Floor Tiles Archives - South Lancashire Tile Doctor

Limestone Floor Cleaning Polishing Sealing Ramsbottom

Ten-Year-Old Limestone Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Polished in Ramsbottom

A homeowner from Ramsbottom who had used Tile Doctor before asked if we could quote for renovating their Limestone tiled floor. The floor was extensive and had been laid throughout their large Kitchen, Dining and Garden Room.

The limestone tiles had been down around ten years and were now dull and due some maintenance which was not unexpected as inevitably the sealer wears down with use and without its dirt becomes ingrained in the pores of the stone.

Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Ramsbottom

I went over to measure up the floor and produce a quote for cleaning, polishing and then resealing the floor. The tiles were laid with a cream grout which had darkened in some areas with dirt and would also need cleaning. Whilst there, the owner confirmed they had been using Tile Doctor’s pH Neutral Tile Cleaner to maintain the floor which was good to see as it does help the sealer last longer. There were no other issues except a few stubborn stains that would need some extra attention.

Limestone Floor Before Cleaning Ramsbottom

Having surveyed the floor and noting it had become dull we quoted to restore the honed finish and seal using a clear sealer. This was accepted and dates agreed.

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Kitchen

To restore the appearance of the limestone a weighted rotary buffing machine running at a slow 150 rpm was used to apply a set of Tile Doctor Diamond Burnishing Pads. The extra weight ensures good contact with the stone and is used to run each pad over the floor using only water for lubrication. The coarse pad removes dirt and old sealers whilst the finer pads restore the honed finish of the stone and build up a polish.

A wet vacuum is used after each pad to remove the soiling and then the grout lines were scrubbed using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a power brush.

Limestone Floor During Cleaning Ramsbottom

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen

Once fully dry, the last pad in the set which is a super fine 3500-grit was run over the floor to complete the honing. This last pad is applied dry with only a little water sprayed onto the tile to give the finished polished look.

Limestone Floor During Sealing Ramsbottom

Once complete, the next step was to protect the floor by applying a natural look breathable sealer called Tile Doctor Ultra Seal. The sealer works by occupying the pores in the stone thereby ensuring dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away.

Limestone Kitchen Floor After Renovation Ramsbottom

I’m pleased to say my client was very happy with the result and left the following five-star feedback:

“Amazing, my limestone floor looks like it did when laid the process from start to finish was first class, Kevin explained everything then just got on with the job brilliant would definitely recommend him.”

Limestone Floor After Renovation Ramsbottom

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Kitchen in South Lancashire

Ten-Year-Old Limestone Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Polished in Ramsbottom Read More »

Victorian Tiled Floor After Renovation Heywood

Carpet Covered Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Renovated in Heywood

1 Comment / Heywood Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning / Kevin Parry

This client from Heywood reached out for some advice regarding their Victorian tiled floor that needed renovating. It was quite a large hallway and porch that needed attention and having tried cleaning it themselves they realised the tiles contained a lot of ingrained dirt that was proving stubborn to remove.

Victorian Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Heywood

They had uncovered the original Victorian floor under old carpet, and though there was some damage to the perimeter due to carpet fitting and plumbing updates etc it was broadly complete. There was also some work required in the porch due to settlement.

Victorian Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Heywood

The client had attempted to clean the floor themselves as much as they could but there was ground in dirt and staining from carpet glue and paint which meant it looked permanently unclean. In addition, it was ‘sticky’, and unpleasant to walk on due in part to unstable old sealers.

They needed a quote for someone to clean and seal the tiles properly and leave a serviceable floor that could be maintained easily. For now, repairs were to be left except for replacement of a missing piece and re-fixing a few loose tiles at the foot of the stairs.

Happy with the quote, we agreed a date for the work to start.

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway

The first job was to re-secure the tiles by the stairs and adding the missing piece of tile that I mentioned earlier. This was followed by removing what was left of the sticky old sealer which was done using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and a 50-grit diamond pad. Coarse pads are ideal for removing the ingrained patterns that carpet can leave on a tile after being covered for many years. The floor was then inspected, and any stubborn areas re-done before extracting the soiling with a wet vacuum.

Victorian Tiled Floor During Cleaning Heywood

The next job was to clean the floor using a gel cleaner called Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel. Due to the age of the property and the fact there was a cellar below, I wanted to minimise the use of water, this would also help with drying times. The gel was spread onto the floor with a little water and then scrubbed into the tiles using a 100-grit diamond pad. Once the whole floor was cleaned in this manner the soiling was extracted as before with the wet vacuum.

The last step in the cleaning process was to treat the floor to an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid-Gel. This is another specialist Tile Doctor gel-based product that has several benefits including the further cleaning of the tiles, neutralising the PH level of the floor and countering salts which are quite common with old floors.

Victorian Tiled Floor During Cleaning Heywood

The floor was now free of ingrained dirt and staining and after a final rinse and extraction with the wet vacuum the floor was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway

I returned the next day to seal the tiles and started by taking moisture readings from the tiles using a damp meter. This confirmed the floor was dry and ready for sealing.

I was then able to move onto sealing the floor using Tile Doctor X-Tra seal which is a long-lasting oil-based impregnating sealer that improves colour in the tile and is fully breathable, an important consideration when sealing an old floor that was previously covered in carpet. This product is also rated for external as well as internal use so its ideal for hallways which can get wet.

Victorian Tiled Floor During Sealing Heywood

Once complete the floor looked new again, much to the delight of my clients who were very happy with the work and left the following comment on our feedback system:

”Kevin was fantastic – he was so helpful and knowledgeable and made our old, tired floor look brilliant. Would 100% recommend”

Victorian Tiled Floor After Renovation Heywood

Before leaving I took time to discuss aftercare for which I recommended they use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, being pH neutral its ideal for the regular cleaning of sealed tiles. Many of the tile cleaning products you find in supermarkets are very strong and will strip the sealer off a floor so always read the label.

Victorian Tiled Floor After Renovation Heywood

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in South Lancashire

Carpet Covered Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Renovated in Heywood Read More »

Porcelain Tiled Plank Floor Leigh Grout Colouring

Planked Effect Porcelain Floor Renovated after Water Damage in Leigh

Grout Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning / abzdominise

I was originally called to this home in Leigh to deep clean approx. 100m2 of porcelain floor tiles in the living area after recent works, but plans changed somewhat when I arrived.

Porcelain Tiled Plank Floor Leigh Before Renovation

On my arrival the owners informed me that since my last visit to quote for cleaning the Porcelain floor a leak had come through the ceiling. This had left the previously dark grout in the textured ‘plank’ effect porcelain looking washed out and, leaving the floor in need of a refresh. I strongly suspect it wasn’t the leak that caused the problem, but the use of strong cleaning products used afterwards to clean up the mess, a lot of these cleaning products contain bleach, and this can wash the colour out of grout.

Out of interest the main issue we encounter with this type of flooring is grout haze, which occurs when the installer doesn’t manage to remove all the grout. This results in a thin film of grout on the surface which detracts from the final appearance. This probably happens with all installations but is certainly very evident on porcelain. The solution is to give the floor an acid wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up, but most tilers don’t bother.

After discussion it was agreed to re-focus the time, we had available on the grout. However, after a deep clean it became clear the grout would need recolouring to look it’s best.

Grout Colouring Porcelain Floor Tiles with Chocolate Grout Colouring

Applying a Tile Doctor Grout Colourant in Chocolate colour was the ideal solution and after an urgent call to Tile Doctor HQ I set up a delivery to ensure it would be with us the next morning.

In the meantime, I continued the preparation of the grout and cleaning of the tiles using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which not only removes the grout haze but will also etch the surface of the grout to ensure a superior bond with the colourant.

That afternoon we also discussed the high gloss porcelain floor in the hallway, the owners had spent a lot of time polishing it themselves since installation and were not completely happy with it. I setup a floor buffer fitted with a 3000-grit pad and dry burnished a small section in the hallway. The difference was obvious, and they could see an immediate improvement, as a result they decided to rebook me to do a day polishing as well once the living room was completed.

I returned on day two to find the colourant had arrived and so started the process of recolouring the grout with the chocolate colourant. This is a straightforward process but very time consuming as with these thin planks there were a lot of grout lines to cover.

Afterwards the tiles were gently buffed with a White pad before leaving to dry. The owners were very pleased with the result commenting we had done a “brilliant job in the front room.” Later he added the following feedback:

“Kevin was excellent and did a fantastic job at the house.”

Porcelain Tiled Plank Floor Leigh After Grout Colouring

They also booked us in to do the polish on the next available date, but I’ll discuss that in a separate post.

Professional Restoration of a Porcelain Planked Tiled Living Area in Greater Manchester

Planked Effect Porcelain Floor Renovated after Water Damage in Leigh Read More »