Cheshire Expert Details how to Renovate a Carpet Covered Quarry Tiled Floor

These photos are from a house in Cheadle Hulme where the owner wanted the 120-year-old quarry tiles in the dining room restored as an original feature. The tiles had been discovered when a carpet was removed and as well as being very dirty had been covered with a cement based self-levelling compound.

 

It’s not unusual to find tiles covered in self-levelling compound when a carpet or lino is fitted. It’s done to smooth out the grout depressions which otherwise would eventually show through. Fortunately, it can be removed however it does require a lot of work.

 

Removing Cement from a 120-Year-Old Quarry Tiled Floor

To deal with the cement I treated the Quarry tiles with neat Tile Doctor Acid Gel and left it to get to work on the cement for ten to fifteen minutes. I then ran over the floor with an abrasive 200 grit milling pad fitted to a weighted rotary floor buffer. This action loosened the cement so it could be removed although in some of the stubborn areas I had to use a little extra force with the careful application of a hammer and chisel. I also used handheld abrasive diamond encrusted blocks which came in very handy near the skirting boards and corners.

 

It took a lot of effort to get all the cement off the tiles, but they responded well to the treatment, and I could see the floor slowly transform in the process. A lot of water was used to provide lubrication and during rinsing for which I used a wet vacuum to extract the resultant slurry off the floor. The Acid Gel also removes old grout smears from the tile and neutralises any efflorescent salts in the floor which can be a problem with floors of this age with no damp proof membrane.

Sealing a 120-Year-Old Quarry Tiled Floor

The floor was left to dry off overnight and I came back a few days later to check the moisture levels in the floor with a damp meter. Unfortunately, the readings were still too high to apply a sealer, so I re-arranged my return. In fact, it took weeks for the moisture level to drop below 25% which was the minimum acceptable level before sealing.

The sealer I used on this floor was Tile Doctor Colour Grow. It's a fully breathable colour enhancing impregnating sealer that will cope with any damp moisture rising through the tile and being a colour enhancer really brought out the red and black colours in the tiles.

 

Whilst the sealer was drying, I painted the fireplace hearth with black paint, this really tied it in with the Black Quarry tiles and neatly finished off the appearance of the room. Needles to say by the time I had finished the floor it looked great, and my client was very happy with their newly restored Quarry tiled floor, so much so they took time to leave the following feedback which is always appreciated:

  "Within hours of sending in an enquiry on the tile doctor website I was contacted to say that the local rep would be in touch. Within another couple of hours, Kamila got in touch. Right from the start Kamila was accommodating to suit my needs, carrying out a trial 'out of hours' to suit me. Her communication was fantastic, regularly keeping me updated. She is a lovely lady who is trustworthy. I had to leave Kamila a few times and she locked up and posted the key as agreed. I am extremely pleased with the results of my refurbished quarry tiled floor, I never thought it would come up as well as it has done."

For aftercare cleaning I recommended they use the Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. It is pH neutral tile cleaner that will not degrade the new sealer which is important as many supermarket cleaning products are simply too strong for use on sealed tiles. (Always check the label!)

 

Source: Tile Cleaning and Renovation Service in Cheadle Hulme Cheshire

Steam Cleaning Carpet vs Dry Cleaning Carpet

If you are trying to decide between asteam cleaning carpet method or achemical/dry cleaning system for cleaning soiled carpet, the following facts can assist you in making this decision to maintain the beauty of your carpet.

1. Chemical/Dry Cleaning

This method of cleaning carpets is sometimes preferred because the carpets dry quicker, even though a small amount of water is used to inject the chemicals into your carpet during the process.

Once the chemical has been placed and brushed into the fibers of the carpet, the chemical, the dirt, and debris mix together and form small crystals that, when dried, can be vacuumed up.

Unless you only want a surface cleaning of your carpet, this method is ineffective as only the dirt on top of your carpet is removed.

2. Steam Cleaning

The steam cleaning system cleans the carpet more thoroughly.

By using hot water on your carpet, the surface and the base of the carpet—after becoming saturated with water—then mixes with the dirt and debris and are then extracted by a powerful vacuum.

This type of system is capable of removing sand that sinks and collects at the base of your carpeting and matting, sand that can grind into the carpet fibers and eventually destroy it.

Source: www.DoItYourself.com

 

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Restoration Detailed by North London Expert

My client discovered found this Victorian tiled floor under the carpet of a communal hallway in a large Victorian house in Bounds Green. The property had previously been converted into three flats and it seems the developers of the property dodged the cost of having the floor renovated and opted to glue down a carpet instead. The floor was in quite a state and there was a section of tiles missing where a pipe had been laid under the floor.

 

I visited the property to survey the floor and prepare a quote for renovating the floor. With the floor in such a state I could see I would need to source replacement tiles. Whilst there I also carried out a small test clean to understand what it would take to ensure a good result could be achieved. Impressed with results from the test clean and happy with the quote my client agreed to have us back to do the work.

 

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Day one started by deep cleaning the floor using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was scrubbed in with a black pad fitted to a rotary machine. This product weakens the glue and allows it to be removed with handheld scrapers, a steamer also comes in handy during this process.

Next step was to tackle the thin layer of cement screed which had been applied in some areas to level the floor ready for carpet. To do this a 200-grit diamond pad was fitted to the rotary floor buffer and run over the tiles along with Tile Doctor Acid Gel both to lubricate and help clean away the cement residues. This process generates a lot of soil with is rinsed off with water and extracted using a wet vacuum.

The 200-grit pad was followed up with a finer 400-grit pad to improve the condition of the tile, again using Acid Gel. After another round of rinsing and extracting the cleaning process was complete. As well as removing the cement the Acid Gel will neutralise any potential efflorescent salt issues that are a common problem with floors of this age. The floor was then rinsed with water and the soiling removed with a wet vacuum.

The next step was to tackle the damaged section of tiling where the pipe had been laid. To do this the backfilled cement was carefully chiselled out and the rubble removed. The subfloor was then rebuilt to with fast drying cement ready for tiling the next day.

For this project we were unable find existing replacement tiles that fitted exactly so instead large square tiles in the colours required were obtained from Original Features (just down the road in Crouch End N8) and then cut down to size on site.

After cutting all the tiles to match the existing pattern I laid them into the floor using a fast-drying flexible adhesive. The floor set over lunch and were grouted later that afternoon.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The following day I returned and sealed the tiles with three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a breathable impregnating sealer that will soak into the tile adding protection. This takes a while to apply as you have to wait at least half an hour between coats to dry before applying the next. 

Additionally, Colour Grow is a colour enhancing sealer and so was a perfect choice for this colourful floor. Being breathable it will also cope well with any moisture rising through the floor which is important for old floors like this which don’t have a damp proof membrane installed.

 

My client was very happy with the newly restored Victorian tiled hallway which looked so much better than the previous carpet and had added so much more value to the property. For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, which is pH balanced cleaner that will clean the tiles without being so strong that it impacts the sealer.

Source: Hallway Floor Tile Cleaning and Restoration Service in North London