Tamworth Tile Cleaning

Tamworth Tile Cleaning

Welcome to my Work History archive where you will find examples of the cleaning and renovation of tiles carried out in Tamworth.

Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned Sealed in Sutton Coldfield

Renovating a Beautiful Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Sutton Coldfield

I recently completed the renovation of a Multi-Coloured Slate tiled kitchen floor in Sutton Coldfield. I was actually at the property before Christmas to survey the floor and quote for the work however the owners had planned to have a new kitchen installed in the new year, so we decided it was best for me to wait until after the installation to complete the work.

The slate was in good condition but like any stone floor you do need to maintain the sealer to prevent dirt becoming ingrained in the stone. Sealer do wear off overtime especially in the high foot traffic areas such as Kitchens and within a few years the tiles become dull and difficult to clean effectively.

Multi-Coloured Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning and Sealing Sutton Coldfield Multi-Coloured Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning and Sealing Sutton Coldfield

The kitchen was installed on schedule and I got the call to arrange a visit to deep clean and reseal the floor which would take to two days, one to clean and one to seal.

Cleaning Dirty Slate Kitchen Tiles

To begin the restoration, I soaked the slate in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and left it to soak in for about ten minutes re-applying extra solution where it dried. Pro-Clean is a powerful tile cleaner that will strip old sealers when applied in concentrated form. I agitated the product using a black pad fitted to a rotary buffing machine. I paid particular attention to the grout which the customer had trouble keeping clean. The rotary pad struggles to reach into the recesses of the grout lines so I also made sure to scrub the solution into the grout with a grout brush.

Once I was satisfied that the Slate and the Grout was clean and clear of old sealers, I gave the whole floor a thorough rinse with water using a wet vacuum to extract the soil and get the floor as dry as possible. The floor was then left to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing Slate Kitchen Tiles

Returning to the property the next day, I ran some quick damp tests to check for any excess moisture that might have prevented me from sealing the floor. We will always do this as excess moisture can affect the sealer curing.
The customer was very happy with the clean and the floor was dry, so we discussed sealer options to find out their preference for Matt or Satin finish. With the decision made to go with a Satin finish I began the application of the Tile Doctor Seal and Go which enhances the look of the stone with an aesthetically pleasing low-sheen finish, as well as providing on-going protection against ingrained dirt and staining.

Multi-Coloured Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning and Sealing Sutton Coldfield Multi-Coloured Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning and Sealing Sutton Coldfield

A total of four coats of Seal and Go were needed to seal the Slate tiles and as you can see from the photos the sealer really put the life back into the floor.

 

Rejuvenating a Multicoloured Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Staffordshire

Renovating a Beautiful Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Sutton Coldfield Read More »

Old Victorian Tiled Vicarage Floor Before After Restoration Sutton Coldfield

Victorian Tiled Vicarage Floor Restored in Sutton Coldfield

This property in Sutton Coldfield dates to the early 1800s and was owned by the local church until recently. The property needed a lot of work and the new owners had asked me to restore the beautiful Victorian Tiled Flooring which I suspect was as old as the property itself. The property was in the process of a complete refurb when I first visited to survey the floor and so I recommended that they call me in to work on the floor when all the other work was complete. I find leaving the floor restoration until last is the best approach as tradesmen usually exacerbate the problem.

Old Victorian Tiled Floor Sutton Coldfield Vicarage Before Cleaning Old Victorian Tiled Floor Sutton Coldfield Vicarage Before Cleaning

Although incredibly dirty the Victorian Tiles were in good condition for their age, however there were some areas where tiles were missing or damaged and replacements would need to be sourced and fitted. Sourcing replacements is not usually a problem for Victorian Floors as there are a few companies such as the Vintage Floor Tile Company that still sell them due to their popularity. I also find you can pickup old tiles at restoration yards and eBay.

Old Victorian Tiled Floor Sutton Coldfield Vicarage Before Cleaning Old Victorian Tiled Floor Sutton Coldfield Vicarage Before Cleaning

Day 1 – Replacing Damaged Victorian Floor Tiles

On the first day I set about replacing the missing and broken tiles; I had taken photographs of the floor before hand and had plenty of time to source replacements. This process involves carefully removing the damaged tiles and scrapping out the subfloor to remove old adhesives and grout. This is followed by cutting the replacement tiles to size and fixing them in place using a flexible adhesive. If the subfloor has crumbled away, then this also needs cleaning out and building backup with cement to the right level before fixing the tiles. Needless to say, this is painstaking work and takes time to get right, in this case most of the day.

Day 2 – Deep Cleaning Victorian Floor Tiles

On the second day I set about giving the tiles a good deep clean using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which a very effective alkaline cleaning product that’s safe to use on tile, stone and grout.

The Pro-Clean was applied to the floor and then left to soak into the pores in the tile for about ten minutes before being scrubbed in using a rotary machine. The machine was fitted with a Polyscrub brush and run over the tiles at slow speed. This process worked well, and it wasn’t long before the cleaning solution had turned black with the dirt that had been released from the floor. The soiled solution was then extracted from the floor using a wet vacuum and the process repeated in areas that I felt could do with more work.

Old floors like these don’t have a damp proof membrane installed and can suffer from white alkaline salts being deposited on the surface of the tile and damp evaporates up through the tile as it dries. To counter this problem, I decided to follow up the cleaning by giving the tiles an acid wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up, not only does this neutralise the salts it also removes old grout smears and other mineral deposits from tiles making them much cleaner.

Old Victorian Tiled Floor Sutton Coldfield Vicarage During Cleaning

I scrubbed the product into the tiles using a deck brush and then rinsed it off with water and extracted with the wet vacuum. Being an Acid, we don’t recommend you leave it on the floor for too long.

Day 3 – Sealing Victorian floor Tiles

The next day I confirmed the floor had dried and then proceeded to apply five coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra. This product is fully breathable and will cope well with any inherent damp issues that can cause problems in an old floor such as this, it also adds a nice shine to the tile as you can see in the photographs below.

Old Victorian Tiled Floor Sutton Coldfield Vicarage After Sealing

The final result was a huge transformation and my customer was very happy with the outcome and booked me in to seal the new flooring in the kitchen/utility and conservatory areas.

Old Victorian Tiled Floor Sutton Coldfield Vicarage After Sealing Old Victorian Tiled Floor Sutton Coldfield Vicarage After Sealing

 

Professional Restoration of Victorian Vicarage floor in Staffordshire

Victorian Tiled Vicarage Floor Restored in Sutton Coldfield Read More »

Grout Colouring Ceramic Floor Tiles in Tamwoth

Grout Colouring Ceramic Floor Tiles in Tamwoth

This was a straight forward Grout Colouring job at a house in the market town of Tamworth, Staffordshire. The tiles had been installed with a white grout and over the years the grout had become darker as the dirt had become ingrained into the porous top layer. This is often the case with Porcelain and Ceramic tiles whose looks always outlive that of the grout.

Grout Colour Before Tamworth Grout Colour Before Tamworth

Cleaning and Colouring Grout

The customer was keen to get the grouting looking the same as it was when first installed and so with that aim in mind a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied and scrubbed into the grout lines and then washed off with water. Pro-Clean is a strong alkaline cleaning product that does a good job cleaning up grout however it can only do so much and in this case although it made a difference there were many areas which were too stained.

The next step was to apply a grout colouring product, they come in a number of different colours and the best match to the original colour was Ivory. The Pro-Clean had already prepared the surface so no need to use a pre-treater, it was just a question of waiting for the grout to dry and then apply the colourant.

Applying grout colourant is fiddly work but you do get the pleasure of watching the floor become slowly transformed, also the colourant works as a sealant which will prevent staining and make the grout very easy to clean going forward.

Grout Colour After Tamworth Grout Colour After Tamworth

As you can see the floor looks like new and the customer was very happy.

Grout Colouring Floor Grout in Staffordshire

Grout Colouring Ceramic Floor Tiles in Tamwoth Read More »

Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in Sutton Coldfield

Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in Sutton Coldfield

This job was a full restoration of a Victorian tiled floor that had been hidden under those thin adhesive backed lino tiles (see photo below) in the hallway of a house in Sutton Coldfield.

Victorian Tiles Sutton Coldfield Before Restoration

Restoring Victorian Floor Tiles

The first job was to remove the vinyl tiles which being stuck onto the floor left a rather nasty looking floor. I knew from experience this would be tricky to remove and so soaked the floor in Tile Doctor Remove and Go (does what it says on the tin) and left it for a while to soften the glues. Then with a rotary machines fitted with a polyscrub brush attached running at slow speed set about scrubbing the floor to get as much glue of the Victorian floor tiles as possible. This process worked quite well however once I have removed the soiled solution using a wet vacuum I could see there were still quite a a few stubborn patches remaining. The solution was to get down on my hands & knees with a nylon brush, a scraper and more Remove and Go, as you can imagine it took a long time to get the floor really clean and when finished I gave the tile a thorough wash down with water to neutralise the floor and then left it overnight to dry.

Victorian Tiles Sutton Coldfield Before Restoration Victorian Tiles Sutton Coldfield Before Restoration

Sealing Victorian floor Tiles

The next day I confirmed the floor had dried and then proceeded to apply four coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go which is the recommended sealer for Victorian tiles, it not only protects the tile it also leaves a nice shine on the floor.

The photographs show a huge transformation and my customer was absolutely delighted with the results, and left the comment below on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Trevor had a very tough job to do getting our Victorian tiles into shape after decades under a Marley tile floor. They were covered in layers of hard glue but Trevor worked exceptionally hard restoring them to like new. Trevor was very friendly and punctual. An excellent job done and we would definitely recommend him.
Mr. G. Stendall, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands

Victorian Tiles Sutton Coldfield After Restoration Victorian Tiles Sutton Coldfield After Restoration

 

Victorian tiled hallway floor Restored in Sutton Coldfield

Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in Sutton Coldfield Read More »

Changing the Grout Colour of a Tiled Shower Cubicle in Birmingham

Changing the Grout Colour of a Tiled Shower Cubicle in Birmingham

This Ceramic tiled shower cubicle was installed at house in Birmingham, although the Ceramic tiles were in reasonable condition the customer wanted the grout to be refreshed. Ten years ago it would have been necessary to scrape out the top layer of grout and replace however the modern grout colourant kits allow you to achieve the same effects for a lot less expense.

Grout Colouring Bathroom Before Grout Colouring Bathroom Before

Cleaning Tile and Grout

The first job was to clean the grouting with a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in by hand using a scrubbing brush, we also removed the towel radiator on one wall to make sure we could get to the grout behind. Pro-Clean is a very effective tile and grout cleaner that’s good at getting grease & grime out of the grouting, this process also provides a good foundation for the grout colourant which needs a clean surface. If you’re cleaning the grout yourself you may want to consider using Tile Doctor Oxy-Pro instead as it’s a similar product that is ready to use.

Once the grout was dry Grout Colourant in a Linen colour was applied into the grout lines and the excess wiped off, I then cleaned off all the excess Grout Colourant from the tile surface and gave the tiles a good clean. As you can see it made a big difference to the bathroom and I think you will agree the choice of Linen colourant worked well and blended in well with the colour of the tiles needless to say the customer was delighted.

Grout Colouring Bathroom After Grout Colouring Bathroom After

I should mention that the Grout Colourant range supplied by Tile Doctor also seals the grout preventing it from staining and therefore ensuring it will look good for some time to come.

Grout Colouring a Ceramic Tiled bathroom in Birmingham< /h3>

Changing the Grout Colour of a Tiled Shower Cubicle in Birmingham Read More »

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Staffordshire Tile Doctor

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