Woking Tile Cleaning

Woking

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

Ceramic Tile and Grout Cleaned in Woking

Ceramic Tile and Grout Cleaning in a Woking Kitchen

I took the photographs below of a Ceramic Tiled kitchen floor at a property in Woking. Two adults, two children and a dog so a lot of foot fall coming in and out of the patio doors that opened to the garden. Ceramic tiles are an ideal choice for a busy floor like this however we all know that children and animals don’t tend to wipe their feet and so they were struggling to keep the tile and grout clean.

Ceramic Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Woking Ceramic Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Woking

Ceramic tiles are usually very easy to keep clean however grout has a rough cementitious surface and so easily attracts dirt turning it black. Also, we find that dirt is washed into the grout line during cleaning which doesn’t help.

Happy to assist I quoted for deep cleaning the tile and grout with a weighted mechanical floor buffer which would scrub the floor clean again, the work would also involve manually cleaning the grout as the pads can struggle to reach into the recesses of the grout line.

Deep Cleaning Kitchen Ceramic Tile and Grout

On arrival I ran a thin line of transparent mastic along the kickboards where they meet the tiles. Unwanted water can be destructive and cause the boards to warp. I leave the mastic in place once I’ve finished as it looks subtle and offers added protection.

With that done I sprayed the tiles with and 1:5 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and left this to soak into the floor for twenty minutes. The Pro-Clean breaks down the dirt turning it a shade of yellow. While this was happening, I retrieved a weighted floor polisher from the van. The iron bars I use as weights improves traction to make the clean more.

Once the Pro-Clean had soaked in I went around the grout lines giving them a good scrub with more Pro-Clean and a wire brush. I’m yet to find a machine that does this as effectively as hand brushing so for best results I get on my hands and knees and give it a good scrub. You can see from the pictures the dirt being released.

Ceramic Tiled Kitchen Floor During Grout Cleaning Woking

Once the grout was done the buffing machine was brought in fitted with a black scrubbing pad that won’t scratch the tiles but does a job of releasing the dirt. All the dirt is vacuumed up with a wet vax. Then just to be sure I neutralise with fresh, warm water. This is also removed leaving the tiles to dry.

Ceramic Tiled Kitchen Floor During Cleaning Woking

Once dry the floor was inspected and any stubborn areas spot treated until both I and the customer were satisfied the tile and grout was as clean as it could be.

Normally after cleaning the final step would be to seal the tiles, however Ceramic tiles won’t take a sealer so once the cleaning was done the job was completed, and in less than a day.

Ceramic Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Woking Ceramic Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Woking

 

Professional Clean of a Ceramic Tiled Kitchen in West Surrey

Ceramic Tile and Grout Cleaning in a Woking Kitchen Read More »

Quarry Tiled Floor Renovation Woking

Small Quarry Tiled Floor Stained with Adhesive and Paint Renovated in Woking

This client has lived in the same Woking property for thirty years and had recently decided to lift the linoleum by the back door to the property. Underneath was a small rectangle of Quarry tiles and the decision was made to lift all the lino and see what could be done to restore the original floor.

Quarry Tiled Floor Before Renovation Woking

My job was to fully remove the linoleum and adhesive, paint splashes and to seal the floor in what was a high traffic area. Although small, I was aware there would probably be a lot of adhesives to remove, and the tiles may be damaged underneath.

I’ve been a Tile Doctor for many years and if you look at my website, you will see I’ve tackled all sorts of Tile, Stone, and Grout situations. So confident I could restore the floor to their satisfaction and optimistic that the job would not take too long I provided a quote for the work which they were happy to accept, and a date was scheduled for my return.

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor

The first task was to protect the surrounding skirting boards and door; then a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go was applied and left to dwell for 20 minutes. This product is a strong alkaline coatings remover designed for use on Tile that breaks down adhesives and other coatings such as paint spots and sealers. Using a coarse 100-grit diamond pad fitted to a rotary buffer machine I set about scrubbing the adhesives from the surface of the Quarry tile.

This is an effective method that not only removes the glue but also cleans up the tile taking away what was probably thirty years of ingrained dirt in the process. Once done the glue and soiling was rinsed and extracted. Stubborn areas and corners were treated by hand using a 60-grit diamond block until I was satisfied the whole floor was as clean as it could be.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor

As we were in the middle of the July heatwave, I was able to dry the tiles quickly, and is it was a small area there was no need to leave the floor to dry off overnight. Wet tiles mustn’t be sealed as the seal will not cure so before moving onto the next step, I took several moisture readings with a damp meter. The floor was soon within acceptable range, so I was able to apply the sealer later that afternoon.

As it was an old house and a high traffic area, I suggested sealing the floor with Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra. This offers a very strong seal with a nice sheen. It’s not too shiny for an elderly house and will last years, it’s also breathable which is an important consideration when sealing old floors that don’t have a damp proof membrane. I applied two coats, letting them dry in-between.

Quarry Tiled Floor After Renovation Woking

My client was over the moon with the transformation and very pleased to see the back of the linoleum floor which really had seen better days. A light mop using Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner would ensure the nice sheen would stay put and the rich colour of the quarry tiles would be maintained. Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner is pH neutral so it is not harsh on the floor and will not damage the newly applied seal, like stronger household cleaners might.

 

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Hallway in West Surrey

Small Quarry Tiled Floor Stained with Adhesive and Paint Renovated in Woking Read More »

300 Year Old Sandstone Flagstone Floor Renovation Pirbright Mill

Old Sandstone Flagstone Restoration at Pirbright Mill

The pictures of a Sandstone floor below were taken at a 300-year-old mill house in the very picturesque village of Pirbright between Woking and Guildford. My client was selling the property which was really beautiful with many original features.

300 Year Old Sandstone Flagstone Floor Before Cleaning Pirbright_Mill

During the week before my arrival, the owner had a restoration company remove the grout surrounding her Sandstone flags and had them lifted so a damp proof course could be laid beneath. The flagstones were then re-laid and regrouted, I assume this was something that had come up in a survey and needed to be rectified as a condition of the sale. I certainly didn’t envy the guy chipping away at the grout for days on end.

Unfortunately, cleaning was not part of the process and by the time I turned up the old Sandstone flagstones were looking washed out and had lost a lot of their character. I was tasked with cleaning them up and sealing them after they had been re-laid, fortunately I wouldn’t need to clean the grout which can be quite a task on old floors like these.

300 Year Old Sandstone Flagstone Floor Before Cleaning Pirbright_Mill

Normally old floors are notorious for damp issues and I usually have to take steps to neutralise efflorescent salt issues however due to the damp proofing work recently completed this would not be a problem. I was very conscious however that the flagstones were very old and so had to be handled with care. So, after running some cleaning tests in a small area behind the mill I worked out the best way forward would be to give the Sandstone a deep clean with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an effective alkaline tile and grout cleaning product. She was happy with the testing and agreed my quote, so we were good to go ahead.

Cleaning an Old Sandstone Flagstone Floor

My method was to spray a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean onto the floor, it was left to soak in for ten minutes and then agitated with a nylon scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary floor buffer. This process released the ingrained dirt from the pores of the stone which was then extracted using a wet vacuum. I inspected the stone flagstones after each scrub and repeated the process where necessary until I was satisfied the stones were as clean as they could be. Once done the floor was left to dry off ready for the next stage of applying a protective sealer.

Sealing Old Sandstone Paving Flagstones

Old buildings are often very cold and damp, so I used as little water as possible during cleaning, however Sandstone is quite porous, so I left the stone floor for three days to dry out before returning to seal.

For sealing I chose to apply Tile Doctor Colour Grow, this is a colour intensifying sealer that will add durable protection to the stone whilst enhancing the natural colours of the very old sandstone flags.

300 Year Old Sandstone Flagstone Floor After Sealing Pirbright_Mill

The client has since sold the house with the new owners benefitting from some considerable restoration. I am sure they will be very pleased to live here, I left a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to get them started.

300 Year Old Sandstone Flagstone Floor After Sealing Pirbright_Mill

 

Professional Renovation of old Sandstone Flagstone Paving in a Surrey Mill

Old Sandstone Flagstone Restoration at Pirbright Mill Read More »

Ceramic Tiled Shower Curbicle Before After Renovation Woking

End of Tenancy Shower Cubicle Renovation in Woking

Example below of the end of tenancy clean of a Ceramic tiled shower cubicle in Woking student accommodation. The Ceramic tile, grout and shower base were filthy. The mastic had perished, shrunk, and turned black. Unattractive and unhygienic the landlord had little chance of re-letting the property with the bathroom in that state, so we were asked to step in. As you can see from the pictures it was pretty bad although I have seen worse.

Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle Before Cleaning

If you have a rental property with a stone floor its worth giving Tile Doctor a call as we find landlords rarely give tenants instructions on how to maintain them and they often end up in a state by the end of the lease.

Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle Before Cleaning Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle Before Cleaning

Cleaning a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle

Ceramic tiles are exceptionally durable and as long as the glaze is intact, they can usually be cleaned quite easily. Grout however is slightly porous and traps dirt which can be a struggle to clean effectively. The grout in this shower was discoloured and permanently stained so the best way to renovate it was to apply a grout colourant.

Before applying the grout colourant, I cleaned the grout with the Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up and a wire brush. Being an acidic product, it can remove old grout smears, limescale, body soaps and fats, also being it will key the surface of the grout allowing for a superior bond with the grout colourant later.

Next, I cleaned the tiles using Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel which being gel based sticks well to vertical surfaces and allows for better dwell time so it can really eat into the dirt. The gel is applied to the tile, left for ten minutes, and then scrubbed it in with a 6-inch handheld polisher fitted with a black pad.

We then started on the shower base. I used Tile Doctor Remove and Go for this, again leaving it to soak into the surface dirt for ten minutes before scrubbing it in by hand with a brush. I managed to get into all the grooves in the plastic tray and removed all the dirt.

Once the cubicle was dry, I removed the mastic sealant from the two verticals and three horizontals around the base and behind the glass door. This is a fiddly job that can take a while with an assortment of knives and scrappers, taking care not to damage the tiles or the shower tray.

Now the shower was clean I coloured the grout back to its original white colour. This is tedious work carefully applying the colourant with a narrow paint brush. The product dries very quickly so any excess product the gets onto the tile must be wiped off immediately. Another advantage of using a grout colourant is it forms a barrier over the grout, sealing it prevent dirt from becoming attached to its cementitious surface. The smooth surface of the colourant also makes it much easier to clean.

Whilst the Tile Doctor Grout Colourant dried, I applied a new white mastic. Applying mastic takes some time to master and is best left to the experienced. It is not easily mastered but practice does makes perfect.

Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle after Renovation Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle after Renovation

Once done the cubicle looked transformed. I managed to complete the shower by early afternoon advising my client that mastic needs 24 hours to dry before it can be used again. He was very happy, the shower cubicle looked as good as new and relieved it was in a rental condition again.

Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle after Renovation

 

Professional Clean of a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle in West Surrey

End of Tenancy Shower Cubicle Renovation in Woking Read More »

Flagstone Tiled Floor- After Restoration Ripley

400 Year Old Dirty Flagstone Floor Renovated in Ripley

This property in the lovely Surrey village of Ripley near Woking was over 400 years old and featured an amazingly dirty flagstone floor. The village itself has a long history that dates to Norman times so I wouldn’t surprise me if the stone in this floor was original or potentially older.

The house was a family property with a large garden that the kids and dog used and liked to walk through the house bringing the garden inside! It was fair to say the area was subject to heavy traffic and attracted a fair amount of dirt. I recommended a deep and thorough clean and then the application of a durable sealer to protect the stone going forward.

400 Year Old Flagstone Floor Before Restoration Ripley 400 Year Old Flagstone Floor Before Restoration Ripley

To demonstrate the potential of the flagstones I applied different Tile Doctor cleaning products on a small test area to see which would work best. It wasn’t long before the dirt was lifted out of the pores of the stone and you could really get an ideal of how the stone could be could transformed. They agreed my quote for the work, and we arranged a time to carry out the work which would take two days. I would start the cleaning on a Friday then we would return on the following Tuesday to seal leaving it to dry for more than two days in between.

Cleaning and Restoring a Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

The first job was to clean the grout using a strong dilution Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which turned it from a dark brown to a sandy yellow colour. This work was done by hand with a hard-scrubbing brush and due to the wide joints took three hours to complete before finally rinsing and extracting the dirt off the floor with a wet vacuum.

400 Year Old Flagstone Floor During Restoration Ripley

Next task was to clean the flagstones. They were so dirty I decided to use Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a stronger product to breakdown the ingrained dirt. Fortunately, I was able to use a standard black scrubbing pad attached to my rotary buffer to work the product into the stone. The dirt was removed with the wet vacuum cleaner as I progressed however the stone was so dirty that the soil ran back down into the grout. So, after cleaning the tiles I had to go over the grout again.

Once completed, the client was astonished at the difference. I used a lot of water in the cleaning process so the floor was left for three days so it would thoroughly dry out before I returned to apply the sealer.

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

Returning on the Tuesday, first I checked the floor was dry with a moisture meter. My plan to leave the floor for three days had worked well and I confirmed the floor was dry and ready to be sealed.

To seal the floor, I applied three coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra with a paint pad and a soft brush. There was a lot to cover and each coat is left to dry before applying the next, so it took some time before I was done. Seal and Go Extra is a breathable sealer so it will allow moisture to rise through the floor this is an important consideration when sealing old floors which don’t have a damp-proof membrane. The sealer worked well on the stone really bringing out the colours, so the stones now looked like stones rather than black rocks.

400 Year Old Flagstone Floor After Restoration Ripley 400 Year Old Flagstone Floor After Restoration Ripley

The client was over the moon with the difference, they had literally never seen the floor looking like this. The children and dog were firmly told they would be wiping their feet before traipsing the garden through the house in future!

400 Year Old Flagstone Floor After Restoration Ripley

For aftercare I recommended they used Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which will keep the floor clean and is not overly strong like many supermarket cleaning products which can prematurely erode the protection provided by the sealer.

 

Professional Restoration of a Flagstone Tiled Floor in West Surrey

400 Year Old Dirty Flagstone Floor Renovated in Ripley Read More »

Red Wine Stains Removed From Limestone Fireplace Before and After Cleaning Woking

Red Wine Stains Removed from Limestone Fireplace in Woking

Here at Tile Doctor we have developed numerous products and techniques for dealing with all types of situations related to the cleaning of stone, tile and grout. Whilst the most popular work we do relates to the cleaning and sealing of floors sometimes we get asked to resolve more unusual issues such as this Wine Stained Limestone Fireplace at a house in the London commuter town of Woking.

Unfortunately for the customer their teenage son had knocked a glass of red wine from the dining table onto the carpet and over his parent’s adjacent limestone fireplace which despite early attention left noticeable dark spots in the stone. The customer was keen to have the stains removed and had even resigned himself to the possibility of replacing the whole fixture. Naturally this would’ve cost hundreds of pounds; fortunately, however he discovered Tile Doctor on the internet and realised the staining could be remedied reasonably easily with the correct knowledge and products.

Limestone Fireplace Before Wine Stain Removal Woking

Cleaning a Wine Stained Limestone Fireplace

I mentioned earlier Tile Doctor have developed numerous products and techniques and this includes Tile Doctor Reduxa which is designed to lift the stains out of stone, so I decided to try that first.

My method of application was to spray the stain with Reduxa and leave it to soak into the stone for about twenty seconds. Then I worked the solution into the surface of the stain lightly using a smooth 400 grit diamond block. The next step involves using a heat gun to dry out the area. This process is repeated five or six times until the stain completely disappears. The process works by dissolving the stain into the Reduxa which is then evaporated by the heat.

Limestone Fireplace After Wine Stain Removal Woking
I’m pleased to report that the stain was completely removed by the process and no other treatment was required to resolve the problem further. The customer still has to decide however what to do with the carpet…

Professional Removal of Wine Stains from Limestone in Surrey

Red Wine Stains Removed from Limestone Fireplace in Woking Read More »

Quarry Tiled Floor After Restoration Woking

Cement and Lino Covered Quarry Tiles Restored in Woking

This customer from Woking had a Quarry tiled kitchen floor that she simply didn’t think could be restored. The floor had been unearthed after many years of being covered by a layer of levelling compound cement and then linoleum. Indeed, the situation certainly looked dire, but I carried out a successful test clean on a patch of the floor where the cement was at its thickest to show that it would be possible to conduct a full restoration. Having seen the results, the customer was more than happy for me to get the work underway.

Quarry Tiled Floor Before Restoration Woking Quarry Tiled Floor Before Restoration Woking

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Cleaning Dirty, Cement Covered Quarry Tiles

To begin the restoration, I soaked small sections with water and Tile Doctor Remove and Go our heavy duty coatings remover. The solution was left to dwell for a short period to soften the cement, before I used the heat from a steamer in combination with a hand scraper to begin lifting away the muck. As you can probably imagine, this was an arduous and intensive process which took a full four days to fully complete.

Quarry Tiled WC Floor Before Cleaning Woking Quarry Tiled Floor After Cleaning Woking

Next, I cleaned the cement-free tiles using our high alkaline tile cleaning product Tile Doctor Pro Clean diluted 1 part cleaner with 3 parts water. This helped to eradicate the leftover muck once I had removed the bulk of the cement. I then sprayed Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up onto the grout lines and tiles to fully neutralise them and also remove any cement residue. Finally, I steamed the floor and left it for a week to dry out completely.

Sealing Quarry Kitchen Tiles

Upon my return to the property I sealed the floor with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, an impregnating sealer which really enhances the natural colours stone, and four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, a topical sealer which provides a high quality sheen finish and durable protection against stains.

Quarry Tiled Floor After Restoration Woking Quarry Tiled WC Floor After Restoration Woking

The customer was over the moon with the results and left some great feedback:

“Wayne did a really superb job. It was a very tough task, hot and exhausting, but he was fantastically good-humoured throughout, and kept me really well-informed. He was 100% reliable and very good at communicating between visits. I’m absolutely thrilled with the results! Thank you Wayne and thank you Tile Doctor! Would definitely recommend, and use your services again.”

Quarry Tiled Floor Before and After Restoration Woking
 

Removing Cement Screed from Quarry Tiled Floor in Surrey

Cement and Lino Covered Quarry Tiles Restored in Woking Read More »

Victorian Hallway Floor West Byfleet After Sealing

Repairing and Cleaning a Checkered Victorian Tiled Hallway in West Byfleet

Victorian floors are known for their intricate and interesting patterns – so when tiles are in need of replacement, sourcing ones which are consistent with original pattern can be a difficult task.

This was the case when recently I quoted for a clean and seal of a large black and white Checkered Victorian tiled hallway at a property in the town of West Byfleet, Surrey. The customer informed me they had engaged a tiler to lay black tiles in the door thresholds to match the others. I queried why the tiler was not planning to lay tiles of the same pattern to match the rest and apparently this was due to the fact that the tiler couldn’t source the appropriate tiles.

Victorian Hallway Floor West Byfleet Door Threshold Before
Having dealt with these problems before I offered to quote separately to source and install reclaimed tiles that would provide consistency with the original pattern. The customers agreed to both jobs and I arrived at the property once I had sourced the tiles required.

Victorian Hallway Floor West Byfleet Tile Installation Victorian Hallway Floor West Byfleet Tile Installation

I set about laying the new tiles straight away, with my first action being to dig out the old cement that had been used to fill the gaps in the doorways, before making sure the sub base was flat. I then proceeded to carefully lay the tiles in a matching pattern.

Victorian Hallway Floor West Byfleet Tile Installation

Cleaning a Dirty Victorian Tiled Hallway

I then moved on to cleaning the Victorian tiles, immediately noticing numerous paint and glue stains that would have be to be tacked first. To address this problem, I applied Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU (formerly known as Ultra Clean), which uses Nano-sized particles to get beneath particularly tough stains and break them down. It’s suitable for use on a wide range of unsealed and sealed tiled surfaces, particularly where heavy dirt build-up occurs.

Victorian Hallway Floor West Byfleet Before Cleaning Victorian Hallway Floor West Byfleet Before Acid Wash

The product was scrubbed into the floor and then rinsed off using a wet vacuum to extract the soiled solution. Next I gave the tiles an acid wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up, this acidic cleaner is good for tackling old cement and grout haze left on the surface of the tiles and following this I gave the floor a thorough rinse and steam to remove any trace of product.

Victorian Hallway Floor West Byfleet After Cleaning

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway

I left the floor to dry completely for four days. Upon my return to the property, I gave the hallway a final light clean with Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, just to ensure that the tiles were in the possible condition possible before being sealed.

Once satisfied with the results, I applied a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow to seal the tiles. This is an impregnating sealer that will provide a long-lasting protection from the inside to mitigate the effect of the heavy wear caused by the high traffic of people walking in this area. In addition, the natural colours and shades in the black and white Victorian tiles are now enhanced, thanks to the colour intensifying properties in the product.

Victorian Hallway Floor West Byfleet After Sealing
I left the floor for a couple of hours before further sealing it with four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go to add surface protection and to add a nice low sheen to the appearance of the Victorian tiles.

Victorian Hallway Floor West Byfleet After Sealing
The customers were very pleased with the finished results, even going so far to call later that night to thank me. They also left the following feedback on the Tile Doctor feedback system:

“Bill Bailey installed total confidence in us as customers. Completely sympathetic to our needs, with a total understanding to our requirements. Now whilst this wasn’t the cheapest quote we had, it was the most honest, which is why we decided it was the one for us. I can honestly say that Bill’s work surpassed our expectations and I would thoroughly recommend Bill Bailey to anyone who is thinking about having any tile restoration done or expert cleaning also. A very, very happy customer who will be using Bill Bailey for any tiling jobs we have in the future.”

Professional Victorian Tile Restoration in Surrey

Repairing and Cleaning a Checkered Victorian Tiled Hallway in West Byfleet Read More »

Brick Paver Driveaway After Cleaning

Drive Cleaning Surrey

Drive Cleaning in Banstead, Surrey

Let’s witness how the experts did the drive cleaning in Banstead Surrey. Having cleaned a customers Stone Kitchen floor, we were asked if we could also take a look at their block paved driveway; we don’t generally get a lot of requests of this nature however we have all the tools and products to clean most surfaces so cleaning patios and brick paved driveways isn’t a problem.

Drive cleaning image before the results Drive cleaning image before the results

Processing the drive cleaning

The process was quite straight forward and involved pre-soaking the driveway with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, it’s a versatile cleaner that equally effective of Brick as well as Tile, Grout and Stone; being an alkaline cleaner it has the added advantage that it doesn’t cause damage to the surface that acid cleaners can.

The Pro-Clean was left to dwell on the brick pavers for a good two hours before following up with a high pressure professional jet washing machine which did a great job dislodging unwanted grass and soils that had built up on the surface over time, you can see from the photographs what a difference it made. Drive cleaning in Surrey has proved that there is not much problem when it comes to tile cleaning.

Success of a drive cleaning in Surrey by Tile Doctor Paul Scott

Drive Cleaning Surrey Read More »

Courtyard Tiles Cleaning

Courtyard Cleaning

Surrey Courtyard Cleaning

Please read Cleaning Terracotta Floors before you proceed on this post.

Courtyard Tiles Cleaning Courtyard Tiles Cleaning

Courtyard Cleaning Method

At the request of the customer we returned to the property to clean the courtyard area, which we deep cleaned with a jet wash machine and Tile Doctor Pro-clean solution. We started by mixing the Pro-clean with water and spread it over the surface scrubbing it with a black scrubbing pad on our rotary machine. This was left to dwell for 30 minutes then we fitted our patio spinner to our jet wash and thoroughly cleaned and rinsed the complete area.

Courtyard Cleaning Courtyard Tiles Cleaning
Courtyard Cleaning

Once again the customer was absolutely delighted with the result and as a result they now want me to maintain their floors on a yearly basis. They have also asked me to clean some other stone, wood and carpeted areas in their property, which will be done later this year.

The customer’s comments were:

“Thanks again Paul for another amazing job, we will be in touch soon with our next project for you to do, we now know that your standard of work is excellent and that you are honest, trustworthy and very hard working.”

Courtyard Cleaning in Surrey

Courtyard Cleaning Read More »

Terracotta Floor in the Kitchen

Cleaning Terracotta Floors

Cleaning Terracotta Floors in Surrey

This customer had a terracotta tiled floor in the kitchen, utility room and toilet, which hadn’t been sealed for 8 years and was was in needed of restoration. On full inspection we also found that there was loose and missing grout some of which was in different colours.

Cleaning Terracotta Floors in the Kitchen Terracotta Floor Cleaning in the Kitchen

The tiles were also stained with olive oil from cooking spillages.

Terracotta Floor in the Kitchen Terracotta Floor in the Kitchen

Cleaning Terracotta Floors

We started the cleaning process by giving the terracotta floor a deep clean by using Tile Doctor Pro-clean agitated with scrubbing with deck brushes to remove soil build-up and old sealer residue. We then thoroughly rinsed the floor using our truck mounted machine and spinner tool. Cleaning Terracotta Floors can be difficult and we experienced difficulty removing the oil stains from the tile as terracotta is very porous and had absorbed the oil like a sponge.

We then applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go to the stained areas then sprayed with a light spray of water to help keep it moist and stop it drying out, we left this solution on the tiles for 90 minutes. After the dwelling time we steamed the floor as we rinsed off the Remove and Go. The next step was to rinse the complete floor with our truck mount cleaning system and a tile cleaning spinner tool. This thoroughly rinses and thoroughly cleans the floor with very hot water and high pressure.

Next we had to then tackle the grout problem, so we removed all loose and old grout, where needed and re-grouted the floor. This was left to for 48 hours to completely dry.

Sealing Terracotta Floors

Terracotta is very porous and for this floor we applied 8 coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, leaving it to dry for 40 minutes between each coat. We returned the following day and re-coloured the grout with Tile Doctor beige grout re-colourant. This was then left to dry and a further 3 coats of Seal and Go applied.

Once this had dried we buffed the floor to harden the sealer and polish it. We used a white buffing pad fitted to a rotary cleaning and polishing machine to bring out the shine on the floor as shown in the pictures below:

Sealing Terracotta Floor in the Kitchen Terracotta Floor in the Kitchen

The customer was on holiday when we carried out the work, we had been dealing with the manager of the property, who when the customer returned was made to phone me, so the customer could thank me personally.

The customer’s comments were:

“I can’t believe how nice our floor looks and never thought it could look so good! “

They spoke to the manager of their property and have asked him to arrange with me another appointment as they wanted me to clean their courtyard area as well as they were absolutely delighted with their terracotta floors.

Cleaning Terracotta Floors in Surrey

Cleaning Terracotta Floors Read More »

Slate Patio under the process of restoration

Tile Doctor – Showing The Results of Cleaning Slate on a Client’s Patio

Wonders in cleaning slate made by Tile Doctor experts

Photographs below of a Slate Patio we recently restored. The customer had another company come in to clean and seal them but they used the wrong product and it turned white and the sealer went patchy.

Process of cleaning slate and its restoration

image of cleaning slate on a patio

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We stripped of all old sealer using Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a great multi-purpose product that will remove most sealers and coatings.

cleaning slate

After a thorough rinse and wash down with water the was resealed using Colour Grow which not being water based is ideal for external applications and ideal for bringing out the natural beauty in slate. The customer was so pleased with the work he is inviting back every 6 months to maintain it.

Tile Doctor don’t just specialise in Cleaning Slate we can also restore Ceramic, Granite, Limestone, Marble, Porcelain, Quarry, Sandstone, Terracotta and Victorian Tiles.

Tile Doctor – Showing The Results of Cleaning Slate on a Client’s Patio Read More »

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West Surrey Tile Doctor

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