Pointers for Using Peel and Stick Linoleum Tiles

Installing peel-and-stick linoleum tiles is a relatively easy floor application, but even the simplest mistake will reduce the life and durability of your new floor. Be absolutely certain that the existing floor is level. Any imperfections will show on your new floor. If you are installing over an existing tile and it has a pattern, the new linoleum tiles will deform around the pattern.

If you don't remove the old floor, it is essential that you use a floor leveling compound before installing the new product. Once the floor is level, be sure to clean any remaining fragments and dust. If the floor is not sufficiently clean, the glue will not adhere properly.

Apply Additional Glue to Tiles

The glue on the peel and stick tiles can degrade quickly and cause the tiles to slide out of place. Place a little bit of glue on the bottom of each tile before installation. This will keep the tiles in place. Don’t use too much glue, because it will seep onto the tiles and damage the finish.

Placement of First Tile

Be extremely careful that your first tile is perfectly straight, plumb, and level. This is your starting point and all other tiles will have to maintain the line set. Start at the center of the room and work outward, so that cuts are at the walls, not in the main area.

Seal Seams Properly

Be sure that all seams around all tiles are sealed properly. You can use a clear silicone caulk and apply it with a caulk gun. Sealing the seams will prevent liquids from seeping into the sub-floor underneath the linoleum tiles.

Source: www.DoItYourself.com

Must-Have Tools for Refinishing Floors

 Hardwood floors give any home an elegant, classic appearance and can add thousands of dollars to the resale value of a home. Hardwoods are beautiful, and they're also long-lasting, easy to care for, ecologically responsible, and a healthy choice for a family. If you're thinking about installing hardwood floors in your home, here's some basic information to keep in mind.

Hardwoods are Ecologically Responsible

We all know that wood is a renewable resource, but may not be aware the North American hardwood used for floors today mainly comes from a highly managed woodland resource. US Forest Service statistics indicate that almost twice as much hardwood timber is added each year as is harvested, and there is more standing timber today than 50 years ago.

Hardwoods are Healthy

Unlike soft surfaces, hardwoods don't harbor dust mites or mold, so help provide a cleaner environment for your family. Since hardwood floors don’t give off any volatile organic compounds (VOC's) from synthetic components they won't cause breathing problems for anyone living in the house, particularly anyone suffering from Asthma.

Hardwood is Versatile

One of the great features about hardwood is its versatility. You can put hardwood on your floors in virtually any room — living rooms, family rooms, dining rooms, and even kitchens. It can be installed over concrete or directly onto conventions wood joist construction either on or above grade. Engineered hardwood can even be installed below grade (in basements).

All Hardwoods Aren't the Same

In the US we generally consider oak, maple, and cherry as the primary woods for floors, while other native woods like ash are popular and are also commonly used. "Exotic" hardwoods such as Tasmanian Oak or Brazilian Cherry from other parts of the world are also widely available. While exotic hardwoods can be beautiful and quite different in appearance from American hardwoods, keep in mind they didn't grow in North America's temperate climate so may react differently in our air-conditioned home environments.

Hardwood Grades

Hardwoods are graded based on their appearance. Grades range from clear (with virtually no eye-catching blemishes) through select (some burls and markings) to common (more grain differences to catch the eye). All are equally strong and serviceable and the choice of one grade over the other is essentially a personal choice based on appearance.

Engineered Hardwoods

Engineered hardwoods are a manufactured product. Planks are made using three to five layers of wood laminated in a cross-directional pattern then covered with a top layer of premium hardwood. This method of construction helps prevent the natural tendency of wood to expand and contract with changes in temperature or moisture content in the air.

Prefinished Versus Unfinished?

More and more hardwood is being sold already finished. Prefinished gives you the opportunity to see exactly what your floor will look like before it's ever installed. There's no dust from sanding the floors after installation and no objectionable fumes. As an added bonus, a prefinished floor can be installed in a shorter time than an unfinished floor since it's a one-phase project rather than two-phase.

However, since prefinished floors aren't sanded after installation, both your subfloor and installation need to be perfect. There's no opportunity to remove any minor imperfections that you get with the sanding step necessary as part of installing unfinished wood.

Maintaining Hardwood Floors

Hardwood floors are amazingly easy to keep clean. Keep them dust free and clean with a dust mop and regular vacuuming and have dirt-trapping walk-off mats at doors and entrances to pick up any grit or dirt.

Source: www.DoItYourself.com

Deep Cleaning Old Quarry Tiles in Devon with Tile Doctor Remove and Go

This client called us out to look at their grubby Quarry tiled lobby at the front of their property in Kenton near Exeter. Being the main entrance to the property it saw a lot of foot traffic so once the sealer had worn down it wasn’t long before the dirt started penetrating the pores of the tile and became difficult to keep clean.

 

The property was originally a school and dated back over 200 years. The Quarry tiles in the entrance lobby were probably as old as the building and as mentioned earlier were looking worse for wear having been partially covered for years. They weren’t sure how old the tiled floor was, but they were keen to see it restored. They were therefore desperate to get the floor deep cleaned and a fresh seal applied. They agreed to my quotation, and we arranged a convenient date to carry out the work.

 

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor

I started by taping up the skirting to protect it from the cleaning products we would be using. I then applied Tile Doctor Remove & Go to the floor and covered the area with plastic sheets to stop the evaporation of the products so that I could achieve a longer dwell time. This would really get to the deep-seated dirt and loosen it so it can be lifted from the pores of the tiles.

I then worked the floor with 200-grit carbide brush fitted to a rotary machine to remove the dirt ingrained in the clay pores of the tile. Some of the grout was loose and dislodged in the process, however my client was expecting this and had already arranged for his tiler to complete a full re-grout once we had finished cleaning. The soiling released by the cleaning process was rinsed off the floor with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

 

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Lobby Floor

I wanted to seal the floor the next day so I left a couple of driers in place overnight to speed up the drying process. The next morning when I returned, I first checked the floor to make sure it was dry with a moisture meter.

The dryers had worked their magic so I was able to begin sealing the floor with Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which is an effective interior and exterior sealer. With the lobby being a high traffic area, I applied four coats to ensure a durable seal. The benefit of this sealer is it gave the floor a nice sheen really bringing out the depth of colour in the tiles, and with the newly applied grout the floor looked great.

 

For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This is a pH neutral product which is gentle enough for daily use. It won’t compromise the newly applied sealer which can be a problem with the stronger bleach-based products you find in supermarket products.

The work completely transformed the Quarry tiles and my client was very happy with the completed job and told me they wished they had tackled it sooner.

Source: Quarry Tile Cleaning and Sealing Service in Devon

How do I remove porcelain tile grout haze?

You need porcelain tile grout to make your floors professional, but after installation, you may notice a haze from the grout that seems impossible to remove. There is a simple solution to the problem. Add a cup of white vinegar to very hot water, and saturate a heavy sponge with the solution. Rub hard and the haze will come right off. Be sure to rinse out the sponge often as you move to different areas to prevent putting the haze back on the floor. If you find an extremely stubborn area, pour some white vinegar directly to that spot and rub away with the sponge.

Source: www.DoItYourself.com

How to Restore old Victorian Tiled Floors by South Yorkshire Expert

During renovations at this beautiful house in Sheffield the discovered an original Victorian tiled floor underneath the hallway carpet, incredibly they also uncovered access to a cellar, neither of which they knew idea existed and both were a massive bonus!

    

Once the floor had been fully uncovered it was in a pretty good condition, some repairs were needed but nothing too dramatic. There was damage around the radiators where the heating engineers have just chiselled through the tiles. Plus, the tiles were stained by adhesive where the carpet grippers had been glued to the tiles.

 

I discussed with the client the work needed to carry out a full restoration and gave them a quote. They were happy to accept and asked us to proceed as soon as possible.

 

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Work started with the removal of the carpet grippers and scraping up as much of the glue as possible, it took some shifting, but it did come up. Any remaining glue was softened up with the application of neat Tile Doctor Remove and Go and then carefully scraped off. Tile Doctor Remove and Go is a multi-purpose stripper that is ideal for removing adhesives and other stubborn coatings such as sealers.

 

The repairs were done next which involved colour matching replacement tiles and cutting them to the right size. A fast-setting adhesive was used to fix them in place and once the floor had dried it was time to move onto the cleaning.

More Tile Doctor Remove and Go was applied, left to soak for ten minutes, and then worked in with a weighted 42kg buffer machine fitted with a very coarse diamond burnishing pad. This combination not only removed the old sealer but did a good job of removing ingrained dirt as well. The floor was rinsed with water and the soil extracted using a wet vacuum.

 

Once done the process was repeated using Tile Doctor Acid Gel, this removes stubborn staining and being an acidic product will counter any efflorescence which is a common problem with these old floors. Old floors like this one don’t have a damp proof membrane installed to prevent moisture underneath the tiles rising through the floor and depositing salt as it evaporates at the surface.

A wet vacuum was used to extract the soiling generated during the cleaning process and every tile was rubbed with microfibre cloths to remove the last of the residue.

 

A nice feature seen on a lot of Victorian floors is an upside tile left by the tiler on purpose, the picture shows the one on this floor. They believed it brought good luck.

 

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The floor was left to dry off overnight and I returned the following morning to continue with the final phase of the restoration. Before starting though, the first job was to check the floor was dry using a moisture meter. Once satisfied six coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra we applied leaving the floor with a beautiful sheen finish.

 

The client was very pleased with the newly restored floor, and for ongoing cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This product has a neutral Ph which is ideal for sealed surfaces; stronger bleach-based cleaners are simply too strong for use on sealed tiles and will erode the sealer prematurely.

 

Source: Tile Cleaning and Restoration Contractor in Sheffield Yorkshire