Cranleigh

Painted Quarry Tiles Before After Renovation Cranleigh

Renovation of Painted Quarry Tiles in a Cranleigh Vicarage

A Vicar from Cranleigh contacted me earlier this year about a Quarry tiled floor. It turns out he had lifted the carpets in the hallway of the Vicarage and found that the previous tenant had painted red tile paint around the tiles up to the edges of the carpet. With the carpet removed the floor looked very unattractive and he was looking to have the original appearance of the Quarry tiles restored.

Painted Quarry Tiled Floor Before Renovation at Cranleigh Vicarage

I went to Cranleigh to survey the problem and you can see from the pictures the floor wasn’t looking great, the paint looked as if it had been applied without any preparation and had peeled off in places. I discussed my plan to renovate the floor with the Vicar which would involve stripping all the paint off the tiles followed by deep cleaning and then applying a sealer. He was very pleased to hear this and was happy with the quote that I produced which would take two days. We arranged a time to return the following month to complete the work.

Painted Quarry Tiled Floor Before Renovation at Cranleigh Vicarage

Stripping Paint from a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor

On day one I started by protecting the skirting and other woodwork with decorative tape. Once this was done, I spent time removing the paint with paint stripper and a sharp blade. It was messy and tedious work but necessary to achieve the requested result. The waste was then rinsed off the floor with water and extracted using a wet vacuum.

Once all the paint was removed, I cleaned the tiles with a coarse 400-grit diamond encrusted burnishing pad fitted to a rotary machine and lubricated with water. This was followed with an 800-grit pad. The former opens the tiles pores allowing dirt to be extracted and the 800-grit pad closes them ready for sealing. Quarry tiles are particularly porous, so I left the floor to dry off for 48 hours days before returning to seal the tiles.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor

Returning a few days later I started with tidying up any areas that needed further attention. The floor had dried out nicely however I wanted it to be clear of any dirt or dust since I cleaned it so I gave it a light mop and left the floor to dry off again. Once the floor was completely dry, I sealed the area with several coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra.

Painted Quarry Tiled Floor After Renovation at Cranleigh Vicarage

I selected this product as it is a super tough sealer that once applied has a sheen effect while offering a very strong protective surface to the floor. This was important as hallways receive a high level of foot traffic and even more so in a Vicarage with parishioners coming and going. Seal and Go Extra is also breathable and this is an important consideration when choosing a sealer for use on old tiled floors that don’t have damp proof membrane installed.

The vicar was very pleased with the finished floor, I discussed with him the best way to keep it clean and maintained would be to use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, which is pH neutral and so won’t prematurely degrade the integrity of the sealer like stronger products.

Painted Quarry Tiled Floor After Renovation at Cranleigh Vicarage

 

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Terracotta Conservatory Cranliegh Before and After Cleaning

Terracotta Tiled Conservatory in Cranleigh Deep Cleaned and Sealed

Cranleigh is the self-proclaimed largest village in England, sitting about 8 miles southeast of Guildford in Surrey. One of its villagers contacted me recently to see if there was anything I could do to improve the state of their Terracotta tiled conservatory. They were in the process of completely redecorating the conservatory, having just replaced the wood and glass and I was called in to restore the tiled floor back to looking its best.

Terracotta is made from clay and is quite porous ceramic, and tends to be quite porous when made into commercial or residential tiling. Just like stone it needs to be sealed to ensure the pores don’t become ingrained with dirt, following that sealers do need to be maintained as they do wear off over time.

In this case, my client had moved into the property twenty years ago, and had only ever carried out a routine mop of the floor; as a result the floor was now ingrained with dirt and had lost its colour and would require a deep clean and seal to bring it back to life.

Terracotta Conservatory Cranliegh Before Cleaning Terracotta Conservatory Cranliegh Before Cleaning

Cleaning a Terracotta tiled conservatory

To begin with, I mixed a cleaning solution consisting of one part Tile Doctor Pro Clean to one part water. This was spread evenly across the floor and let to dwell for approximately ten to fifteen minutes. The solution was then agitated with a scrubbing pad fitted to my heavy-weight rotary machine, lifting away the initial layers of muck and any remaining old sealer.

However, I noticed after giving the tiles a rinse that some of the old sealer was still prevalent in some areas. To deal with this, I applied a solvent-based sealer stripper and left it to work its magic on the affected areas. After about an hour, I added a steamer to the mix, and this allowed me to thoroughly scrub away the old seal. This was followed up by another rinse of the floor, and left it to dry.

Terracotta Conservatory Cranliegh During Cleaning

Sealing a Terracotta tiled conservatory

I returned to the house five days later to complete the restoration. My immediate task was to carry out a moisture test to make sure the floor was completely dry and therefore ready to take the new seal, this is an important step as adding a sealer to a damp floor can result in problems.

Once satisfied, I proceeded to seal the floor with five coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer. This sealer is particularly effective at providing durable surface protection from within, and contains properties which enhanced the natural auburn shades in the Terracotta tiles.

Terracotta Conservatory Cranliegh After Sealing Terracotta Conservatory Cranliegh After Sealing

I’m pleased to say that my client was overjoyed with the quick transformation of their conservatory floor. They never knew quite how vibrant the colours in the stone could be, and better still, the floor now blends in with their newly painted lemon walls.


Terracotta Conservatory Cranliegh Before and After Cleaning
 

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