How to Remove Epoxy Grout from Porcelain Tiles

Detailed below is a great example of why Tile Doctor uses the slogan:

"We Love the Jobs Tilers Hate"
First of all, apologies for the photographs, at this time of year it is tricky to get good pictures when the natural light is poor. If you look closely however you should recognise what is essentially a new installation of Cream Porcelain floor tiles. The work was done at a house in Banbury which is a market town in Oxfordshire. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire and southern rural parts of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire.


The tiler who laid the floor had used an epoxy grout and unfortunately had not polished off the grout quickly enough after grouting and it was now ruining the appearance of the floor. He now found it impossible to remove the excess residue and was unable to offer a solution leaving the problem to the customer to sort out. Fortunately, the client found Tile Doctor and having visited the property to survey the floor and assess the correct procedure required to renovate the tiles. Epoxy grout is a superior product to cement based grout and very resistant to staining however it is trickier to work with and often causes problems. We have come across this problem before however so I knew how to treat it and assured the client it could be resolved.

Removing Epoxy Grout from Porcelain Tiles

The first process was to apply a specialist epoxy grout remover then mix in Tile Doctor Acid Gel, I then scrubbed the resulting solution with a black pad fitted to a rotary machine running at a very slow speed to reduce splashing. The Tile Doctor Acid Gel has a unique pH1 blend of Phosphoric and Hydrochloric acids in a gel form and is perfect for treating grout haze.

The floor was then rinsed with water to remove the soil which was then extracted with a wet vacuum. It was a slow process and I worked in sections until the whole floor was clear. There was still some residue in the grout, so I washed the floor with a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and scrubbed it into the floor using a medium brush fitted on my rotary machine.

Last step was to give the whole floor a thorough rinse with water, again using the wet vacuum to remove the water and get the floor as dry as possible. The process took about six hours and when I was finished the Porcelain tiles looked much better. There was no need to add any sealant to this floor as this particular make of Porcelain are not porous and won’t accept it.


The client was very relieved to see the floor looking as good as new, it was how the floor should have looked following installation.


Source: Porcelain Tile Cleaning and Restoration Service in Banbury, Oxfordshire

Old Slate Flagstone Tiled Floor Brought Back to Life in Banbury

Every so often we come across exceptionally old tiles that are in desperate need of restoration. These Slate flagstones at a property in Banbury, Oxfordshire had to be a couple of hundred years old, the grout had come loose and I wagered that it'd been covered by bitumen (also known as asphalt), plaster, and concrete for a significant portion of its life. The property owner was keen to try and restore them and had tried to clean them, only to realise that it was a bigger task than initially Read more...

Grout haze removed from Limestone

If you're passionate about tiled floors and easily upset I suggest you look away now as believe it or not the photographs below are from a recently laid Limestone tiled floor in Banbury. It had been left in a very poor state by the tiler who had managed to cover in Grout Haze and then in the Read more...

Combining Sealers for Maximum Effect

These photographs from the hallway of a house in Banbury where old thick slate tiled floor had been laid and the customer was unable to get them clean or restore any colour back into the stone. Cleaning Slate Flagstone Tiles I prepped the skirting boards with masking tape to protect them and Read more...

Restoring Very Old and Stained State Flagstones

Every so often we come across exceptionally old tiles that are in desperate need of restoration. These Slate flagstones at a property in Banbury, Oxfordshire had to be a couple of hundred years old, the grout had come loose and I wagered that it'd been covered by bitumen (also known as asphalt), Read more...

Deep Cleaning Dirty Slate Flagstone Flooring in Oxfordshire

Every so often we come across exceptionally old tiles that are in desperate need of restoration. These Slate flagstones at a property in Banbury, Oxfordshire had to be a couple of hundred years old, the grout had come loose and I wagered that it’d been covered by bitumen (also known as asphalt), plaster, and concrete for a significant portion of its life. The property owner was keen to try and restore them and had tried to clean them, only to realise that it was a bigger task than initially thought. Flagstones are known to be hard wearing and durable, but no floor can be easily restored when subject to this kind of treatment. However, at Tile Doctor we are experienced with cleaning tiles in this kind of condition – and I was more t

Cleaning Old Slate Flagstones

Upon arrival at the property, the first thing I did was to cover the walls to protect them from splashes of cleaning products I would be using. I then started the process by mixing two products – Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU and Tile Doctor Remove & Go – in a bucket and spread it over the entire floor. These two products are both very powerful cleaners on their own and work even better together: NanoTech HBU utilises nano-sized particles to penetrate areas that normal cleaners simply can’t reach, while Remove & Go is specifically designed for the removal of coatings such as old sealers. For added impact and so the blend of cleaning products would not dry out, I covered the floor with a plastic sheeting, leaving the solution to dwell and work to break down the bitumen, plaster and concrete overnight. The following day, after removing the plastic sheeting I used my rotary floor machine fitted with a silicone carbon brush to slowly scrub the floor, beginning to loosen the soil. After this, I thoroughly rinsed the floor with water. I then used Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up, which is a concentrated phosphoric acid cleaner to remove the plaster and thin layers of concrete, before again rinsing the floor with water. Next, I had to remove the particularly thick chunks of concrete carefully using a chisel, before scrubbing the floor with Grout Clean Up once more. To complete the cleaning process, I then mixed a solution of our strong alkaline cleaner, Tile Doctor Pro Clean, with water and scrubbed and rinsed the flagstones with water.

Sealing Old Slate Flagstones

The next day I returned to the property to grout the floor, before leaving it again for another day to fully cure. On the final day, I sealed the floor using Tile Doctor Seal & Go, which is a topical water-based blend of acrylic polymers that provides a stain resistant surface seal combined with a long-lasting low-sheen finish. This eliminates traditional two-step sealing methods. I applied eight coats of this to give the floor the strong sheen (seen in the below photo), that the customer requested.


The floor had been in awful condition, for decades or perhaps even hundreds of years, yet using the right methods and products I successfully completed the full restoration within a single week. The customer was absolutely over the moon with the result.


Source: Slate, Stone and Grout Cleaning and Restoration Service in Oxfordshire

Restoring Quarry floor tiles previously covered in Carpet

This Quarry tiled floor at a house in Banbury had previously been covered in carpet which had been stuck to the floor with an adhesive when once removed left a stain of white marks all over the floor. The customer had taken the floor as far as they could so I got the call to complete the Read more...

Removing Carpet Glue from Quarry Tiles in Banbury

This Quarry tiled floor at a house in Banbury had previously been covered in carpet which had been stuck to the floor with an adhesive when once removed left a stain of white marks all over the floor. The customer had taken the floor as far as they could so I got the call to complete the restoration. Restoring Quarry Tiles The first process was to tape the newly papered wall to protect them from any splashes during the cleaning process. I then scrubbed in a dilution of Tile doctor Pro-Clean Read more...

Restoring Quarry Tiles Hidden Under Carpet

This Quarry tiled floor at a house in Banbury had previously been covered in carpet which had been stuck to the floor with an adhesive when once removed left a stain of white marks all over the floor. The customer had taken the floor as far as they could so I got the call to complete the restoration.

Restoring Quarry Tiles

The first process was to tape the newly papered wall to protect them from any splashes during the cleaning process. I then scrubbed in a dilution of Tile doctor Pro-Clean with the assistance of a rotary floor machine fitted with a black pad and then rinsed off the resultant slurry. This process defiantly made an improvement but I can see more work would be needed so I then applied a mixture of Pro-Clean and HBU (Heavy Build-up Remover) to the floor and scrubbed this with a carbon brush attached to a rotary floor machine. This proved to be more effective removing the carpet glue marks so I then rinsed the floor with water and used my wet vacuum to remove the slurry. I then gave the floor a thorough rinse with water again using the wet vacuum to extract the solution afterwards. To finish the cleaning of the floor and remove any grout smears and other minderal deposits I applied Tile Doctor Acid Gel to the floor; this was left to dwell for a short time before scrubbing in with a stiff brush and then rinsed away with more water and extracted again using the wet vacuum. The last job of the day was to fill in some holes in the tiles with a colour matching resin filler.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled floor

I returned two days later and confirmed the floor was dry ready for sealing. To seal the floor I first applied a coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating seal that also enhances the colour of the stone. This leaves a Matt finish and I showed the client this as they was not sure what finish they wanted, after seeing this that wanted more shine to the floor so once dried I applied a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go which is a topical sealer that gives a sheen finish to the floor.


The client was very pleased with the end result leaving this as feedback. Our options were a completely new floor or renovate the existing quarry tiles. We were glad we chose renovation; the results are amazing and a lot less messy and expensive than a new floor!


Source: Quarry Tile and Stone Cleaning and Maintenance Service in Oxfordshire

Grout haze removed from Limestone

If you're passionate about tiled floors and easily upset I suggest you look away now as believe it or not the photographs below are from a recently laid Limestone tiled floor in Banbury. It had been left in a very poor state by the tiler who had managed to cover in Grout Haze and then in the Read more...

Ruined Limestone Tiled Floor Restored in Banbury

If you're passionate about tiled floors and easily upset I suggest you look away now as believe it or not the photographs below are from a recently laid Limestone tiled floor in Banbury. It had been left in a very poor state by the tiler who had managed to cover in Grout Haze and then in the process of trying to rectify the problem by cleaning it off with acid managed to etch the surface of the Limestone making the situation even worse. Limestone being a calcareous stone can in fact be Read more...

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Combining Sealers for Maximum Effect

These photographs from the hallway of a house in Banbury where old thick slate tiled floor had been laid and the customer was unable to get them clean or restore any colour back into the stone. Cleaning Slate Flagstone Tiles I prepped the skirting boards with masking tape to protect them and Read more...

Cleaning Old Slate Flagstones Tiles in Banbury

These photographs from the hallway of a house in Banbury where old thick slate tiled floor had been laid and the customer was unable to get them clean or restore any colour back into the stone. Cleaning Slate Flagstone Tiles I prepped the skirting boards with masking tape to protect them and then cleaned the floor with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to dwell on the floor for a while before being worked into the flagstones by hand using a stiff bristle brush. Read more...

Quarry Tiled Floor Restoration Banbury

This house near Banbury was the tied accommodation for an old village police station from the days when the local bobby would live in the house next door. I'm sure the Quarry tiled floor had a rich history which no doubt contributed to its poor state and was eventually was covered up with linoleum which had been stuck to the tiles with adhesive. Recently however the house had been sold and redecorated and the new owner wanted the floor restoring to its former glory. Restoring Quarry Tiles I Read more...

Restoring Quarry Tiles covered in Glue and Lino

This house near Banbury was the tied accommodation for an old village police station from the days when the local bobby would live in the house next door. I'm sure the Quarry tiled floor had a rich history which no doubt contributed to its poor state and was eventually was covered up with Read more...