north essex Archives - North Essex Tile Doctor

Acid Etched Limestone Tiled Floor Renovated in Coggeshall

This Limestone tiled floor covered the entire ground floor of this house in the town of Coggeshall. The owner had matching tiles installed in an extension and realised that the tiler had not managed to polish off all the grout which had left them dull.

Limestone Floor Before Renovation Coggeshall

This is a common problem known as grout haze and after researching it online he decided to try cleaning off the grout with an acidic product. This is a common solution for more robust stone or tiles; however, Limestone is acid sensitive so instead of removing the grout haze he made the problem worse by etching the stone tiles instead.

The second problem he had was the grout on the original floor had darkened overtime with dirt being washed into the grout line whereas the grout on the new floor was much cleaner. You can see from the photos how odd this looked especially when moving between the two areas.

Limestone Floor Before Renovation Coggeshall

I was asked to deep clean the original grout, remove the grout haze on the new floor and then get the two floors to match as much as possible by polishing both floors (which would also remove the etching) and applying a fresh sealer. I worked out a quote based on three days’ work along with the necessary products, given the size of the floor I asked Bruce who is the Suffolk Tile Doctor to assist.

Grout and Limestone Tile Cleaning

To remove the old sealer and clean up the grout on the original floor, a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied to the tiles and worked in with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary floor machine. The grout was then scrubbed by hand with more Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and the slurry rinsed off with water. There was a lot of grout lines to cover and in-total we used around five litres of Pro-Clean in the process.

Both original and new sections of floor were then burnished with diamond pads to blend the two floors together and remove the etching on the newly laid tiles in the process. This was done with a set of Tile Doctor Burnishing Pads starting with 400-grit and working up to 1500-grit, water is used for lubrication and then the floor rinsed and extracted after each pad. The floor was left for a short while to dry out.

Again, this was a large area but with two Tile Doctors on the job we managed to get through it.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Ground Floor

To seal the Limestone the owner was happy to go with my recommendation of applying Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This product contains a colour intensifying formula which brings out the different colours and fossils in the stone. It’s also an impregnator which works by soaking into the pores of the Limestone, filling up the spaces and thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained in the stone. Put simply, the sealer will ensure any dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away. It was a large area so we used five litres of Colour Grow to seal the floor.

Limestone Floor After Renovation Coggeshall

The work took both of us three days to complete and once done my client was amazed by the transformation and was so happy that the two floors now looked the same. For aftercare I left them with a free bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner to maintain their floor. This product is a gentle yet effective tile cleaner that won’t harm the newly applied sealer which can be an issue with stronger products.

Limestone Floor After Renovation Coggeshall

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Ground Floor in Noth Essex

Acid Etched Limestone Tiled Floor Renovated in Coggeshall Read More »

Carpet Covered Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated Pentland

Carpet Covered Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated in Pentlow

1 Comment / Braintree Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning / Dean Copping / Acid Gel, Black Pad, Carpet Glue, Cleaning Quarry Tiles, Colour Grow, Grout Cleaning, Grout Colourant, Kitchen Floor Cleaning, Neutral Tile Cleaner, north essex, Pentlow, Remove and Go, Renovating Quarry, Sealing Quarry

The pictures below are of a Quarry tiled floor at a property in Pentlow village, North of Braintree. The tiles had been covered in carpet for many years and it was now looking stained and worse for wear. Unsurprisingly the owner had decided it was time to get rid of the carpet and make the best of the Quarry tiled floor underneath which extended all the way into the dining room.

Carpet Covered Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Pentland

I surveyed the floor and could see the carpet had been fixed in place with adhesive which had stained the tiles and would need removing. The grout was also in a bad state with deep seated stains which I doubted would clean up to a consistent standard. With all this in mind I created a quote to deep clean the Quarry tile and grout and then sealing, I also added in an option to colour the grout which would be a lot easier than re-grouting.

Happy with my quote the owner gave the go ahead and a date was booked to start the work.

Deep Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor in Pentlow

First, I removed the carpet to reveal the whole floor, the kickboards below the kitchen units were also removed and tape applied everywhere else to protect the wood from the cleaning products we would be using.

Carpet Covered Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Pentland

With the woodwork protected I set about the deep clean with the application of a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and left to soak in for roughly ten minutes. This product is a coatings remover and tile cleaner which breaks down or softens the carpet glue and other soiling making it easier to remove.

Next a Black scrubbing pad was fitted to a rotary buffing machine and was slowly worked over the floor to scrub the solution into the Tile and Grout. I also ran a stiff brush along the
grout lines to get them clean. After the whole floor had been scrubbed the soiling was rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

The floor was then inspected and the process repeated where required and spot treated in some areas to remove the glue by hand with a scraper. In total two litres of Tile Doctor Remove and Go was used during the cleaning.

The next step was to give the floor and acid rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which further cleans up the tile and grout. Another advantage of this is the acidic nature of the product microscopically etches the grout to provide a stronger bond with a grout colourant, it also neutralises the pH level of the floor following the use of Remove and Go which is a strong alkaline product.

Applying Natural Grey Grout Colourant in Pentlow

The Quarry tiles were now clean but although the grout was now cleaner it was still stained in places. The solution was as suspected to apply a grout colourant. Available in eleven colours the Tile Doctor colourants are not like those grout pens you buy in DIY stores; they are made from a waterproof epoxy that adds a barrier over the grout.

Once the grout was clean and dry, I applied the colourant with a small brush wiping off any excess that got on the Quarry tiles quickly afterwards, I find a wet wipe is good for this. The floor consisted of small format square tiles which meant a lot of grout to cover. It’s a tedious process that has to be done by hand however the result was transformative.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor in Pentlow

The floor was left to dry out overnight and the following morning, I used the damp meter to check the floors moisture readings. I was pleased to see the readings were acceptable and the tiles could be sealed. If the floor was still damp the seal may not cure properly so this is an important step.

To seal the Quarry tile and grout looked like a new I applied three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is an impregnating sealer that works by soaking into the tile occupying the pores and thereby ensuring dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away.

Carpet Covered Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor After Renovation Pentland

The Quarry tile and grout responded very well to the treatment and if you didn’t know you would think it was a new floor. The new sealer will make the floor easy to maintain and my client was very pleased with the transformation.

Carpet Covered Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor After Renovation Pentland

On the topic of maintenance, I left the owner with a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This is a pH neutral product which will not compromise the newly applied seal, which can be the problem with many household cleaning products which are simply too strong for use on a sealed floor. This will ensure the longevity of the seal and will make the floor easy to maintain which is of course a bonus.

Professional Renovation of a Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor In North Essex

Carpet Covered Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated in Pentlow Read More »

Encaustic Tiled Bathroom Floor Renovation Saffron Walden

Encaustic Tiled Bathroom – Saffron Walden, Essex

1 Comment / Encaustic Cement Tile Cleaning, Saffron Walden Tile Cleaning / Dean Copping / Bathroom Tiles, Burnishing Pads, Colour Grow, Encaustic Tiles, Floor Tile Cleaning, Neutral Tile Cleaner, north essex, Saffron Walden, tile sealing

This modern Encaustic tiled floor had been laid in the bathroom of a house in Saffron Walden about a year prior to my visit. It was now beginning to mark easily and its appearance had diminished, additionally my customer was finding it hard to keep clean. All these issues are classic symptoms of the sealer wearing down, so I recommended giving the floor a deep clean with burnishing pads and then resealing. It was only a small floor so the process should only take a day.

Encaustic Tiled Bathroom Floor Before Cleaning Saffron Walden

Modern Encaustic tiles are very popular these days due to the spectacular colours and patterns available and they do look great in smaller areas such as bathrooms. Many varieties do require you to maintain the sealer though and this requirement is often overlooked when being sold. This is not usually a problem when used to create a wall feature, however when installed on a floor you can expect the sealer to wear down with foot traffic. Once the sealer wears down it allows dirt to become ingrained in the tile and this becomes difficult to remove, thereby making the floor difficult to keep clean.

Another problem we find with sealed tiles in bathrooms and kitchens is the use of bleach-based cleaning products, the products are very strong and will quickly erode the sealer with regular use leaving the tiles vulnerable. This is why we always recommend the use of pH neutral tile maintenance products such as Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner.

Cleaning an Encaustic Tiled Bathroom Floor

To resolve the problem, I started with the application of a coarse 400-grit burnishing pad fitted to a rotary machine and lubricated with water. The floor was just big enough to squeeze the buffer machine in, and it made quick work of removing what was left of the old sealer and ingrained dirt. After a rinse with more water, the soiling was extracted with a wet vacuum and I repeated the process with the 800 and 1500-grit pads, rinsing and extracting after each pad. These pads gradually refine the tile and slowly build-up a polish on its surface.

Finally, I moved onto the very fine 3000-grit pad which is applied with only a mist of water sprayed onto the surface to bring up the final polished appearance. This last pad has the added advantage of leaving the tiles fairly dry, however, just to be sure I installed a couple of down blowers to fully dry out the floor before sealing.

Sealing an Encaustic Tiled Bathroom Floor

The blowers worked well, and I was able to seal the floor later that day using four coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow using around a litre of sealer. This is an impregnating sealer that works by soaking into the tiles, where it occupies the pores to prevent dirt from becoming ingrained there.

Encaustic Tiled Bathroom Floor After Cleaning Sealing Saffron Walden

The appearance of the encaustic tiles now looks great with a nice even, easy to maintain sheen. I also left them a free bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to maintain their floor after we had finished.

Professional Restoration of an Encaustic Tiled Bathroom Floor in North Essex

Encaustic Tiled Bathroom – Saffron Walden, Essex Read More »

Bleach Stained Terracotta Kitchen Floor Renovated in Colchester

Bleached Stained Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovation in Colchester

1 Comment / Colchester Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning / Dean Copping / Black Pad, Bleach Stain, Cleaning Terracotta Tiles, Colchester, Floor Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Kitchen Floor Cleaning, Neutral Tile Cleaner, north essex, Pro-Clean, Renovating Terracotta, Seal and Go Extra, Sealing Terracotta

The owner of this property in Colchester got in touch to have their Terracotta Kitchen floor tiles renovated after they were marked with bleach. If you look closely at the before pictures you will see the terracotta tiles have white lines running across them.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Colchester Essex

Intrigued, I arranged to visit the property and take a look at the problem. I suspect the Terracotta had been protected with some sort of sealer and the bleach being very acidic had basically cut through it leaving the conspicuous lines in the floor.

I was very confident that the floor could be deep cleaned and once a fresh seal had been applied the problem would be resolved and the tiles would look great. My client was happy to go ahead with the quotation and we arranged a mutually convenient time to carry out the renovation.

Deep Cleaning a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor in Colchester

First, I applied tape to all the the plinths and around the doorways to protect the wood from the cleaning products we would be using. To get the tiles clean a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was sprayed on to the tiles and left to soak in for roughly ten minutes. This dwell time allows time for the cleaner to breakdown the old sealer and ingrained dirt so its can be removed easier.

Next a Black scrubbing pad was fitted to a rotary buffing machine and was slowly worked over the floor to scrub the solution into the Tile and Grout to release years of dirt. More Pro-Clean was scrubbed in along the grout lines with a stiff brush to get them clean. In total two litres of Tile Doctor Pro Clean was used during the cleaning.

The cleaning solution went black with the dirt and the soiling was rinsed with water and extracted using a wet vacuum. Rinsing with water helps to neutralise any remaining cleaning solution and the wet vacuum is used to get the floor as dry as possible. At this point the floor looked a whole lot better and was left to dry out overnight.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor in Colchester

The following morning, I used the damp meter to check the floors moisture readings and I was pleased to see the readings were acceptable and the tiles could be sealed. If the floor was still damp the seal would not cure properly so this is an important step.

Terracotta is a porous material so four coats of sealer were applied allowing each coat to dry before applying the next. On this floor I used Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra which is a water-based sealer manufactured using a special acrylic-based formula that leaves a subtle sheen, Terracotta is quite a porous material so two litres of sealer were used in total.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Colchester Essex

Once complete the tiles looked much lighter and cleaner with no staining. Additionally, the new sealer will make the floor easy to maintain and my client was very pleased with the transformation.

On the topic of maintenance, I recommended they use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to clean the floor. It is a pH neutral product which will not compromise the newly applied seal, which can be the problem with many household cleaning products which are simply too strong for use on a sealed floor. This will ensure the longevity of the seal and will make the floor easy to maintain which is of course a bonus.

Professional Restoration of a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor In North Essex

Bleached Stained Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovation in Colchester Read More »

Textured Porcelain Tile Cleaning in Chelmsford

Textured Porcelain Tiles cleaned in Chelmsford

1 Comment / Chelmsford Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Work History / Dean Copping / Chelmsford, Cleaning Textured Porcelain, commuter town, Deep Cleaning, London, north essex, Porcelain Tiles, tile cleaning, Tiled Kitchen Floor

“Our Porcelain tiles are unclean-able, please help”We are always happy to help someone in distress, and this was the opening sentence of a conversation between ourselves and a very distressed home owner in Chelmsford. Chelmsford is a London commuter town situated approximately 30 miles from London.

The tile in question was a Porcelain textured tile, the owners had tried to clean and maintain their floor but due to the nature of the tile, which was very textured and coupled with incorrect maintenance it had left the floor looking very dirty and unloved.

We visited the property to see how we could help. The floor was across a large area in a kitchen diner so was subject to heavy usage, it had been down for some time and the new owners had inherited it from the previous owners who apparently had also had no joy in getting it clean. The floor looked very tired and in need of some attention. We discussed with the client what could be done and agreed a price for the work, booking a date for the following week.

Cleaning a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor

Fortunately, dirt and grease are no match for the power of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, it’s a multi-purpose high-alkaline cleaner, stripper and degreaser that’s a very effective tile and grout cleaner. On this occasion I applied a strong dilution using two parts water and left it to soak into the tiles first.

Working in areas of around 2 to 3 square meters at a time the solution was scrubbed into the floor using a rotary buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. We then rinsed the floor thoroughly with water and used a wet pick up vacuum to extract not only the dirt but also any product residue leaving the tiles clean and fresh.

Apologies on only taking one photo, I usually take more but it slipped my mind on this occasion, however if you look closely it clearly shows the difference the cleaning process was making. The client was very satisfied with the work carried out, they knew the floor should have looked a lot better than it had and now it finally looked clean!

Before leaving we explained how to maintain the floor and left a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner to keep the floor looking fresh. Tile Doctor concentrated Neutral Tile and Stone cleaner has been especially formulated for the regular cleaning of Tile and Grout.

Professional Clean of a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor in North Essex

Textured Porcelain Tiles cleaned in Chelmsford Read More »

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Before and After Cleaning Saffron Walden

Neglected Tumbled Travertine Floor Renovated in Saffron Walden

1 Comment / Saffron Walden Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / Dean Copping / cleaning travertine, Kitchen Floor, north essex, Polishing Travertine, Saffron Walden, sealer removal, Sealing Travertine, trapped dirt, Tumbled Travertine

We recently visited a property in Saffron Walden, a pretty market town in Essex, where the owner asked us to look at her Tumbled Travertine kitchen floor. The floor had been laid and sealed around 10 years prior and the pits in the Travertine had become very dirty with trapped dirt, the floor now had a grubby neglected look about it. No matter how much they tried to clean with a multitude of household cleaners, the floor had become worse and worse which is not unusual as strong chemicals can strip off the sealer completely which protects the floor.

Tumbled Travertine Before Cleaning Saffron Walden

It was clear that the original sealer was no longer doing its job and so I discussed the options for renovating the floor whilst carrying out a test clean. Sealers rarely last ten years, in my experience three years is about the maximum you can expect regardless of manufacturers claims. The test clean went well and we agreed a price and a timescale for the work and scheduled it for the following week.

Cleaning a Tumbled Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

It’s not a good idea to apply a different sealer on top of the original unless you know they are compatible, also you can end up with uneven layers so our first step was to strip off any remaining sealer and clean the floor. To do this we used Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is designed for the removal of coatings on tiles such as sealers, adhesives and paints. This product is also great for drawing out ingrained stains and removing heavy grease build-up. It can be used on both vertical and horizontal surfaces. We applied and let it soak into the pores of the Travertine for ten minutes before working it in.

To work the product into the stone and get deep into the pits a coarse 200-grit burnishing pad fitted to a rotary buffing machine was run over the floor and lubricated with plenty of water. After than the floor was rinsed with water and the slurry extracted with a wet vacuum. With the floor clean the process was repeated with finer grades of pads from 800-grit through to 1500-grit. As before between pad the floor was rinsed thoroughly to remove any trace of slurry off the tiles and the slurry extracted with the wet vacuum; the more thorough the rinse the better the finish. By the end of day one the cleaning process was completed, stripped of any coatings and the floor looked much better and lighter in appearance which made the room seem bigger.

Sealing a Tumbled Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

The Travertine tiles were left to dry off fully overnight and I started on the second day with a floor inspection to ensure the floor was ready for sealing. At that point I could see that there were a few small areas that needed further attention, so I spot treated them with Hand Burnishing Block. This was followed by spray-burnishing the floor with a very fine 3000-grit polishing pad which is applied using a little water sprayed on to the Travertine. This very fine pad left the floor with a natural looking sheen.

Once we completed this and were satisfied with the finish, all that remained was the sealing of the floor, this will protect it and prevent the dirt from impregnating the pores in the stone. Three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow were applied, leaving thirty minutes drying time between each coat. Colour Grow is an impregnating and colour enhancing sealer which leaves the floor resistant to staining and spills whilst improving the natural brown shades in the Travertine resulting in a lovely finish.

The client was very satisfied with the finish, the whole room had been lifted, looking much lighter and brighter.

Tumbled Travertine After Cleaning Saffron Walden

Professional Restoration of Tumbled Travertine Tiled Kitchen in North Essex

Neglected Tumbled Travertine Floor Renovated in Saffron Walden Read More »

Non-Slip Farm Office Floor Before and after Cleaning Saffron Walden

Cleaning Farm Office Safety Flooring in Saffron Walden

1 Comment / Ceramic Tile Cleaning, Saffron Walden Tile Cleaning, Work History / Dean Copping / Altro, Altro Safety Floor, Farm Office, Floor Cleaning, non-slip, north essex, Saffron Walden, Textured Surface

It’s worth noting that I don’t just cover Tile, Stone and Grout, the equipment I use works equally well cleaning all types of hard floors including Patios, Vinyl and industrial flooring. An example of this being a request to clean the floors at an office farm near Saffron Walden which is a lovely medieval market town north of Stansted Airport.

Inspecting Farm Office Flooring

It was an incredibly muddy area with lots of tractors and lorries in the yard and poor drainage. As you can imagine all that mud and dirt was regularly being walked into the office and they were struggling to keep it clean. The main issue was that the floor was covered in a specialist textured surface which increases grip and significantly reduces the chance of anyone slipping.

Farm Office Safety Flooring Before Cleaning Saffron Walden

Manufactured by a company called Altro this product is known as “Safety Flooring” and given then environment I’m sure it was well specified. The downside of a textured surface however is that it traps dirt and once trapped it can be difficult to shift with conventional cleaning methods and equipment.

Deep Cleaning an Altro Safety Floor

The first thing we did was to break out a set of brushes and vacuums in an effort to remove as much dry soil as possible. Once this was done the floor was wetted with a medium dilution of Tile doctor Pro-clean, this product is a great degreaser and after a short time the soil started to lift out of the non-slip textured surface.

After a dwell time of about ten minutes the Pro-Clean was worked into the floor with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary buffer machine. The machine was run evenly over the floor at a slow speed to reduce splashing. The cleaning solution had turned black at this stage with all the dirt that was being released from the flooring. Once this had been carried out we rinsed the entire floor using our truck mounted cleaning system which is a very efficient machine that applies clean water under pressure to rinse the floor whilst simultaneously extracting the soil back to a recovery tank on the vehicle.

Farm Office Safety Flooring After Cleaning Saffron Walden

The truck mounted system utilises a powerful vacuum to extracts a lot of the moisture from the floor but to ensure the floor was completely dry we left drying equipment in place to ensure a quick turn-around for the company.

Industrial Safety Floor Deep Cleaned at an Essex Farm Office

Cleaning Farm Office Safety Flooring in Saffron Walden Read More »

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Cleaned and Sealed in Willingale

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Repaired, Cleaned and Sealed in Willingale

1 Comment / Chelmsford Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / Dean Copping / kitchen, north essex, terracotta tiles, tile cleaning, tile sealing, Willingale

This Terracotta tiled kitchen in the village of Willingale near Maldon, in the Epping Forest District of Essex had lost its finish and looked slightly dull. The client wanted the tiles restored to a shiny finish and additionally wanted the two cracked tiles replaced in the kitchen doorway.

Terracotta Tile Replacement

I started by removing the two cracked tiles using an angle grinder and cleared away the grout to leave the edges of the remaining tiles as smooth as possible.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Replacement in Willingale Before

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Replacement in Willingale After

Cleaning a Dull and Dirty Terracotta Tiled Floor

The next stage was to strip and clean the tiles and grout lines. I dampened the tiles with water before applying Tile Doctor Remove and Go, a product which breaks down existing sealers so they can be scrubbed off the tiles and rinsed away. To make the work easier I used a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad to work the solution in and then pressure washed them using a spinner tool attached to a wet extraction machine mounted in my van. This process blasts any remaining dirt and sealer from the stone and grout lines and vacuums the waste into a holding tank in the van.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Repaired and Stripped in Willingale

This process took most of the day, but just before I left I replaced the broken tiles with two new ones and re grouted them in place, fortunately these tiles were still available and so it wasn’t difficult finding replacements. The tiles and grout were left to dry over night.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Floor

The following morning I damp tested the floor before beginning to seal the floor, this is an important check as damp can upset the sealer and lead to unexpected results.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Testing for Damp Willingale

Once I was satisfied the tiles were dry I applied five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, leaving the stone with a healthy lustre. Seal and Go is a topical sealer that is highly recommended for Victorian, Terracotta and Quarry tiles and being water based it doesn’t leave a smell as it dries.

Terracotta Kitchen Tiled Floor Maintained in Essex

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Repaired, Cleaned and Sealed in Willingale Read More »

Shine and Lustre restored to a Limestone Tiled Floor Witham

1 Comment / Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Witham Tile Cleaning, Work History / Dean Copping / limestone tiles, north essex, tile cleaning, tile sealing, witham

These Limestone tiles had been laid in a modern property in Witham, an Essex town that sits between Chelmsford and Colchester. The property owners had spent many hours over the years cleaning and sealing the floor to maintain its condition, but while the tiles were in certainly in good shape, they had lost their shine and lustre. The result was quite a dull looking floor that could certainly be improved on.

When the property owners contacted me about the problem, I informed them that due to the hardness of the stone only a process known as burnishing, which involves cleaning and polishing with special gritted pads instead of a liquid product, would do the trick to restore the Limestone tiles.

Burnishing a Limestone Tiled Floor

We use burnishing to restore several types polished stone to looking their best, including Limestone, Marble, and Travertine. Tile Doctor’s burnishing system consists of four diamond encrusted twister pads with varying levels of grit. The pads are graded so that each hones the stone to a greater degree than the previous one, resulting in the build-up of a durable polish and shine on the stone.

Using a small amount of water as lubrication, I worked my way through the system, applying each pad in succession, beginning with the Coarse grit pad, before on to Medium, Fine and Very Fine pads. While polishing the tiles, the diamond encrusted pads also serves to break down any dirt. Thankfully, these tiles were already well taken care off and were not currently suffering from heavy soil build up.

After completing the burnishing process, I promptly rinsed away any cleaning slurry and left the floor to dry.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Floor

I returned the property once the floor had dried completely to seal the tiles, with my choice of sealer being Tile Doctor Colour Grow. I applied three coats of the sealer to the tiles, before buffing them for a final time.

Colour Grow is an ideal sealer for Limestone for two main reasons. Firstly, it is an impregnating sealer, meaning it penetrates deep into the pores of the Limestone to provide robust protection against ingrained dirt. Secondly, it contains colour intensifying properties which enhance the natural colours in the Limestone.

I took a couple of photographs before and after (above) in which you can see a significant improvement in the shine and lustre of the Limestone tiles. Most of the cream and tan shades in the Limestone were practically invisible before the burnishing was carried out and a fresh seal was applied – now the tiles stand out as the most prominent feature of the room. Needless to say, the customer was very satisfied.

Restoring the appearance of a Limestone tiled floor in Essex

Shine and Lustre restored to a Limestone Tiled Floor Witham Read More »

Terracotta Tiled Floor After Cleaning in Halstead

Removing 20 Years of Dirt From a Terracotta Tiled Living Room in Halstead

1 Comment / Braintree Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / Dean Copping / Halstead, living room, north essex, terracotta tiles, tile cleaning, tile sealing

The old town of Halstead, Essex, meaning ‘safe place’ or ‘place of refuge’ in Old English, was the site of this job. Similarly, historic is the property I was called to, a fantastic seventeenth century thatched cottage, situated just on the outskirts of the town.

The owner was keen to have her Terracottatiled living room restored; the tiles had been laid twenty years prior and had been given very little treatment over the following two decades. They were now very dirty and dull looking and were certainly in need of a deep clean, followed by the application of a fresh seal to maintain condition.

Terracotta Tiled Floor Before Cleaning in Halstead

Cleaning a Dull and Dirty Terracotta Tiled Floor

To begin the cleaning process, Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, a heavy duty, high alkaline product designed for cleaning Terracotta and many other types of natural stone, was applied liberally to the floor in a dilute form. The product was then left to dwell for a short period, allowing it to seep into the pores of the stone, before being scrubbed into the tiles using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad.

The grout lines should usually be treated individually in the cleaning process since the dirt and stains found here can prove very stubborn, and so they were scrubbed carefully with a special grout brush.

Following this a high pressure spinning tool, which is powered by a machine in my van, was used to blast stubborn ingrained soils from the grout and tile. This tool also serves to rinse the tiles and vacuum all slurry and chemicals back into a waste tank on the van.

The floor was then left to dry fully overnight, allowing for any excess moisture to disappear and leaving the tiles ready to be sealed the following day.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Floor

In the morning I arrived back at the property and promptly for any dampness. Once satisfied with the condition of the tiles, I proceeded to apply Tile Doctor Seal and Go. This is an odourless, water-based topical sealer that builds up protection on the surface of the tiles, providing a durable and aesthetically pleasing satin finish.

Since Terracotta is a very porous material, I was required to apply five coats of the sealer, allowing enough to fill the pores completely to offer protection from within.

The results of the restoration were very pleasing for both the customer and myself. I think you will agree that the floor no longer looks like it hasn’t been cleaned for twenty years – in fact, it looks almost brand new!

Deep Cleaning a Badly Maintained Terracotta Tiled Living Room in Essex

Removing 20 Years of Dirt From a Terracotta Tiled Living Room in Halstead Read More »