How to Remove Self Levelling Cement from Quarry Tiles

This Quarry tiled floor was discovered in an old cottage in the Surrey village of Cranleigh. The new owners had found the quarry tiled floor under an old carpet and wanted to have it restored as an original feature. Unfortunately, it also had a covering of concrete screed over a large percentage of it. This is a fairly common practice when laying vinyl or carpet over tiles as it ensures a completely flat surface. From experience, I knew returning the tiles to a decent state would be possible but it’s difficult and unpleasant work. None the less I was happy to do the restoration and having visited the property to survey the floor I came up with a restoration plan that I was happy with. This evolved into a quote which the owners were happy to accept, and a date set for the work to commence.

 

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Living Room

To remove the screed, I started with a power chisel fitted with a serrated attachment and started to carefully chip away at the screed. This is noisy and messy work, so I shut myself off from the world wearing eye protection goggles and ear defenders. Slowly the cement screed came away and was bagged up for removal.

Once I’d cleared the area of screed, a heavyweight buffing machine was introduced to the floor. Heavy iron bars were attached to the front to increase traction with the tiles and make cleaning and burnishing more effective. With the machine ready the quarry tiles were covered in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, and this was left to soak in for ten minutes.

A coarse 200-grit diamond pad was fitted to the machine and then run over the floor to work in the cleaning solution. This abrasive pad cuts into the surface of the tile to remove the years of dirt and grime. This is an aggressive, wet process but the cleaning solution captures the dirt and dust minimising the mess. Once done the floor was rinsed with water and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum.

Attention was then directed at the grout which had to be hand scrubbed for the best results using more Pro-Clean. The whole floor was then inspected and any stubborn areas of staining were spot treated using the same process. Once I was happy with the condition of the tiles the floor was left to dry out overnight ready for sealing the next day.

 

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Living Room

Quarry tiles don’t particularly like aggressive cleaning processes and it can cause their colour to fade, however there is little alternative when they are this bad. With this in mind, I had decided to seal them with a colour enhancing sealer called Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This product is an impregnator which works by soaking into the pores of the tile, protecting it from within and ensuring any dirt remains on the surface, it also leaves the matt finish the client had requested.

Other sealers are available that offer a sheen or shiny finish however this client had a couple of dogs whose claws can damage a topical sealer, so an impregnator was the best option.

I returned a month later with some reclaimed tiles to fit around the front of the fireplace For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is ideal for the regular cleaning of sealed tiles and won't impact the integrity of the sealer.

Source: Quarry Tiled Floor Tile Renovation Service in Cranleigh Surrey

Gel Cleaning a Victorian Hallway Floor in Surrey

It had been a while since this Victorian tiled hallway at a property in Reigate had received a deep clean and re-seal and it was now looking quite unloved. The sealer had almost worn off and dirt had become ingrained in the pores of the tile leaving it dull and lifeless. Hallways floors receive a lot of foot traffic so do need regular attention if they are to look their best and this example was no different. 

Fortunately, the floor was intact with no broken or loose tiles to deal with, there were a few chipped tiles in the floor but I think that adds character to a floor of this age. I worked out a quote to deep clean the tiles, flush out the dirt and add a fresh sealer to protect them. The quote was accepted and a date set for the work to commence.

 

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I started the work by applying a generous coating of Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel and left it to soak into the pores of the Victorian tiling for around 30 minutes. I used Oxy-Gel so as to minimise the use of water which can exacerbate efflorescence salt issues which is a typical problem of floors of this age that don’t have the benefit of a damp proof membrane.

Then using a very coarse 100-grit diamond encrusted pad attached to a rotary floor machine the tiles were given a good scrub. This process skims away a small layer off the surface of the tiles to remove the dirt and old coatings such as sealers. All the soil was extracted from the floor using a wet vacuum and I repeated this process twice for maximum effect.

At this point the tiles were already looking significantly better but I hadn’t finished yet. I still needed to deal with the edges and corners where the pad can struggle to reach. For this I use handheld burnishing blocks and more Oxy-Gel, you need a lot of elbow grease to do this but its an important step and can also be used to deal with any stubborn areas.

Once finished I used a little water to help rinse off the floor and the wet vacuum again to get the floor as dry as possible before leaving the floor to dry off completely overnight.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Floor

The tiles need to be dry before sealing so the next day my first action was to test the floor for moisture using a damp meter. They passed and were ready to take a sealer which for this floor I used Tile Doctor seal and Go Extra. It's super tough and ideal for doorways and hallways and leaves a nice sheen without being too shiny.

 

Before leaving I left advice on how to maintain the tiles using Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a gentle tile cleaning product that will clean the floor without impacting the sealer which can be a problem with many of the strong products you find in supermarkets.

Source: Victorian Tile Cleaning and Renovation Service in Surrey