Northants Tile Doctor Details the Renovation of a Quarry Tiled Floor in Wollaston

This client from the village of Wollaston contacted Tile Doctor about cleaning and sealing their Quarry tiled floor. They were refurbishing the house and wanted to keep the original floor tiles as part of the renovation.

The tiles were installed throughout the ground floor, including the kitchen, lounge and hallway. However, as I was to discover myself, they were covered in years of grime, and they were not sure if they could be restored.

I went over to survey the floor and could see that any sealer that may have protected the tiles from ingrained dirt had long since worn off and as a result dirt had become ingrained into the pores of the quarry tiles. Once this happens its very difficult to keep clean.

 

I had to agree the floor was overdue a deep clean and re-seal and so took some measurements in order to work out a quote for doing the work. The quote was accepted, and a date set for starting the work which would take two days, one to clean and one to seal.

 

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Ground Floor

To deep clean the quarry tiles, a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go was applied to the floor and left to dwell for a short while. The solution was then scrubbed into the tile using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine.

The solution soon turned black with the dirt that was pulled out of the tiles and was rinsed away with water and extracted using a wet vacuum. I inspected the tiles afterwards and could see some paint splashes from years of decorating were still evident, so I re-applied the product and repeated the process to get rid of them.

The grout was then cleaned by hand using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a scrubbing brush, again extracting the waste once complete. I find this is the most effective way to clean grout as the pads struggle to reach into the recess of the grout line.

To complete the cleaning process, I then gave the floor an acid rinse with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up, this was applied to remove old grout smears and further clean up the tiles. All soiling was rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum. The floor was left to dry off overnight.

 

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Ground Floor

Returning the following day, the first job was to test the floor with the damp meter to check it was dry. The tiles needed to be dry enough to accept the seal and applying sealer to damp tiles can result in a patchy appearance. This is always worthy checking when cleaning Quarry tiles as that are naturally quite porous so can take some time to dry.

Once satisfied the readings were within the correct range, I was ready to seal. I selected to use Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra for this, it’s a breathable sealer which is useful for older floors such as this where there is no evidence of a damp proof membrane being installed. Breathable sealers allow for moisture to rise through the tile and evaporate at the surface, without this moisture can build-up under the floor causing it to reach out to the walls where it could cause rising damp.

I applied two coats of Seal and Go Extra waiting for the first to dry before applying the next. The sealer lifts the deep red colours in the Quarry tiles and adds a nice appealing shine. The sealer works by ensuring dirt remains on the surface where it can easily be cleaned away.

My client was very happy with their now clean quarry tiled floor and left the following feedback for me: "I was looking forward to the results before it was even booked in, and I was not disappointed. A professional approach and very helpful throughout."

Before leaving I took time to explain how to maintain the floor using Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. Its important to use a product like this on a sealed floor as many tile cleaning products are simply too strong and will strip the sealer off the floor with regular use.

Source: Quarry Tile Floor Cleaning and Sealing Services in Wollaston Northamptonshire

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

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