Tile Doctor Feeds

Removing Varnish from a Slate Tiled Floor in Walton on Thames

Wed, 19 Feb 2020 03:23:09 +0000

Our client had previously employed another company to tackle this large Slate floor in Walton on Thames but they hadn’t managed to remove the old sealer due to it being an old varnish seal. Varnish was used as a traditional way of sealing stone but can be damaged by scratching and it does little to improve the look of the stone. Varnish is also very difficult to break down which is a problem as it’s important to remove the old sealant before applying new, applying a new sealer onto Varnish simply wouldn’t work.

I visited the property to survey the floor and work out which combination of products and methods would work best and after some testing and I was able to confirm that not only could the old varnish be removed but once re-sealed with a modern sealer the slate would be transformed.

The client was over the moon to hear this news as they had thought there was nothing, they could do to improve the floor.

Removing Varnish and Deep Cleaning Slate Floor Tiles

With a price and schedule agreed I returned to the property at a later date and started by tackling the varnish. The method I used was to apply Tile Doctor Remove and Go, let it soak into the floor for ten minutes and then work it in with a heavy rotary scrubbing machine fitted with a black pad. The soil was then rinsed with water and extracted off the floor with a wet vacuum.

The floor was then inspected, and each tile checked to ensure the varnish was completely gone, any stubborn areas were then spot treated and scrubbed by hand. Once I was satisfied, I set about giving the stone a deep clean by repeating the same process with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. As before all the soil and cleaning products were then low pressure rinsed off the stone and vacuumed away. The floor was then left to dry overnight.

Sealing a Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned the following day to apply a new modern sealer. First, I tested the floor was dry using the moisture meter. It was in the acceptable readings range, so I was able to start applying the sealer straight away.

For this floor I chose to apply Tile Doctor Seal and Go, it works really well on Slate tiles and as you can see from the photographs it completely transformed the appearance of the stone. Seal and Go is a water-based blend of acrylic polymers that provides both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable low-sheen finish, being water based it has the added advantage of not giving off any odour as it dries. The client had specified earlier that they didn’t want the floor to look shiny to the resultant silky appearance was the perfect solution. Thee coats were applied, and my client was very pleased with the finish.

Professional Restoration of a Slate Tiled Kitchen in South Middlesex

The post Removing Varnish from a Slate Tiled Floor in Walton on Thames appeared first on South Middlesex Tile Doctor.

Restorative Clean of an Old Quarry Floor in a Levington Gamekeepers Cottage

Tue, 18 Feb 2020 11:42:41 +0000

The Quarry Tiled Floor pictured below was located in a wood on the outskirts of the pretty coastal village of Levington, just East of Ipswich. The client had recently purchased this old Gamekeepers cottage and they were looking to redecorate and refurbish the property including the floors.

The floors in the house were all very dirty and the new owners wanted them cleaned in time for Christmas. I visited site and conducted a demonstration on a small section of Quarry tiles which covered the whole of the ground floor. The demonstration went well, and the client was very pleased to see the kind of result they could expect. We agreed a price for the work and arranged a suitable time to return.

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Floor

I knew from the age of the cottage it very unlikely to have a damp-proof membrane present under the floor so I had to consider damp and efflorescence issues could become factors during cleaning. Efflorescence occurs when salts trapped in water from the ground rise through the porous Quarry tiles and are left on the surface of the tile as white deposits when the moisture evaporates.

Before starting with the cleaning process, we set about taping up the wooden skirting and doorways to protect them. Then because of the lack of a DPM I decided to clean the floor with Tile Doctor Acid Gel which would require less water and counter any alkaline salts trapped in the floor. It was applied to the floor and then worked in using a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. The grout was then scrubbed by hand using a wire brush and the resultant slurry vacuumed using our wet vacuum.

Once I was satisfied the floor was as clean as possible the floor was rinsed with warm water using the least amount of water possible. This removed any trace of cleaning product and the floor then dried using the wet vacuum and microfibre cloths. The floor was then inspected, and any stubborn areas were spot treated before leaving the floor to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Floor

The following morning, I conducted a damp test with a moisture meter to ensure the floor was dry enough to take a sealer. Sure enough, due to the cleaning method used, the floor was dry, and I was able to move on to applying the sealer which for this floor I used Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra.

I selected Seal & Go Extra as it has a special acrylic-based formula which allows moisture vapour transmission making it partially breathable and well suited for floors without a damp-proof membrane. This is important as to use non-breathable sealer can result in damp building up in the tiles and under the floor where it can cause damage and spread out to the walls resulting in rising damp. Six coats of sealer were applied to the Quarry tiles to ensure the floor was fully sealed and this left a nice low sheen finish.

style=”width:100%; object-fit: cover;”

The clients were extremely happy with the result, as you can see from the the pictures the floor looked in much better condition.

For aftercare I recommended the use of the Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to keep the floor in the best condition and make maintenance easy for them. This would ensure the newly applied seal stayed put.

Professional Renovation of Quarry Tiled Flooring in Suffolk

The post Restorative Clean of an Old Quarry Floor in a Levington Gamekeepers Cottage appeared first on Suffolk Tile Doctor.

Cleaning a Ceramic Tiled Shower Room in Romiley

Mon, 17 Feb 2020 02:17:27 +0000

The pictures below are of a White Ceramic tiled shower cubicle at a property in Romiley that was installed twelve years prior. The home owner had cleaned it regularly with household cleaning products but were unable to improve the dirty and mouldy grout and the silicone seal around the edges.

The owner was most concerned about the discolouration of the grout and had never been happy with the silicone sealant between the shower tray and tiles which had been poorly applied and for the most part smeared over 3cm up and down over where the bead should be.

I visited the property and recommended that the best course of action would be to apply a White Grout Colourant over the grout which would seal the grout in and protect it from further staining as well as making it much easier to clean. Grout is cementous and as such its rough surface easily traps dirt as well as making it easier for mould to take a hold.

A few miles east of Stockport Romiley was for centuries an agricultural area, until the late Victorian era when it grew into the popular residential area it is today.

Renovating a Ceramic Tiled Shower Room

I started by cleaning the grout using the Tile Doctor Pre-Treater which comes with the Tile Doctor Grout Colouring Kit, I also made use of a professional steamer with a special grout cleaning attachment to get the grout as clean as it could be. The Tile Doctor Pre-Treater is also slightly acidic, so it etches the surface of the grout to improve the bond with the grout colourant. I rinsed the shower wall with water to remove the soiling and then dried it with a soft cloth and heat gun. The White Grout Colourant was applied using a small brush, taking care to wipe off the excess from the surface of the adjacent tile as I went.

Sealing a Ceramic Tile Shower Room

Whilst waiting for the Tile Doctor Grout Colourant to dry I started to carefully strip away the old silicone using a sharp Stanley knife and scraper. This is a slow job and you have to be careful not to damage the shower tray or the tiles with the blade. The old sealer was smeared all over as you can see in the pictures- so it took me two hours of scraping to remove all the sealant.

They really had made a poor job of applying the seal. The ceramic tiles were slightly textured which didn’t help. Once that was cleaned off and replaced with new silicone the bathroom looked transformed. The silicon just needed to dry for 24 hours before they could start using the shower again.

My customer was very happy. As you can see from the pictures the shower room now looks clean and tidy and like new.

Professional Restoration of a Ceramic Tiled Shower room in Greater Manchester

The post Cleaning a Ceramic Tiled Shower Room in Romiley appeared first on Greater Manchester Tile Doctor.

Victorian Period Hallway Floor Restored in Bourneville

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 11:38:13 +0000

This client had recently discovered a Victorian tiled floor hidden underneath hallway carpet at their property in the Birmingham suburb of Bournville. It didn’t look in great condition as some areas were missing and staining from carpet adhesive, but it was a beautiful patterned floor tiled potentially with Minton tiles and they were really keen to find out if it could be restored to its’ former glory.

The rest of the property in Bourneville had retained its’ original features so the floor would be the icing on the cake.

I went along to survey the floor, provide a quote and perform a small cleaning demonstration so I they could get an idea of the results they could expect. The damaged areas were repairable and once I had completed the test clean, we were confident the floor could be restored. They were happy to proceed with my quote and the job was booked in.

Bourneville is the home of the chocolate makers Cadbury, so many people will have visited and been aware of the area. Many of the houses were built for the workers at the Cadbury factory.

Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

On the first day I started on relaying the three internal door thresholds with some existing tiles and matching replacements that I had managed to source online. We are usually able to source reclaimed tiles and reproduction ones, so repairs are not usually a problem. It took some time to clean out the old adhesive, cut the replacement tiles to size where required and then then fix in place with fresh adhesive.

The next job was to replace some broken ones along the edges and some in the main part of the floor which had been drilled in to. These can be tricky to do as they can easily break adjoining tiles. When this was done the tiles were grouted and the other loose ones reset. It’s meticulous work and the tile adhesive needs time to set before the next stage which would be giving the entire floor a deep clean.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The following day I focused on deep cleaning the tiles starting with the removal of the strong adhesive that had secured the carpet gripper. This had to be removed by applying a neat Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and leaving it to dwell for ten minutes. The Pro-Clean helped loosen the glue which was then carefully scraped off.

The floor was then mopped with a strong dilution of Pro-Clean before running over the tiles with a 200-grit diamond pad fitted to a rotary machine. This combination gets into the pores of the tile, releasing the dirt and renovating the surface. The resultant slurry was then rinsed off with water and extracted using a wet vacuum.

Next, the floor was given an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up worked in with a 400-grit burnishing pad to further clean up the tiles and close-up the pores. The floor was rinsed and extracted again and allowed to dry for two nights.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

On my return I tested the floor was dry with the damp meter and satisfied myself that the floor was dry and ready to accept a sealer which would enhance its appearance and protect it going forward.

My sealer of choice was Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra which adds a nice subtle sheen to the floor and being breathable will cope with any potential moisture rising through the tiles. This is an important consideration on old floors like this where no damp proof membrane will have been fitted.

By the time I had finished the floor was transformed and had become the main focal point of the house. My clients were very pleased with the new entrance to their home and before leaving we discussed after care for which I left them with a complementary bottle of Neutral Tile Cleaner.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Birmingham

The post Victorian Period Hallway Floor Restored in Bourneville appeared first on Birmingham Tile Doctor.

Terracotta Floor Renovation Prior to Kitchen Installation at Flore Village

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 03:28:52 +0000

The following photos are of a Terracotta floor restoration I carried out in the picturesque village of Flore, situated between Northampton and Daventry. I was asked to assess the potential of the Terracotta floor in an old cottage, the clients had always liked the floor but didn’t want the bad condition of the tiles to detract from the effect of the beautiful new kitchen they were planning to install. They needed reassuring that it would be possible to restore the floor to a good standard and thereby enhance the final look of the new kitchen before they went to the expense of replacing the entire floor.

Whilst I was there, I carried out a test clean to a small area of floor, stripping off all old the sealers to expose the natural blemish free face of the tile. Having worked out a process for restoring the floor I was also able to come up with an accurate price for completing the floor. I left the quote with the customer and was pleased to hear back from them a few days later to let me know they had decided to go ahead with the restoration of their floor.

Before being able to set a date for my return I had to liaise with for the kitchen company to agree a date them to come and remove the old kitchen and install the new. I would slot in-between the two dates.

Stripping Terracotta Kitchen Floor Tiles

When returned to the do the work the kitchen had been stripped out as promised and with no kitchen units etc. to protect from splashing, I was able to get straight on with the cleaning of the floor using Tile Doctor Oxy-Pro alkaline tile cleaner.

Oxy-Pro is a gel and doesn’t require a lot of water to activate it, my concern was Terracotta tiles are very porous and it helps the drying process if you keep the moisture down to a minimum, especially as this work was carried out in November. The product was scrubbed into the Terracotta tiles using a stiff brush tool attached to rotary machine. I also used grout brushes on the wide grout lines working in small sections at a time and clearing the resulting slurry with a wet vacuum as I went.

Once the cleaning process was completed across all the Terracotta, I spot treated the many stubborn stains with Tile Doctor Acid Gel, especially along the grout lines. This was brushed in, left to dwell, scrubbed and then removed with a wet vacuum. The stone was then mopped with plain water to neutralise and remove any trace of cleaning products. I then installed a fan to dry the entire area as quickly as possible.

Sealing Terracotta Floor Tiles

As the customer was not using the kitchen it provided time to leave the floor for a few days to fully dry out with a small dehumidifier left on site to assist with the drying process. I returned later to seal the floor and started by taking a damp meter reading so I could be sure the Terracotta was completely dry.

The results were good, and I was able to go ahead and seal the Terracotta using several coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra for a silk finish. Once of the reasons I picked this sealer is its breathable so it will cope with any moisture rising through the tile from the subfloor which is an important consideration on old floors which have no damp proof course.

Although I never got to see the new kitchen installed my customer was very pleased with the transformation of the floor and left the following testimonial on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Philip did a fantastic job restoring the terracotta tiles in our kitchen. They are good as new! Philip was hardworking and excellent at communicating with us and planning the best time to do the work around our new kitchen being fitted. Highly recommend! Ayesha D.

Professional Restoration of a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor in Northamptonshire

The post Terracotta Floor Renovation Prior to Kitchen Installation at Flore Village appeared first on Northamptonshire Tile Doctor.

Lack Lustre Marble Floor Given a Deep Durable Shine in Great Shelford

Wed, 12 Feb 2020 09:03:52 +0000

This customer from village of Great Shelford south of Cambridge was unhappy with their Marble tiled floor which quickly lost its lustre relatively after being laid. Fortunately, she was given our contact details from a neighbour who we completed a Marble re-polish for a couple years ago and the floor still looks amazing.

Polished Marble will loose its appearance over time, especially in a Kitchen due to abrasion it receives from foot traffic and the use of the wrong cleaning product. Because of this problem Tile Doctor now offer a maintenance program where we make an annual visit to the property to re-polish the floor and top up the sealer.

After discussing the floor, I recommended we hone the Marble tiles with a set of burnishing pads which will bring back the polished appearance and then work in a crystallising powder to achieve a deep shine before applying a sealer to protect the stone going forward. This is the procedure we followed for her neighbour and she was happy to have the same.

Honing Marble Floor Tiles

Firstly, I removed the existing sealer and dirt with a 400-grit diamond burnishing pad which is applied with water to provide lubrication. Although this initially appears to make the floor look worse, this is only temporary and is the first step in restoring the appearance of the stone. Much to the amusement of a couple of Peacocks who appeared by the back door I rinsed the floor with water and removed the slurry from the floor with a wet vacuum.

Then I worked my way through the 800-grit and 1500-grit burnishing pads again using water to lubricate and rinsing the floor and extracting after each pad. These finer pads start the process or re-polishing the stone and took up most of the day. Once done I gave the floor a final rinse, extracted the slurry and left the floor to dry off overnight.

Sealing Marble Kitchen Tiles

The next day I returned and completed the polishing process by applying the fourth burnishing pad which is an extra fine 3000 grit pad, you apply the pad dry with only a little amount of water sprayed onto the floor in process we call a spay burnish and this final pad really brings up the polish in the Marble.

The next step was to apply Tile Doctor Shine Powder to the Marble. This is a crystallising powder that is worked into the floor using a White Buffing Pad to provide a very high shine and tough durable finish.

Once the polishing was completed, I set about applying the sealer which for this floor I chose Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is a colour intensifying sealer that provides durable stain protection by impregnating the pores in the stone with sealer so dirt cannot become ingrained there. As you can see from the pictures the sealer dramatically enhanced the natural colours in the stone leaving my client much happier.

Once dry I ran over the floor with the white buffing pad to remove any excess sealer and bring up the sheen of the tiles even further. For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is designed for the cleaning of polished sealed floor and will help maintain the patina.

Professional Restoration of a Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor in West Surrey

The post Lack Lustre Marble Floor Given a Deep Durable Shine in Great Shelford appeared first on Cambridge Tile Doctor.

Astonishing Victorian Floor Restoration at Weybridge College

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 15:37:23 +0000

I was asked by the facilities manager of St Georges College in Weybridge to survey a Victorian tiled floor for restoration. Having worked there for twenty years he lifted a carpet over the summer in the main reception of the original building as part of renovation work. Underneath he found an original Victorian mosaic tiled floor dating back over a hundred and fifty years to when the school was established. However, for some reason in the distant past they had been partially covered with concrete levelling screed and just to make it more challenging for me the carpet had been secured with adhesive.

After visiting the school to survey the floor I could see this going to be a very challenging job for one person. Fortunately Tile Doctor has a network of over 50 specialists like me all around the Country, so I reached out to neighbouring East Surrey Tile Doctor Mick Conlon who is also very experienced in floor restoration. Together we broke down the job into sections, e.g. remove the adhesive, remove the screed, hone the tiles, repair any missing, broken or damages tiles and finally seal. All in the work would take five days to complete.

Removing Carpet Adhesive from Victorian Floor Tiles

The first task was to smother the surface in Tile Doctor Remove and Go which in turn was covered by plastic sheeting. By trapping the product under a plastic sheet, it couldn’t dry out and thereby remains active for longer.

After a couple of hours, it had broken down the adhesive which we swept up and disposed of. This was unpleasant work which required us to wear protective gloves, masks and goggles.

Removing Cement Screed from Victorian Floor Tiles

On day two we turned our attention to the removal of the concrete screed and cleaning up the tiles. This was done with a process called honing. A circular 200-grit pad was attached to a floor buffer and run over the tiles using water for lubrication. The honing pad is impregnated with industrial diamonds which gradually cuts through and removes the screed covering.

After several hours the tiles began to reveal themselves. It also became apparent that after over 100 years of thousands of pupils walking over them some of the tiles were somewhat dipped in the middle. Using a handheld buffer these areas had extra attention with a very coarse 100-grit diamond pad. This process took most of the day with one man honing whilst the other constantly rinsed the floor with more water and extracted the waste.

Replacing Broken Victorian Floor Tiles

Once the tiles were totally free of concrete screed it exposed several broken and missing tiles. Some tiles had been removed and not replaced but back filled with concrete. Fortunately, I had managed to source matching reclaimed tiles was able to cut and fit replacements. All holes and cracks were filled so the floor was ready for sealing the next day.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Floor

Given the age of the floor and the high amount of floor traffic this floor would receive I advised against using a high shine sealer and recommended an impregnating breathable matt sealer instead. There were two main reasons for this, first old floors don’t have a damp-proof membrane installed so it’s important to use a sealer that will allow the floor to breath and allow moisture to rise through the tiles. Secondly, only an impregnating sealer which soaks into the pores of the tile would cope with the anticipated heavy footfall.

With that agreed several coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer were applied to the tiles leaving the floor looking great and completely transformed. At end of the last day the headmistress came to give her approval as did the whole secretarial staff. My favourite word was “astonishing”. Hard to disagree.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled College Hallway in Surrey

The post Astonishing Victorian Floor Restoration at Weybridge College appeared first on West Surrey Tile Doctor.

Dull Travertine Floor Filled, Polished and Sealed in Stocksbridge

Thu, 06 Feb 2020 04:17:12 +0000

Late last year I was called to a property in Stocksbridge, near Sheffield, to survey a Travertine tiled floor which had become dull, grubby and had completely lost its appeal. Over the years the floor had lost its shine, the grout lines were filthy and worse still holes had appeared in the stone which had then filled with dirt making it difficult to clean.

I discussed with the client what we could do to restore the Travertine floor back to its’ former glory. I explained holes or pitting as it’s known is quite common with Travertine and is normally sold with the holes filled with a colour matching resin. In this case it’s possible the filler had come loose, or the Travertine had become eroded due to the constant use acidic cleaning products. To restore the floor, I would re-fill the holes, hone the floor and polish it and then finally seal it. I showed them a small test area and they were suitably impressed and were happy to go ahead with my quote. We arranged a convenient time for the work to be carried out.

Cleaning and Repairing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

We started by preparing the Kitchen for floor cleaning which involves removing the kick boards under the units and protecting any exposed areas from splashing. Next, I sprayed the stone tile and grout with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, left it to soak in for then minutes and then scrubbed the area with a rotary machine fitted with a black pad. This action was designed to get the dirt out of the holes and give the grout lines a good scrub. Once done the floor was rinsed with water and the soil extracted with a wet vacuum.

I then set about filling the many holes that had appeared in the floor, a colour matched epoxy resin is used to fill the holes so once filled they’re almost invisible. When the resin had set, we began honing and polishing the floor using the Tile Doctor burnishing system which involves the application of specialist floor pads encrusted with industrial diamonds.

Four burnishing pads are used for this, each of a different grade from coarse to extra fine which slowly refine the stone. The first pad which is coarse 400-grit pad removes old sealers, grime and stains. We then start building the polish of the stone back up with the 800 and 1500-grit pads. You need to lubricate the process with water and then extract the fine slurry that is generated with a wet vacuum after each pad. This always makes a huge overall difference to the look of the floor and by the end of the first day the floor was starting to get its appearance back.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

The floor was then left overnight to dry out and we returned the following morning to finish off polishing the floor with our highest grade 3000-grit diamond pad. This last pad is applied with a little water which is sprayed on to the floor during application. This process leaves the floor dry, polished and ready for sealing.

To seal the floor three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow were applied to the floor, you have to wait for the sealer to dry (usually 30 minutes) before applying the next so this took some time to complete. Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer that protects the floor from staining from within by soaking into the pores of the stone thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained. It contains a colour enhancing formula that improves the colour and tone of the stone, additionally it will protect the floor against grime and stains and will ensure the floor is easier to keep clean.

For aftercare I recommended they should use Stone Soap for day to day cleaning. Unlike everyday household cleaners it has a pH neutral formula so will not prematurely erode the newly applied seal. It can be used regularly and will also help maintain the patina.

My client was over the moon with the new floor, the kitchen area had been transformed and they said they would happily recommend Tile Doctor to their friends.

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tiled Kitchen in South Yorkshire

The post Dull Travertine Floor Filled, Polished and Sealed in Stocksbridge appeared first on South Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Renovation of Slate Tiled Patio in Brentford

Wed, 05 Feb 2020 10:18:58 +0000

This Slate patio that had been installed at a property in Brentford one year prior to our visit last year. It had not been sealed after installation and as you can see from the pictures it was now looking very tired after a very short period. Additionally, the pointing had not been cleaned off the slate entirely leaving a haze over the stone which detracted from its appearance.

I explained the process to tackle the grout haze, clean the Slate then finally seal it. I worked out a quote which was accepted, and a date scheduled for my return to complete the work which would take a couple of days.

Cleaning a Slate Tiled Patio in Brentford

My first task was to sweep up all the detritus that typically builds up on a patio, especially grit and small stones which can get caught in the cleaning pads and scratch the surface of the stone.

Once that was done it was time to tackle the grout haze. This was done by applying Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up to the slate and scrubbing it in with a heavy-duty scrubbing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This product is specifically designed to remove excess grout and cement from the surface of tile and contains concentrated phosphoric acid. You need to be very careful with the use of acids on stone as it can cause surface etching if left on too long. In addition, I wouldn’t recommend the use of the brick acid products you typically find in DIY stores which are stronger and are likely to cause damage.

Once satisfied all the soil and haze had been released from the stone the patio was rinsed off with water and the soil extracted away with a wet vacuum.

The next step was to seal the stone however it would need to be dry before that could happen. Fortunately, I had managed to find a couple of days where the weather was unseasonably warm and for once it hadn’t rained for a while. So, the next day I was able to return and apply a sealer to help protect the patio.

Sealing a Slate Tiled Patio Floor

I used Tile Doctor Colour Grow for this, it’s an impregnating sealer that works by occupying the pores in the stone which would otherwise become occupied by dirt. Tile Doctor Colour Grow is also rated for external as well as internal use and enhances the dark tones in the Slate. Additionally, It should cope well with the weather in this part of the UK as long as we don’t see a really severe drop in temperatures over the winter.

Two coats of Colour Grow were applied to the slate which restored the floor to a nice dark charcoal colour. The client was extremely pleased with the outcome and were keen to recommend us to their friends.

For aftercare the Patio should be regularly hosed down to keep the grit and debris from accumulating and for cleaning I recommended using Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a pH neutral product which is safe to use on sealed Stone.

Professional Restoration of a Slate Tiled Patio in South Middlesex

The post Renovation of Slate Tiled Patio in Brentford appeared first on South Middlesex Tile Doctor.

End of Tenancy Clean of a Ceramic Tiled Floor in Stroud

Mon, 03 Feb 2020 04:11:58 +0000

This customer from Stroud was soon to be re-letting her house but the Ceramic tiled floor and especially the grout had been left in a poor and dirty condition by the previous tenant. The ceramic tiled floor was installed throughout the Kitchen and through into the adjacent conservatory. Conscious this would affect future lettings she contacted Tile Doctor to see if we could help.

I paid a visit to the property to survey the floor and discuss how we would restore the Ceramic tiles and get them looking clean again. She was happy to hear we could help and agreed to my quote and we booked the work in for the following week. It would only take a day which suited her perfectly as she was keen to get the property back on the market.

Stroud is a lovely market town and in the centre of Gloucestershire. It is the main town in Stroud District and forms the centre for numerous surrounding market towns.
The Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty surrounds the town, and the Cotswold Way path passes by it to the west, so it really is a desirable place to live with lots of lovely walks.

Cleaning a Ceramic Tiled Floor

The first job was to protect all the walls and units to ensure they did not get splashed by the products we would be using. I then sprayed Tile Doctor Remove and Go all over the floor and the grout lines, this was left for a short time to dwell and get to work breaking down the dirt. The floor was then scrubbed using a black buffing pad fitted to a buffing machine finishing off by scrubbing the grout lines with a stiff brush. The soil released from the floor was then rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum. Once I was happy with the result the floors were speed dried with a blow heater. The alternative was to leave the floor overnight, but as time was of the essence speed drying was the best option.

Sealing Grout on a Ceramic Tiled Floor

Later that day the floor was dry, and I was able to seal the grout lines with Tile Doctor Ultra Seal. I used a pipette to apply the sealer directly to the grout to ensure maximum coverage. The tiles themselves did not require any sealant as ceramic tiles are sealed at the factory when they are produced. Grout being cementitious however does attract dirt and so sealing it will keep it looking fresh for some time to come and make it easier to clean.

The client was very pleased with the results and relieved she could re-let the house again. Now the floor was clean and much more attractive it would ensure she could achieve the best rental value.

I suggested she left a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for the new tenants as this would be the best product to keep the floor clean moving forward, you only need a small amount to dilute and it has a pleasant fresh fragrance. At least if the product is on site the tenant is more likely to keep the floor looking good and not resort to everyday household cleaners which eventually break down the grout and its’ seal. She thought this was a great idea.

Professional Restoration of a Ceramic Tiled Kitchen Floor in Gloucestershire

The post End of Tenancy Clean of a Ceramic Tiled Floor in Stroud appeared first on Gloucester Tile Doctor.

Pitted Jerusalem Limestone Floor Renovated in Twyford

Wed, 29 Jan 2020 02:09:13 +0000

The owner of this recently purchased property in the Berkshire village of Twyford had inherited a Jerusalem limestone floor that had been installed throughout the ground floor including the Kitchen. The previous owner hadn’t maintained the stone floor very well and as a result it had become dull, patchy and the new owner was finding it impossible to keep clean. The floor was becoming a problem for them and they had been considering ripping it all up and getting it replaced. However due to the size of the floor and potential cost of replacing it they searched for other solutions and contacted Tile Doctor to see if it could be renovated.

I scheduled an appointment with the owners to survey the floor and it wasn’t long before I realised that we could achieve a great result by polishing the Limestone using a set of diamond burnishing pads. To prove how well I thought the floor would clean up I offered to complete a demo within the small utility room. This was arranged and completed a week later, as I expected once I had finished the demo the floor looked fantastic, more importantly the client was ecstatic with the results and couldn’t wait to book us in to complete the rest of the house.

It was a large floor so I estimated the process would take 4-5 days to complete and would need to work in sections starting with the kitchen then progressing into the study and cloakroom, dining room and finishing off with the entrance hall. Thankfully I had an empty house to work in which helped as I could start sealing the area I worked on the prior day.

Cleaning a Jerusalem Limestone Tiled Floor

The limestone had become quite pitted in the high traffic area, these pits had filled up with soil and become unsightly. My first task was to deep clean the dirt filled pits and grout, to do this I used a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean and a stiff nylon brush making sure I could get into the pits releasing the dirt, then vacuuming up all the chemical slurry as I went along.

The next task was to fill these pits I used a two-part epoxy filler that matched the colour of the stone. Once the filler had dried, I worked through the hand burnishing blocks from 100 grit to 400 and I smoothed out the areas that had been filled.

Now the holes/pits had been filled I continued with the restoration of the floor by moving onto the burnishing process using diamond encrusted floor burnishing pads. This involves honing the Limestone with a set of burnishing pads starting at 400-grit. The pads are applied to the floor with a heavy floor buffing machine using water to lubricate the process. The pad is run over each tile around three times and the fine slurry this process generates is rinsed off afterwards with water and then extracted with a wet vacuum. You then move onto the 800-grit and then 1500-grit slowly building back the appearance of the stone.

Sealing a Jerusalem Limestone Tiled Floor

As I had worked in sections/rooms at a time I was able to allow a full day drying time before sealing. Happy with the depth of colour from the pad system I opted to seal the floor with two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal. I had a range of sealers to choose from an in this case I felt Ultra-Seal would be most suited as it doesn’t change the natural appearance of the Limestone yet will provide years of protection and make it much easier to keep clean.

The owners were over the moon with how the limestone now looked and relieved that their problem floor had been restored. For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is designed for maintaining the patina on polished stone floors.

Professional Restoration of a Jerusalem Limestone Tiled Floor in Berkshire

The post Pitted Jerusalem Limestone Floor Renovated in Twyford appeared first on Berkshire Tile Doctor.

Bathroom Shower Tile & Grout Renovation in Handforth

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 01:57:44 +0000

The pictured Ceramic tiled bath with a shower over was installed eight years prior at a house in the Cheshire town of Handforth. They had cleaned it regularly, but the client was not able to remove all the stains from the grout along with the soap scum which was present on both the tiles and the bath.

Despite their best efforts with all varieties of household cleaner, the bathroom looked dirty and uninviting, the grout was getting discoloured in some places and there was lots of soap residue and limescale on the bathtub and taps.

I visited site and discussed with them the process, I was very confident that we could get the bathroom clean again without too much trouble and within one day. They were happy to go ahead with my quote and we arranged a mutually convenient time to return.

Cleaning a Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Shower

To get the tiles clean I used a combination of Tile Doctor Duo Clean on the grout and then a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go on the soap scum, this product also draws out ingrained stains and removes heavy grease build-up. With some help from a professional steamer that had a grout attachment I was able to give the area a very deep clean

The soap scum was particularly difficult to remove but the combination of Tile Doctor Remove and Go, the steamer and lots of elbow grease we got the job done.

Sealing a Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Shower Floor

Although Ceramic tiles are factory sealed, after cleaning I dried the tile and grout with a heat gun and then sealed with Tile Doctor Wall Tile Aerosol Sealer. This would ensure the grout was sealed and it also ensures that water runs straight off the tile.

The last step was to strip out the old silicone sealant that ran around between the bathtub and the tiles and replace with new in white.

The work was completed in less than a day and the customer was very happy with their revamped bathroom. It now looked a lot more inviting and more like it had when it was installed. I also suggested they should use Tile Doctor Aqua Pro to maintain the tile and grout going forward, its designed for cleaning bathroom tile and will help prevent the build-up much more effectively than the household cleaners they had been using previously. It also has a fresh lemon scent which leaves the room smelling clean and fresh.

Professional Restoration of a Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Shower in East Cheshire

The post Bathroom Shower Tile & Grout Renovation in Handforth appeared first on East Cheshire Tile Doctor.

Brick Floor in Barn Conversion in Great Green

Mon, 27 Jan 2020 01:55:26 +0000

Details below of large Brick tiled floor we worked on at barn conversion in the village of Great Green on the outskirts of Thurston. The floor had been laid fifteen years ago when the barn had been converted. The customer was now finding it almost impossible to keep the bricks clean. They also had two rather large husky type dogs and five smaller breeds that had all been rescued from various parts of the world.

I knew this would be a challenge as the bricks had not been sealed when they were first installed, so dirt was just going straight into the floor and getting embedded in the rough surface of the brick. I discussed with client the process we needed to go through, first cleaning the floor and then sealing it. I demonstrated my cleaning method on part of the floor, and they were impressed with the result. They agreed to my quote and we arranged a time to carry out the work.

Deep Cleaning a Brick Tiled Floor

We cleaned the floor in sections using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which was brushed onto a 1m2 area of the bricks and then left for five minutes to soak in. It was then worked in using a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. The slurry was then vacuumed of the floor using our wet vac. The bricks were then rinsed using warm water and dried with microfibre cloths – this is a long drawn out method but is very effective on porous floors as not much water is used which results in less being absorbed into the brick.

The whole floor took a complete day to clean and was then left overnight to dry.

Sealing a Brick Floor

The following day I conducted a damp test to ensure the floor was dry enough to take a sealer. I was confident it would be due to the cleaning method we had used, and I was not disappointed.

The sealer of choice was Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra this is an acrylic sealer which I like to use on brick. My reason for using this sealer is that it fills all the pores in the brick and provides a surface coating making the brick nonporous and therefore easier to clean as the dirt has nothing to grip hold of.

The floor was very porous and soaked up six coats of sealant before it was fully sealed. You have to let each coat dry before applying the next which I usually do with a paint pad and then wipe off what little excess there is with a microfibre cloth. This process took up much of the first day, but the result was transformational. My clients were overjoyed at the clean floor and happy they would now be able to clean their floor without shredding mops!

For regular cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, as this is pH balanced it will ensure that the newly applied sealer is not compromised by the use of a strong cleaning product. It has a nice fresh fragrance and a small amount goes a long way. They were happy they would now be able to keep the floor clean and have asked for me to come round once a year to maintain the floor.

Professional Restoration of a Brick Tiled Floor in Suffolk

The post Brick Floor in Barn Conversion in Great Green appeared first on Suffolk Tile Doctor.

Restoring Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in Harborne Part 2

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 13:25:45 +0000

Here’s the 2nd part of the floor restoration work I did for a property developer last year in Harborne, this time detailing the renovation of the Victorian tiled hallway floor. I must credit the builder for engaging me on this project as many builders would attempt this work themselves, rather call in a professional, which often leads to a less than desirable result.

The house dated from the 1800’s and contained two old floors that needed restoration. I didn’t want to trample over a recently renovated hallway floor whilst rebuilding the old Quarry tiled floor in the front room so naturally I addressed that first. If you missed the first post detailing its restoration you can find it here: Victorian Quarry Tiled Floor Restoration in Harborne

Once the front room restoration was complete, I moved onto the original Victorian Hallway which was dull, dirty and needed some tiling work around one of the door thresholds.

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The Victorian Hallway needed to have a threshold restoring, luckily the builders had kept the original tiles. Firstly, the space below the tiles needed to be filled with quick drying cement. The tiles were then re set and grouted.

Next issue was to tackle the paint spots and carpet adhesive. I did this by spraying the surface of the tile with a strong solution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and after leaving to for ten minutes to soak in and soften the glue and paint. I was then able to carefully scrape of the glue and paint with hand scrapers.

The floor was then deep cleaned with a 200-grit diamond pad on a weighted rotary machine. The edges and corners were done by hand with diamond blocks. The floor was then rinsed with water and the soil extracted with a wet vacuum.

Last stage of the cleaning process was to give the floor an Acid Wash with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up to further clean up the floor and neutralise any efflorescent salts that may have been present in the tiles. Efflorescence can be a big problem for old floors like these which don’t have a damp-proof membrane. I gave the floor another rinse and extraction before leaving for the day and left the floor to dry out overnight.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway

On return both the floors were checked for moisture with a damp meter to ensure they were dry. The readings were good, so I proceeded to start the long process of applying the sealer. On this occasion I chose Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer, main reasons being its fully breathable so will cope well with any moisture evaporation due to there being no damp-proof membrane also its really good at bringing out the colours in the tiles. Three coats were applied, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next. I then buffed off any excess with a white pad.

The new sealer really brought the Victorian tiles to life and allowed the colour and geometric patterns in the Victorian hallway floor to shine through.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in Birmingham

The post Restoring Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in Harborne Part 2 appeared first on Birmingham Tile Doctor.

Dark Green Riven Slate Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Oldham Kitchen

Tue, 21 Jan 2020 05:40:27 +0000

The pictures below are of a Dark Green Riven Slate floor that was installed around twenty years ago in the kitchen of a property in Oldham. The floor was renovated about 12 years ago, but the client did not follow recommendations from the previous contractor about the use of a Neutral Cleaning product or topping up the sealer each year. As a result, the slate had become progressively dirtier as the sealer wore down and dirt became ingrained in the stone making it difficult to clean. The slate was now dull and had lost its character, the grout was also looking grubby and there was talk of having it removed and replaced.

I went over to Oldham to survey the floor and quote for renovating the floor. Whilst I was there, I discussed the fact that natural stone floors like this Slate floor need to be sealed in order to keep the dirt out of the pores of the stone. Once dirt becomes ingrained in the stone its very difficult to keep it clean and the only way to restore its original appearance is to give it a deep clean and apply a fresh sealer. Keen to have the floor restored and relieved to hear I could clean the grout they gave me the go ahead and we arranged a date for my return.

Cleaning a Natural Dark Green Riven Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

To get the floor clean I followed my usual technique of applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go, leaving it to dwell for ten minutes and then working it in with a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. I also used more Tile Doctor Remove and Go along the grout lines and scrubbed it in with a scrubbing brush and a steam cleaner. The floor was then rinsed with water and all the soils extracted with a wet vacuum. The floor was inspected, and any stubborn areas re-treated with a repeat of the process until I was satisfied the Slate tile and grout was as clean as it could be.

One problem I had was cleaning behind the big American fridge freezer, I had to wait until the adjacent floor was clean and fairly dry before I could move the fridge onto it, allowing me to get behind and clean the floor. Fortunately, the water pipe going to the fridge was just long enough to be able to easy mover fridge backwards.

Getting the Slate tile and grout clean took up the whole of day one and before leaving I put several specialist floor fans in place to assist with the drying process.

Sealing a Dark Green Riven Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

The next day the floor was clean and dry, in fact I always use a damp meter to check the moisture level in the stone to ensure its dry before sealing. The cleaning process had removed all the dirt from the stone but had also taken away some of the natural oils which now needed to be put back.

To do this I applied a coat of Tile Doctor Stone Oil which is an impregnating sealer designed to enhance the colour and texture of floors and improve mechanical strength once cured. Once the Stone Oil had dried, I followed with a coat of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal to add further protection. This is a no-sheen, natural-look sealer that provides maximum stain protection.

Once the sealer had dried the floor looked fantastic, certainly my customer thought so and left the following on-line review:

“Kamila was quick to contact me and was helpful, friendly and professional. She has done a fantastic job stripping, cleaning and resealing my kitchen slate floor. I would highly recommend her work! Katy, Oldham”

We discussed maintenance cleaning and I re-iterated the point about using a Neutral Tile cleaner for the regular cleaning of the floor and the benefits of using the Tile Doctor maintenance program which they are considering.

Professional Restoration of a Dark Green Riven Slate Tiled Kitchen in Greater Manchester

The post Dark Green Riven Slate Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Oldham Kitchen appeared first on Greater Manchester Tile Doctor.

Limestone Floor Cleaned and Polished in Hammersmith

Sun, 19 Jan 2020 14:02:56 +0000

Recently I paid a visit to a customer in Hammersmith whose whole ground floor was covered in Limestone tiles. It was a nicely situated Victorian house, but the Limestone floor was a big concern for the owner. The floor had been installed during a house renovation approximately seven years earlier and hadn’t been treated since. The Limestone was now looking dull and in need of a renovation to bring back the polished appearance.

Limestone was used throughout the property including the Hallway and Kitchen which are typically the busiest area’s and so not surprisingly they had seen the biggest build-up of soiling. This is not an unusual situation for stone floors which will trap dirt in the pores of the stone once the sealer wears off. Sealer wear is inevitable and will usually last between three to five years depending on use and what is used to clean the floor.

I explained the process of renovating and honing the Limestone and bringing back its appearance, after agreeing on details we chose the dates. The job was scheduled for 3 days to be completed.

Cleaning Limestone Floor Tile and Grout

When we arrived on the first day, we set about covering the skirting boards and furniture, to protect from any splashes. Then starting in the Kitchen and Dining area the first phase involved giving the floor an initial clean using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. The primary focus was on the grout lines which were hand scrubbed using a stiff grout brush.

Then the solution was spread all over the tiles and left for approximately ten minutes to allow it to soak into the pores of the stone and break down the dirt and what was left of the old sealer. I used a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine to work the solution into the floor. Then the floor was then carefully rinsed, and the soil extracted with a vacuum.

The floor was already showing improvement when I moved onto phase two which reconditions the stone using a set of diamond encrusted Burnishing Pads. There are four pads in the set, each one with a different grit from coarse 400-grit through to extra fine 3000-grit. I started with the 400 grit, followed by 800, 1500, 3000 grit to bring back the shine. Water is used to lubricate the process and the floor is rinsed well after each step to remove the fine slurry generated. At the end of the first day the Kitching and Dining section looked really good in comparison to the untouched areas and I hadn’t applied the sealer yet.

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

On the second day we started on the Limestone floor in the Hallway using the same technique as before. Being a smaller area, it didn’t take as long to complete, and we were able to make a start on applying a fresh sealer to the floor we cleaned the day before.
Underfloor heating was installed, and this is useful for helping to dry a wet floor however I don’t like to use it when sealing and I asked the owner to switch it off. In my experience you get a better result if the sealer is allowed to dry and cure naturally.

For this floor I used Tile Doctor Colour Grow, Limestone is a light stone and Colour Grow really brings out the brown shades in the stone. It actually works by penetrating into the pores of the stone thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there. As well as protecting the stone it will also make regular cleaning much easier and for polished Limestone you should use Stone Soap which is designed for cleaning sealed stone floors and will help maintain the patina.

The job took 3 days to complete but to do it properly and to a high standard there is no place for a rush or cutting corners. The final result was transformational, and our customer was more than happy.

Professional Restoration of a Polished Limestone Floor in West London

The post Limestone Floor Cleaned and Polished in Hammersmith appeared first on Central London Tile Doctor.

Painted Quarry Tiled Floor Restored in Bayston Hill

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 13:12:33 +0000

The pictures shown are of a Quarry Tiled floor in the dining room of a property in Bayston Hill, Shrewsbury. Bayston Hill is a large village in central Shropshire around three miles away from the county town of Shrewsbury.

The client had recently purchased the property and decided to renovate the quarry tiled dining room floor by painting it with red tile paint. The floor had not been painted previously and due to its age did not have a damp-proof membrane installed in the sub floor. I suspect the lack of a membrane led to moisture rising through the tile only to become trapped under the layer of paint. The moisture built-up until it destabilised the bond between the tile and the paint causing to lift and peel away.

I wouldn’t recommend painting a Quarry Tiled floor and clearly painting the tiles was not a viable option in this case. Looking for a solution the owner reached out to Tile Doctor to see if the Quarry tiles could be restored to their original condition. There was also an area by the kitchen door where there was a row of tiles missing in the threshold and just filled with concrete which needed restoring.

Restoring a Quarry Tiled Dining Room Floor

I started the work with the repair which involved removing the concrete, cleaning up the area and relaying replacement tiles. Luckily, they had found spare tiles in one of their sheds, so I was able to use those.

After the repair was done, I sprayed down a generous amount of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and then left it to work for about half an hour making sure that it wasn’t drying to the surface. After the dwell time I went over the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. The combination of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and the scrubbing action removed most of the paint. I then repeated the process on the stubborn areas.

There were some old cement deposits on the tiles in places which I removed using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up. I then rinsed the floor several times with water using a wet vacuum to remove the soil. I then left the floor to dry off for a week.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Dining Room Floor

I returned the following week and first checked the floor was totally dry using a moisture meter. The readings were good, so we were ready to seal. I selected to use a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is a solvent based sealer that provides durable surface protection as well as allowing the surface to breath which is important on this floor as it has no damp proof membrane. It provides a colour intensifying finish which enhanced the natural colour beautifully.

The client was very happy with the new floor and certainly pleased to see the back of the paint that they had applied. The floor now had the natural finish that was in keeping with the age of the property.

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Dining Room in Shropshire

The post Painted Quarry Tiled Floor Restored in Bayston Hill appeared first on Shropshire Tile Doctor.

Fired Earth Limestone Floor Renovated in Godalming

Wed, 15 Jan 2020 14:43:21 +0000

This property in Godalming had the whole downstairs floor tiled with Fired Earth Limestone tiles nine years prior and had never had it cleaned or maintained professionally. The once beautiful stone was now looking dull and the grout had turned black with dirt leaving the floor looking uninviting.

This is quite normal for stone floors as it is the sealer that protects the stone from dirt and enhances its look. Most sealers wear off after three to four years sealer and in this case after nine years it was well overdue a deep clean and reseal.

I visited the property to survey the floor. It was indeed looking in need of some attention and the kitchen was particularly bad. To restore the appearance of the Limestone tile and grout the floor would need to be stripped of what remains of the old sealer, then deep cleaned with attention to the grout, polished with burnishing pads and then finally resealed. I was confident I could get it restored to a nearly new finish and to prove it I completed a small demonstration clean which the homeowner was very happy with. They agreed to my quote and we scheduled in a couple of days to carry out the work.

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

On day one I started by cleaning the grout using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. its run along the grout line and then left to soak in for about ten minutes so it can get to work breaking down dirt and old sealer. The grout is then scrubbed using a grout brush which is then scrubbed backwards and forwards along the grout line until clean. The area is then rinsed with water and all the waste removed with a wet vacuum cleaner.

Next, I turned my attention to the Limestone tiles which needed stripping of any remaining sealer, cleaned and polished. I find the best way to do this is by apply a set of diamond encrusted Burnishing pads in sequence starting with a coarse 400-grit followed by 800, 1500 and finally finishing with an extra fine 3000 grit. Water is used to lubricate the burnishing process and the slurry is rinsed and extracted off the floor between pads. Each pad is run over the tiles three times, and it was a large floor so as you can imagine this process took most of the day.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

I left the floor to dry out overnight and returned the next day to seal the Limestone. Before doing that, I reviewed my previous day’s work and I cleaned up any areas that needed further attention. Next step was to ensure the floor was dry as I don’t recommend applying a sealer to damp tile as you won’t get an even appearance, so before sealing a floor I tested for moisture using a damp meter.

To seal the floor, I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is an impregnating sealer that works by occupying the small pores in the stone to prevent dirt becoming ingrained there. Limestone is a light stone and most customers like that appearance so I find it best not to use a colour enhancing sealer as it can darken the stone. Ultra-Seal doesn’t contain any colour enhancer and leaves the floor with a natural finish whilst allowing the stone variations and patterns to show through.

Once the sealer was dry, I gave it a further polish with the 3000-grit pad which further brought out the natural beauty of the stone. My client was very happy with the floor, it really lifted the who area and the Kitchen in particular.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Kitchen in West Surrey

The post Fired Earth Limestone Floor Renovated in Godalming appeared first on West Surrey Tile Doctor.

Polishing Water Stained Marble Flooring in Earls Barton

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 23:13:50 +0000

I was asked to look at a Polished Marble floor that had been installed in the hallway of an executive property in the Northamptonshire village of Earls Barton and had suffered severe water damage from a burst pipe. Water had penetrated through the ceiling and as the occupants were away at the time two inches of water had flooded the ground floor where it sat for several weeks causing extensive damage and efflorescence to appear in patches all over the floor. The homeowner was extremely worried as this was a very expensive and large Marble floor which was a key feature of the property and didn’t want the disruption of having the tiles lifted and replaced.

As you can see from the pictures, there were white etching marks over the surface of the marble ruining the polished appearance and these could not be removed using normal domestic cleaning processes.

I wasn’t surprised to find that the owners couldn’t restore the polished appearance of the Marble, as a hard stone like Marble needs to be burnished to build up a polish. I carried out a damp test and cleaned a test area using diamond encrusted burnishing pads, as the floors were still slightly damp I advised the customer to turn on the underfloor heating to assist in drying out the stone for a week, in that time a quote was issued and accepted and the work was booked in.

Restoring the Appearance of Water Damaged Marble Flooring

Before work commenced, I instructed the client to turn the underfloor heating off as it can affect the chemicals and cleaning process by drying the floor out too quickly.

To restore the polished appearance of the Marble I applied a set of five 17” diamond encrusted burnishing pads which come in 200, 400, 800, 1500 and 3000 grit and are applied to the stone with a heavy duty weighted rotary machine. I started with the very coarse 200-grit pad and worked up through the series of pads gradually building up the polish with increasingly finer grit pads. Water was used to lubricate the polishing process and I rinsed the tiles in between with more water to remove the soil generated using a wet vacuum to remove the resultant soil.

I also used a set of 6” diamond encrusted burnishing pads with a handheld machine for getting close to the edges and around the pillars to ensure the floor was polished evenly throughout all areas.

Achieving a High Shine Polish on Marble Tiles

Once the stone had dried, I carried out the final polish to a very high shine as requested by the customer using the very fine 3,000-grit burnishing pad. Unlike the other pads this one is applied dry with only a little water sprayed onto the tile. To finish I applied a couple coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour intensifying impregnating sealer that will provide durable protection going forward making it very easy to clean.

Once complete the natural features of the Marble really stood out and the hallway looked stunning, certainly our client was greatly relieved and very pleased the floor had been restored to its former glory and was once again a beautiful feature when friends and family enter the property.

To keep the Marble looking its best I recommended the client use Tile Doctor Stone Soap going forward and left a complimentary bottle and cleaning instructions. This product has been specially formulated for the regular cleaning of polished stone, it helps build patina and will keep it in excellent condition between professional maintenance cleans.

Restoring the Appearance of Polished Marble in Northamptonshire

The post Polishing Water Stained Marble Flooring in Earls Barton appeared first on Northamptonshire Tile Doctor.

Cleaning a Limestone floor in Shepperton

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 13:59:08 +0000

This customer from the south side Shepperton has a galley kitchen installed around twelve years ago with a Limestone floor. Since that time the floor had not been professionally cleaned or the stone re-sealed. The old sealer had long since worn down and was no longer providing any protection to the floor allowing soil and grease from cooking to penetrate the stone and darken the grout. It was now looking permanently dirty and the owner decided it was time to have it renovated.

Shepperton is a suburban village in the borough of Spelthorne, the Thames river is to the south and much of the east. It is set between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Thames. The village has a long history and is even mentioned in a document of 959 AD and in the Domesday Book when it was primary farm land, it’s also my base of operation.

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

To deep clean the stone floor and grout I started with a mixture of Tile Doctor Remove and Go combined 50:50 with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. This cocktail of sealer remover and cleaning agent was applied to the floor and left to soak in for ten minutes in order to get to work breaking down all the dirt, grease and what was left of the old sealer.

The solution was then worked into the Limestone tiles and grout using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. These pads can struggle to reach into the recesses of the grout lines, so afterwards the grout was scrubbed by hand using a stiff brush along with the more difficult to reach corners that the machine had missed. The floor was then rinsed with water and the products and soil vacuumed off the floor. I repeated the process in a couple of areas where the dirt was a little stubborn. The floor was then clean and after drying out overnight it would be ready for a new seal.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

The following day I returned to apply the sealer first checking the floor was dry using a moisture meter. The readings were good, so I set about applying a colour enhancing impregnator sealer Tile Doctor Colour Grow to the Limestone. Tile Doctor Colour Grow works by seeping into the pores of the stone intensifying natural colour, preventing staining and providing a durable protection. Two coats of sealer were applied to the Limestone tile and grout which was all that was needed to return the floor back to its original condition.

The client was very happy with the finished floor and wanted to know how to keep it looking its best going forward. I explained that the best way to keep it looking good is to get maximum longevity from the sealer which will wear down over time but can be prematurely damaged with strong cleaning products. So, for aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is designed for everyday cleaning of sealed stone floors.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Kitchen in South Middlesex

The post Cleaning a Limestone floor in Shepperton appeared first on South Middlesex Tile Doctor.

Shower Cubicle Renovation in Bolton Upon Dearne

Wed, 08 Jan 2020 00:24:43 +0000

The pictures below detail the renovation of Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicleat a property in Bolton Upon Dearne South Yorkshire. I was called in as the homeowners dreaded using the shower due to the state of the tiles, grout and cubicle in general.

As you can see from the photograph the grout was filthy, the silicone was mouldy, and the shower frame was caked in mouldy dirt. Over the years there had been a build-up of hard water and staining from products which leave a residue. They had used everyday cleaning products, but these had not been able to touch the problem as it had been left for too long.

I discussed with the clients how Tile Doctor could help, and how we would be able to deep clean the shower area and replace the mouldy silicone. I was confident we could get the renovate the cubicle and get it looking like new again. They were happy to accept my price and we arranged a time to complete the job. It would certainly be far cheaper than ripping out the shower cubicle and replacing with new.

Bolton Upon Dearne is a small village in the very middle of South Yorkshire, it is almost the same distance away from the centres of Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster. It has a rich history of coal mining but like many pit villages it has suffered since the pit closures of the 80’s and 90’s.

Cleaning/Repairing a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle

To start the shower was treated with Tile Doctor Oxy Gel, being a gel this product sticks well to the vertical surfaces giving it time to break down grease and grime, you’ll see from the picture just how much dirt was released.

This was followed with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Duo Clean which is great for restoring lighter coloured grout back to its original state as well as removing mould. After scrubbing the soiled water was easily drained away using the shower hose. The transformation was amazing, the area already looked so much more inviting!

Sealing a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle

Next the old silicone that had gone mouldy was removed with a sharp knife, this is a slow work as you have avoid damaging the tile or the shower tray. Additionally, a clean and dry surface is required for the new silicone to adhere well.

The tiles were Ceramic which are given a glazed surface during manufacture, so they don’t need a specialist sealant like natural stone. However, the surface of grout is cementous and attracts dirt easily so the whole shower wall was sealed using a can of Tile Doctor Wall and Grout Sealer. This gives a layer which will protect the tiles and grout and will ensure the tiles are easier to keep clean.

For everyday cleaning I recommended they use Tile Doctor Aqua-Pro which is an effective, yet pH neutral tile and grout cleaner designed for everyday use in Bathrooms and Kitchens. The formula eliminates soap scum build-up and hard water deposits and its neutral formula won’t prematurely degrade the sealer. Used regularly this will prevent the build-up they had previously experienced and will keep the tiles looking good for some time to come.

As you can imagine my client was very happy with the completed work.

Professional Restoration of a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle in South Yorkshire

The post Shower Cubicle Renovation in Bolton Upon Dearne appeared first on South Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Renovating Flood Damaged Flagstone Floor in a Whalley Listed Building

Mon, 06 Jan 2020 07:57:37 +0000

This Flagstone floor was under water in 2015 due to a flood that affected the beautiful village of Whalley resulting in many residents being evacuated from their homes. Four years later and the floor had settled in places and large chunks of Limecrete pointing had become loose. As you can imagine the floor hadn’t been the same since.

It took a while before the customer could get back into the house and the insurance assessor said that because this was an original floor and the building was grade 2 listed the flagstone floor had to stay in place. There is no guarantee from the local council that the house and adjacent streets won’t get flooded again in the future, but this type of floor is probably the most hardwearing for this situation so is best left in place. Wood flooring, carpet, vinyl etc will not stand up to another flood and would have to be replaced every time.

I was asked to come up with some solutions for renovating the flagstone floor and replacing the Limecrete pointing which was tricky as whatever replaced the Limecrete pointing needed to be fully breathable as did the sealer that went on the stone.

After some research we decided to use a German product called VDW 800 for the pointing instead of Limecrete. it’s designed to be fully breathable (permeable) and suitable for outside use such as patios and porches etc which made it ideal for a floor that may face flooding again. Its highly flexible, durable and comes in four colours. It can be cleaned via a pressure washer on a wide fan and it won’t loosen, so I was confident that if another flood hit the town all this floor would need was a clean down.

The client was very happy to hear this news and wanted us to go ahead as soon as possible and get the floor restored. With a restoration plan worked out we agreed a date for our return to complete the work.

Cleaning and Repointing a Flagstone Floor

On our return our first course of action was to clean the stone using a 100 and 200-grit milling pads which were run several times over each flagstone using water for lubrication. The resulting slurry was removed using a wet vacuum and the floor was then treated to an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up. After a rinse with water and extraction with the wet vacuum the flagstones were given a final clean using a 400-grit diamond burnishing pad.

With the floor now clean we set about removing the old pointing using an 8lb pneumatic drill, whilst noisy it did make quick work of the task. After a another clean to remove the debris the floor was repointed using the VDW 800 product mentioned earlier. The floor was then left to dry overnight.

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Floor in Lancashire

I came back the next day to review the previous days work and ensure I was happy with the state of the floor before applying a sealer. This is important as otherwise you risk sealing in dirt which would affect the appearance. It’s tricky to tell when a floor it wet and on this occasion I felt the stone would benefit from another clean so I cleaned the floor one last time using a black buffing pad and water. The water was then removed as before with a wet vacuum.

The floor was left to fully dry out for a further 24 hours and I called back one more time to review the floor and apply three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a breathable sealer that also enhances the natural colours in the stone.

Once finished the floor looked great again and the clients were over the moon with the result. Fingers crossed there would be no further flooding in the future, however even if there was the new grout should stand up to it.

Professional Restoration of a Flood Damaged Flagstone Floor in Lancashire

The post Renovating Flood Damaged Flagstone Floor in a Whalley Listed Building appeared first on Tile Doctor Lancashire.

Renovating a Dirty Terracotta Kitchen Diner Floor in Haslingfield

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 12:35:15 +0000

A few months ago, I was asked to look at this Terracotta tiled floor that was installed in the kitchen diner of a house in Haslingfield. The client wanted to have it deep cleaned and re sealed because regular cleaning no longer had any effect and the tiles were now looking very dirty. The village of Haslingfield is only about six miles south-west of Cambridge and only a twenty-minute drive from my base in Dry Drayton.

After discussing the problem floor on the phone, I arranged to visit the property, survey the floor and work out the best course of action. As you can confirm for yourself from the pictures on this page the floor was indeed looking dull and dirty and I suspected the sealer had worn down and was now allowing dirt to build-up in the pores of the tile. I carried out a test clean to show the client what the result could look like and the floor responded rather well. They were very satisfied and happy to go ahead with my quote and so we arranged a convenient time to carry out the work.

Cleaning and Restoring a Terracotta Tiled Hallway Floor

To deep clean and remove what was left of the old sealer I applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go, this is sprayed on and left to soak in for ten minutes. Then it was scrubbed in with a black pad fitted to a rotary machine. The dirt released from the tiles was then rinsed off the floor with water and extracted with a wet vacuum. This process was repeated as needed before turning my attention to the grout lines which was hand scrubbed with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which cleans the grout and removes any excess grout.

The floor was given a second rinse and then inspected with any stubborn stains spot treated by with a repeat of the previous process. Thankfully the initial clean had been effective and there were only a couple of areas that needed further attention.

Once the deep clean was completed, the floor was left to dry off overnight and the following morning.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Hallway Floor

Returning in the afternoon, I tested the floor for excess moisture with the damp meter. This confirmed the tiles were dry, so I started applying a fresh sealer. I selected to use Tile Doctor Seal and Go for this as this is a specially formulated water-based blend of acrylic polymers which provides both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable low-sheen finish which the client wanted. Five coats were applied allowing enough time for each coat to dry before applying the next.

I think you will agree from the pictures there was a remarkable transformation during this restoration. Certainly, my client was very happy with the result and has since had us back to repeat the process on another Terracotta tiled floor. They also left the following comments on the Tile Doctor feedback system which is always appreciated.

Tom did a great job bringing back depth and tone to our very dirty Terracotta kitchen tiles. Very happy with the results.

Professional Renovation of a Terracotta Tiled Floor in Cambridge

The post Renovating a Dirty Terracotta Kitchen Diner Floor in Haslingfield appeared first on Cambridge Tile Doctor.

Renovating a Yellow Clay Tiled Floor in Tacolneston Village

Sat, 14 Dec 2019 02:29:17 +0000

We were contacted by a client who had bought an extensive grade 2 listed property in the village of Tacolneston which they had been renovating gradually. One of the last items on the list was the Yellow clay tiled floor which was laid throughout the large Kitchen and Dining Room and had been sadly neglected over the years.

Although I was unsure of their history these tiles were very similar to Terracotta so I was confident they would respond well to cleaning. The main issue for the client however was that the dark Grey grout lines which were deeply recessed from the surface of the tile and made walking across the floor in bare feet extremely uncomfortable.

Our original plan was to deep-clean the floor, then key-into the grout with a diamond blade multitool along the grout lines, back fill with additional grout and then seal the floor with a with an acrylic finish sealer that wouldn’t leave the floor too shiny. Things didn’t quite turn out to be quite that straightforward, however.

Cleaning and Re-Grouting a Yellow Clay Tiled Floor

The initial deep-clean was done using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted to a strong 2:1 ratio with hot water and then scrubbed into the floor with a rotary machine fitted firstly with a black nylon stripping pad to clean the tile surface followed by a medium grade nylon brush to get down into the recessed grout lines. The resulting slurry was then power rinsed and extracted away with a Ninja machine.

The surface of the clay tiles had cleaned very well but it quickly became obvious that the grout wasn’t grey at all but was the colour of a typical sand and cement pointing mix; the dark colour was actually a thick layer of grease and dirt which had become trapped in the grout line recess, probably due to many years of ineffective mopping. The pointing mix was clearly very old and had become soft and broken up in most areas across the whole floor.

With this in mind our next job was to remove as much of the loose, powdery pointing as possible with a diamond-bladed multitool. In the end we found that all the pointing had to be taken out completely in order to successfully repoint the floor and provide a consistent appearance. This took some time to do and once removed the and all the remnants vacuumed up, we proceeded to repoint the floor with a flexible and water-resistant limestone-coloured grout which had been chosen by the client.

The following day, we returned to remove the grout haze left on the surface of the tiles during repointing and to prepare the floor for sealing by treating the floor to an acidic wash with a solution of Tile Doctor Acid Gel.

Sealing a Yellow Clay Tiled Floor

We left the new grouting to cure fully and returned two days later to apply a sealer which will protect the floor going forward and provide the desired finish. Before doing this the floor was visually inspected and the moisture content of the tiles and grout measured with a damp meter to ensure it had dried. The readings were low and although the building was very old it meant we would still be able to use a combination sealer with acrylic finish as we had originally hoped.

As the client didn’t want the resulting appearance to be too “shiny”, we chose to use Tile Doctor Seal & Go which would give an excellent fluid resistant seal to both tile and grout with a mid-sheen finish. This was applied by hand in five coats which resulted in a very pleasing soft look across the whole floor.

The client was extremely pleased with what we had achieved and left the following testimonial:
“We could not be happier with the result! From embarrassing black grout and years of footfall damage, Nick and Sally have transformed our kitchen and dining room terracotta tiles into a thing of beauty! Many thanks for all your hard work and extra hours put in, I will be recommending your services to everyone :)”

Professional Restoration of a Yellow Clay Tiled Floor in Norfolk

The post Renovating a Yellow Clay Tiled Floor in Tacolneston Village appeared first on Norfolk Tile Doctor.

Cleaning a Slate effect Porcelain Tiled floor in Bury

Fri, 13 Dec 2019 01:39:00 +0000

A client from Bury, north of Manchester, contacted us to have their Slate tiled floor stripped and sealed and have the grout replaced. They were finding it difficult to keep clean and were mainly concerned about the grout which they described as awful.

As per usual practice I went over to survey the floor and work out a price for doing the work. After running some tests, I realised that the tiles were actually Porcelain which are manufactured to imitate Slate and therefore far easier to maintain. I recommended a deep clean of the tile and grout followed by the application of a grout colourant to restore the appearance. I completed a test clean on part of the floor which they were very happy with and they agreed to my quote. We booked the work in to be completed later in the month.

Cleaning/Repairing a Slate effect Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor

First, I prepared the area and taped up the plinths and skirting to protect them. I then cleaned the floor using Tile Doctor Remove and Go, which is sprayed onto the tile and grout and then scrubbed in with the aid of a rotary floor machine fitted with a scrub brush. The slurry was then extracted off the floor by rinsing with water and extracting with a wet vacuum.

The next step was to apply Tile Doctor Grout Colourant Pre-Treater to the grout lines and scrub it in. This product is slightly acidic so as well as cleaning it also etches the grout to provide a better bond with the colourant. It was left to get to work on the grout for a few minutes and then was scrubbed in with a stiff narrow brush. I used a steamer and a wet vacuum to get the grout as clean as it could be and then left it to dry for a short time.

With the tile and grout as clean as it could be, I inspected the floor and could see areas where the grout was still stained and others where it was crumbling. Only the application of a grout colourant would give the consistent appearance desired by the customer. First though I needed to tackle the crumbling grout by scrapping out the old grout and replacing with new.

Sealing a Slate effect Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor

I needed the fresh grout to dry out, so I left the floor overnight and came back the next day to complete the grout colouring for which I used one bottle of Tile Doctor Grout Colourant in Limestone wiping off any excess as I went. As the floor tiles were in fact Porcelain there was no need to apply a sealer so once the colourant had dried the job was complete.

Once finished the floor looked great, it was now clear that it has been the grout that had brought down the overall appearance of the floor.

My customer was very happy with their new floor and even left me a bottle of wine! I left then with some Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, used regularly it will ensure the appearance of the floor is maintained and the grout is protected.

Professional Restoration of a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor in Greater Manchester

The post Cleaning a Slate effect Porcelain Tiled floor in Bury appeared first on Greater Manchester Tile Doctor.

Epoxy Grout Haze Removed from New Porcelain Floor in Telford New Build

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 14:50:39 +0000

The photos below are of a Polished Porcelain tiled floor at a house in the new Telford Lawley Village development. When the house was built my customer had specified large format White glazed Porcelain floor tiles on the ground floor and had insisted on the use of a matching white Epoxy Grout. The developer agreed to lay the tiles but refused to use Epoxy Grout (which is very resilient but also tricky to work with). As a result, the customer hired someone else to grout the floor.

Epoxy Grout is notoriously difficult to work with and unfortunately the tiler was unable to remove all the grout residue from the surface of the Porcelain tiles and ruining their appearance. The tiler tried to remove the grout residue but ended up discolouring all the skirting boards instead. The customer was out of time at this point and had to move in, but the floor looked a right mess as is clearly visible on the before pictures on this page. Having given up on the tiler they decided to call Tile Doctor.

Fortunately for the customer we are very familiar with this issue and have been resolving problems like this for some time. After discussing the problem on the phone, I paid the customer a visit to take a close look at the problem and after running a few tests I was confident I could fix it for them. We agreed a price and I arranged a time to return to complete the work.

Cleaning a Polished Porcelain Tiled Hallway Floor

To break down the polymers in the epoxy grout I first applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was left for approximately fifteen minutes before agitating it with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary floor machine. This process removed most of the grout haze but to get it looking 100% I swapped the black pad to a 3000-grit diamond burnishing pad and polished the tiles using a little water sprayed onto the tile. This is a very fine polishing pad and brings up the finish on the Porcelain tiles a treat.

Once that was done, I inspected the floor again looking for stubborn areas and then spot treated those areas by hand with a repeat of the same process and a scraper. The tiles were factory sealed so once I was happy all the grout haze was gone the job was finished.

For aftercare and keep the floor looking pristine I recommended they use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. It’s easy to use and comes in concentrated form so you only need a small amount, it has a nice fresh smell. They could use household cleaners, but they are likely to leave a residue and leave smears on the polished surface

The client was very happy that I saved the floor for her, it now looked how she had imagined it and was in keeping with the rest of the stunning new house. She left the following testimonial for me, which is always a delight. They now just needed to clean up the skirting boards, which may need a rub down and a lick of paint.

“Very professional manner. Excellent job. I am more than pleased. Edith K.”

Professional Restoration of a Polished Porcelain Tiled Hallway in Shropshire

The post Epoxy Grout Haze Removed from New Porcelain Floor in Telford New Build appeared first on Shropshire Tile Doctor.

Restoration of a shower and bathroom in Guildford

Tue, 03 Dec 2019 15:45:12 +0000

A family living in Guildford were in touch recently about restoring the appearance of their Ceramic tiled shower and bathroom. They were about to put the property up for sale and were concerned the grubby grout might put off potential buyers. First impressions do count so renovating a bathroom or kitchen before selling is a really good idea and will help you achieve a better price.

In this case the Ceramic tiles were dirty and black with mould in places which looked unhygienic and uninviting. Additionally, the mastic sealant between the tile and bath was tired and worn to the extent that water could end up leaking behind the seal. After visiting the property, they were pleased to hear I could help and happily accepted our quote which was based around a days work and some materials.

Cleaning/Repairing a Ceramic Tiled Shower and Bathroom

Firstly, I cleaned the grout using a Tile Doctor product called Duo Clean which is designed to tackle dirty grout and mould. I sprayed the product along all the grout lines and left it to soak in for about fifteen minutes. Once ready I brushed them with a firm wire brush then rinsed off with water. Next, I cleaned the tiles using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was decanted into a spray bottle and sprayed onto the wall tiles. After ten minutes I then used a handheld buffing machine fitted with a small white buffing pad to shift the dirt and buff up the white tiles. After rinsing the slurry off with water you could see a marked improvement.

I hand dried the tile and grout with a cloth and then set about stripping out the old white mastic sealer with a sharp knife. This took some time, as you have to be careful not to scratch the bath or the tile.

By this time the grout had dried off fully and I was able to see if more work was required. To achieve a uniform colour throughout. Mould and some cleaning products can discolour grout permanently and, in this case, there was some grout staining I was unable to remove. We had discussed this possibility earlier and how it would be best resolved using a white grout colourant. So, I carefully applied Tile Doctor Grout Colour which is painted on with a small brush with any excess wiped off the tile before it can set. This resulted in a uniform white grout throughout and really gave the whole bathroom a lift.

Sealing a Ceramic Tiled Shower and Bathroom

With the cleaning process completed I applied a new white mastic between the bath and tile and along the verticals. This is done with the bath filled with water and then left for 24 hours to allow the silicone to fully cure.

After the grout colour had dried, I applied an aerosol Tile and Grout sealer over the whole surface and then lightly polished off any excess with a clean cloth. This does two things; one it adds a further layer of protection to the new grout colour and to the surface of the tiles. Secondly Ceramic tiles are non-porous, but bacterial dirt can still get a grip on the surface, with the sealer in place you will find water quickly runs off without getting a chance to get a hold.

Sealers do wear off, so I recommended re-applying it every year. I had plenty left over and gave it to the customer when I finished using it. For regular cleaning of tiled shower areas, I recommend they use Tile Doctor Aqua-Pro this will neutralise any acid build-up caused by acidic shampoos etc.

Professional Renovation of a Ceramic Tiled Bathroom in West Surrey

The post Restoration of a shower and bathroom in Guildford appeared first on West Surrey Tile Doctor.

Renovating a Limescale Stained Riven Slate Shower in Teddington

Fri, 29 Nov 2019 13:57:41 +0000

The client was thinking of having their riven Slate tiled bathroom re-tiled but before doing so they thought to give Tile Doctor a call about having it renovated first. The property was in Teddington which is a popular commuter area on the River Thames, it is on a long meander of the Thames between Hampton and Strawberry Hill

Thames Water define Teddington as a hard water area with high levels of calcium carbonate which leaves deposits known as Limescale. The tiles had not been professionally cleaned or sealed since installation ten years prior and now Limescale had built up on the tiles which was very thick in places.

I visited the property to see how bad the problem was and to give the client a quote for the work. Whilst I was there a ran some cleaning tests on the shower tiles to work out the best solution. The tests were successful, and they were really pleased to see that their idea of restoring the tiles was a viable option. This would mean they could avoid the need to retile the whole bathroom, which would have been expensive and disruptive. They agreed to my price and we booked in a time to carry out the work, which would be completed over two days.

Removing Limescale from a Riven Slate Tiled Shower

Had this been polished Slate I would have used burnishing pads to grind off the limescale and polish up the stone. In this case however the slate had a riven appearance which means they have a rough surface. I didn’t want to alter the rough appearance as this is part of their natural beauty, so I decided on a different course of action.

The solution would involve hand scrubbing every tile using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which being in gel form sticks well to vertical surfaces. This action broke down the limescale and cleaned away all the dirt and product residue in the stone. The tiles were then rinsed down with water to remove any trace of product.

Sealing a Riven Slate Tiled Shower

After allowing the slate to dry off overnight, I first checked the tiles were nice and dry with the moisture meter. If they were still damp the seal would be ineffective and would not cure. The tiles were nice and dry, so we then applied three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer. This is a colour intensifying sealer which enhances natural colour and will provide durable surface protection going forward. The colours in the slate now look great and it has brought the bathroom back to life, as you can see from the pictures.

The client was really pleased with the result and happy they had saved some money too. I recommended to them that spraying Tile Doctor Aqua-Pro on the Slate after showering as it will eliminate build-up from the use of soaps, shampoos and body-washes, and will help to keep the limescale at bay. We recommend this product as it’s designed for cleaning sealed surfaces and will not prematurely erode the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Riven Slate Tiled Shower in South Middlesex

The post Renovating a Limescale Stained Riven Slate Shower in Teddington appeared first on South Middlesex Tile Doctor.

Dull and Dirty Slate Floor Stripped, Cleaned and Sealed in Darfield, Barnsley

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 12:57:44 +0000

The new owners of this property in Darfield were disappointed with the state of the Slate tiled kitchen floor which looked like it had never been cleaned. Since moving in they tried lots of different products to get it clean, but nothing had the desired effect.

After discussing the problem over the phone, I visited the house to run some product tests on the floor and discuss the options. After a few tests I could tell the floor had been sealed many times over trapping in layers and layers of dirt each time. It looked as if the floor had not been effectively cleaned prior to the numerous coats of seal being applied.

Darfield’s is a village on the outskirts of Barnsley with a history that stretches back to Roman times, quite a few roman artefacts have been found around the village and are now on show at the local museum. But Darfield is most known for the 2 huge collieries that once stood there, below Darfield is a huge seam of coal that supplied the nation with coal for decades. These have long since closed but the mining history of the area remains.

The tests enabled me to work out which products would be the most effective and from that I was able to provide an accurate price for completing the work. All that was left was to schedule a date for my return.

Deep Cleaning a Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Darfield

With everything agreed I returned a few weeks later and set about stripping the slate of its’ very thick layer of old floor sealers. To do this a combination of Tile Doctor Remove and Go combined with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied to the floor and left to dwell. These two products are powerful solutions that break down sealants and dirt, when used together they make short work of the job.

The slate floor was then scrubbed with a rotary floor machine fitted with a Black scrubbing pad. This abrasive action breaks the sealer down further until the cleaning solution turns black with dirt and old sealants. I kept working the floor in this way until all the old sealer and ingrained dirt was stripped away leaving the bare stone. The floor was then thoroughly rinsed with water, and all the slurry was removed with a wet vacuum. There was an awful lot of this as the floor really was dirty underneath.

Sealing a Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Darfield

After leaving the floor to dry off overnight I returned the next day to seal the floor using Tile Doctors High Shine Sealer. This product leaves a high shine almost glossy appearance which was the affect my customer was looking for. High Shine is a specially formulated water-based blend of acrylic polymers that provides durable stain resistance, its ideal for Slate floors and you can see from the photos on this page that it made an incredible difference to the floor and really brought out the beautiful natural colours in the stone.

My client was very happy with the new floor, the natural colours of the floor now shone through, in fact the floor looked as if it had been laid recently, quite the transformation.

Before leaving I recommended, they use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to clean the floor going forward. This product is pH neutral so it won’t erode the newly applied sealer and will ensure the floor is protected for longer. The same could not be said for most household cleaning products which are not meant for use on natural stone and can remove the sealer over time.

Professional Restoration of a Slate Tiled Kitchen in South Yorkshire

The post Dull and Dirty Slate Floor Stripped, Cleaned and Sealed in Darfield, Barnsley appeared first on South Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Chequered Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Refurbished in Stoke-on-Trent

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 01:51:51 +0000

This is a great example of a Victorian Tiled floor refurbishment which I recently completed at a property in Stoke-on-Trent. If you look closely at the photographs below you will see the white tiles are looking grubby and paint splash staining from decorating. The owner was unhappy with how the floor now looked and wanted it refurbished.

Black and White Victorian tiles laid in a chequered diamond pattern is a classic style and a very popular choice for hallways at the turn of the 20th century. Over the years many have been replaced or covered up with carpet and those that survived are now a sought-after period feature that adds value to your property.

Renovating Black and White Victorian Floor Tiles

I initially cleaned the floor by applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was sprayed onto the floor and then left to soak in for ten minutes. Pro-Clean is our goto tile and grout cleaning product that is designed to break down dirt and remove old sealers. After ten minutes the solution was scrubbed in with a rotary machine fitted with a coarse 200-grit pad. The soil generated was rinsed off the tiles and extracted with a wet vacuum and the floor inspected.

I would see more work was needed to get the floor clean and free of staining, so I spot treated the problem areas with Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a coatings remover. I worked in small sections leaving the product to dwell as before for 10 minutes, I then used a wallpaper steamer with handheld diamond blocks to get the ingrained dirt out of the floor. After a final rinse and extraction, the floor looked clean so, so much better than when I started.

Apply a Sealer to Black and White Victorian Floor Tiles

I then left the floor to dry off overnight and came back the second day to seal the tiles first checking the moisture levels with a damp meter. Applying sealer to a damp floor will result in the floor looking patchy when it dries so I always check first. The readings were good, so I started to apply the first of five coats of sealer which for this floor I chose Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra.

Old Victorian floors do not have a damp-proof membrane installed under the floor so its important to select a sealer that will allow moisture to rise through the tiles and evaporate on the surface, Seal and Go Extra allows for this. Choosing a non-breathable sealer can result in moisture being trapped under the floor where it can reach out to the walls leading to rising damp.

Once the floor dried it looked fantastic. In fact, my customer was so happy with the transformation she was taking pictures and sending them to her daughters as I worked; she couldn’t believe how well it was turning out.

Professional Victorian Tiled Hallway Renovation in Staffordshire

The post Chequered Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Refurbished in Stoke-on-Trent appeared first on Staffordshire Tile Doctor.

Resolving Quarry Tile Installation Issues in Watton

Wed, 20 Nov 2019 08:55:52 +0000

Our client in Watton had a new Quarry tiled floor laid at her home and all went well until the tiler came to seal the finished floor after grouting. Needless to say, she didn’t get the finish she was expecting and told us that the tiler had admitted that he had no clue how to address the problem and had told her to contact a specialist to do the work and was happy to cover the cost.

I shouldn’t complain as its Tile Doctor who gets called in to resolve these issues, but there does seem to be a training gap with many tilers having no clear idea how to properly finish a new floor tile installation.

The problem was immediately obvious from the photos she sent over; grout had not been completely polished off the Quarry tile surface leaving a dull haze over the floor. The floor had then been sealed and this had only served to emphasize the slightly grey, dusty and lacklustre appearance of the floor.

Removing Grout Haze from a Quarry Tiled Floor in Watton

To remove the grout haze, it would be necessary to remove the sealer first, so I spent the first part of my visit breaking it down with a powerful 2:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. The solution was left to soak into the floor for about ten minutes before being scrubbed in using our Klindex rotary machine fitted with a black stripping pad. The resulting slurry was power rinsed and extracted away with our 400psi Ninja machine.

Having done this, we could see that the grout haze was still present in many areas and was becoming very pale and patchy as the tile surface dried out. With the sealer now removed I turned my attention to the removing the grout. This was rectified by applying Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up and then rinse extracting as before. This left the floor spotlessly clean and would be ready for sealing the next day after being left to dry off overnight with the aid of our industrial dehumidifier.

Sealing Quarry Tiles in Watton

We returned to Watton on the following day to meet our client and explain the various sealing options available, from no-finish penetrating sealers to high gloss acrylics. After much discussion, we realised that the client had originally expected the finished floor to have a noticeably shinier appearance than the matt finish colour enhancer that the tiler had used but without the glare of a high shine product.

After weighing up the client’s requirement the obvious choice was to use Tile Doctor Seal & Go which is a water-based sealer with a mid-sheen finish which makes daily maintenance much easier and more effective. We applied this sealer in five thin coats by hand using microfibre cloths, allowing 30 minutes drying time between each coat.

The client was absolutely delighted with the result we achieved and said that it was exactly the way she had expected the floor to look when they originally chose the tiles.

Finishing a Quarry Tiled Hallway after Installation in Norfolk

The post Resolving Quarry Tile Installation Issues in Watton appeared first on Norfolk Tile Doctor.

Terracotta Farmhouse Floor Renovated at Symonds Yat Holiday Home

Sun, 17 Nov 2019 12:44:38 +0000

The pictures below are of a Terracotta tiled floor that was laid in a Farmhouse in Symonds Yat around twenty years ago when the house was being renovated. The Terracotta tiles had been installed throughout the kitchen, utility and downstairs cloakroom and were well overdue a deep clean and seal.

Symonds Yat is a beautiful location amidst the fields of Wye Valley and set on the famous River Wye and is very popular with tourists. The farmhouse has been rented out as a holiday home for some time and with the floor looking faded and dull it was not giving the best impressions with visitors which is not good when you are using the property as a business.

I visited the property to survey the floor as the picture’s customers send you never show up all the problems. I could immediately see the tiles were indeed in need of some tender love and care, the old sealer had long since eroded away and now the Terracotta was susceptible to dirt becoming ingrained. I carried out a test clean on a small area so they could see what the result might look like. They were over the moon with the test area and amazed that how much it would bring the floor back to life. I quoted them a price which they were happy to accept, and we booked the job in for later in the month.

Cleaning/Repairing a Terracotta Tiled Farmhouse Floor

To put the life back into the floor it needed to be stripped of any remaining sealer, cleaned and then resealed. I began this process by spraying the floor with a medium dilution of
Tile Doctor Remove and Go and left it to soak into the tile and grout for ten minutes. This product is designed to strip off old sealers from tile which is important as you will find the sealer will be completely worn off in the busier parts of the floor but will still be present around the edges etc. If you don’t strip off the sealer and apply a new sealer on top you will find the result becomes inconsistent and leaves a patchy finish.

After ten minutes the Remove and Go was scrubbed into the Terracotta using a rotary floor machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This action removed what was left of the old sealer and after rinsing and extracting I was able to move onto the cleaning process.

This process was repeated using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is tile and grout cleaning product that will remove ingrained dirt. As before the product was diluted, applied to the floor and after leaving it to dwell for a short while it was scrubbed in as before. Some of the grout and corners had to be done by hand as the rotary machine can struggle to reach in places. After rinsing off with water and extracting with a wet vacuum there were a few stubborn areas that required a repeat treatment, but we soon had the floor looking clean.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Farmhouse Floor

After leaving the tile and grout to dry off overnight I came back the next day and checked the floor was dry with the moisture meter. The readings were fine, so I began applying the sealer. I started with a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing product that seeps into the pores of the Terracotta protecting it from within. This was followed with seven coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go. Terracotta is very porous and does take a lot of sealer.

Once the sealer had dried the floor had a lovely satin finish that wasn’t too shiny. The client was over the moon with the restored floor and was keen for his next clients to see it.

Professional Restoration of a Terracotta Tiled Farmhouse Floor in Monmouthshire

The post Terracotta Farmhouse Floor Renovated at Symonds Yat Holiday Home appeared first on Monmouthshire Tile Doctor.

Renovation of a Black Slate Kitchen Floor in Lancaster

Fri, 15 Nov 2019 11:53:39 +0000

The photographs below are of a dull and dirty Black Slate floor that I was recently asked to renovate at a property in the City of Lancaster which is a few miles south of our base in Carnforth.

Slate isn’t very porous which is why you often find it being used as roofing; however, this means any sealer applied is primarily active on the surface where it is more prone to wear from foot traffic. Regular cleaning with a pH neutral tile cleaner combined with topping up the sealer every 12 to 18 months will make the sealer last a lot longer. This rarely happens though and once a sealer has been worn off dirt will begin to penetrate the stone making it difficult to clean and dull.

In this case my client explained that the sealer had been applied by the tiler a few years ago and that they had been using washing up liquid to clean the floor. pH levels for washing up liquids vary but the most popular product has a pH level of 9 which is far too acidic for use on a sealed tile and slowly stripped the sealer away. I discussed with the client the process for renovating the slate floor, agreed a price for the work and arranged to come back a few weeks later.

Cleaning a Black Slate Floor Tiled Kitchen Floor

To renovate the floor, I first attached a coarse 200-grit Diamond pad to a buffing machine and ran it over the floor using water as a lubricant. This removed what was left of the old sealer deep cleaned the stone. The Grout was then scrubbed with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and the floor was then rinsed with water and the soil extracted with a wet vacuum.

The floor was then inspected, and stubborn areas were spot treated with a little Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was sprayed on and left to soak in for ten minutes before being scrubbed in and rinsed off.

We finished the clean with a 400-Grit diamond padf followed by an Acid Wash with Grout Clean-Up, this left the Slate with a slightly acidic pH which helps bond the new sealer and counters the alkaline pH of the floor following the use of alkaline cleaning products.

Sealing a Black Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

Before we sealed the whole floor, we always do some damp testing to make sure it is dry before sealing. This was an old floor with no damp proof membrane underneath so it needed to be very dry before we could apply the sealer.

The client wanted a very high gloss finish, so we applied four coats of Tile Doctor High Shine sealer which is an acrylic sealer ideal for achieving this affect. If the floor wasn’t fully dry, we would have left it another day or two, but we find you can often speed up the drying process with the use of a dehumidifier and some air blowers.

The client was very happy with the transformation in the Black Slate floor, they had looked dull and drab for quite a while and it was refreshing to see them look like new again. They also felt more confident that now they understood what had caused the problem and would be better able to maintain the floor going forward.

Professional Restoration of a Black Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Lancashire

The post Renovation of a Black Slate Kitchen Floor in Lancaster appeared first on Tile Doctor Lancashire.

Renovating Flood Damaged Victorian Flooring at a Worcester Church

Tue, 12 Nov 2019 02:17:53 +0000

Earlier this year I was contacted by the church warden of St Clements Church in Worcester regarding the renovation of its Victorian floor tiles. The Church was built 200 years ago and is one of the oldest churches in the city. Unfortunately, being situated close to the West bank of the River Severn it is at risk of flooding and a recent flood had ruined a large section of carpeting which had to be removed. In fact, according to the local newspaper Worcester has been named as sixth worst place in the UK for flooding.

Every cloud has a silver lining, so they say and, in this case, once the carpet was removed it revealed a very impressive Victorian tiled floor. There were two sections of 24m2 & 10m2, and I visited the Church to survey the floor and assess its condition.

Victorian tiles are generally very robust, and I discovered that the carpet had helped to preserve them in good physical condition. I conducted a few cleaning tests and I could see there were two areas where there was quite a lot of wax, dirt and carpet adhesive that would need removing. I discussed with the warden the process and provided a detailed quote.

My quote was accepted, and a date agreed to commence the work when their diary was a little quieter as the area would be out of use for a few days.

Renovating a Victorian Tiled Church Floor

On the first day I decided my first task would be to tackle the years of wax build-up and glue around the Altar. To do this I sprayed the floor with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a powerful coatings remover designed for use on Tile and Stone. The tiles were then covered in industrial cling film, this prevents the solution drying out and increases the active dwell time on the tiles so it can really get to work breaking down the wax and adhesive.

Working in sections I repeated the process across the whole floor and after an hour I removed the cling film and then scrubbed the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a 200-grit diamond pad. This really got deep into the tiles and after repeating the process several times the soiled cleaning solution containing the wax and glue was rinsed off the tiles and extracted with a wet vacuum.

I then used handheld burnishing blocks and a scraper on the stubborn and hard to reach places that couldn’t be accessed by the rotary machine. It was a large area that needed to be treated in this way, so the cleaning process took three days before I was satisfied with the result.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Church Floor

I used a lot of water in the cleaning process, so I left the floor to dry out for a few days, returning the following week to apply a sealer to the tiles.

I sealed the Victorian tiles with Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra which is which is breathable thereby allowing for moisture to rise through the tiles and evaporate. This is an important consideration for old tiled floors where a damp-proof membrane hasn’t been installed. Without this moisture can build up in the floor where it could eventually spread out to the walls resulting in rising damp. The tiles took five coats of sealer and each coat had to be left to dry before applying the next so naturally this took some time and had to be done in sections cordoned off from the parishioners. Once the sealer had been applied to the whole floor the transformation of the church floor was complete, the floor looked fantastic and much more in-keeping with the period look of the building.

I received a glowing review from the Church which I have copied below. I also heard that a parishioner had seen the floor and had cried because the last time she had seen the floor was 50 years ago at her wedding, its moments like those that make my job very worthwhile!

Mark Conway was an absolute star. He worked so hard on our Church floor. It looks magnificent now and everyone has commented on how beautiful it looks. Mark was such a nice friendly and helpful person and went the extra mile. Thanks Mark. A brilliant job.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Church Floor in Worcestershire

The post Renovating Flood Damaged Victorian Flooring at a Worcester Church appeared first on Worcestershire Tile Doctor.

Encaustic Tiled Hallway Cleaned and Sealed in Waterbeach

Fri, 08 Nov 2019 10:51:37 +0000

I was called out to renovate this Encaustic tiled hallway in the Cambridge suburb of Waterbeach. It’s difficult to appreciate from the photographs but the floor was showing signs that the sealant had failed, and no amount of cleaning would get it too look as clean as it used to. Sealers prevent dirt from becoming ingrained into the pores of the tile which leads to a dulling of the overall appearance. My customer was keen to have the floor renovated and asked if I could give it a deep clean and seal.

Traditional Encaustic tiles resemble ceramic tiles but are in fact made from multiple layers of compressed cement and usually feature intricate geometric shapes and patterns which are hydraulically pressed into the surface. The process first appeared in medieval times and these tiles can often be found in very old buildings.

Modern production methods have seen a resurgence and you can now find these popular patterns reproduced with ceramic tiles. Ceramic tiles don’t usually need sealing and are therefore very low maintenance. Encaustic tiles however being cement based do need sealing and when used as a floor tile you will need the sealer replacing every three to five years depending on wear. If you like the look of these tiles and live in the local area its worth giving Cambridge CTD Tiles a visit as their local showroom stock several similar styles in Ceramic.

Removing Old Sealers from Encaustic Cement Tiles

After protecting the skirting boards with tape, I set about getting the floor clean and free of what was left of the old sealer. Removing old sealers first is important as to apply new sealer on top of the old will result in different thicknesses and the floor looking patchy. To do this I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a coatings remover and cleaner. It’s sprayed onto the floor, left for ten minutes and then scrubbed in with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. The floor was then rinsed with water and the soil extracted.

To bring up the appearance of the encaustic tiles I polished the floor with an 800-grit and then 1500-grit diamond burnishing pads using a little water to help lubricate the process. I rinsed the floor with a little more water and extracted the fine slurry generated after each pad was applied. The floor looked much better already.

Sealing Encaustic Floor Tiles

I gave the stone a few hours to dry off and due to the warm conditions, I was able to apply two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow impregnating sealer on the same day. Each coat was left to dry off before applying the next. Tile Doctor Colour Grow is a colour intensifying impregnating sealer that provides durable protection by occupying the pores in the tile so dirt can’t become ingrained there.

Before leaving I finished off the floor by removing any excess sealer residue with a 3000-grit polishing pad.

The client was very happy with the floor restoration once completed. I discussed with them the best aftercare and recommended they should use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is pH neutral so will maintain the integrity of the newly applied seal and will ensure the floor is protected for some time to come. It is suitable for regular use, has a nice fresh fragrance and a small amount goes a long way.

Professional Renovation of an Encaustic Tiled Hallway Floor in Cambridgeshire

The post Encaustic Tiled Hallway Cleaned and Sealed in Waterbeach appeared first on Cambridge Tile Doctor.

Tile and Grout Refresh for Neglected Bathroom in Stockport

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 14:30:59 +0000

If you’re a landlord, it can be quite difficult to know what your tenants are getting up to and whether they are taking good care of your property. It’s usually only when major problems emerge that a landlord will get involved.

Such was the case with a recent customer of mine who owns a property in Stockport, a large town in Greater Manchester not too far south from the main city centre. The tenants of the property either neglected or didn’t know how to take care of the tiled shower walls in the bathroom. Over time, the condition of the tiles and grout had become so appalling that the landlord had to call Tile Doctor to see about restoring them.

Cleaning Dirty Shower Tiles

I began the restoration by cleaning the grout lines, which were truly filthy. This was done using a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean. Pro-Clean is an ideal product for cleaning up neglected tiles and grout, since it removes all manner of dirt, including the soap scum and grease which had built up on these shower walls over the course of several months.

The product was left to dwell for a couple of minutes before being scrubbed deep into the grout. The area was subsequently rinsed with fresh water to remove the soil. In some stubborn places, I didn’t achieve the desired result right away, so I repeated the cleaning process a couple of times.

When the grout and tiles were cleaned to the best of my abilities, I used my heat gun to dry the walls quickly. Next, I removed all the mouldy silicone around the shower, a process which proved quite tricky because the tiles were all quite small, and there was newer silicone on top of old, very mouldy silicone, so I had to dig in deep to get it all out.

After doing this, I had to clean and dry the gap between the tiles and the bath because the old mouldy silicone didn’t leave it in a pretty state.

Sealing Shower Tiles

After everything was cleaned and dried, I sealed the walls using Tile Doctor Wall Tile and Grout Sealer Aerosol Spray. What makes this such a brilliant product is how easy it is to use. It is a spray-on sealer that adds long lasting protection against water, dirt, grease, mould and limescale. This reduces the amount of maintenance required.

When I had finished sealing the tiles and grout, I applied new, high quality and mould resistant silicone. With that, the restoration was complete. The whole process took only a day’s work, but you must agree that a fantastic outcome was achieved. The landlord and tenants were very happy with it, remarking that if they didn’t know any better, they would’ve thought it was a brand-new installation.

Source: Dirty Bath Tile and Grout Cleaned and Sealed in Stockport

The post Tile and Grout Refresh for Neglected Bathroom in Stockport appeared first on East Cheshire Tile Doctor.

Quarry Tiled Basement Floor Renovated at old Bank in Llangollen

Tue, 05 Nov 2019 14:25:06 +0000

This Quarry Tiled floor was discovered in the basement of the old HSBC Bank building in Llangollen which is a small market town in Denbighshire, Wales. Close to my county of Shropshire, Llangollen is located on edge of the Berwyn mountains on the nestled on the River Dee in an area of outstanding natural beauty and so a lovely place to work.

After HSBC moved out the property was bought by Whitewater Active who are an outdoor pursuits company that will be using the building as their local base of operations. The company offers a mix of outdoor activities and the property has been converted into accommodation, offices for the business and a cafe.

The area we were interested in was at the basement which they were planning to use as a team meeting room and the owner was keen to have it restored and looking its best for his staff. The floor was tiled with 9″ x 9″ Red and Black quarry tiles which as you can see from the photographs were in a sorry state. The room had a massive fireplace which unfortunately none of my pictures show but the tiles were damaged in front of it as someone at some point had likely used it for chopping firewood. The repair was quoted for, but as neither I nor him were able to source 9″ x 9″ black quarry tiles that were 1 1/2 ” thick, we decided to leave it as it was for now. They were happy with the quote I gave them, and we agreed a date to go ahead.

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Basement Floor

I gave the floor an initial clean with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was diluted and then sprayed onto the tiles, it was left for ten minutes and then scrubbed in with a black pad fitted to a rotary floor buffer. The resultant slurry was then rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

With the surface dirt removed it was clear that more work was going to be required to remove the plaster dust and concrete residue that marked the tiles. To tackle that I used Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which is an acidic product that we normally use to remove excess grout. Using the same process as for the Tile Doctor Pro-Clean I had to go over the worst areas three times before I was satisfied the floor was clear and as clean as it could be.

After rinsing and extracting one last time I dried the floor as much as possible with the wet vacuum and left it to completely dry off overnight.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Basement Floor

The next day I returned, checked the floor was dry with the moisture meter and then sealed the floor with a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is a lovely sealer that enhances the colour, allows the floor to breathe and will also ensures that the floor is well protected. Using a breathable sealer on old floor likes these where no damp proof membrane is installed as it allows moisture from the sub floor to pass through the tile and evaporate. Without the ability to evaporate moisture can build-up and spread to the walls where it can cause rising damp.

As you can see from the after photographs the renovation went very well and the colour change was pretty dramatic. The client was very happy with the transformation and couldn’t wait to get the furniture in and hold his first team meeting.

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Basement Floor in Shropshire

The post Quarry Tiled Basement Floor Renovated at old Bank in Llangollen appeared first on Shropshire Tile Doctor.

Limescale Stained Slate Effect Shower Tiles Renovated in Burghfield Bridge

Sat, 02 Nov 2019 15:27:07 +0000

A customer recently moved into a property in Burghfield Bridge with a luxurious slate tiled shower that was badly stained with Limescale. Limescale is a big problem in hard water areas and results in the build-up of tiny mineral deposits on wetted surfaces causing staining. A water softener was being installed prevent this happing in future, but he wanted to know if anything could be done to renovate the shower tiles.

Removing Limescale is not a problem but the solution will depend on multiple factors, so I went over to the property to survey the tiles and work out an accurate price for the renovation. I ran several cleaning tests and as it turns out the tiles were not Slate but Micro-Porous Porcelain made to look like Slate. It’s difficult to tell from these photographs but I could see the tiles had repeating patterns which you only get when a tile has been manufactured from the same mould. Slate being a natural product results in each tile being unique.

After demonstrating a successful cleaning process, I was able to provide my customer with an accurate quote which was accepted and as it was convenient for both me and the customer I continued with the work.

Removing Limescale from Micro-Porous Porcelain Shower Tiles

The first obstacle to overcome was the heavy build-up of limescale that was ruining the appearance of the shower. I had worked out during testing that the best way to treat the problem was to apply Tile Doctor Acid Gel which being a gel works very well on vertical shower tiles where other products would simply run off. I wouldn’t use this on natural stone so as acidic products can etch stone however it was fine to use on Porcelain and was left to dwell for around thirty minutes.

The other advantage of gel-based products is that they don’t dry out, which is perfect when a longer dwell time is necessary. Once the gel had enough time to break down the mineral deposits, I agitated it with a black pad fitted to a rotary floor buffing machine and gave the grout lines a good scrub with a stiff grout brush before rinsing with plenty of water and vacuuming up the contaminated solution.

Although the whole area wasn’t effected with limescale I proceeded with the same process throughout to ensure the whole room would be uniform in appearance. For the vertical wall tiles I used a hand buffer fitted with a six-inch scrubbing pad. Acid Gel also worked well removing the Limescale on the glass shower screen, again it was left on for some time before being rinsed off. Any puddles or water streaks remaining were mopped up with towels and each tile was dried thoroughly with a heat gun.

Sealing Micro-Porous Porcelain Tiles

I left the tiles to dry off naturally for a couple of house and then returned to apply a sealer. I took moisture readings first to ensure the tiles were dry and ready to be sealed. Some porcelain tiles won’t take a sealer and may end up rejecting it so I conducted a small test in an inconspicuous area under the bath first to make sure it would take. Micro-Porous Porcelain will normally take a sealer and my test proved positive.

Happy with the result of my test I started applying Tile Doctor Colour Grow which has a colour enhancing formula that worked well on the dark tile and deepened the black colour. The sealer will make the shower tiles much easier to clean going forward and any water should run straight off the tile and into the drain.

The customer was over the moon with the transformation and left feedback below.

“Our tiles were extremely limescale damaged in our bathroom and Dennis done an amazing job making them look as good as new. Dennis even managed to finish the job earlier than expected which reduced our bill from the original quote. Excellent job and would highly recommend “

With some new knowledge on how to maintain his newly sealed tiles he was now keen to go ahead with the water softener installation in order to reduce the chances of limescale building up again.

Limescale Stained Porcelain Shower Tiles Renovated in Berkshire

The post Limescale Stained Slate Effect Shower Tiles Renovated in Burghfield Bridge appeared first on Berkshire Tile Doctor.

Renovation of Painted Quarry Tiles in a Cranleigh Vicarage

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 04:48:50 +0000

A Vicar from Cranleigh contacted me earlier this year about a Quarry tiled floor. It turns out he had lifted the carpets in the hallway of the Vicarage and found that the previous tenant had painted red tile paint around the tiles up to the edges of the carpet. With the carpet removed the floor looked very unattractive and he was looking to have the original appearance of the Quarry tiles restored.

I went to Cranleigh to survey the problem and you can see from the pictures the floor wasn’t looking great, the paint looked as if it had been applied without any preparation and had peeled off in places. I discussed my plan to renovate the floor with the Vicar which would involve stripping all the paint off the tiles followed by deep cleaning and then applying a sealer. He was very pleased to hear this and was happy with the quote that I produced which would take two days. We arranged a time to return the following month to complete the work.

Stripping Paint from a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor

On day one I started by protecting the skirting and other woodwork with decorative tape. Once this was done, I spent time removing the paint with paint stripper and a sharp blade. It was messy and tedious work but necessary to achieve the requested result. The waste was then rinsed off the floor with water and extracted using a wet vacuum.

Once all the paint was removed, I cleaned the tiles with a coarse 400-grit diamond encrusted burnishing pad fitted to a rotary machine and lubricated with water. This was followed with an 800-grit pad. The former opens the tiles pores allowing dirt to be extracted and the 800-grit pad closes them ready for sealing. Quarry tiles are particularly porous, so I left the floor to dry off for 48 hours days before returning to seal the tiles.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor

Returning a few days later I started with tidying up any areas that needed further attention. The floor had dried out nicely however I wanted it to be clear of any dirt or dust since I cleaned it so I gave it a light mop and left the floor to dry off again. Once the floor was completely dry, I sealed the area with several coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra.

I selected this product as it is a super tough sealer that once applied has a sheen effect while offering a very strong protective surface to the floor. This was important as hallways receive a high level of foot traffic and even more so in a Vicarage with parishioners coming and going. Seal and Go Extra is also breathable and this is an important consideration when choosing a sealer for use on old tiled floors that don’t have damp proof membrane installed.

The vicar was very pleased with the finished floor, I discussed with him the best way to keep it clean and maintained would be to use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, which is pH neutral and so won’t prematurely degrade the integrity of the sealer like stronger products.

Professional Renovation of a Quarry Tiled Hallway in Surrey

The post Renovation of Painted Quarry Tiles in a Cranleigh Vicarage appeared first on West Surrey Tile Doctor.

Renovated Multi-Coloured Slate Floor in Staines Upon Thames

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 08:05:36 +0000

Except for general cleaning this multi-coloured slate floor had not been professionally cleaned since installation eleven years prior. Any sealer that had once been applied to the slate had long since worn off and dirt was now ingrained in the pores of the stone causing it to look dull and un-attractive. The property was in the lovely town of Staines Upon Thames, obviously situated on the banks of the River Thames and a popular place to live for London commuters.

I visited site to take a closer look at the floor and provide the client with an accurate price for renovating the stone. It turns out that the client had used all sorts of different household cleaners in an attempt to get the floor clean. Unfortunately, they were probably making the situation worse as these strong cleaning products would have actually stripped the sealant off the stone leaving it open to dirt. I carried out a test clean for them and they were very pleased to see how the floor could look. We agreed a price for the work and arranged a suitable date to carry out the work.

Cleaning a Multi-Coloured Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

My first task was to strip off what was left of the old sealer and deep clean the stone using a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go mixed 50:50 with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. This powerful cocktail was applied to the floor and left to soak in for ten minutes before being scrubbed in using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad.

The grout was hand scrubbed using more of the cleaning solution along the grout lines until I was happy the floor was as clean as it possibly could be. The floor was rinsed with water and the soil extracted by using the wet vacuum.

Once the floor was clear the Slate was inspected, and any stubborn areas were spot treated using the same process as before. After a final rinse and extraction, the floor was dried as much as possible using the wet vacuum and left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Multi-Coloured Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

I came back the next day and checked the moisture levels of the tiles using a damp meter. The floor had dried well so I had a green light for applying a new sealer. For this I used four Coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next. This product works really well on Slate and gave the tiles a nice sheen finish, the fresh sealer will also make maintenance cleaning far easier in the future.

The client was very happy with the result, the floor now looks great and the natural colours of the stone is so much more evident. For aftercare I recommended they throw away all those supermarket products and use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a pH neutral product that won’t prematurely erode the new sealer with use.

Professional Clean and Seal of Multi-Coloured Slate Tiles in Middlesex

The post Renovated Multi-Coloured Slate Floor in Staines Upon Thames appeared first on South Middlesex Tile Doctor.

Cleaning of a Textured Porcelain Swimming Pool in Dorking

Mon, 28 Oct 2019 02:30:40 +0000

Textured porcelain is a great choice for tiling swimming pool surrounds due to its anti-slip properties. The drawback however is that the textured surface which provides the grip also traps dirt and is very hard to keep clean without specialised equipment.

This swimming pool in the basement of a large property in Dorking was suffering from exactly that problem causing the pool area to look dirty and unhygienic. Another issue that needed dealing with was the removal of rust staining from where old chair with metal legs had once stood.

The client had called in another cleaning firm, but they were unable to deal with all the issues, so we got the call to find a solution. We visited the site to see how involved the work would be and to give the client a quote. They were happy to accept, and a suitable time was agreed to come back and complete the work which would take one day.

Deep Cleaning Textured Porcelain Tiles

Naturally you must be very careful around swimming pools as the last thing you want is the cleaning solution or dirt to end up in the swimming pool itself. To get around this I first sprayed the tiles with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and then left it for ten minutes so it could soak in and break down the dirt. For the tiles near the pool, the solution was scrubbed in by hand using a deck brush and elsewhere with a rotary floor machine fitted with a scrubbing pad.

This process releases the trapped dirt from the textured Porcelain tile, resulting in a fine slurry. The tiles are then rinsed with water under high pressure using a high-powered spinner tool that is powered from a compressor on my vehicle. This is an impressive tool that has utilised long hoses to apply the water and extract the slurry back to a grey tank on the vehicle. It’s a very effective tool that contains and extracts the slurry without making a mess leaving the tiles clean and almost dry.

Removing Rust Stains from Textured Porcelain Tiles

To deal with the rust stains they were spotted treated with Tile Doctor Rust Away which is designed for the job. It is a ready to use, non-acid rust remover that will dissolve problematic rust stains, and worked a treat in this instance.

Porcelain tiles won’t take a sealer so once all the pool tiles were cleaned and restored to their former glory we were done for the day. The client was very satisfied with the work we carried out, the pool area looked a lot more inviting and the area was now restored to the feature area it should have been. The also said they would recommend us to some of their friends which is always welcome.

Professional Restoration of a Textured Porcelain Tiled Swimming Pool Tiled in West Surrey

The post Cleaning of a Textured Porcelain Swimming Pool in Dorking appeared first on East Surrey Tile Doctor.

400-Year-Old Flagstone Floor Restoration in Oughtibridge

Thu, 24 Oct 2019 02:17:28 +0000

Our clients owned a stunning 400-year-old cottage in the village of Oughtibridge, Sheffield with a Flagstone floor in the Kitchen. The floor was original to the building but wasn’t practical, it had 400 years of dirt and grime stuck to it and over the years had turned black.

In an attempt to get the floor clean, they had tried lots of different cleaning products but nothing you could buy from a supermarket was ever going to help when the stone is this dirty. After researching the problem further, they found Tile Doctor and so contacted us for a solution.

I went over to the property to survey the floor and carry out a test clean on small area to work out which products and methods would get the floor clean. The demonstration went well which impressed the client and agreed to our quote.

Oughtibridge stands 5 miles north of the centre of Sheffield and is surrounded by beautiful countryside, there are breath-taking views from the village looking down the valley towards Sheffield City Centre.

Cleaning a Flagstone Tiled Hallway Floor

To get the flagstones clean we started by soaking the floor in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean, this was left to work for 10 minutes before using a rotary floor machine fitted with a selection of diamond pads and brushes to scrub the floor.

A combination of the Tile Doctor Pro Clean and the machine made short work of the 400 years worth of grime on the stone. The difference was incredible, our clients were shocked at the results we were getting. Once clean we rinsed the floor a couple of times to make sure all the slurry had been removed, this was extracted away with the wet vacuum to keep the mess to a minimum.

With the floor clean the next stage was to seal the stone however it would need to be dry before we could do that. Old flagstone floors like these don’t have a damp-proof membrane installed beneath the stone so can take longer to dry out; with this in mind we left it a week before returning to make sure it had plenty of time to dry out.

Sealing a 400-Year-Old Flagstone Kitchen Floor

Returning the following week, we used the moisture meter to test the floor and ensure it was fully dried out. The weather had been warm all week so I expected it to be fine which it was.

Our clients chose Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra to seal the floor, it gives stone a satin finish and makes sure all the pores in the stone can’t be filled with dirt again. We applied three coats leaving each one to dry between coats. This sealer is also breathable so will cope well with any moisture rising through the stone.

My clients were so happy to have a clean floor and left the following message on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

“Matt has transformed our 1640 sandstone floor from a dark grey colour, which was impossible to keep clean with ingrained dirt over years to an attractive looking sealed floor with beige and rose tints which can now kept clean.”

Before leaving I discussed with them the best way to maintain the floor and recommended that they use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This is pH neutral tile cleaning product which won’t harm the sealer with use. It has a nice minty smell and being concentrated only a small amount it required.

Professional Restoration of a Flagstone Tiled Kitchen in South Yorkshire

The post 400-Year-Old Flagstone Floor Restoration in Oughtibridge appeared first on South Yorkshire Tile Doctor.

Renovating a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle in Chorlton

Wed, 23 Oct 2019 05:23:36 +0000

We were contacted by the client in Chorlton suburb of Manchester to look at restoring the appearance of a Ceramic tiled shower cubicle. The grout was very dirty and severely discoloured, despite trying multiple products nothing the client did could resolve the problem. Having given up on their own efforts they were considering having the shower re-grouted as a final option and contacted Tile Doctor.

I went over to the property to look at the shower cubicle and could see that although the Ceramic tiles were holding some dirt it was the grout that was the main issue. The cementitious and rough nature of the grout was holding onto the dirt and was developing mould in some places. What was once a nice crisp white shower grout had turned black and was now very uninviting.

Although we have had a lot of success using grout cleaning products such as Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel and Duo Clean, I knew from experience that it would be very difficult to remove the deep staining completely. When the grout is this badly discoloured the best solution is to clean the grout as much as possible and then use a Tile Doctor Grout Colourant to restore the colour. I discussed with them the process and they were happy with my price and gave me the go ahead.

Cleaning and Restoring a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle

I set about cleaning the grout using the Tile Doctor Grout Colourant Pre-Treatment spray which not only cleans the grout lines it is also slightly acidic, so it etches the surface of the grout enabling a superior bond with the colourant which is applied later. This was sprayed onto the tile and scrubbed by hand with a stiff brush. I also used a steam cleaner with a special grout nozzle to focus the steam and draw out as much of the ingrained dirt as possible.

Once I was happy with the grout, I turned my attention to the ceramic shower tiles which were scrubbed with Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel. I then rinsed the tiles and grout with water to remove the soil that had been released. Ceramic tiles are glazed so they don’t attract dirt as easily as grout which was the main problem with this shower. The shower tiles and grout were then wiped with a cloth and gentry dried with a heat gun.

Once the grout was dry, I applied Tile Doctor Grout Colourant in white, this is simply brushed on with a small brush and any excess that gets onto the adjacent tile is wiped off before it dries, one bottle was enough to complete the job. The Grout Colourant comes in ten different colours and there is also a pack available which includes everything you need. Whilst the grout colourant was drying, I removed the old silicone sealer between the tile and shower tray and replaced with new.

The transformation was instantaneous and resulted in the shower looking like new, my client was really happy with the improvement.

It’s worth noting that the Tile Doctor Grout Colourant adds a protective barrier over the grout giving it some protection which unlike the grout itself makes it very easy to keep clean. For aftercare I left the client with a bottle of Tile Doctor Aqua Pro which is formulated for the regular cleaning of shower cubicles and will help them to keep the tiles and grout clean.

Professional Restoration of a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle in Manchester

The post Renovating a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle in Chorlton appeared first on Greater Manchester Tile Doctor.

Victorian Tiled Lobby Floor Rebuild in Lytham St Annes

Sat, 19 Oct 2019 11:54:15 +0000

I visited this property in Lytham St Annes to survey a small Victorian tiled lobby which was in a sorry state. The client was keen to have it restored and wanted to know if it was possible. I discussed with them what we could do, and I gave them a quote for the work. Although it was only a small lobby, I could see the job could be quite involved and would be subject to the replacement tiles which I was confident we could source.

Repairing a Victorian Tiled Lobby Floor

This is one of those jobs you wish you hadn’t started as there were a lot more tiles to remove than anticipated and it mushroomed into replacing half the floor. Once the area was cleaned up, I applied a self-levelling compound to bring up the height of the base.

Once the levelling compound had set, I was able relay the Victorian tiles using a combination of original tiles and replacements which had to be cut to shape. Cutting tiles to fit is quite intricate and time-consuming work especially when you consider new tiles are all metric in size and a 2mm difference becomes very telling after a foot or so! My solution was to use 150 mm tiles which are the biggest the stockist offers and then cut them down on my Rubi cutter using a template made from the original tiles. This the only way I could get it to look tight, it takes longer but it makes for a thorough job and a better finish.

I always use flexible floor adhesive when laying tiles, my preference is Keraquick Grey from Mapei. There are other brands off course but this one is quite easy to get hold of and as the term grouting is a relatively modern invention (in the past it was called pointing ) I find it looks right with this type of tile and similar to the screed cement the Victorians used in the past.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Lobby Floor

After the tiling had been completed, I left the floor to cure and fully dry and returned at a later date to give the floor an overall clean. For this I ran a coarse 200-grit diamond floor pad across the floor lubricated with water and used handheld diamond blocks for the edges where the pad can’t reach. The slurry was rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

With old floors like this, which don’t have a damp-proof membrane installed under the floor, efflorescence is always a concern and can lead to white salts appearing on the surface of the tile as moisture rises through the floor. To counter this, I finished cleaning the floor by scrubbing it with Tile Doctor Acid Gel. This was then rinsed off with water and the soil extracted using a wet vacuum.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Lobby Floor

The client was happy to seal the floor themselves (they wanted to save some money and it wasn’t a big area) so I supplied them with a bottle of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. I recommended this sealer as it will enhance the dark colours and being fully breathable it will cope with any moisture rising through the base. I recommended they apply two coats to start leaving time to allow the first coast to dry they could also then decide to leave it at that if they were happy with the finish.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Lancashire

The post Victorian Tiled Lobby Floor Rebuild in Lytham St Annes appeared first on Tile Doctor Lancashire.

Nine Year Old Chinese Slate Floor Renovated in Chepstow

Thu, 17 Oct 2019 11:55:23 +0000

The tiles pictured are Chinese Slate which were laid in the Kitchen of a house in Chepstow around nine years ago. The town of Chepstow is located on the Welsh side of the River Seven and has the River Wye running through it.

The floor had not been professionally cleaned and sealed since installation. During this time the old sealer had mostly worn off allowing dirt to get into the pores of the stone leaving it looking dull, uninviting and dirty. The grout lines had also collected dirt and many of the lines had darkened.

I discussed with the client the process to get the floor cleaned and restored and demonstrated the effectiveness of the process on a small test area. They were impressed and were happy to go ahead with my quote, so we scheduled in the work which would take two days.

Cleaning a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

To get the floor clean and remove what was left of the old sealer I first made the floor wet and then added a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed with Tile Doctor Remove and Go to give it extra power. This cleaning cocktail was left to soak into the tiles for ten minutes before being scrubbed in with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine and by hand where necessary. This combination works well on really dirty floors such as this.

The scrubbing action released the years of dirt from the pores of the Slate and it wasn’t long before the cleaning solution turned black. This was then extracted off the floor using a wet vacuum. We then gave the floor a thorough inspection. There were one or two areas that were particularly stubborn, so these areas were retreated using the same process and the grout scrubbed by hand using more Tile Doctor Pro Clean.

The floor was then given another rinse with water and then dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum. This got the floor dry, but it would need to be completely dry before sealing so it was then left to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

I came back the next day to seal the floor first checking the moisture level of the stone by taking readings with a damp meter to ensure it was dry. I chose to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow for the sealer as the colour enhancing formula would be the best product to bring out the natural colours in the Chinese slate. Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer which will provides durable protection as well as allowing the surface to breath. Three coats were applied, allowing each to dry before applying the next one.

The client was so happy, so much that she said it looked better than when first laid!

I discussed aftercare with her and recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, it’s pH balanced so it won’t prematurely erode the sealer which can be the problem with stronger products you find in supermarkets. It comes in concentrated form so one bottle lasts a long time.

Professional Restoration of a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Monmouthshire

The post Nine Year Old Chinese Slate Floor Renovated in Chepstow appeared first on Monmouthshire Tile Doctor.

Renovating a Large Travertine Patio in Stonely

Wed, 16 Oct 2019 10:29:18 +0000

I recently paid a visit to a property in the small and sleepy hamlet of Stonely on the outskirts of St Neots to survey a large Travertine patio which needed renovating. As you can see from the photos the patio was looking tired and needed some work.

After an inspection I could see that the stone patio had three main problems:

First it needed a deep clean to remove a build-up of dirt and algae making them slippery.
Second there was areas of loose grout which had become dislodge over time and now needed raking out replacing.
Third some of the Travertine tiles had become loose over the years and needed lifting, cleaning up and relaying.

We always try and do a site visit where possible as photos don’t always give us the true picture and we always want to give the client an accurate quote as possible. The client was happy to go ahead with the remedial work and keen to have the Patio in full working order so they could make use of the space whilst the weather was good.

Deep Cleaning and Repairing a Travertine Patio

My first task was to give the patio a deep clean using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was left to soak into the patio. After ten minutes it was scrubbed in with a medium 1500-grit burnishing pad fitted to a rotary machine. This action lifted the ingrained dirt out of the stone and cleaned up the surface.

Tile Doctor Remove and Go is a multi-purpose coatings remover formulated to remove old sealers and other coverings. This product also draws out ingrained stains and can remove heavy grease build-up, so it was perfect for this job. I then used a truck mounted hot water extraction machine to remove the dirt and slurry which is extracted to grey water tank on the van. It was a large patio, so the cleaning process took up most of day one.

I came back the following day to carry out the necessary repairs which consisted of filling in holes, cracks and raking out and replacing loose grout. In addition, one whole length of tiles on the step had to be removed, cleaned then relayed as all of them had become loose over the years. Once all repairs where complete I arranged to return the following day to complete the renovation with the application of a sealer.

Sealing a Travertine Patio

I returned on day three to seal the entire Travertine Patio, fortunately we had picked a good week to do the work and the weather remained dry. For the sealer I chose Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that is externally rated and should cope well with the UK weather. This gave the patio a lovely finish and will give the stone protection from staining and make it much easier to keep clean, in fact a rinse with a hose should do the job.

The client was very happy with the outcome and is now able to finally get the garden furniture out and start using the outside space without fear of slipping or tripping on the loose stone. I was even asked to come back again to clean and seal another stone patio at the rear of the garden, which I will now doubt follow up later with a separate article.

The client left the following Five Star feedback, for which we are always very grateful as so much of our work comes from recommendations.

“A very professional attitude, and a job well done and on time”

Professional Travertine Patio Maintenance in Cambridgeshire

The post Renovating a Large Travertine Patio in Stonely appeared first on Cambridge Tile Doctor.

Carpet Covered Quarry Tiled Hallway Renovated in Stourport-on-Severn

Tue, 15 Oct 2019 11:57:20 +0000

I was contacted by a client from the Georgian canal town of Stourport-on-Severn regarding their Quarry tiled hallway floor. The client had moved into the property sometime in the past and unhappy with the appearance of the tiled floor decided to have it covered up with carpet. The carpet was now due for a change and rather than replace it she looked around to see if anyone could restore the original quarry tiles.

Having found Tile Doctor, I was asked to pay the property a visit and quote for the restoration. I arranged a convenient time and went over to survey the tiles which although dirty were in good physical condition. The carpet however had secured to the floor with a carpet gripped screwed through the grout and a strong carpet adhesive all of which would need rectifying as part of the restoration.

After reviewing the whole floor and completing a few tests I was confident we could remove the old glue and restore the floor back to its original condition. My quote was accepted, and a date agreed to start the work.

If you have never been, I can recommend a visit to Stourport, close to Kidderminster and famous for its canal junction location it was once one of the principal distribution centres for goods to and from the rest of the West Midlands.

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor

The first job was to remove the carpet, underlay and carpet grippers. I then applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go to breakdown the adhesives and to remove any old sealers. It was left to soak into the Quarry tile and grout for about ten minutes before being worked into the floor with a scrubbing rotary machine fitted with a black pad. It wasn’t long before the solution went dark with all the dirt that had been released from the pores of the tiles and the slurry was removed with a wet and dry vacuum.

I then applied Tile Doctor Acid Gel to remove some cement residue and combat any potential efflorescence issues which are quite common in old floors like these that don’t have a damp-proof membrane installed. The floor was then rinsed down with water to remove any trace of cleaning products, then then left to dry off overnight. Before leaving I spent time filling in the holes left by the screws of the carpet rods with a dark coloured grout which was as close a match to the colour of the tile as possible.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor

On my return the following day I checked the moisture readings on the floor using a damp meter and as the readings were good, I proceeded to seal the floor. For a sealer I had chosen to use the tried and tested Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra. This sealer allows for moisture vapour transmission making it partially breathable and ideal for situations where no damp proof membrane has been installed and where there is risk of moisture being trapped under the floor. It also allows the colour of the tiles to shine through without leaving a shiny finish. I gave the floor five coats allowing ample drying time in-between coats.

As you can see from the pictures the floor looked great and my client was extremely happy with the result and so pleased, they had finally taken the old hallway carpet up. For aftercare I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to keep the floor in the best condition and ensure maximum longevity for the new sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Hallway in Worcestershire

The post Carpet Covered Quarry Tiled Hallway Renovated in Stourport-on-Severn appeared first on Worcestershire Tile Doctor.

Replacing Cracked Travertine Floor Tiles in Cobham

Fri, 11 Oct 2019 12:23:30 +0000

This client from Cobham contacted me in despair, she was quite concerned about her Travertine tiled floor which was cracking. She had the Kitchen and Dining room tiled with Travertine six years ago and recently several cracks had begun to appear in a long line crossing five tiles.

Several holes had also begun to appear and across the threshold to the kitchen from the dining area a serious lip had formed where a tile had risen above its neighbour causing a trip hazard.

After removing a tile from an unobtrusive area, I began to see where the issues lay. The tiler had dabbed the adhesive. This mean that instead of spreading the adhesive equally across the tile and floor they had splurged four lumps in each corner then set the tile down. This is poor working practice that will sooner or later become apparent. It means the areas were no adhesive was applied are eventually compromised resulting in cracking. This could take years or weeks to surface.

After some discussion we decided that I would remove and replace six tiles in total. The client was happy for me to go ahead and agreed a cost for the works to be done.

Repairing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

Returning the following week, firstly I had to remove the grout. This was done with a handheld Fein tool fitted with an oscillating blade. I thought this would be good experience from my son during the holidays, so I took him along and whilst I was working on the grout, he was able to gather the dust in a vacuum cleaner.

Next, I started to remove the cracked tiles with a chisel, starting from the cracks where the tiles would be weakest. This was noisy and messy work which required ear defenders and safety goggles. The process took several hours with the help of my son on general assistance duties. Once the tiles were removed this just left the remaining adhesive attached to the floor to get removed. This was the hardest part of the job, a lot of hammer and chisel work with as much dust gathered as possible to try and contain the mess. I had warned the customer that a considerable amount of mess would be produced and request that she should remove as much items as possible and to tape up her cupboards. Finally, I filled several holes in the sub floor so I would have a flat surface to lay the new tiles on. I left it there for the night to solidify.

Returning the next day, I began laying the replacement tiles down. Colour matching replacement tiles is a difficult task as Travertine is a natural product and colours vary greatly so these were a pretty good match.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

Once the adhesive had set, I grouted in the newly laid tiles and once that was dry set about applying a sealer. For this I used two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is an impregnating sealer that doesn’t alter the colour of the stone. This would ensure they were nicely protected and hopefully the client will not experience any further issues.

She was very happy with the result and was pleased the floor no long looked unsightly or posed a tripping hazard.

Cracked Travertine Floor Tiles Replaced in West Surrey

The post Replacing Cracked Travertine Floor Tiles in Cobham appeared first on West Surrey Tile Doctor.

Cleaning of Polished Limestone Kitchen Floor Tiles in Stanwick

Fri, 11 Oct 2019 06:21:14 +0000

I was contacted by a client from the village of Stanwick regarding their Limestone tiled floors, which were installed throughout the kitchen area and steps leading to the hallway. Polished stone does lose its appearance over time due to wear and this floor was now in need of re-polishing. An appointment was made to visit the client and carry out a survey of the floor.

On my arrival I could see that the Limestone tiles had as suspected become dull and the grout needed attention; it was clear that the sealer had worn off in the busier area and dirt was now becoming ingrained in the stone and grout.

To bring back its polished appearance the floor would need to be honed with burnishing and then re-sealed to protect it. This is a straightforward task which would take two days and so I provided a quote to do the work. The quote was accepted, and the job booked in.

Cleaning and Honing Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

My first course of action was to protect the walls and kitchen units using a protective wrap before scrubbing the first area using a hot solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean using a rotary scrubbing machine fitted with a brush head attachment. This process lifted the dirt from the grout and surface of the tiles.

The floor was then rinsed thoroughly with water to remove the released dirt and cleaning solution which was then extracted off the floor with a wet vacuum. I then proceeded to burnish the Limestone using a set of four Tile Doctor Burnishing Pads fitted to a rotary floor machine. As usual I started with the application of a 400-grit coarse pad lubricated with water, this removes any remaining sealers and ingrained dirt from the stone. The slurry generated was then rinsed away using a wet pick up machine. I then repeated this process using the medium 800-grit and fine 1500-grit burnishing pads which slowly polish the stone, rinsing and extracting after each pad. The floor was then allowed to dry off overnight

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned the following day and continued the process using the superfine 3000-grit polishing pad which is the last stage in the polishing process and bought back the polished surface. In this instance I polished the floor to a high shine as requested by the customer. Only a small amount of water is used with this last pad, so it leaves the floor dry and ready for sealing.

To seal I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal Sealant which is an impregnating sealer that protects from within and gives the floor a natural look. The last step once the sealer was dry was to buff the floor to a nice shine with a rotary machine fitted with a white pad.

As the photos show, the floors were bought back to life with a gleaming high shine finish, the clients were extremely pleased with the results as you can see from their feedback below.

“Phil is a very hardworking and pleasant guy who kept me fully informed at all stages and the floors and patios look great. Many thanks. Michael B, Stanwick”

Whilst I was at the property the client asked me if I was able to clean their flagstone patio, I was able to do this and carried out the work for them, you can see the results achieved in the patio section of my website.

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Honed and Polished in Northamptonshire

The post Cleaning of Polished Limestone Kitchen Floor Tiles in Stanwick appeared first on Northamptonshire Tile Doctor.

Old Brick Floor Renovated in Church Minshull Wash House

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 09:52:13 +0000

We were contacted by an existing client who lives in the lovely Cheshire village of Church Minshull regarding a Brick tiled floor. We had already worked on restoring floors at their property before and on this occasion, they wanted us to improve the appearance of the bricks that comprised the floor in their old wash house.

Like the village in which it’s situated the property was pretty old, and they were not sure when the floor had been laid. You can see from the photographs however it was stained, dull and now well overdue a facelift. Having used our services previously, they knew how we worked and were happy with the quote which would take two days to complete. Although it wasn’t a particularly large floor it was an awkward shape, tight to work in and would result a lot of manual work.

The village of Church Minshull is approximately 5 miles north west of Crewe, just West of the River Weaver and Shropshire Union Canal. The modern village centre is a designated conservation area which contains many houses of Tudor style architecture so it really is a lovely place to visit and to work in.

Cleaning a Brick Tiled Kitchen Floor

The first task was to give the floor a good sweep to remove any debris. After this I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a high alkaline cleaner/coatings striper and left it to soak in. This product gets to work on ingrained dirt and grime as well as removing any existing sealers.

The solution was left to dwell on the brick floor for about twenty minutes before being scrubbed in with a Black pad fitted to a slow speed rotary machine and by hand. This process lifted the dirt out of the brick nicely and the resultant slurry was then removed with assistance of a wet vacuum.

After rinsing the remaining residue off the floor, it was given a thorough inspection. I noticed there were a few stubborn areas so the process was repeated until I was satisfied the floor could be as clean as it possible could be. After a final rinse with water the floor was dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum and left to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Brick Tiled Kitchen Floor

The next morning, I was on site early and the first job was to test the floor with a damp meter to make sure it was dry enough to start sealing. The results were good, so I set about sealing the brick floor starting with a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that enhances colour. Once this had dried, I applied four further coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra which adds a subtle sheen that enhances the appearance of the old bricks even further.

Old floors like this don’t have a damp-proof membrane under the floor so it’s important to use breathable sealers that allow the moisture to rise through the brick and evaporate. Using a non-breathable sealer could lead to damp building up below the floor where it can spread to the walls and cause rising damp.

The floor looked much healthier after I had finished, and the new sealer will make it so much easier to keep clean going forward. For aftercare I recommended they use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to maintain the floor. It’s a pH neutral product which won’t prematurely erode the sealer like some of the stronger tile cleaning products you find in supermarkets which are only for use on Ceramic tiles and Vinyl flooring. It comes in a concentrate, so you only need to dilute a small amount in a bucket of warm water.

Professional Restoration of a Brick Tiled Floor in Cheshire

The post Old Brick Floor Renovated in Church Minshull Wash House appeared first on West Cheshire Tile Doctor.