cleaning Ceramic Tiled Worktops

Firstly, I prepared the whole area by cleaning the grout. Grout colours achieve better adhesion when the grout is free of dirt and grease and Tile Doctor Grout Colourant Pre-Treat Cleaner is ideal for this. It’s an acid-based grout cleaner that cleans and etches the surface of the grout to make a superior bond with the colourant.

Another option is to use Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up and as I already had a large bottle of this on the van, I decided to go with this instead diluted 50:50 with water. Working in sections I brushed it into the worktop and splashback grout and left it to dwell for thirty minutes before scrubbing it in with a firm wire brush. This action released the dirt which was then rinsed away with more water and then extracted with a wet vacuum to keep the mess to a minimum.

Following the cleaning the grout was now wet, so for the next half an hour I speed dried the grout with a heat gun. The colourant needs to be applied to dry grout, so this was a necessary step to ensure the best result.

The client had selected to use Tile Doctor Grout Colourant in Light Grey so once dried I started the colouring, brushing it in carefully with a narrow paint brush. The product dries quickly so any excess that gets onto the tile must be wiped off immediately. The process is quite slow and meticulous requiring a steady hand, but the results speak for themselves.

There was no need to apply a sealant over the colourant and the nature of the product acts as a barrier over the grout making it much easier to keep clean. Tile Doctor has a range of Grout Colourants in ten popular colours so there is plenty of choice. Using a colourant is much easier and less labour intensive than scraping the old grout out and re grouting. My client was also keen to avoid the mess of this option.

Once complete the tiles looked so much better, certainly my client was very pleased with the finish and left the following review.

“I’m very happy with every aspect of Rupert’s work, he renovated my kitchen worktops and splash backs. Great job. Thank you.”

Professional Renovation of Tiled Worktops and Splashbacks in Surrey

The post Re-colouring of Grout on Ceramic Tiled Worktops in Guildford appeared first on West Surrey Tile Doctor.

Restoration Clean of a Limestone Tiled floor in York

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 16:01:44 +0000

The pictures show a large Limestone floor laid through much of the ground floor of a property situated on the outskirts of York seventeen years prior.

The owners had three dogs that slept in their own doggy room. The floor in this room was in the worst condition of the five rooms as it had been subject to significant wear and tear. The Limestone tiles looked dull with ingrained dirt and the grout was stained and patchy.

The original tiler had laid the floor well, but he had applied a satin topical sealer to the stone most of which had worn off over the years. A floor like this would need a little maintenance and the sealer reapplying from time to time to maintain it.

I completed a test clean for the client to show them what could be achieved which came out well. Happy with the result they accepted my quote for the restoration work, and we booked in a suitable time to complete the work.

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Floor

The area was quite large, so I separated the job into rooms and started by protecting the skirtings and woodwork from splashing etc. I decided to do a chemical clean first to remove what was left of the old sealer but more importantly to give the grout a thorough clean which was making the floor look scruffy.

For this I opted to apply a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to dwell for a short while and then worked in with a mechanical rotary cleaner. It gets to work on the ingrained dirt and sealer. It should also help to get rid of the doggy smells. This process turns the cleaning solution black and is then extracted using a wet vacuum keeping the mess to a minimum. I paid particular attention to the grout which was deeply discoloured and found that some areas required going over a couple of times to get them clean. I was only just getting started on the cleaning but immediately the floor was looking so much better.

I then deep cleaned the Limestone with a set of diamond burnishing pads, working in sequence from the 400 grit through to 1500 grit. A small amount of water was used to aid the lubrication and after each pad have been over the entire area few times the solution is rinsed off with more water and extracted with the wet vacuum.

The floor came back to almost new and as the client wanted a satin finish, I ended by applying a 3000-grit pad to add a deeper polish to the Limestone. The floor was then left overnight to dry.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Floor

The last step of polishing with the 3000-grit pad already leaves the floor quite dry however I always like to check before sealing so just to be sure I took some reading with a damp meter. The readings were fine, so I started applying the first of two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal to finish the floor. This is an impregnating sealer (as opposed to the previous topical sealer) that soaks into the stone protecting it from within but without affecting its appearance. This product was chosen in consultation with the client who was specific about how they wanted to floor to look.

The floor now looked superb. Both the client and l were very pleased with the finished floor and so where the dogs! For aftercare I recommended Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is designed for cleaning polished stone floors like these, it’s a gentle stone cleaner that helps maintain the patina and ideal for this type of floor.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Hallway in North West Yorkshire

The post Restoration Clean of a Limestone Tiled floor in York appeared first on North West Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Porcelain Tile & Grout Floor Renovation in a Shepperton Kitchen

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 14:17:58 +0000

Our client had decided their Porcelain kitchen tiles were ready for a clean after having extensive work carried out at their home in Shepperton. Everything was now looking new except for the floor which resembled Travertine and was looking rather sorry for itself.

Normally with Porcelain tiles I find it’s mainly the grout that needs attention but, in this case, it was clear the sealer had worn down on the tile and that was also attracting dirt. Most Porcelain tiles won’t accept a sealer, but these were micro-porous which can trap dirt in the pores of the tile and so does need sealing to protect against that.

To resolve the floor would need to be stripped of all remaining sealer, tile and grout cleaned and then resealed. The process is straightforward, so I didn’t anticipate any problems.

Cleaning a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor

I started by spraying the floor with a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and then left it to soak in for ten minutes. The tiles were then scrubbed using a floor buffing machine fitted with a black pad going over each tile at least three times.

More Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was then applied to the grout lines which were a lot dirtier. These were hand scrubbed to get the grout nice and clean. Pads struggle to reach into the recesses of the grout lines so I find this is the most effective way to do it. The now soiled cleaning solution was then then rinsed away with water and extracted with an industrial wet vacuum. Immediately the floor looked a whole lot cleaner.

Sealing a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor

To protect the now clean Porcelain tile and grout from future staining (especially in a busy Kitchen) the next step was to apply a sealer however the floor would need to be dry first. Fortunately, it was a hot day and after testing with a moisture meter I found the tiles were fully dry in four hours, which was good news as it meant we could seal on the same day as cleaning.

To seal I applied a single coat of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is a natural look sealer that doesn’t darken the appearance of the tile. It’s a fine impregnating sealer that works by occupying the minute pores in the porcelain blocking any dirt from becoming ingrained there and subsequently making the floor much easier to clean.

The floor now looks great and the client was very happy that all the kitchen renovation work was 100% complete. For day to day cleaning I recommend the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner as this will keep the floor maintained but without prematurely degrading the sealer. This is a common problem with many household cleaners which are simply too strong for use on a sealed tile.

Professional Cleaning of a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor in Middlesex

The post Porcelain Tile & Grout Floor Renovation in a Shepperton Kitchen appeared first on South Middlesex Tile Doctor.

Renovating a Victorian Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor in Hale Barns

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 14:30:39 +0000

The pictures below are of an old Quarry Tiled Floor in the Kitchen of a property in Hale Barns that date back to the Victorian era. The clients had tried to clean the tiles themselves but struggled to achieve a satisfactory result and thus decided to call Tile Doctor to have the floor professionally restored.

Close to the Trafford market town of Altrincham, Hale Barns village has a long history with many older properties with classic floors that need a lot of care and attention to keep them looking good.

I went over to survey the floor and could see that as well as the usual build-up of ingrained dirt they had also some marks from decorating and plastering which can be hard to remove.
I demonstrated the cleaning method I had planned to use on a small are of the floor which responded well to the treatment. They were happy to proceed with my quote and we booked the job in.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor

My process was to give the floor a good scrub with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is designed to remove old sealers and other coatings. This was initially scrubbed in with a stiff brush and then I followed this with the application of a coarse 200-Grit milling pad. These pads are made from industrial diamonds and being very coarse they really cut through the dirt.

The paint and plaster was a real struggle to remove, I spent a lot of time dealing with these by hand using small hand-held burnishing blocks working through the 100, 200 and 400-grit in sequence until I got the desired result. A lot of water was added to aid the process of lubrication and rinsing, all liquids were then extracted off the floor with an industrial wet vacuum. The amount of dirt removed was remarkable, but the floor looked great.

I was planning to seal the Quarry tiles the very next day so I left three floor industrial fans in situ overnight to ensure the floor would dry out. These also came in handy the next day to help speed up drying times during the sealing process.

Sealing a Victorian Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor

It’s not a good idea to apply sealer to a damp floor, for best results it needs to be dry. With that in mind when I returned the next day, I started by taking moisture readings from the floor with a damp meter. I am pleased to say the fans had done their job and the floor was dry so I was able to press on with sealing the floor with the application of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is an impregnating colour intensifying sealer which provides durable protection as well as allowing the tile to breath which is an important consideration when working in older properties. Several coats were applied and true to its name the deep orange/red colours in the Quarry tiles really stood out.

By the time I had finished the floor looked great and my client was over the moon with their newly restored Quarry tiled floor. For aftercare cleaning I recommended they use the Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. It is pH neutral tile cleaner that will not degrade the new sealer which is important as many supermarket cleaning products are simply too strong for use on sealed tiles. (Always check the label!)

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Kitchen in East Cheshire

The post Renovating a Victorian Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor in Hale Barns appeared first on East Cheshire Tile Doctor.

Quarry Tiled Floor Hidden Under Lino Restored in Ruislip

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 13:40:48 +0000

This client in Ruislip had discovered a Quarry tiled floor hidden under two layers of old (and now horrible) lino. Unhappy with the Lino she decided the best thing to do would be to investigate having the Quarry tiles restored. It is amazing how tastes change over the years and classic period floors are definitely making a comeback. Period features like these are quite sought after and can add a lot of value to a property, so restoring it was a wise decision and worth investigating.

On inspection the lino was well stuck to the tiles, it was clear it would take some time to lift and we wouldn’t know what to fully expect beneath until we started work. Non the less I gave her a quote for the work which she was happy to go ahead with and a date was booked in the diary.

Cleaning a Lino Covered Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor

We started by removing the lino using various methods such as scraping, cutting, and pulling always mindful not to cause any damage to the tiles underneath. Unfortunately, the lino had been secured in place with strong adhesive so once we had removed the lino we were left with a thick layer of glue and a thin concrete screed that had been used to level the floor.

To deal with this the floor was soaked in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was left to dwell for some time before being scrubbed in. We find doing this gives the product time to soften the compounds making it easier to remove. Hands scrapers were employed to scrape off the glue and again care was taken not to damage the tile. The process had to be repeated to get the glue off but overall, it did a good job dealing with the glue and cement.

Once the Quarry tiles had been exposed however it was clear more work was needed to clean them up. The main problem was cement residue, so I used a combination of Tile Doctor Acid Gel, steam and a needle gun to remove the rest of the screed from the floor.

The floor really did need a lot of work to restore it!

Once all of the cement was removed the floor was given a thorough rinse with water, the soil was then extracted with a wet vacuum and once I was satisfied it was as clean as it could be the floor was left to dry out overnight.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor

On the second day the floor was first checked for moisture using a damp meter, its not a good idea to add sealer to damp tiles as it will effect the result. I was satisfied the floor was dry and began the process of applying a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow tile sealer. This is a colour intensifying sealer that will protect the Quarry tiles by soaking into the pores and occupying the space thereby preventing contaminates becoming ingrained in the tile. Additionally, Colour Grow is a fully breathable sealer which is an important consideration when sealing old floor like these which need to breath. Being covered in Vinyl for many years many also have trapped moisture under the floor.

The newly revealed quarry tiled floor responded amazingly well to the restoration and once the sealer had drier the Quarry tiles had a nice sheen appearance without looking too shiny. It was a lot of work but well worth the effort and my customer was delighted. For aftercare I recommended cleaning the floor with Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, this is pH balanced and will ensure the newly applied seal lasts and is not compromised.

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Floor in South-Buckinghamshire

The post Quarry Tiled Floor Hidden Under Lino Restored in Ruislip appeared first on South Buckinghamshire Tile Doctor.

Travertine Floor Tiles Repaired and Polished in Old Near Brixworth

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 13:04:02 +0000

Polished Travertine is a popular tile which can look stunning, however without the correct maintenance regime in place it can soon turn dull and flat as my customer in the small village of Old near Brixworth discovered. In this case they had 40m2 of Travertine tiling installed in the living room and breakfast room which in particular had become dull, sticky, and hard to clean. On top of that a couple of holes had appeared in the main kitchen walkway areas which was causing concern.

I visited the property to carry out a site survey and conduct a test clean on the stained areas. My customer was relieved to see how well the grout and staining responded to the cleaning and we moved on to discuss how to repairs the holes. We see this a lot with Travertine where natural holes or pitting are usually filed with a resin before being sold but the problem can be exacerbated with the use of acidic cleaning products. Holes also trap dirt which can accumulates quickly as dirt is washed into the holes during cleaning detracting from the appearance of the stone.

To resolve I planned on filling the holes with a resin and then re-polishing the floor to make it blend in. A quote was issued via e mail which was accepted, and a date booked in the diary for work to be carried.

Cleaning and Restoring Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

On the day I arrived the customer had prepared the work area by removing all small items of furniture. My first step was to brush and vacuum the area to remove any loose debris. I then sprayed the floor with a dilution of Tile doctor Pro-Clean focusing on the heavily soiled areas and grout lines throughout the breakfast area and then left to soak in for ten minutes. After scrubbing the grout with a grout brush the area was rinsed with a small amount of water and the area dried using a wet vacuum. This process was then repeated in the kitchen.

Tile Doctor has found the best way to renovate polished stone is to use a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads to hone the stone and build back the polish. Usually this involved applying a set of for or five pads of different grits depending on the severity of soiling and any surface scratches. I started with the coarsest grit and worked through in sequence to the finer grits to achieve a polished finish. Water is used to lubricate the process and the floor is rinsed and extracted between pads.

Once this process was completed, I dried the damaged tiles with a heat gun so I could fill them. I mixed a resin that closely matched the white and brown colours of the Travertine and filled in the holes, smoothing, and polishing with handheld diamond blocks to achieve a smooth finish.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

When we returned the next day, the floor had dried, and I was able to give the floor a final polish with a very fine 3000-grit burnishing pad applied with a little water sprayed onto the tile. Finally, the floor was then sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which provides excellent protection without changing the colour of the stone to provide a natural look.

Last step was to provide some advice on how to maintain the floor going forward for which I recommend Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is designed for cleaning polished stone floors. The client was over the moon with the outcome and surprised at the improvement, they also left the following review for me which is always a nice surprise.

Fantastic work, my floor looks wonderful it didn’t look this good when it was laid thirteen years ago, I will definitely look after the travertine now and have the floor cleaned and resealed every year.

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor in Northamptonshire

The post Travertine Floor Tiles Repaired and Polished in Old Near Brixworth appeared first on Northamptonshire Tile Doctor.

Cleaning and Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Floor in Witney

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 12:10:25 +0000

I was called in by a client from the Cotswolds market town of Witney who had lifted up a carpet to discover a Terracotta tiled floor underneath. Although the floor was in good physical condition the carpet and underlay had been trapping moisture from evaporating resulting. Old floors like this one were laid before damp proof membranes became standard so covering them up can cause damp issues. It is important to allow moisture from underneath tiled floors to evaporate unimpeded otherwise moisture can reach out to the walls resulting in rising damp.

Moisture can also penetrate the pores of the clay Terracotta tile potentially leading to its degradation over time and in this case resulted in the appearance of white efflorescent salts being deposited on the tile surface causing unsightly staining.

Cleaning Terracotta Tile

I started cleaning the Terracotta by doing applying strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an effective alkaline tile cleaner. For best results I spread the solution on the floor and then leave it to dwell and soak in for up to twenty minutes. This gives the product time to eat into the dirt and old coatings before being scrubbed in with a black pad fitted to a rotary floor machine. This worked very well on the floor and the cleaning solution was soon dirty with the released soil which was removed using a wet vacuum and more water to rinse it away and dry the floor as much as possible.

To remove the white efflorescent staining the floor was given an acid wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which is designed for removing grout and other mineral stains from tiling. This was brushed into the tile and grout by hand and left to fizz as it reacted with the efflorescence. After another rinse and extract with the wet vacuum the floor was left to dry out for a couple of days. The next step would be to seal the Terracotta and for best results the tile needs to be dry.

Sealing Terracotta Tile

On my return I checked the tiles were dry by taking a few moisture readings with a damp meter. The readings came back fine so I need not have been concerned however Terracotta tiles being made from clay are very porous so its always a good idea to check.

Given the previous issues with damp I knew I would need to use a fully breathable sealer, so I opted to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This product will cope well with the moisture and contains a colour enhancing formula that really brings out the red colour of the Terracotta.

Except for a few deep efflorescent stains in the grout, the floor responded very well to the treatment and made a massive improvement to the overall appearance. My client was pleased with the transformation and the newly restored floor matched well with the character of the property.

Terracotta Floor Cleaned and Sealed in the Cotswolds

The post Cleaning and Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Floor in Witney appeared first on Oxfordshire Tile Doctor.

Maintaining a Slated Tiled Floor and Grout Recolouring in Epsom

Sat, 10 Oct 2020 14:42:00 +0000

I thought you might be interested to know that I have numerous clients that I visit every year to maintain the finish on their floor. We call this service “a maintenance program” and is ideal for clients who wish to maintain a deep polish on their stone which will diminish with use and over time. The example below details a recent maintenance visit to a client in Epsom who has a Slate tiled Kitchen and Conservatory floor and likes the high gloss finish of the Slate topped up every year.

The process usually involves a basic clean and the reapplication of a fresh coat of sealer and polish. The big advantage with a maintenance plan is I know the history of the floor so there are no surprises and no need for a pre-site visit. On this occasion however my client wanted me to do something about the colour of the grout. The problem is he has three spaniels and three cats who gradually discolour the white grout with dirt. Although I clean it on each visit it was clear that the white grout was a problem and so he asked me to colour the grout in a charcoal colour to match the slate to make the problem less obvious.

Cleaning a Slate Tiled Kitchen and Conservatory Floor

Over the years I had probably applied 15 plus coats of sealer to these tiles and grout. There is no way I could paint the grout colourant on top of the sealer as it just wouldn’t adhere. To resolve this, I started by using a Fein tool with an occulting abrasive blade along the grout line. It was painstaking work but did the job of removing the sealer and ironically any dirt.

I used a vacuum to clean up and then set about cleaning the floor and bringing up the polish on the Slate tiles using a 3000-grit diamond pad fitted to a rotary floor buffer. A small amount of water is squirted onto the tiles during buffing to help the process but essentially the floor is dry. Once done the Slate tiles were now ready for a new application of sealer but not the grout.

Colouring White Grout Charcoal in Epsom

For the next four hours I painstakingly painted charcoal grey grout colourant into the grout lines being careful not to touch the tiles. Grout colourant is an excellent product but dries very quickly. Any excess must be removed immediately.

Normally I recommend using a Grout Colourant Pre-Treater before applying the colourant as you get a better bond with the colourant. On this occasion however the Fein Tool had already cleaned and roughened the surface of the grout, so it wasn’t necessary.

Sealing a Slate Tiled Kitchen and Conservatory Floor

Once the grout colourant was dry, I was able to move onto the last phase of the visit and apply the sealer. The three coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go were used to seal the floor which I find works well on Slate and as you can see from the photos gave the desired gloss effect the customer wished for. Each coat is left to dry before applying the next one.

I don’t normally recommend using a gloss effect sealer on Slate where you have pets who can scratch the tile, especially in a high traffic area such as a kitchen however he understands this but I guess he likes the shine.

Professional Restoration of a Slate Tiled Kitchen and Conservatory in West Surrey

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Classic Black and White Marble Floor Renovated in Bamber Bridge

Fri, 09 Oct 2020 16:31:32 +0000

The tiles shown in the photographs below are classic distressed Black and White Italian Marble installed in the kitchen of a property in Bamber Bridge which is South of Preston. Some of the tiles had an issue with loose grout which I suspect was due to the suspended wooden floor and a small amount of movement had resulted in the grout cracking.

Ideally more support would be needed under the floor to prevent this, in the meantime however I recommended removing the grout and replacing with a flexible grout product that could cope with the movement. The tiles also needed a clean, polish and reseal so it made sense to address the issue with the grout as part of the work.

Cleaning and Re-grouting a Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor

Working as a two-man team we started by cleaning the floor with a set of diamond burnishing pads starting with a coarse 400-grit, followed by 800 and 1500 grit. Water was used to lubricate the process and the floor was rinsed with water between pads with the fine slurry generated by the process extracted using a wet vacuum. These pads remove ingrained dirt and then slowly refine the appearance of the Marble building up its polished appearance in the process.

The next step was to rake out all the grout which as discussed was compromised and needed replacing. We had to be very careful when removing the grout due to the electric heating mat under the floor, any damage to that would require ripping the floor up. With the old grout removed and the floor cleaned the floor was then grouted using Mapei Ultra-colour which is a flexible and fully waterproof grout more than suitable for this situation.

Between us we managed to pack a lot into day one which was tough, however with the hardest tasks out of the way day two should be a lot easier.

Sealing a Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor

Day two started with an initial clean making sure to remove any excess grout smeared on the surface that can affect the look of the tile if not removed. This was followed by the application of the last of the set of burnishing pads which is a 3,000-grit pad that really brings up the polish on the marble. You only need a small amount of water sprayed onto the floor when applying this last pad so by late morning the floor was dry and ready for sealing. The customer wanted a better sheen appearance than they previously had, fortunately we find the Diamond burnishing pads do this well, they also tighten up the pores of the stone as well which means less sealer is needed.

The floor was then sealed with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that improves colour and soaks into the stone occupying the pores and thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained. Once complete the floor looked great and the client was very happy.

Sealers and Polish do wear down with use over time so before leaving I discussed our annual maintenance plan option which will ensure the appearance of the Marble floor always looks good. The plan involves returning once a year to further polish the floor with a high-grade burnishing pad and to add more sealer if required. We also discussed the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap for regular cleaning, it is a pH neutral cleaner which is ideal for stone floors like Marble which are acid sensitive.

Professional Restoration of a Marble Tiled Kitchen in Lancashire

The post Classic Black and White Marble Floor Renovated in Bamber Bridge appeared first on Tile Doctor Lancashire.

Gorgeous Yorkstone Floor uncovered at Sheffield Rental Property

Thu, 08 Oct 2020 13:55:11 +0000

A property investor recently purchased a house in Sheffield with a Yorkstone floor. His plan was to renovate the house and then let it as student accommodation. Not such a bad plan considering Sheffield is home to two universities and 60,000 students making it a real student city. The Universities here rank in the top 100 worldwide and Sheffield Hallam University is the 11th largest in the UK.

The Yorkstone floor had been covered up for a very long time and having ripped out the kitchen units decided not only was it a lovely feature he’d like to keep but it also made financial sense to restore the floor as to replace it would have cost a lot more. Having searched the internet for a solution he came across Tile Doctor and I was asked to call in to quote for restoring the floor.

On inspection the floor looked to be in good physical condition, it had been protected by the floor coverings but was very dirty. Additionally, I could see adhesive residue where the flooring had been laid on top of the stone. I conducted a test clean which went well so we agreed a price for the work and got the job booked in. Naturally, he was keen to fit in the work with the schedule of the new kitchen going in, fortunately we were able to work around the dates.

Cleaning and Restoring a Yorkstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

A nice empty room always makes a job easier, as we don’t need to do too much preparation to protect existing fittings. We started with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was applied to the floor and left to dwell for ten minutes. During this time, the Pro-Clean gets to work breaking down the old floor coatings including dirt and grime. The solution was then scrubbed into the floor using a Black pad fitted to a rotary floor buffer. The Black pad does a fantastic job of scrubbing away all the old dirt and getting the stone clean. Once this was done the thick brown slurry generated was extracted using the wet vacuum and the floor was thoroughly rinsed with water. After inspecting the Yorkstone I repeated the process in a couple of the areas where there were some stubborn stains until I was happy the stone was as clean as it possible could be. After a final rinse and extraction, the floor was left overnight to dry.

Sealing a Yorkstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

Returning the following morning, I used a digital moisture meter to test if the floor was dry enough to seal. You shouldn’t apply a sealer if the floor has a high moisture reading as it will impact the sealer curing which can lead to unexpected results.

To seal the Yorkstone and add protection from ingrained dirt I selected Tile Doctor Seal & Go which leaves a beautiful satin finish that adds a protective barrier over the stone. This will ensure that the floor stands up to the heavy traffic of the new tenants moving in, additionally it’s a water-based sealer so it doesn’t give off a smell as it dries.

It was amazing to see the transformation of the Yorkstone flagstones and my client was very pleased with the work. For aftercare cleaning of these floors I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner however I find with rental properties there is no guarantee the tenants will use it.

Professional Restoration of a Yorkstone Tiled Kitchen in South Yorkshire

The post Gorgeous Yorkstone Floor uncovered at Sheffield Rental Property appeared first on South Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Cream Limestone Floor Refurbished in Cambridge

Tue, 06 Oct 2020 15:26:14 +0000

The pictures below are of a Cream Limestone floor that I was recently asked to renovate in Cambridge. Limestone tile had been installed throughout much of the ground floor and due to the original sealer wearing off it had started absorbing dirt into the pores of the stone. This is an inevitable problem with natural stone and once ingrained with dirt the tiles looked permanently dirty despite the efforts of the owner to clean them.

Having visited the property to survey the floor, I discussed with the owner the process required to deep clean and polish the stone back to health. Happy with my quotation we agreed a date for the work to be carried out.

Cleaning and Polishing a Large Limestone Tiled Floor

To renovate the stone back to its original condition it need to be honed with a series of floor burnishing pads from 400 through to 3000 grit. Some areas were worse than others especially those which had a heavy traffic flow, i.e. kitchen, hallway, and dining room. For those areas I dropped right down to a very coarse a 200-grit burnishing pad to really get into the pores of the stone before moving on to the 400-grit.

During the first stage of honing I also applied a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was worked into the limestone with the burnishing pad. The process does generate a lot of soil which needs to be removed after each pad. For this I have a van mounted extraction system that applies hot pressurised water onto the floor and then simultaneously extracts the soil back into a collection tank using a vacuum. It is very efficient and saves a lot of time when cleaning a large floor like this, it also has the added benefit of keeping the floor reasonably dry and keeping the mess to a minimum.

I progressed through the other pads including 400, 800 and 1500-grit using water to lubricate the burnishing process and the van mounted cleaning system to clean up afterwards. The last 3000 grit pad is applied using a little water sprayed onto the floor which is a process we call a spray burnish and really brings up the polish on the Limestone. With the pad being applied dry it also leaves the tile dry and ready for sealing.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Ground Floor

Once the honing was complete, I did a quick test with the moisture meter to ensure the floor was dry enough to seal. Due to only using minimum water during the burnishing and the large area of the floor the areas I had started on were dry enough to seal. I applied multiple coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, this is an impregnating sealer which gives the floor protection and a nice sheen. Any excess sealer was buffed off with a red pad.

During the work there were multiple trades working on the house, so in all the work took five days to complete. The client was extremely pleased with the final finish and our flexibility in working around the other tradesmen. He also left the following testimonial on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

“We cannot recommend Tom Conlon highly enough. Our indoor limestone floors hadn’t been attended to in 15 years and we are thrilled with the result. Our house is rejuvenated. Tom was always professional, punctual and accommodating over the five days the work took. We would definitely ask him back for any other work in the future. Thank you Tom.”

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Floors in Cambridgeshire

The post Cream Limestone Floor Refurbished in Cambridge appeared first on Cambridge Tile Doctor.

Removing Wax from 30-Year-Old Terracotta Flooring in Dursley

Mon, 05 Oct 2020 12:29:46 +0000

Our client contacted us to find out if anything could be done about his Terracotta tiled floor which has been laid thirty years prior in the Conservatory and Kitchen of his house in Dursley. I went over to survey the floors and conduct a test clean on part of the floor to see what would be needed to renovate it. Fortunately, the customer knew the maintenance history of the floor and had told me for the last thirty years they had been applying wax which can be tricky to remove.

The test clean went well and he was amazed how clean I managed to get the tile so confident in a good result a date was booked in for us to return to do the whole floor. We find surveying the floor before pricing is the most accurate way to provide a quotation as there are no surprises for all concerned.

Cleaning a Terracotta Tiled Conservatory Floor

On arrival the first task was to cover all the skirting boards, walls, and units to protect them. The floor was really dirty, and I could see we would need to conduct a lot of rinsing with water to remove the soiling. Having been informed about the wax covering from my earlier visit I was able to start stripping off the old layers of wax using a Tile Doctor product called Wax-Away which is made for this type of work. The product was mopped onto the floor, left to soak in for ten minutes and then scrubbed in with a black burnishing pad fitted to a rotary floor buffing machine. The soil was then rinsed away with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

This process was repeated until I was happy the wax had been removed and then I turned my attention to the grout which was really ingrained with dirt. For this I sprayed on Tile Doctor Remove and Go, left it to dwell for ten minutes as before and then set about scrubbing it clean. Once this was complete and I was happy with the results the floor was washed with fresh water twice to remove any trace of product and the floor dried with the wet vacuum.

The floor was then covered with dust sheets so the customer could carry on using the floor as normal whilst we left it to dry out for three days. Terracotta is very porous and needs to be bone dry before sealing to achieve the best result.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Conservatory and Kitchen Floor

On our return 3 days later, I did a moisture test to ensure the floor was dry. The results were good, so I set about sealing the Terracotta with Tile Doctor Seal and Go which was the best sealer for this type of floor. I applied seven coats which takes some time as you need to ensure each coat has dried before applying the next. This sealer leaves a nice sheen but also allows the Orangey/Red colour in the Terracotta to come through.

Once complete it was clear the deep clean and fresh seal had given the rooms a new lease of life and my client could not believe how well it had come up. For aftercare I recommend the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is designed for the day to day cleaning of sealed tiles.

Professional Renovation of a Terracotta Tiled Conservatory and Kitchen Floor in Gloucestershire

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Red Sandstone Kitchen Flagstones Renovated in Kirkby Lonsdale

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 11:57:19 +0000

The client in Kirkby Lonsdale called us in to sort out deep staining on the kitchen and utility floor area which was laid with Red Sandstone throughout. The stone flags were in quite a state mainly due to a failed sealer which allowed dirt to become ingrained in the stone. Sealers do wear down off over time especially in busy areas such as kitchens and once the sealer has gone the stone has little protection.

Cleaning a Red Sandstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

Work started by removing the kick boards under the kitchen units where we could, some were stuck fast so to protect them from water ingress during cleaning a silicone sealant was applied. We have learned from experience that although kitchen units are often sold as solid wood the kick boards underneath the units are often made from cheaper chipboard and thus very susceptible to water damage. They can blow within 15 to 20 minutes of water standing underneath, and we find silicone is a simple and effective answer to this issue.

To renovate the sandstone, a very coarse 100-grit milling pad was worked into the floor using a heavy weighted floor buffer and water to lubricate the process. This process cuts into the surface of the sandstone to strip off a very thin layer to reveal uncontaminated stone underneath. The slurry generated is rinsed off with more water and extracted with a wet vacuum. The process is repeated with a 200-grit pad that refines the surface.

Following this the floor and especially the grout is given a scrub with Tile Doctor Pro Clean. This is worked in with a black scrubbing pad and then rinsed off with more water and the wet vacuum. We always make a point to clean behind washing machines, tumble dryers, fridges etc wherever we can as you can see in the pictures.

Once the cleaning process was over the floor was dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum and it was left to dry out overnight.

Sealing a Red Sandstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

The next day we returned to seal the floor before doing so however moisture readings were taken from the stone; we are a big believer in letting the stone or tiles fully dry out before they are sealed otherwise if the stone or tiles are still damp then the sealer won’t cure correctly. There are occasions where you can clean and seal the same day i.e. upright showers but when it comes to a thick stone like sandstone it really needs time to dry out before applying a sealer.

I mention this because there are certain companies which will offer a clean and seal on the same day. At Tile Doctor we are trained to do the job correctly and not to cut corners, if there is a problem with the job you can rely on us to come back and put it right.

On this occasion three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow were applied which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone protecting it from within and enhancing the natural colours in the stone. It works really well on Red Sandstone and added a nice lift to the appearance of the floor.

The client was very happy with the renovated floor and before leaving I took time to discuss aftercare. I cannot stress how important it is to use the correct cleaning product when it comes to a cleaning a sealed floor, so for cleaning I always leave the customer with a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. Many regular floor cleaning products you find in supermarkets will strip the sealer off a floor, so it is well worth checking the label before choosing a cleaner.

Professional Restoration of a Red Sandstone Kitchen in South Cumbria

The post Red Sandstone Kitchen Flagstones Renovated in Kirkby Lonsdale appeared first on South Cumbria Tile Doctor.

Tile Restoration at Fishmongers Shop in Kingston

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 15:11:29 +0000

And now for something different. A customer called me in a flap before Christmas. He had just taken over the lease of a former fishmongers in Kingston Upon Thames and needed help renovating the white ceramic wall tiles and vinyl flooring which was in a state. But that was only part of the problem, his business was selling rugs and with the previous tenant being a fishmonger there was a fishy odour that also needed dealing with.

The previous shop fittings had been glued and screwed to the wall so when they were ripped out it took some of the ceramic wall tiles with them, leaving gaps in the tiling, glue staining and trapped dirt.

I popped in to have a look and was able to give him a quote for the cleaning and restoration work, he was happy with the cost and wanted to me to get started as soon as possible.

Restoring Ceramic Wall Tiles in a Fishmongers Retail Unit

I started by tackling the glue using sharp blades and a chisel combined with plenty of elbow grease. Then the ceramic tile and grout was cleaned with Tile Doctor Pro Clean which was diluted with water and decanted into a spray bottle so it could be sprayed onto the wall tiles. Doing it this way mixes it with air making it lighter and allowing it to stick to the vertical tiling for longer. After ten minutes of soaking into the dirt it was scrubbed in by hand into the tile and especially the grout lines with a stiff brush. There was a lot to do and so more elbow grease needed. Afterwards the walls were carefully rinsed off with water to remove the soiling.

The next task was to replace many tiles near the ceiling and electric sockets using rapid setting adhesive so they could be grouted later the same day. All holes and verticals were then filled with mastic. They were a generic white tile, so I was able to blend the replacement tiles in without too much trouble.

Deep Cleaning Vinyl Flooring in a Fishmongers Retail Unit

Once the wall tiles were done, I moved my attention to the vinyl flooring which was in good physical condition but in need of a deep clean. To resolve this, I applied more Tile Doctor Pro-Clean solution which was scrubbed in with a rotating floor buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad.

The soil was then extracted with a wet vacuum and left to dry off. There was a huge amount of dirt removed which had obviously built up over a long period of time.

The wall tiles were glazed ceramic so do not require a sealer to be applied, similarly the vinyl did not warrant any further treatment either so once everything was fully dry, I was done. I handed the unit back over to the new tenant who was ready to cover my carefully cleaned wall with rugs and start trading. Thankfully, the shop now smells good too.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Worcestershire

The post Tile Restoration at Fishmongers Shop in Kingston appeared first on West Surrey Tile Doctor.

Glazed Ceramic Mosaic Bathroom Tiles Restored in Levenshulme

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 01:13:59 +0000

I recently visited a property in Levenshulme where the bathroom tiling and grout needed renovation. Although they resembled small square mosaic tiles, they were actually large 45cm x 60cm sheets of glazed ceramic tiles which are easier to install and require less grouting.

Over time the tiles had attracted a lot of dirt from showering and now needed a good clean, additionally mould had got a grip on the lower tiling and mastic sealant between the tile and bath.

Levenshulme sits halfway between Manchester City centre and Stockport and was recently declared by the Times Newspaper as one of the best places to live in the North West. It’s actually only a few miles drive from my base so well within my service area.

Cleaning White Ceramic Mosaic Bathroom Tiles

Normally I would look to renovate the grout lines with a grout colourant however grout had only been used between the sheets of tiles and what appeared to be grout between the small square mosaic tiles was in fact part of the glaze. I knew the colourant would struggle to achieve a bond with a glazed surface and so my only option would be to give the tiles a good scrub with a strong cleaning product.

My solution was to spay the tiles with Tile Doctor Duo Clean which is an effective double action grout cleaner and mould remover. It’s designed for cleaning up bathroom tile and can remove mould and blackspot from grout and silicone. I worked in sections allowing the product to soak in for a good ten minutes before scrubbing it in by hand with a stiff brush. After rinsing the tiles down with water, they were inspected and the procedure re-applied if needed. I found in fact that I had to do this several times before I was happy with the tile, grout and silicone were as clean as the could be. I often find longer dwell times can help the situation.

The bathroom looked new by the time I had finished, it was quite the transformation and my client was really happy with the result and left a long testimonial for me which is copied below.

I could not be happier with Kamila’s work. She is delightful, efficient, and quite frankly a genius. My tiles were horrible and my bathroom seal mouldy and disgusting. Now thanks to Kamila I feel like I ha e a new bathroom all over again. She has done the most amazing job and I am so so pleased. I cannot recommend her highly enough! She has done the most outstanding job and the results are better than I could ever have dreamed of. Thank you so much Lancaster last year. It’s a great example of the typical problems we face with old Victorian floors, especially around door thresholds where the transition between the different foundation invariable cause problems.

I didn’t know the full history of the floor, but it was now in quite a state and recent renovation work had left the floor unstable with loose and cracked tiles. The tiles needed to be removed and then the damaged subfloor carefully scraped out and replaced. Once that was done the floor would need relaying and then cleaned and sealed so everything would blend in.

After visiting the property and providing a quotation we were given the go ahead and agreed a date to do the work.

Repairing a Yellow and Black Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

We returned on the agreed date and set about carefully removing the loose and cracked Victorian tiles and put them aside for later use. Some would need replacing however this would not present a problem and they are still widely available, and I have several contacts I can turn to for this.

Once this was done and the subfloor exposed and cleaned up, I used self-levelling cement to bring the floor level up and in-line with the existing. This now needed to set hard, so the rest of the day was spent cleaning up the tiles we removed earlier with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up and Pro-clean. Our goal is to reuse as many of the original tiles as possible to preserve the heritage of the floor.

The next day with the new subfloor set it was ready for tiling. This involves laying out the tiles first without adhesive carefully cutting and fitting new tiles as needed to maintain the overall pattern of the floor. Once I was happy the tiles were moved to a board and then fitted with fresh adhesive.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I came back on day three with the aim of cleaning the floor so it could be sealed however whilst inspecting my new tiling I was disappointed to discover some were not as level as I had hoped. I had noticed the replacement tiles were not the same thickness as the originals the previous day but I had worked around this by using different levels of adhesive, clearly this plan was not as effective as I had hoped for.

To counter this problem, I used a set of 50-Grit, 100-grit and then 200-grit diamond pads in sequence to mill the floor flat and remove the lippage between them. This is done with water to lubricate the process and a weighted floor buffer. The pads generate a lot of slurry and so you need to rinse this off with more water and extract all the soil after each pad.

I followed this up with various Diamond burnishing pads of increasingly finer grits across the whole floor until we achieved a consistent finish and had the added benefit of getting the whole floor clean. More water is used to rinse the tiles after burnishing and the soil extracted with a wet vacuum as before. Once done and inspected the floor was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Large Victorian Tiled Floor
Tile Doctor Colour Grow was applied to enhance the appearance of the tiles and protect them going forward. This product copes well with damp which can always be a problem with old floors like this one with no damp proof membrane present.

The floor looked amazing when finished and our attention to detail had really paid off, in fact you simply could not tell we had done any tiling work or replaced any tiles. For aftercare I recommend the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner which is designed for the regular cleaning of sealed tiles.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Lancashire

The post Yellow and Black Victorian Hallway Floor Tiling Restored in Lancaster appeared first on Tile Doctor Lancashire.

Encaustic Tiled Bathroom Floor Renovated Twickenham

Thu, 13 Aug 2020 13:55:59 +0000

The pictures below are of an Encaustic Cement tiled floor that had been installed in the bathroom of a property in Twickenham. At the time the tiles were installed, they did not seal them and had since accumulated dirt, especially in the grout lines.

Encaustic cement tiles have become extremely popular in the last few years with many beautiful artistic often geometric patterns available to choose from. The very nature of the cement-based tile however does make it slightly porous, and if left unsealed dirt will become ingrained in the tile making it difficult to remove and keep clean. Like grout they do therefore need to be sealed in order to keep them looking at their best for longer.

Cleaning Encaustic Cement Tile and Grout

Now we normally recommend using diamond encrusted burnishing pads when renovating Encaustic Cement tiles however in this case the face of the tiles were not too bad and it was really the grout that needed the most attention. So, to cut the cost for customer, I advised a straightforward alkaline scrub clean and seal.

To clean the tile and grout I sprayed the floor with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and left it to soak into the dirt for ten minutes. Space in the bathroom was quite tight so instead of using a mechanical floor scrubber I scrubbed the tile and grout by hand working the alkaline cleaning solution into the pores to release the grout in dirt.

After scrubbing the floor was rinsed with a little water and the soil removed with a wet vacuum. Afterwards the floor was inspected, and any stubborn areas retreated with repeat of the process. After a final rinse, the floor was dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum.

Sealing Encaustic Cement Tiles

Fortunately, the weather has been amazing of late and so it did not take long for the floor to dry, being a small space and a little encouragement from a heat gun always helps. Removing excess moisture before sealing is essential as even a small amount can cloud the sealer resulting in an uneven appearance.

Once satisfied that the floor was dry, I proceeded to seal it by applying a couple two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow across the Encaustic tile and grout. As an impregnating sealer Colour Grow penetrates the pores of the cement occupying the space and thus prevent any dirt from becoming ingrained there. Colour Grow’s colour intensifying properties also helped to deepen the black colour of the tile enhancing the contrast between the tiles and grout.

Now the floor has been properly sealed it will be far easier for the customer to keep them clean in future. For maximum longevity of the sealer I recommend maintenance cleaning with Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner. Don’t be tempted to use supermarket cleaning products without reading the label first, many are simply too strong for cleaning sealed surfaces and will strip off the sealer prematurely leaving the tiles unprotected.

Professional Cleaning and Sealing of Encaustic Cement Tile and Grout in Middlesex

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Patchy Grout on Porcelain Floor Restored in Darton New Build

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 13:02:29 +0000

Recently it seems I am getting called out to an increasing number of new builds to sort out patchy grout issues. The reason why there have been so many issues arising is a bit of a mystery, but I put it down to a combination of things like poor quality grout, rushed installations, wet subfloors and the use of different batches.

This recently built house in the village of Darton is a great example and in this case, I suspect two different batches of the same grout had been applied. Darton by the way is a small village in the Borough of Barnsley.

Invariably these problems are picked up by the new owner on their snagging list, with the tiler long gone and the builder keen to get their final payment it is always a tricky situation to resolve. I find the best solution is to apply a Tile Doctor Grout Colourant, it’s a much quicker process than removing the old grout and replacing with new. Most new homeowners would not appreciate us ripping up their brand-new rooms and generating lots of dust in the process! Also, by using the Tile Doctor Grout Colourant it adds a barrier of the grout preventing dirt from discolouring it further down the line.

Restoring grout a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor

Even though the house was brand new, the Porcelain Tiled floor was not looking great. The client was happy for me to go ahead and would take up the bill with the housebuilder. I first pre-treated it with Tile Doctors Grout Colourant Pre-Treatment. This removes any contamination from the grout which might affect the adhesion of the colourant and being an acid, it also etches the surface of the grout to ensure a superior bond with the colourant.

The client chose our Light Grey colour which is one of 10 colours we offer. Once the pre-treatment had been applied, scrubbed, rinsed, and vacuumed away the floor was left to dry. Once dry we started applying the colourant, this is done with a small brush (a toothbrush is ideal) carefully scrubbing colourant into each grout joint and wiping off any excess that gets on the tiles before it is able to dry.

Once complete the newly coloured grout lines totally transformed the floor and because the grout colorant is epoxy based the grout lines will stay stain free and never get dirty.
The porcelain tiles were factory sealed so there is no need to apply a seal to the floor.

I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to keep the floor in the best condition. It is pH neutral so is far less harsh on the surface than the everyday household cleaners available. It has a minty fragrance and is mild enough to use daily. They were very happy that the floor now looked as it should have from the start and was the finishing touch to their beautiful new home.

Professional Kitchen Grout Restoration in South Yorkshire Kitchen

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Restoring White Grout on a Ceramic Tiled Floor in Wilmslow

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 13:03:29 +0000

I was contacted by a lady in Wilmslow who had a ceramic tiled floor that had been installed around eight years ago with white grout. Any tiler will tell you that white floor grout gets dirty very quickly and most advise against it. You can seal the grout which will protect it for longer however even sealers wear down over time, especially on a busy floor. Cleaning is also an option but unless done frequently it will start to darken. This was the case with this floor and now eight years later the Ceramic Tiles which are protected by a glaze still looked good but were being let down by the grout which had indeed become black.

My customer had been cleaning the floor on a regular basis but was now unhappy with the appearance of the tiles due to the dark grout and wanted the colour restored. Grout cleaning is not an issue and I was happy to do that however it will only improve by 75-80% of how it was when new and I cannot guarantee the removal of deep-seated staining. The only way to get it 100% and looking like new was to apply our Tile Doctor White Grout Colourant which is a hard-wearing epoxy covering that adheres to the grout, restoring the colour whilst protecting it. Keeping that as an option my customer asked for the grout cleaning and sealing service that we offer. This involves deep cleaning the grout and then sealing it to prevent the dirt from becoming ingrained again. We agreed we could always look at recolouring the grout later if necessary.

Cleaning the Grout on a Ceramic Tiled Kitchen Floor

To deep clean the grout I applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go across the floor, I left it to soak into the grout for ten to twenty minutes and then scrubbed it in with a stiff hand brush and followed up with a high pressure steam cleaner. The slurry was vacuumed off the floor using a wet/dry vacuum and the process reapplied where needed. This process really got a lot of the dirt out of the grout and returned the white colour transforming the appearance of the floor.

Sealing Grout on a Ceramic Tiled Kitchen Floor

The grout was left to dry for a few hours and then sealed using Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which is carefully applied onto the grout line using a pipette. Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal is a natural look sealer that is almost invisible, as a result it does not darken the look of the grout. Sealing the grout in will protect it from staining and ensure it keeps its white appearance for much longer.

My customer was very happy to see her white grout restored and so didn’t require the application of a Grout Colourant this time. She did say she would recommend us to friends and neighbours which is always a bonus!

Professional Restoration of the Grout on a Ceramic Tiled Kitchen Floor in East Cheshire

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Terracotta Floor Restored at 400-Year-Old Cottage in Leatherhead

Sat, 08 Aug 2020 11:43:21 +0000

This client had acquired a 400-year old cottage in Leatherhead as part of his divorce agreement. The front room was tiled with Terracotta which is a soft stone and particularly porous. The tiles had seen a lot of wear and use over the years and were now in need of some love.

He emailed over some photographs however it’s difficult to tell the best remedy without doing any testing, so I arranged visit the property and take a proper look. It was immediately clear the Terracotta had become badly discoloured in places some of which was from burning logs which had previously fallen from the fireplace onto the tiles. There was also a considerable amount of red paint around the edges that would need removing.

This work would take two days with at least 48 hours in-between days to allow for evaporation as a wet tile cannot be sealed. The client was happy to go ahead with my quote and we arranged a suitable time to complete the work for him.

Cleaning a Terracotta Tiled Living Room Floor

Firstly, as the terracotta is soft and more importantly red it can make a mess of the woodwork when cleaning with water, so I covered the kickboards with sticky plastic coating to ensure they were protected.

Then I removed the edging paint by softening it with an application of a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go. Once left for half an hour the paint starts to soften and this makes it easier to remove, although this is a manual process carefully scrapping the remains of the paint away.

Next, I coated the floor with Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel. This strong cleaning product is left for half an hour to work into the pores of the Terracotta. With some water I gently cleaned the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a nylon pad. This is a wet process, so no dust is created.

For the next few hours, I cleaned the whole room. The areas damaged by burning wood were worked on with a diamond encrusted pad to get deep into the tile. When finished, the tiles were clean and more consistent in appearance and colour. I left the floor for the weekend to fully dry.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

On the Monday I returned to seal the Terracotta first checking the tiles had dried out using a damp meter. The customer didn’t want either a shiny finish or a matte finish. He did want a strong, protective sealer so we agreed on using Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra which leaves a sheen finish and will last for years. The floor was now fully protected and should be durable for the foreseeable future.

The client was very happy with the work we had carried out, it had really transformed the room and he was looking forward to getting the furniture back in to position.

Professional Restoration of a Terracotta Tiled Living Room in Surrey

The post Terracotta Floor Restored at 400-Year-Old Cottage in Leatherhead appeared first on West Surrey Tile Doctor.

Removing Grout from new Mosaic Swimming Pool Tiles

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 14:45:40 +0000

A tiling company were in touch last month with an urgent request to assist on a project that had just completed tiling a swimming pool at a house in Sandy which is just south of St Neots. The company had done a lovely job of tiling the pool with 60m2 of blue mosaic ceramic tiles however were having issues removing the grout that was smeared on the tiles.

Grout has come on a long way in the last ten years and manufactures like Keracoll are producing some very durable products like Fugabella® which is described as a resin cement which has high water repellence characteristics. It was this product that had been used to grout the swimming pool however given the warm weather and the large tiling area involved it had dried quickly and set hard on the surface.

The tiling company was now struggling to remove the grout haze and naturally concerned the owner would not be impressed with the result quickly got in touch looking for a solution. We deal with these issues all the time so given the area involved and a photo of the pool I was able to provide a quote over email which was accepted, and I was booked in.

Removing Grout Haze from Mosaic Swimming Pool Tiles

My solution was to apply a product called Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which pretty much does what its name suggests. It contains concentrated phosphoric acid and a cleaning agent, a formula specifically designed to remove light grout smears (grout haze) but also effective on removing mineral deposits such as efflorescence, rust staining and hard water marks.

Working in sections the Grout Clean-up was diluted with water and sprayed onto the tile. It was left for a couple of minutes to soak into the grout smears and then worked in with a black scrubbing pad. I was able to use a floor machine for this at the bottom of the pool and smaller pads fitted to a hand buffer on the wall tiling. After agitation, the area was rinsed with water and the soil removed using our vehicle mounted extraction machine which is very effective.

The job took about ½ a day to complete and as you can image the tiling company was quite relieved, I had managed to resolve the problem, they even left the following feedback for me:

Left a lovely job, very happy with the finish, would definitely recommend.

Professional Removal of Grout Smears from Mosaic Swimming Pool Tiling

The post Removing Grout from new Mosaic Swimming Pool Tiles appeared first on Cambridge Tile Doctor.

Restoring a Damaged Marble Vanity Countertop in Oxford

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 14:25:19 +0000

Earlier this year I was working on the restoration of a floor in Oxford and the client asked if I would look at the Marble Countertop in the bathroom. I often get asked to look at additional items whilst on site and always happy to see if I can help.

Unfortunately, the stone had been cleaned with an unsuitable cleaning product (probably bleach based) and this had etched the surface leaving what appeared to be an unsightly splash mark ruining its appearance.

You do have to be careful with household cleaning products around Marble, always read the label first and check to see if it is safe to use on natural stone before application. Many products are acidic and will etch into Marble as was the case here. I explained to the client what I could do, and she agreed to add the cost onto the quote for the floor I was already doing. I took photos but it is quite hard to see the damage on the images.

My base in Chalgrove is only 11 miles outside of Oxford so it’s not a problem to pop back and pick up some extra materials if I need them. In this case I was able to bring them along on day two of cleaning and sealing the floor.

Polishing an Etched Marble Vanity Countertop

The only way to restore a polished Marble surface like this is to use a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads to slowly hone the stone and rebuild the polish. We do this all the time for Marble floors however the pads are the large 17-inch type, for this you need the smaller 6-inch pads which fit a hand buffer and the smaller handheld burnishing blocks.

I started with the handheld diamond blocks and water, starting with the coarse grit to remove the etching, and then working through the grades to leave a smooth but dull finish. I then followed this up with the 6-inch diamond pads in sequence from 800 grit up to 3000 grit to give the top the desired finish.

Sealing a Marble Vanity Top

When it was dry, I sealed it with a coat of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is almost invisible. This product is a no-sheen, natural-look, solvent-based penetrating sealer. It gives maximum protection without a shiny finish, so perfect for this vanity top as we wanted the natural colour of the marble to shine through without a shiny finish.

The client was not only over the moon with the work on the floor I had carried out, she was also delighted that I had been able to restore the vanity top in the bathroom as it had been annoying her for some time.

I discussed with the customer the best way to maintain the Marble surface was to use Tile Doctor Stone Soap cleaner, this is pH balanced and nice and gentle on the marble and helps maintain the patina. It’s supplied as a concentrate so you only need to use a small amount, it can also be used to clean their newly cleaned and sealed floor.

Professional Restoration of a Marble Vanity Countertop in Oxfordshire

The post Restoring a Damaged Marble Vanity Countertop in Oxford appeared first on Oxfordshire Tile Doctor.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Deep Cleaned and Sealed in Chesham

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 14:45:47 +0000

This customer had just moved into a property in Chesham around eighteen months ago. During that time, they had completely renovated the property and in the process had pulled up the hallway carpet to discover a lovely Victorian tiled floor which appeared to be in good condition but very dirty. Period features like these can add a lot of value to a house these days and so they decided to investigate having it professionally cleaned and contacted me for a quote.

Although I can give some indication of price over the phone you never know exactly what to expect so my preference is to visit the property a conduct a test clean. It’s a little trickier to do this now due to COVID-19 but using a combination of PPE, maximum ventilation and social distancing measures I was able to work on the floor. The tiles were in good order with no replacements needed so my focus would be removing carpet adhesive and ingrained dirt. The test went well, and I followed up with a quotation which was accepted, and a date arranged to do the work.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in Chesham

I had worked out previously that the quickest was to deep clean the floor and remove the glue and any old seal was to apply Tile Doctor Remove and Go which as its name suggests is a coatings removed designed for Tiled floors. My method was to spray strong a dilution of Remove and Go onto the Victorian tiles and leave it to soak in for fifteen minutes. Then it was scrubbed in with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine. The soil was rinsed off using a minimal of water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

Once the floor had dried, I inspected the tiles and could see more work would be needed to get the white tiles really sparkling. For this I went over the floor using a 200-grit resurfacing pad using water to lubricate the process, I also used handheld burnishing blocks of different grits to do the edges. With this extra effort and another rinse with water to remove the soil the floor looked great, and so I left for the day so it could dry out ready for sealing.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I came back the next day and started by taking moisture readings with a damp meter to ensure the tiles were dry and ready for sealing. This is important as you don’t want to apply sealer to a damp tile and old floors can suffer from damp issues due to the lack of a damp proof membrane.

All was well with the floor, so I was able to move straight onto sealing which started with the application of a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the tile enhancing colour and adding protection. Once this had dried, I followed up with another seven coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which adds further protection and leaves a nice subtle sheen to the tiles. This product works really well on old Victorian Tiles like these and being water based it doesn’t leave a smell as it dries.

The Victorian tiles looked so much cleaner and brighter after I had finished, and my customer was very happy with the transformation. For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to maintain the floor, it has a nice fresh smell and can be used regularly due to its pH neutral nature which won’t prematurely erode the sealer like stronger bleach based cleaners.

Professional Victorian Tiled Hallway Renovation in Buckinghamshire

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Renovating a Brazilian Slate Floor in a Harrogate Kitchen

Sun, 02 Aug 2020 13:41:49 +0000

Pictured below is a Slate tiled kitchen floor that had been installed in the kitchen of a property in Harrogate around fifteen years prior. I discovered that the tiles had never been cleaned and resealed since installation and this explained why they were now looking dull and un-interesting. They had lost all character and it wasn’t until I started cleaning them that I realised the must be of the multicoloured Brazilian Slate variety.

As well as looking dull and unattractive, there was also some water damage to some tiles caused by a leak, this had resulted in some shaling and efflorescence staining. This had occurred some time ago and the floor had now dried out fully, so I was not expecting any further efflorescence issues going forward.

Brazil, I understand is the world’s 2nd biggest producer of Slate, it is also exceptionally durable and reasonably priced so its not surprising you see a lot of it over in the UK. Like any natural stone however it is porous and without a sealer to protect it and bring out those natural colours it soon ends up like the example on this pad.

Cleaning a Brazilian Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

I cleaned the floor with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean using my usual method of spraying the cleaning solution onto the Slate and grout and then leaving it for a ten minutes to soak in and get to work breaking down the dirt and old sealers. Although I doubted there was much sealer left on the floor after all this time you need to be sure to remove all of it to get the best result. The floor was then scrubbed with a rotary floor buffer fitted with a black scrubbing pad, then after rinsing with water and extracting the soil I inspected the floor.

I detected there was still some sort of sealer present in some of less used parts of the floor, it was proving stubborn to remove so I suspect it may have been an old fashioned wax based product that was used. Not a problem though we Tile Doctors have a solution to every problem, so I spot treated the stubborn areas with Tile Doctor Wax Away to see if I was right. After scrubbing that in followed by another rinse and extraction with the wet vacuum I was pleased to see I was right and was happy all the old seal had now been removed. I gave the floor another rinse at the end of the day and dried it as much as possible with the wet vacuum, then left it to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Brazilian Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

I came back the next day and checked the floor was dry with a damp meter. The readings were good, so I was able to crack on and seal the tiles using several coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go. Each coat was applied leaving time to dry between each layer. This gave the floor a uniform appearance which disguised the damaged tiles. It will also help to stop more cracking and reduce the appearance of the efflorescence. The sealer really brought out the natural colours in the Brazilian Slate and the floor looked transformed.

I’m sure you will agree it was a vast improvement, certainly my client was very happy and couldn’t believe the difference I had managed to achieve. Before leaving I recommended, they should invest in some Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which would ensure the newly applied seal was prematurely eroded away which is a problem with many of the stronger products you find in supermarkets.

Professional Restoration of a Slate Tiled Kitchen in North Yorkshire

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