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

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 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 »

Cleaning Stains From a Natural Stone Fireplace Hearth in East Byfleet

1 Comment / Travertine Tile Cleaning, Weybridge Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

This is a follow-on post from the Travertine Kitchen floor that I wrote about recently, you may recall the customer from East Byfleetalso asked me to clean the stains from the hearth of their Natural Stone Fireplace as well.

Stone Fireplace Before Cleaning East Byfleet

Stone Fireplace Hearth Stain Removal

The fireplace was suffering from general dirt build-up as well as bad rust and oil stains. I treated the rust stains using Tile Doctor Rust Remover which is a specialist product developed by Tile Doctor especially for the removal of rust marks from stone. Then to deal with the oil stains I applied a solution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean alkaline cleaner combined 50/50 with Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU to give the solution extra strength.

While this improved the condition of the stone and removed the un-sightly stains more work was required so I continued the cleaning process with the application of a Coarse 30 grit pad fitted to my hand machine. This proved effective, so I then refined the surface further using a series of fine grit pads before sealing the fireplace with Tile Doctor Ultra Seal, another of our impregnating sealers.

Stone Fireplace After Cleaning East Byfleet

The appearances of both Travertine tiled kitchen floor and the natural stone fireplace have benefitted greatly from deep cleaning, high quality polishing, and a fresh seal. Much to the delight of my customer, they will prove much easier to keep clean I’m the future.

Professional Fireplace Hearth Restoration in East Byfleet

Cleaning Stains From a Natural Stone Fireplace Hearth in East Byfleet Read More »

Travertine Kitchen Floor After Sealing East Byfleet

Restoring Travertine Kitchen Tiles in East Byfleet

1 Comment / Travertine Tile Cleaning, Weybridge Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

This customer, who lives in East Byfleet had been experiencing difficulties in keeping her fantastic Travertine tiled kitchen floor in good condition. Over the years it had suffered from a heavy build up of dirt and oily stains, not to mentioned a number of cracks and small holes. Needless to say, the customer was keen to restore the Travertine tiles to their former glory.

Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning East Byfleet

Restoring Travertine Tiles

To begin the restoration, I applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go across the entirety of the large tiled area. This heavy duty remover breaks down any old sealers and other coatings, leaving the area ready to cleaned or, in this case, burnished.

Burnishing is a method for cleaning and polishing certain types of high-end stone, including Travertine, Marble, and Limestone. Our burnishing system involves the application of four diamond encrusted pads of varying grits. Firstly, I applied the Coarse grit pad, which helps to break down any dirt and stains on the surface of the tiles. Then, I worked my way through the Medium, Fine, and Very Fine pads, using a little water as lubricant, to gradually refine the polish on the Travertine. It was then rinsed and left to dry.

To round off the first day of work, I filled any cracks and holes using our two-part resin system which greatly improved the look of the tile.

Travertine Kitchen Floor Cracked Tile Before and After East Byfleet

Sealing Travertine Tiles

The following day I returned to the property to seal the tiles checking first that the floor had dried. All was well so I proceeded to seal the floor using our colour intensifying impregnating sealer Tile Doctor Colour Grow. Once that was dry, I added the finishing touches by buffing the floor with a soft white buffing pad. As you can see from the photographs, the combination of a fresh seal and polish worked wonders.

We did such a good job with the floor that the customer asked if we could also improve the appearance of their natural stone fireplace which was suffering from bad rust and oil stains however I do a separate write up on that.

Cracked Travertine Kitchen Floor Fully Restored in Surrey

Restoring Travertine Kitchen Tiles in East Byfleet Read More »

Repairing and Cleaning a Checkered Victorian Tiled Hallway in West Byfleet

1 Comment / Victorian Tile Cleaning, Woking Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

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

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.

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.

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.

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 »

Terracotta Tiled Conservatory in Cranleigh Deep Cleaned and Sealed

1 Comment / Guildford Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

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

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

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 Tiled Conservatory Floor Refreshed in Surrey

Terracotta Tiled Conservatory in Cranleigh Deep Cleaned and Sealed Read More »

Mouldy Ceramic Tiled Shower Refreshed in Epsom Downs

1 Comment / Ceramic Tile Cleaning, Epsom Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

A customer contacted us regarding a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle problem they had with their house in Epsom Downs, Surrey. All the grout and mastic had started to go black and grow mould which is quite a common problem in modern houses and our busy lifestyles and insulated homes with insufficient ventilation.

Cleaning Ceramic Tile and Grout

We started by giving the tiles a good scrub with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and our non-scratch scrubbing brushes, then we thoroughly scrubbed the grout with more Pro-Clean and a special grout brush designed to get right into the grout and scrub the soil out. We then went over the grout where there was any marks and residue soil with our grout brush and Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which is a stronger product that can remove mineral deposits and even excess grout from a tile surface.

Grout Sealing

Prevention is better than the cure so the tile and grout was dried with cloths and a heat gun and then left for half an hour. We then damp tested the area to make sure it was dry and was no damp present in the grout before applying Tile Doctor Grout Seal and Go which will seal the grout making it waterproof and stop the mould coming back

Last step was to cut out all the old mastic and seal around the shower and replace it with new silicone sealer finishing the job off nicely

Refreshing a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle in Epsom

Mouldy Ceramic Tiled Shower Refreshed in Epsom Downs Read More »

16th Century Quarry Tile Restoration at the Hogs Back, Farnham

Farnham Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

We were contacted by a customer interested in our no obligation home survey who wanted a quotation for restoring their Quarry Tiled floor. It was an interesting property which would probably be best described as a quirky old cottage dating back to the 16th century; it was probably built to house workers from the neighbouring farm and the owner had decided to renovate the original quarry floor tiles which were in a bad way and effected by damp due to a lack of damp proof course and the tiles being laid straight onto a bed of peat. It’s quite amazing when you think that these tiles had been laid over 400 years ago and were still serviceable.

Cleaning Antique Quarry Tiles

We started by steaming off all the old Sealers, Soil and Waxes that had been applied over the years, we then applied neat Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed 50/50 with Nano-Tech Ultra-Clean and left it dwell on the floor for twenty minutes, the two products combined create a powerful cleaning agent which is still safe to use on tile and stone. The tiles were then scrubbed using a rotary machine fitted with a black pad to work the solution into the floor and then it was left to dwell for a further twenty minutes. The dirty solution was then removed using a wet vacuum which I can highly recommend for removing liquids from floors.

The next step was to use our Tile Spinneret tool which is fed from a heavy machine fitted into our Van. Often referred to as a truck mount system the tile spinner power rinses the floor with a high pressure warm water jet wash and at the same time sucks the soiled water back to a recovery tank in our van ready for disposal.

The customer had to make a visit abroad at this point so we left the newly cleaned floor for six weeks to allow it to fully dry out fully before we came back to seal it.

Sealing Antique Quarry Tiles

When we returned six weeks later we found a couple of areas were still showing a slight damp problem and so we dried the tiles concerned with heat guns to make sure it was bone dry. Now that the dirt had been removed from the tiles we could also see that they had lost most of their colour and so it was necessary to apply a specially formulated red tile colouring product over the whole floor which we left for an hour to soak in before using a polishing machine to make sure it was well ground in and evenly distributed across the surface of the quarry tiles. The last step was to seal the tiles to and for this we choose a product called Tile Doctor Seal and Go which I can highly recommended for sealing quarry tiles and it gives a nice low sheen effect. Six coats of sealer where needed in total which took some time to apply as you have to let the sealer dry before applying the next coat. Last step was to buff the tiles to a nice shine using our polishing machine fitted with a Buffing Pad.

This restoration was a tough assignment and certainly took some time, but I think you will agree our efforts have made a significant improvement to the floor.

Quarry Tile Restoration in Farnham

16th Century Quarry Tile Restoration at the Hogs Back, Farnham Read More »

Cleaning & Grout Colouring a Marble Tiled Bathroom in Earls Court

Esher Tile Cleaning, Marble Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

These Marble Tiles were installed in the bathroom at a residence in Earls Court, west London; the Marble certainly gave a luxurious effect but had dulled over time, on top of that the grout had stained in places and both were in need of really good deep clean.

Cleaning Marble Tiles

We set about cleaning the Marble Tiled floor using a mild dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in with Deck Brushes. Once we were happy the floor was rinsed with clean water to remove and chemical residue and we then began polishing the floor using a buffing machine fitted with a green burnishing pad, the green pads are encrusted with very fine diamonds and used with a small amount of water to produce a high shine finish.

Applying Grout Colourant

The last step was to colour the grout which is easily done using a bottle of Grout Colourant. This is applied into the grout lines using a tooth brush; as well as changing the colour the product provides an epoxy coating on top of the grout protecting it against future discoloration.

The customer was certainly pleased with difference and said the “the results are amazing” when she returned home from work that evening.

Cleaning and Polishing Marble Bathroom Tiles

Cleaning & Grout Colouring a Marble Tiled Bathroom in Earls Court Read More »

Beautiful Indian Sandstone floor deep cleaned in Guildford

Guildford Tile Cleaning, Sandstone Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

This beautiful Indian Sandstone tiled floor was laid throughout an open plan Kitchen, Dining and Lounge in a house in Guilford. The floor was in need of a deep clean and seal so we called round initially to survey the tile and grout and provide a quote which was accepted.

Indian Sandstone During Cleaning Indian Sandstone Washing

Cleaning Indian Sandstone

To clean the floor we used a solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a flexible strong alkaline cleaner specially designed for use on stone floors mixed 50/50 with Tile Doctor Nanotech Ultra-Clean which contains tiny abrasive particles. This solution was left to dwell on the floor for thirty minutes before being worked into the floor with scrubbing brushes. We then used a tile spinner tool and truck mount cleaning system to rinse the floor of all residue soils and chemicals, the floor was covered with dust sheets whilst it dried and also to keep it clean until we came back to seal it.

Sealing Indian Sandstone

On our return we discussed the effects of different sealers, they all offer stain protection to different levels but change the appearance of the tile in different ways. The customer liked the natural look of the stone so we applied Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal using three coats of sealer to fully seal the tiled floor; Ultra-Seal is also a penetrating sealer that gets deep into the pores of the stone. The customer was delighted with the result and we have been asked to return every year to maintain the floor.

Indian Sandstone Floor Maintained in Guilford

Beautiful Indian Sandstone floor deep cleaned in Guildford Read More »

Polishing a scratched Marble Floor in Eaton Square, Belgravia, London

Esher Tile Cleaning, Marble Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

We were asked to polish this marble floor in Eaton Square which is in Belgravia one of the most historic residential parts of London, a short distance from Buckingham Palace and Knightsbridge.

Cleaning a Marble Tiled Floor

There were a lot of scratches in the Marble floor and it was also looking dull, so we set about first by giving it a good clean using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an strong alkaline product designed for use on stone floors. It’s important to clean the floor before polishing to ensure there’s no dirt or grit on the floor which might get ground into the floor during polishing making the problem worse.

Polishing Marble Tiles

Once the floor was clean we started the polishing process with a Red Burnishing pad fitted to a rotary machine, the pads are diamond encrusted and can remove deep scratches. We went over the floor carefully covering every tile four times and then followed up with the white, yellow and then green polishing pads, each one polishes the floor to a higher degree. The next step was to apply Tile Doctor Shine crystallising powder with a little water polished in with our polishing machine fitted with a natural fibre pad; this step gives the floor a tough durable finish. The floor was then thoroughly rinsed to remove any residues left on the floor all before giving it a final re-polish to bring out a deep high shine.

Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Floor in Belgravia

Polishing a scratched Marble Floor in Eaton Square, Belgravia, London Read More »

Saltillo Tiles in Shirley

Egham Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

Successful Restoration of Saltillo Tiles

We went and had a look at a floor in a house in Shirley recently to find a dull Saltillo Terracotta tiled floor that was in need of some Tile Doctor TLC. Saltillo tiles are typically made in a region of Mexico; they are very porous and can scuff and stain quite easily if not protected so it’s important to maintain a sealer.

Cleaning Saltillo Tiles

We advised the customer that we would probably not be able to get the tile in the traffic lanes back to the same colour due to the excessive wear from foot traffic but we would certainly try our best. We find it best to be honest about what we can achieve and set the customer’s expectations up front. They were happy for us to continue and accepted our very reasonable quote for the amount of work involved so we about cleaning the floor. This we did using a solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean tile and grout cleaner. To clean the tougher areas that were heavily stained we mixed the Pro-Clean with a little Tile Doctor NanoTech Ultra-Clean which helps to enhance the cleaning power.

Grout Re-Colouring

We left the floor to dry for 2 days then we went back and re-coloured the customer’s grout which as you can see from the pictures made a huge difference to the look of the floor. Grout Colourant can make a old tired looking floor look totally different and when applied properly forms a barrier that protects the grout from dirt engraining into the grout.

Sealing Saltillo Tiles

Terracotta tile are extremely porous and so it came as no surprise that we needed to apply nine coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go. After the last coat we waited for fourty minutes and then buffed the floor to bring out the shine and harden the sealer, the customer was very pleased with the results and made the following comment:

Thank you very much for doing such a wonderful and professional job my wife and I are very impressed with the results.

Saltillo Tiles Restoration in Shirley

Saltillo Tiles in Shirley Read More »

Indian Orange Slate Floor After Cleaning

Indian Orange Slate Floor in London

Esher Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

Restoration of a client’s slate floor

We were asked to take a look at cleaning and re-sealing an Indian Orange Slate floor at a property in London, the owner had struggled to find someone who would take the job on as they were unsure what they were dealing with and so called in Tile Doctor. This isn’t surprising as we do find that many so called Tile Cleaning companies only take on straight forward cleaning jobs where they can get in and out quickly without fear of complications.

Cleaning an Indian Orange Slate Floor

The floor was in reasonable condition and had simply dulled as the sealer had worn down over time and dirt became trapped in the pores of the tile and grout.

Indian Orange Slate Floor Before Cleaning

We cleaned the floor using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean Tile and Grout cleaner in conjunction with a scrubbing machine fitted with a black pad. This removed the old sealers and was followed with a thorough deep clean using our powerful truck mount high pressure cleaning machine to remove any residue soils and sealers etc.

Sealing an Indian Orange Slate

We left the floor for a couple of hours to dry and then we sealed it with six coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is an ideal sealer for slate floors. We left the floor for thirty minutes in-between coats to allow it to dry. Once that was complete we attached a white pad to our buffing machine and polished the floor in order to harden the sealer and bring out the shine.

The effects was quite dramatic and the customer who was obviously pleased with the results commented “Wow look at my beautiful floor, what a difference thank you very much for such a good professional job”.

Restoration of Orange Slate Floor in London

Indian Orange Slate Floor in London Read More »

Courtyard Cleaning

Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Woking Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

Surrey Courtyard Cleaning

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

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

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 »

Cleaning Terracotta Floors

Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Woking Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

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.

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:

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

Slate Tile Cleaning, Woking Tile Cleaning, Work History / Rupert Mcloud

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

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.

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.