sealing

Victorian Tiles Sutton Coldfield After Restoration

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 »

Victorian Tiled Floor After Cleaning

Victorian Tiled Hallway floor cleaning in Weeping Cross

This classic Victorian tiled floor was installed in the hallway of a house in the town of Weeping Cross, Staffordshire. The floor was in pretty good condition but had become dull and was in need of a deep clean to put some life back in the tiles, there was also evidence an old adhesive around the edges indicating it had been covered by carpet at some point.

Victorian Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Victorian Tiled Floor Before Cleaning

Cleaning Victorian Floor Tiles

The first job was to remove the glue which I did with a small black scrubbing pad and a mixture of Tile Doctor Remove & Go combined with NanoTech UltraClean and a scraper.

The Remove and Go NanoTech worked well on the stubborn adhesive so I went onto clean the rest of the floor using the same product combination but this time worked in using a rotary machine fitted on slow speed with a black scrubbing pad pad. The resulting soiled solution was vacuumed up using a wet pick up machine and the floor left to dry overnight.

Sealing Victorian floor Tiles

The next morning I mopped the floor with a damp mop and then when it was dry applied four coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go which is a recommended protective sealer for Victorian tiles and leaves a nice shine on the floor. As you can see it looks fantastic and when the owners came home they were thrilled with the results and left the comment below on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Trevor has done a great job with our tiled floor, we are so pleased with the results! We would definitely recommend him!
Mark Broomhall, Stafford

Victorian Tiled Floor After Cleaning Victorian Tiled Floor After Cleaning

 

Victorian hallway floor tiles cleaned in Staffordshire

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Quarry Tiles After Cleaning

Victorian Quarry Tiled floor Restored in Leek

These old red and black Victorian quarry tiles at a house in Leek, Staffordshire, were in a bit of a state as you can see from the photographs below.

Quarry Tiles Before Cleaning Quarry Tiles Before Cleaning

Cleaning old Quarry Tiles

To clean the floor I applied a 50/50 mix of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and NanoTech Ultra Clean diluted with water which was left to soak into the floor and then worked into the tile using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad running at a slow speed. Pro-Clean is a strong alkaline cleaner and NanoTech Ultra Clean adds tiny abrasive particles to the solution that can help lift out the dirt.

After cleaning it I noticed that in places it was not as clean as I would of liked it, so to improve it further it necessary to get on my hands and knees and scrub them with a stronger dilution of the Pro-Clean and NanoTech UltraClean solution and a small black pad. This did the trick and so final step was to neutralise the floor tiles ready for sealing by giving them a good wash with clean water and then left it overnight to dry. A Wet Vacuum comes in handy during this process for removing fluids from the floor

Sealing old Victorian Quarry Tiles

The next day I wiped it over with a damp mop to get any dirt or dust that might have settled overnight and then when it was dry again I applied four coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go using an air mover to help dry the floor quicker between coats.

Quarry Tiles After Cleaning Quarry Tiles After Cleaning

Seal and Go adds a nice low shine to the tile and as you can see the floor looked amazing afterwards, needless to say the customer was very pleased with the transformation and left the comment below.

“I found Trevor a very professional and dedicated workman. He would not let the job finish until he had got the best result.
Miss Jackie Spencer, Leek”

Quarry Tiles After Cleaning Quarry Tiles After Cleaning

 

Victorian Quarry Tiles transformed in Leak, Staffordshire

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Grout Colouring Bathroom Before and After

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>

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Limestone floor Before and After

Limestone tiles cleaned and polished in Burton on Trent

This Limestone tiled floor was installed in a Kitchen at a house near Burton on Trent. You can see from the photographs below that the Limestone had lost its polished appearance and was trapping dirt on the surface including a few stubborn marks; the grout was also looking grubby and dark.

Limestone Floor Before Limestone Floor Before

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Floor

Restoring the shine on a polished stone such as Limestone, Travertine or Marble requires the surface to be stripped back and then buffed, which we did by using a set of burnishing pads. These diamond encrusted pads come in different grade sand each one does a different job from scrubbing to polishing. I started with the course red pad together with a little water and then carried on with the white, then yellow pads again using a little water removing the soiled water along the way. Finally when I had dried the floor I used a green pad to buff the floor up. This activity took most of the day so left the floor to dry off overnight.

Sealing Limestone Tile

On our return the next day the floor was given a quick wipe with a damp mop to get remove any debris or dust that may have landed on the floor overnight. This soon dried and we were able to apply two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a specially designed stone sealer that brings out the deep colour of the stone. Once this had dried it was given a quick once over with a white buffing pad fitted to a rotary machine on a slow speed, this step ensures any excess sealant is removed off the tiles.

The floor was then left for about one hour to dry before working in Tile Doctor Shine powder with a buffing pad to give a really deep finish. We were still not finished however; the grout was still looking grubby so we agreed with the customer to pop back the next day and apply Tile Doctor Grout Colourant in a Sandstone colour.

Limestone Floor After Limestone Floor After

When we had finished the customer was very happy with the work we done and even commented that it looked better than when they first had the floor laid. I recommended that for future maintenance and to extend the life of the sealer they should use Tile Doctor neutral cleaner, it’s a PH neutral cleaner and so is safe to use on sealed stone.

Limestone Tile Maintenance in Burton on Kent

Limestone tiles cleaned and polished in Burton on Trent Read More »

Slate Floor After Cleaning

Slate tiled floor cleaned and sealed in Burton on Trent

This slate tiled floor was installed in a Kitchen in Burton on Trent, Staffordshire. The owner of the house felt it was time to get it cleaned and re-sealed so gave us a call.

Cleaning black slate floor tiles

We set about cleaning the kitchen floor with a mixture of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed 50/50 with Tile Doctor Nano-tech Ultraclean which was worked into the pores of the slate tile using a slow speed rotary machine fitted with a Polyscrub scrubbing brush which can reach down into grouting as well as scrubbing the floor. I then used a wet vacuum to remove the resultant soiled solution before rinsing the floor down twice with cold water, this also neutralises the floor prior to sealing.

Slate Floor Before Cleaning

Sealing Slate floor tiles

I left the floor overnight to dry then came back next day and used a damp test meter to verify the floor was dry and ready for sealing. Once happy I proceed to apply three coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go which as you can see from the photograph below has really brought out the natural colours in the slate. I used a water test after the third coat was dry to see if the water would form bubble on the surface thus indicating it was dry, which it did thereby indicating the floor was fully sealed.

Slate Floor After Cleaning
Overall the job took two days and I’m happy report the customer was amazed with the outcome and very pleased.

Slate tiled Kitchen floor maintained in Staffordshire

Slate tiled floor cleaned and sealed in Burton on Trent Read More »

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