Red and Black Quarry Tiles Restored in Manchester

This Quarry tiled floor had been discovered under a carpet at a house in Manchester and the owner was keen to have it restored as an original period feature. The carpet had been stuck to the tiled floor using adhesive so glue was evident on the surface of the Quarry tile as were small spots of paint. Cleaning the Quarry Tiled Floor I started cleaning the Quarry Tiles with a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked into the floor using a buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This good job cleaning the floor however there was still evidence of adhesive and paint on the floor; a stronger product was needed so I applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is an acid based product so you have to be very careful not to leave it on the floor for a long time. Once the floor was clean of glue and paint it was washed down three times using clean water in order to neutralise the floor and remove any remaining cleaning products before sealing. By the way to remove liquids from Read more...

Riven Slate Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Bury

If your hiring a decorator beware, for some reason were seeing an increase in floors splattered with paint due to a lack of care. This was certainly the case on this Riven Slate tiled floor in Bury, Greater Manchester where decorators had made a right mess of this floor with plaster and paint. Cleaning the Slate Tiled Floors I started the cleaning process by applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a multi-purpose cleaner/stripper safe to use of natural tile and stone. The Pro-Clean was left to soak in for a while before being worked into the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a black pad; this worked well and removed all of the plaster and most of the paint. The remaining suborn paint spots were dealt with individually by applying Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a specialist coatings remover. The last step was to rinse the floor down with water three times in order to wash away any remaining chemical and neutralise they floor before sealing. Sealing Read more...

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Maintained in Stockport

The owner of this modern bungalow in Stockport requested that we visit and rejuvenate the Travertine tiled floor installed in their kitchen. Stone floors do loose their appearance over time and so if you want to keep them looking good it makes sense to call us in every few years to give them a face lift. Cleaning Travertine Tiles For the best results hard stone tiles such as Travertine and Marble etc. need to be polished with a set of Burnishing pads however before you start that process it's necessary to remove any surface dirt from the floor first, this will ensure any grit that could get trapped in the burnishing pads and scratch the floor is removed first. With this in mind we washed the floor using a mild dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, this was also a good opportunity to get a stiff brush into the grout lines and give them a good scrub. We washed the floor down with clean water using a wet vacuum to remove the water from the floor before moving onto the next step. Read more...

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor maintained in Manchester

This Travertine Tiled Floor was laid in an open plan Kitchen in West Didsbury, Manchester, hopefully you will be able to see from the photographs it was in need a regular clean and re-seal. Cleaning and Polishing Travertine Tile I gave the Travertine tiles a quick clean with a weak dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to remove any loose surface dirt and this was rinsed off with clean water before starting with a set of Burnishing pads. The Burnishing system we use has four different coloured pads and they fit to a rotary machine. You work your way through them together with a little water one by one until the floor is thoroughly cleaned and polished; we used the white buffing pad for this one. Sealing Travertine Tile When the Travertine tile was dry it was sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour intensifying sealer that provides durable surface protection. Travertine Tiled Kitchen floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed. Read more...

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Travertine Tiled Floor Polished in West Didsbury

This job was a Travertine tiled Kitchen floor in West Disbury, the customer ask me to have a look at the tiles which had been down for three years and had quite a lot of cracks in, on top of that it had not been sealed very well when it had been laid which had allowed dirt to become ingrained into the tile leaving it looking dull. Maintaining Travertine Tiles The first job was to wash the floor down to remove any grit from the floor and then remove what remained of the old sealer, now with Travertine being a very hard stone it has to be removed using of a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads fitted to a rotary machine. Once this was done all the cracks in the Travertine were filled in using a flexible grout which was a blend of three different grout colours in order to get a shade that matched the colour of the travertine. The tiled area was quite confined and tricky to work in so this process including the sealer removal took two days in all. Polishing and Sealing Travertine Read more...

Victorian Tiled Hallway Renovated in Ashton Under Lyne

This Victorian Tiled Entrance Hall was an original feature of a house in Ashton under Lyne which is a town in the wider Greater Manchester area; naturally an entrance hall is a high traffic area and subject to a fair amount of wear so it was in need of a deep clean and re-seal. Cleaning the Victorian Tiled Floor The Victorian Tiled tiles were fairly dirty so we mixed Tile Doctor Pro-Clean 50/50 with NanoTech Ultra-Clean and then diluted it with water; the two products together form a very powerful cleaner as you get the cleaning power of Pro-Clean combined with the tiny abrasive particles found in Ultra-Clean. The resulting mixture was worked into the floor using a buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. Once the floor was clean and I was happy with the results it was rinsed with clean water to remove any trace of cleaner and neutralise the floor prior to sealing. We used a wet vacuum to remove the water from the floor and left the floor to dry overnight. Sealing Read more...

Victorian Tiled Floor Restoration at Buxton Outward Bound Centre

Derby University have a 58 acre outward bound centre in Buxton at the centre of the famous peak district. The manor which was previously a hotel is the hub of centre and caters for numerous outdoor pursuits including climbing, underground caving and canoeing; as you can imagine the floors in manor house get a fair amount of wear as students come and go in their boots and rucksacks. All this takes its toll and I was asked to restore a marvelous old Victorian tiled floor at the manor house. Cleaning the Victorian Tiled Floor The Victorian tiled floor was looking tired; any sealer that may have been applied previously had long since worn off. There were a few cracked and broken tiles which needed replacing and fortunately you can still source these tiles and so once this was done I set about cleaning the floor. To clean I used Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an alkaline product in conjunction with a buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad; once the floor was clean I washed Read more...

Shower Cubicle Tile and Grout Refresh in Hale

This Ceramic Tiled shower cubicle in a house in Hale was overdue a deep clean, the Ceramic Tiles were in reasonable condition but the grout lines had discoloured and become stained from the dyes in shampoo's and soaps and the silicone needed to be replaced. Cleaning Shower Tile and Grout To clean the grout I decanted a strong 2:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean into a spray bottle and sprayed the solution on the tile and grout working in small sections. I think I've mentioned this before but in case you were wondering mixing the cleaner with air makes it lighter and allows it to stick onto vertical surfaces better. The solution was then worked in using a stiff scrubbing brush by hand before being rinsed off with water; this process was repeated until all the tile and grout was clean and then left to dry. If you're doing this work yourself then you should know that Tile Doctor produces a product that comes with a spray attachment called Oxy Pro that is ready to use and can save Read more...

Red and Black Quarry Tiles Restored in Manchester

This Quarry tiled floor had been discovered under a carpet at a house in Manchester and the owner was keen to have it restored as an original period feature. The carpet had been stuck to the tiled floor using adhesive so glue was evident on the surface of the Quarry tile as were small spots of paint. Cleaning the Quarry Tiled Floor I started cleaning the Quarry Tiles with a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked into the floor using a buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This good job cleaning the floor however there was still evidence of adhesive and paint on the floor; a stronger product was needed so I applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is an acid based product so you have to be very careful not to leave it on the floor for a long time. Once the floor was clean of glue and paint it was washed down three times using clean water in order to neutralise the floor and remove any remaining cleaning products before sealing. By the way to remove liquids from Read more...

Riven Slate Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Bury

If your hiring a decorator beware, for some reason were seeing an increase in floors splattered with paint due to a lack of care. This was certainly the case on this Riven Slate tiled floor in Bury, Greater Manchester where decorators had made a right mess of this floor with plaster and paint. Cleaning the Slate Tiled Floors I started the cleaning process by applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a multi-purpose cleaner/stripper safe to use of natural tile and stone. The Pro-Clean was left to soak in for a while before being worked into the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a black pad; this worked well and removed all of the plaster and most of the paint. The remaining suborn paint spots were dealt with individually by applying Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a specialist coatings remover. The last step was to rinse the floor down with water three times in order to wash away any remaining chemical and neutralise they floor before sealing. Sealing Read more...

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Maintained in Stockport

The owner of this modern bungalow in Stockport requested that we visit and rejuvenate the Travertine tiled floor installed in their kitchen. Stone floors do loose their appearance over time and so if you want to keep them looking good it makes sense to call us in every few years to give them a face lift. Cleaning Travertine Tiles For the best results hard stone tiles such as Travertine and Marble etc. need to be polished with a set of Burnishing pads however before you start that process it's necessary to remove any surface dirt from the floor first, this will ensure any grit that could get trapped in the burnishing pads and scratch the floor is removed first. With this in mind we washed the floor using a mild dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, this was also a good opportunity to get a stiff brush into the grout lines and give them a good scrub. We washed the floor down with clean water using a wet vacuum to remove the water from the floor before moving onto the next step. Read more...

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor maintained in Manchester

This Travertine Tiled Floor was laid in an open plan Kitchen in West Didsbury, Manchester, hopefully you will be able to see from the photographs it was in need a regular clean and re-seal. Cleaning and Polishing Travertine Tile I gave the Travertine tiles a quick clean with a weak dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to remove any loose surface dirt and this was rinsed off with clean water before starting with a set of Burnishing pads. The Burnishing system we use has four different coloured pads and they fit to a rotary machine. You work your way through them together with a little water one by one until the floor is thoroughly cleaned and polished; we used the white buffing pad for this one. Sealing Travertine Tile When the Travertine tile was dry it was sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour intensifying sealer that provides durable surface protection. Travertine Tiled Kitchen floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed. Read more...

To read more on this topic click here

Travertine Tiled Floor Polished in West Didsbury

This job was a Travertine tiled Kitchen floor in West Disbury, the customer ask me to have a look at the tiles which had been down for three years and had quite a lot of cracks in, on top of that it had not been sealed very well when it had been laid which had allowed dirt to become ingrained into the tile leaving it looking dull. Maintaining Travertine Tiles The first job was to wash the floor down to remove any grit from the floor and then remove what remained of the old sealer, now with Travertine being a very hard stone it has to be removed using of a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads fitted to a rotary machine. Once this was done all the cracks in the Travertine were filled in using a flexible grout which was a blend of three different grout colours in order to get a shade that matched the colour of the travertine. The tiled area was quite confined and tricky to work in so this process including the sealer removal took two days in all. Polishing and Sealing Travertine Read more...

Victorian Tiled Hallway Renovated in Ashton Under Lyne

This Victorian Tiled Entrance Hall was an original feature of a house in Ashton under Lyne which is a town in the wider Greater Manchester area; naturally an entrance hall is a high traffic area and subject to a fair amount of wear so it was in need of a deep clean and re-seal. Cleaning the Victorian Tiled Floor The Victorian Tiled tiles were fairly dirty so we mixed Tile Doctor Pro-Clean 50/50 with NanoTech Ultra-Clean and then diluted it with water; the two products together form a very powerful cleaner as you get the cleaning power of Pro-Clean combined with the tiny abrasive particles found in Ultra-Clean. The resulting mixture was worked into the floor using a buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. Once the floor was clean and I was happy with the results it was rinsed with clean water to remove any trace of cleaner and neutralise the floor prior to sealing. We used a wet vacuum to remove the water from the floor and left the floor to dry overnight. Sealing Read more...

Victorian Tiled Floor Restoration at Buxton Outward Bound Centre

Derby University have a 58 acre outward bound centre in Buxton at the centre of the famous peak district. The manor which was previously a hotel is the hub of centre and caters for numerous outdoor pursuits including climbing, underground caving and canoeing; as you can imagine the floors in manor house get a fair amount of wear as students come and go in their boots and rucksacks. All this takes its toll and I was asked to restore a marvelous old Victorian tiled floor at the manor house. Cleaning the Victorian Tiled Floor The Victorian tiled floor was looking tired; any sealer that may have been applied previously had long since worn off. There were a few cracked and broken tiles which needed replacing and fortunately you can still source these tiles and so once this was done I set about cleaning the floor. To clean I used Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an alkaline product in conjunction with a buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad; once the floor was clean I washed Read more...

Shower Cubicle Tile and Grout Refresh in Hale

This Ceramic Tiled shower cubicle in a house in Hale was overdue a deep clean, the Ceramic Tiles were in reasonable condition but the grout lines had discoloured and become stained from the dyes in shampoo's and soaps and the silicone needed to be replaced. Cleaning Shower Tile and Grout To clean the grout I decanted a strong 2:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean into a spray bottle and sprayed the solution on the tile and grout working in small sections. I think I've mentioned this before but in case you were wondering mixing the cleaner with air makes it lighter and allows it to stick onto vertical surfaces better. The solution was then worked in using a stiff scrubbing brush by hand before being rinsed off with water; this process was repeated until all the tile and grout was clean and then left to dry. If you're doing this work yourself then you should know that Tile Doctor produces a product that comes with a spray attachment called Oxy Pro that is ready to use and can save Read more...

Red and Black Quarry Tiles Restored in Manchester

This Quarry tiled floor had been discovered under a carpet at a house in Manchester and the owner was keen to have it restored as an original period feature. The carpet had been stuck to the tiled floor using adhesive so glue was evident on the surface of the Quarry tile as were small spots of paint. Cleaning the Quarry Tiled Floor I started cleaning the Quarry Tiles with a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked into the floor using a buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing Read more...

Riven Slate Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Bury

If your hiring a decorator beware, for some reason were seeing an increase in floors splattered with paint due to a lack of care. This was certainly the case on this Riven Slate tiled floor in Bury, Greater Manchester where decorators had made a right mess of this floor with plaster and paint. Cleaning the Slate Tiled Floors I started the cleaning process by applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a multi-purpose cleaner/stripper safe to use of natural tile and stone. Read more...

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Maintained in Stockport

The owner of this modern bungalow in Stockport requested that we visit and rejuvenate the Travertine tiled floor installed in their kitchen. Stone floors do loose their appearance over time and so if you want to keep them looking good it makes sense to call us in every few years to give them a face lift. Cleaning Travertine Tiles For the best results hard stone tiles such as Travertine and Marble etc. need to be polished with a set of Burnishing pads however before you start that process Read more...

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor maintained in Manchester

This Travertine Tiled Floor was laid in an open plan Kitchen in West Didsbury, Manchester, hopefully you will be able to see from the photographs it was in need a regular clean and re-seal. Cleaning and Polishing Travertine Tile I gave the Travertine tiles a quick clean with a weak dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to remove any loose surface dirt and this was rinsed off with clean water before starting with a set of Burnishing pads. The Burnishing system we use has four different coloured Read more...