Leatherhead Tile Cleaning

Leatherhead Tile Cleaning

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

Travertine Tiled Shower Cubicle Renovation Leatherhead

Travertine Tiled Shower Cubicle Refreshed in Leatherhead

The pictures below are of a Travertine tiled shower cubicle at a property in Leatherhead. The tiles were mainly stained by the dyes you get in shampoo and soap and I was confident a good scrub would get them clean. The Grout however had darkened with dirt that had become trapped in its porous top later and the silicone sealant around the edges had become stained with mould.

Travertine Shower Tiles Before Refresh Leatherhead Travertine Shower Tiles Before Refresh Leatherhead

Overall, the shower looked grubby very unappealing so the owner of the property asked that I pop round and renovate it.

Deep Cleaning Travertine Effect Tile and Grout

First, I sprayed the grout lines with Tile Doctor Duo Clean which is a purpose made shower tile cleaner. This product breaks down the accumulated dirt and grime so it can be removed, I usually leave it to soak in for about ten to fifteen minutes before scrubbing it in but sometimes it needs a lot longer.

Next, I applied Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel to the tiles, this product is a strong gel-based tile cleaner that is great for cleaning wall tiles as the gel stays in place rather than running down the wall. This is key for achieving longer dwell times which is important when cleaning stubborn staining. Then I brushed the grout and tile with a strong wire brush focusing on the stained areas. The soiling was removed with a wet vacuum and the shower wall rinsed down with water.

While waiting for the tile and grout to dry following the cleaning I set about removing the old mastic sealant around the shower base and walls with a sharp knife. This does take some time to do right, it all needs to be gone to ensure the best adhesion for the new silicone.

Once the Travertine tile and grout was totally dry, I was able to apply a protective sealer that will make the tiles easier to clean and ensure any water runs straight off the wall and into the tray. For Travertine I applied Tile Doctor Colour Grow which as its name suggests also enhances the natural colours in the stone.

Once done my final task was to apply new silicone mastic to all verticals and the shower base to ensure the shower cubicle was watertight. I used a mixture of white mastic around the base and a light brown for the verticals and before finishing I cleaned the shower base and glass so the final result was a complete transformation.

Travertine Shower Tiles After Refresh Leatherhead Travertine Shower Tiles After Refresh Leatherhead

The mastic takes a while to cure so I advised the clients not to use the shower for 24 hours. I also took time to discuss after care cleaning and be careful what product they should use for future cleaning. The lift of the sealer can be drastically reduced by the use of strong cleaning products so we recommend the use a neutral pH cleaner such as Tile Doctor Aqua-Pro

 

Travertine Shower Cubicle Professionally Cleaned in Surrey

Travertine Tiled Shower Cubicle Refreshed in Leatherhead Read More »

Victorian Hallway Before and After Restoration Brixton

Old Victorian Tiled Hallway Fully Restored in Brixton

I was asked to look at an old Victorian Tiled Hallway floor at a house in Brixton, South London. This classic floor had been discovered underneath an old hallway carpet while refurbishment works were being carried out. I went over initially in mid December to survey the floor and talked the owner through a number of similar restorations we had completed in the past. I could see this floor would need a deep clean to remove the years of dirt and also some tiling would needed to be done to tile a section of concrete near the stairs that had been dug out to lay pipe work when central heating had been installed many years prior. She didn’t want to make a commitment at that point so I left her with our quotation so she could think it over. I suspect she had other quotes to review however I’m pleased to say that she decided to give the work to us.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Restoration Brixton Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Restoration Brixton

Once we had agreed a date to do the work I started looking around for replacement tiles that would be needed to restore the floor. Unfortunately the octagonal ones are not made anymore and I couldn’t hold of any salvaged ones either. Having been involved in Tile Restoration work for some time now, I have a list of companies and reclamation yards that are usually a good source for these materials. To resolve the problem I sourced square tiles with a similar look and would cut them to the same shape when on site.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Restoration Brixton

Cleaning and Repairing a Heavily Soiled Victorian Tiled Floor

I returned after Christmas to start the restoration process which was due to take two to three days. To start the restoration process we applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go to the floor, allowed it to soak in for ten minutes and then worked it into the tiles using a scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine. Remove and Go is a product that removes coatings from tiles including in this case old paint splashes and carpet adhesive. The floor was then rinsed and the now dirty solution extracted using a wet vacuum.

Victorian Tiled Hallway During Restoration
Once this was finished the floor was looking cleaner and the next step was to tackle the concrete area near the stairs where the heating pipes had been buried. The cement had to be carefully chipped away and then refilled with fresh cement but to the level of the original surface so we could lay new tile on top. We use a quick setting compound for this and were able to start relaying and grouting the section with new specially cut tiles later that afternoon.

Victorian Tiled Hallway During Restoration Brixton Victorian Tiled Hallway During Restoration Brixton

Naturally the strip of new tiles were quite noticeable against the old and although the customer was happy I knew I could get a better result by running a very coarse burnishing pad fitted to a heavy buffing machine over the surface. I used a diamond resin hybrid 50 grit pad to take off the top layer of the tiles and then refinished the surface with a 100 and then 200 grit pad. This did the trick and it was impossible to tell the old and new apart.

After this I carried out an acid wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up diluted with four parts water. The purpose of this was to remove any old grout smears and mineral deposits from the floor as well as counteract any possibility of unsightly efflorescence salts rising up through the tile at a later stage. This is quite a common problem with these old floors which don’t have a damp proof coarse and certainly I could see no trace of a DPC when I dug out the cement around the pipe work earlier.

The last step in the cleaning process was to steam the entire floor and then leave it to dry off fully over the New Year break.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Floor

I returned on the 2nd of January and after inspecting the floor to ensure it was clean and free of damp I began to seal it using Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the tile protecting it from within and enhancing its appearance in the process. Four coats of sealer were needed and as you can see by the final pictures the final results were outstanding.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Restoration Brixton
Period features such as old Victorian floors add a lot of value to and the customer was over the moon with the transformation and is so happy she chose to have the floor restored rather than covering it back up with carpet.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Restoration Brixton
 

Professional Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in South London

Old Victorian Tiled Hallway Fully Restored in Brixton Read More »

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before and After Restoration Fulham

Heavily Soiled Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored in Fulham

This Victorian tiled floor at a house in Fulham was in an absolutely horrendous state. As you can see from the first photograph, the tiles were caked in layer upon layer of muck, including paint and glue stains. This was due to the floor being unknowingly hidden for many, many years under carpet.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Restoration Fulham
Needless to say, the property owner was desperate to remedy get the fantastic pattern floor back into good nick, and so contacted me for assistance. I travelled up to the property in the town of Fulham in South West London, which is famous for its football club, to survey the situation and begin the work. It was immediately clear that the thick layers of dirt and staining would need to be removed, before being treated to a new seal to provide long-lasting protection.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Restoration Fulham

Cleaning a Heavily Soiled Victorian Tiled a Floor

My product of choice for removing the extremely heavy soil buildup on the tiles was Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU (formerly UltraClean), a powerful solvent-based cream cleaner. What makes this product different from standard cleaners is its use of nano-sized cleaning particles to penetrate below tough stains, dissolve them, and lift them to the surface. NanoTech HBU is a highly versatile product which can be used on most types of natural stone floor, both polished and unpolished.

I laid down the NanoTech HBU and left it to dwell for a short period on the tiles, allowing it to begin eating through the dirt, before using a scraper in combination with a steamer to manually lift the muck away from the tiles. Next, to tackle the glue and paint marks, I applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go, a stripper specifically designed to break down adhesive and solvent stains, and then used a scraper and a scouring pad to manually remove the glue and paint in the affected areas.

Once this was done, I scrubbed in some more NanoTech HBU to dissolve any remaining muck before rinsing the area thoroughly with clean water. To complete the cleaning process, I laid some down some Tile Doctor Acid Gel, which is a blend of Phosphoric and Hydrochloric acids in gel form, to eliminate inherent grout haze and alkaline mineral deposits in the affected areas. I then left this to dwell for ten minutes before giving the floor a final rinse to remove any chemicals and soiled residue. The floor was left for a week to dry out before I returned to seal it.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Floor

With these fantastic Victorian tiles now muck-free, I proceeded to seal the floor. I initially applied a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which is an impregnating, colour-enhancing sealer that really brings out the colourful features of patterned Victorian tiled floors like this one.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Restoration Fulham
Once this initial coat of sealant had dried in, I asked the customer which kind of finish she preferred for the floor. She decided on a sheen finish, and so I laid down an extra five layers of Colour Grow to ensure the desired appearance, as well as to guarantee durable surface protection against dirt, stains and spillages.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Restoration Fulham
The customer was really pleased with the results of the restoration, and left the following feedback:

“Bill worked extremely hard to clean and seal our hall tiles. Everyone is amazed at how good they look. We are extremely pleased with the results.”

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before and After Restoration Fulham
Another great Victorian tiled floor brought back to life, and and satisfied customer!

Professional Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in South London

Heavily Soiled Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored in Fulham Read More »

Limestone Shower Tiles After Cleaning Wandsworth

Limestone Kitchen Floor and Shower Tiles Refinished in Wandsworth

Sometimes, Tile Doctor customers will have more than one tiled area in need of professional maintenance. At this house in Wandsworth, South London; I was commissioned to clean and seal firstly a Limestone tiled kitchen floor, and a Limestone tiled shower unit.

Limestone Floor Before Cleaning Wandsworth

Cleaning and Sealing a Limestone Kitchen Floor

I started with the Limestone tiled kitchen floor which, like many other stone floors had not been treated to the correct regular care and had become dull and dirty over time as a result.

My first task involved applying Tile Doctor Remove & Go stripper in order to break down any old surface sealant and dirt. Then, I began the burnishing process, which essentially involves polishing with pads of varying grit. I started with a Medium 800 grit burnishing pad to provide an initial polish and grind away ingrained dirt, before refining this with a Fine 1500 grit pad to achieve a smooth surface. The burnishing pads are used in combination with a small amount of water.

Limestone Floor During Cleaning Wandsworth
After leaving the floor to dry for 24 hours, I sealed the tiles with Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This will provide durable surface protection for the future and also further accentuate the great natural shades in the Limestone. To add the finishing touches, I buffed the floor with a soft white buffing pad.

Limestone Floor After Burnishing Wandsworth

Cleaning and Sealing a Limestone Tiled Shower Unit

During the time it took for the Limestone tiled kitchen floor to dry, I set my sights on tackling the shower unit. The unit was suffering from a terrible amount of limescale, which would need to be removed using a set of hand held burnishing pads. Limescale deposits build up on surfaces which come into contact with hard water, and can become very unsightly if not dealt with promptly.

Limestone Shower Tiles Before Cleaning Wandsworth
This proved to be a more awkward job thanks to the intricate Limestone fittings on the shower walls. I used the smaller 6-inch burnishing pads fitted to a hand buffer, while for the kitchen floor I naturally used the larger sized pads attached to a heavy weight buffing machine.

With the limescale as bad as it was, I started to grind it off with a Very Coarse 120 grit burnishing pad, before working my way up gradually through the system of pads – each time using a slightly finer grit pad until I finished with the Ultra Fine 3000 grit pad and the surface finish had been restored.

Limestone Shower Tiles After Cleaning Wandsworth
Following this, I removed the silicone sealant around the shower fittings, and dealt with the mould growing behind it.

On the second day of work, I sealed both the kitchen floor and the shower unit. Much like the kitchen floor, the shower unit was sealed using Colour Grow to ensure long lasting protection, and fresh silicon was also fitted.

Two days of work and two rejuvenated Limestone features later, I was left with a very happy customer.

Limestone Shower Tiles Before and After Cleaning Wandsworth
 

Restoring the appearance of a Limestone Kitchen Floor and Shower in South London

Limestone Kitchen Floor and Shower Tiles Refinished in Wandsworth Read More »

Victorian Floor Restoration Putney Before and After Paint Removal

Victorian Tiled Floor Covered by Paint Restored to New in Putney

For whatever reason, property owners do sometimes decide to cover up their tiled floors, whether by using something like linoleum or, in some cases, simply painting over the area. Personally I blame that BBC TV series Changing Rooms for some of these disasters and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were to blame for what had occurred at this flat in Putney which believe it or not is an ancient parish that was historically part of Surrey as opposed to London.

The property owners had re-converted the building from two converted flats back into a single dwelling. However, the previous tenants of the bottom flat had decided to paint over the Victorian tiled floor in their section.

Victorian Floor Restoration Putney Before Paint Removal
Naturally the new owners wanted to have this paint covering removed, and for the Victorian tiles to be restored back to looking their best after a long time of being hidden. Here’s how I did it.

Removing Paint from a Victorian Tiled Floor

To remove the layer of paint from the surface of the tiles, I needed to use a solvent remover product specifically designed to remove paints, this was applied liberally to the affected area and left to dwell.

While the solvent remover was working its magic, I set about cleaning the remainder of the tiled area using Tile Doctor Remove & Go. Remove & Go also contains properties designed to break down solvents, as well as adhesives, along with any old sealer remaining on the tiles. This also helped to lift away any trapped dirt.

I then scraped off the top layer coat of paint and was left with a grey undercoat. To lift this out of the tiles and grout I used Remove & Go in combination with a steamer. The heat of the steamer helped to strip away the excess paint, making removal a much easier process.

Victorian Floor Restoration Putney During Paint Removal

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Floor

After leaving the area to dry for a full five days, I returned to the property to reseal the tiles.

My choice of sealer was Tile Doctor Seal & Go, which is a water-based blend of acrylic polymers designed to provide both a stain resistant surface seal and a long-lasting low-sheen finish. It is suitable for use on most kinds of unsealed, porous surfaces, including Slate, Quarry and Sandstone but works really well on Victorian tiled floors.

Victorian Floor Putney After Restoration Victorian Floor Putney After Restoration

The photo below shows the before and after results of the work, with no traces of the paint covering remaining on the tiles. It is a wonder why someone would choose to cover up such a fantastic Victorian patterned floor, but needless to say my client was very happy with what is for all intents and purposes a brand new feature for their property.

Victorian Floor Restoration Putney Before and After Paint Removal
 

Professional Tile Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Floor in Surrey

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Black Limestone Before and After in Wimbledon

Black Limestone Floor installation problems resolved in Wimbledon

I was recently asked to this property in Wimbledon in to see if there was anything we could do to resolve the problem with a recently laid Black Limestone tiled floor. The builders that had laid the Limestone did not cover or clean the tiles prior to sealing with an impregnating seal thereby trapping in all the dirt from the building works. They then grouted the tiles but didn’t clean the grout off the surface before putting on another two coats of sealer all of which resulted in a very poor finish.

Black Limestone Tile Showing Trapped Dirt in Wimbledon
Naturally the customer was not happy so called them back to rectify the problem and so they came back and tried to strip the sealer off with cloths and a chemical stripper. Then without rinsing the stone to remove the chemicals they added another two coats of sealer; in desperation the lady gave up with them and called me in.

Black Limestone Tile Showing Trapped Dirt in Wimbledon

Stripping the Limestone Tiled Floor

To resolve I tried all the sealant strippers available to me but couldn’t budge the mess effectively. The only other option available was to diamond grind the surface so I discussed this with the customer and she agreed to this and left me to carry on.

Initially I started with a coarse 400 grit diamond pad but even that wasn’t having much effect so in the end I had to cut back the surface using a 100 grit pad moving up to 200 grit, then 400 before finally stopping at 800. To lubricate the process you need to use a little water and then rinse away the resultant soil after each pad. If this was a polished stone surface I would have continued with finer and finer grits to restore the surface polish however these tiles were rough limestone and I needed to leave it as near to how it should be.

Black Limestone Tile Grinded with Diamond Pads in Wimbledon
Once all the Limestone had been stripped back the stone turned an uninviting grey colour, so to bring it back to black I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Stone Oil which enhanced the colour.

Black Limestone Tile Adding Stone Oil in Wimbledon

Sealing Black Limestone Tiles

I left the floor overnight to allow the Stone Oil to dry out and then returned to seal the Limestone using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that enhances the colour in the stone and will protect it from staining going forward.

Black Limestone Grinded and sealed in Wimbledon
When the customer saw the final result she was overwhelmed and said she felt like crying with relief, because the floor now looked how she had imagined it to be. It was a great feeling for me to know that I had solved the problems for her.

Black Limestone Before and After in Wimbledon
 

Restoring Black Limestone Tiled Floor in Wimbledon

Black Limestone Floor installation problems resolved in Wimbledon Read More »

Polished Limestone After Cleaning in Leatherhead

Limestone Tiled Floor Cleaning in Leatherhead

I was asked by a customer in Leatherhead, Surrey to clean the Limestone tiled floors that had been installed throughout the ground floor of his house. I popped round to take a look at the job and could see that the Limestone tile and grout was quite dirty; it was clear that the sealer had broken down and dirt was now becoming ingrained into the stone and grout.
The floor would need to be burnished and re-sealed to get it back to its original condition and so I provided a quote to do the work. The quote was accepted although he did ask if I could provide a couple of references from former clients; there are over 70 testimonials from past customers on my website so this was not a problem and I was happy to do so. Once he had received the references he called to book me in.

Polished Limestone Before Cleaning in Leatherhead Polished Limestone Before Cleaning in Leatherhead

Cleaning Limestone Floor Tiles

My first job was to protect the walls and units before scrubbing the first area with a hot solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean using a rotary machine fitted with a brush head attachment. This process lifted the dirt out from the grout, the surface and any holes.

The floor was then rinsed thoroughly with clean water to remove any cleaning products and I then proceeded to burnish the Limestone tiles using a set of four burnishing pads system fitted to a rotary machine. You start with a coarse pad lubricated with a little water and this removes any remaining sealers and ingrained dirt from the stone. Any slurry is then rinsed away and you move onto the remaining medium, fine and superfine polishing pads which bring back the polished surface, again each pad needs to be lubricated with a little water which needs to be rinsed away after each pad. It was a large area so as you can imagine this took some time to apply this process to the entire floor so I focused on the Kitchen then first day and came back the second day to work on the hallway and utility room.

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

On the third day I came back to seal the floors using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing penetrating sealer that brings out the different shades of colour in Limestone and is designed to provide maximum stain protection on natural stone floors. The last step was to buff the floor to a nice shine with a rotary machine fitted with a white pad.

Polished Limestone After Cleaning in Leatherhead Polished Limestone After Cleaning in Leatherhead

The grout is now back to its original grey as opposed to black and the Limestone look new again, needless to say the customer was really pleased with the finish and has since recommended my services to other friends.

Polished Limestone After Cleaning in Leatherhead
 

Limestone Floor, Cleaned, Scrubbed, Polished and Sealed in Leatherhead

Limestone Tiled Floor Cleaning in Leatherhead Read More »

Honed Travertine Kensington Before and After

Honed Travertine Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Kensington

I was asked to clean and reseal this Honed Travertine flooring in Kensington, London which ran through the ground floor area and to a small area in the basement. The floor had been laid nine years prior and had only had regular washing by the housekeeper and was now overdue a deep clean and re-seal..

Honed Travertine Kensington Before Cleaning Honed Travertine Kensington Before Cleaning

Deep Cleaning Travertine Tiles

It was a large area so it was necessary to work in sections which had the added complication of having to move the customer’s furniture around.

With each area I scrubbed the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a medium brush head and a hot 3:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. I scrubbed it in and left it for 10 minutes before scrubbing again then vacuumed it away with a wet vac. I then checked all the grout lines were clean in case the brush head had missed any.

Next I fitted a pad holder to the rotary machine and using a medium grade burnishing pad scrubbed the area again, I then followed this up with the fine grade pad to build a nice sheen on the stone to match the customers’ requirements.

Honed Travertine Kensington After Cleaning
During the cleaning process it became evident that some of the Travertine tiles had holes in them, it’s possible they had been this way when supplied but it’s also possible that they had been worn through by the use of an acidic cleaning solution. so after once the tiles were cleaned and polished I filled in the holes with a matching filler.

Honed Travertine Kensington After Cleaning

Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles

The next step was to seal the Travertine to protect it from future staining and for this I used Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing impregnating sealer that occupies the pores in the stone. In total I had to use three coats on sealer on the stone due to its porosity. I finally buffed the floor using a white soft buffing pad; this was to take off any seal left sitting on the surface of the stone and helps to work it in.

Honed Travertine Kensington After Sealing
In total it took four days to do this job and the customer was really happy with the result and left a very nice testimonial on the Tile Doctor website.

Honed Travertine Kensington Before and After
 

Travertine Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Kensington

Honed Travertine Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Kensington Read More »

Terracotta Tiles Before and After Sealing in Battersea

Removing wax from a Terracotta tiled floor in Battersea

Traditionally Terracotta tiled floors were protected using wax and this floor at a house in Battersea had been protected with a number of treatments including wax and other sealers, without a full history of the floor it’s not that easy to tell what you’re dealing with. Wax isn’t an ideal sealer as it can scratch easily which allows dirt to become ingrained and modern sealers outperform it in many ways.

Terracotta Tiles Before Cleaning in Battersea Terracotta Tiles Before Cleaning in Battersea

Cleaning Terracotta Tile

To get the floor clean I started the job using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was scrubbed into the tiles using a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. Pro-Clean is a heavy duty alkaline cleaner which can be used to remove wax residues and old sealants and being an alkaline product its safe for use on tiles. Unfortunately because there was so much old sealer and wax in the tiles it took several attempts to get the tiles clean and in the end it took five days to get them back to their natural state. Once this was done the floor was given a thorough rinse to remove any trace of cleaning product and allowed left to dry.

Terracotta Tiles Before and After Cleaning in Battersea

Sealing Terracotta Tile

Tiles need to be bone dry before sealing or it will upset the final effect of the sealer and in the end I had to wait three weeks before I was happy to start sealing, Terracotta being clay based is very porous so this is not that unusual.

To seal the tiles I used eight coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a water based topical sealer which leaves no smell as it dries and also adds a nice sheen to the floor, eight coats is not unusual for Terracotta again due to its porosity.

Terracotta Tiles After Sealing in Battersea Terracotta Tiles After Sealing in Battersea

The customer could not believe the transformation and even though it took a lot longer than first anticipated he was really pleased, especially when he got his invoice, because he was expecting to be charged for the extra time it took to complete. I told him that once I had given him my price I do not add extras.

Terracotta Tiles Before and After Sealing in Battersea
 

Terracotta Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Surrey

Removing wax from a Terracotta tiled floor in Battersea Read More »

Marble tiled sink unit Westminster After Cleaning

Marble Bathroom Refreshed in Westminster

You may recall a job I wrote about earlier in the year concerning a Limestone tiled floor in Westminster well I’m please to say the owner of that property was so pleased with my workmanship that I was asked back to maintain the Marble tiled bathroom which included a sink unit.

Maintaining Marble Tiles

Normally with polished stone it’s necessary to burnish the floor however in this case the tiles were in good condition with no scratches in the polish, there were a few spots and marks on the tile that needed to come off and they had lost some shine however a full burnish would not be necessary.

Marble tiled floor Westminster Marks before cleaning Marble tiled floor Westminster Marks before cleaning

To remove the spots and marks I treated them first with a solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted 4:1 with hot water. I then scrubbed them using a red buffing pad on my rotary floor machine, which took the marks away from the stone. Next I used a medium burnishing pad with a little water and followed with the fine pad and finally the ultra-fine burnishing pad to restore the shine and polish. I offered to build-up a durable polish with Tile Doctor Shine Powder however the owner was happy with the finish that had been achieved.

Marble tiled floor Westminster Marks after cleaning Marble tiled floor Westminster Marks after cleaning

Sealing Marble Tiles

Once the tiles were dry I sealed them using Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer which occupies the pores of the stone and also enhances its natural colours in the process.

Marble tiled floor Westminster after sealing Marble tiled sink unit Westminster After Cleaning

Once the floor had been done I carried out the same process on the Marble sink unit using small six inch pads with a hand polisher. All went well and as you can see from the water bubble test in the photograph below the floor is now fully sealed however there is more work to be done elsewhere in the house and the owner has now booked me in to clean all of the carpets.

Marble tiled floor Westminster water test
 

Marble Tile Cleaning and Polishing in Westminster, London

Marble Bathroom Refreshed in Westminster Read More »

Limescale on Marble Shower Tiles Addlestone

Removing Limescale from Marble Shower Tiles in Addlestone

I recently went the assistance of a home owner in Addlestone, Surrey who had damaged the surface of the Marble tiles in her shower by attempting to remove Limescale using a well-known household cleaning product, which unfortunately due to its acidic formula actually made the problem worse and etched the tiles.

Burnishing Marble Shower Cubicle Tiles

To remove the etching and Limescale from the Marble tiles the surface would need to be cut back and re-polished using diamond encrusted burnishing pads. For this job we used a set of six inch pads which are similar to the floor pads but smaller so they can be attached to a hand held machine and used on vertical surfaces.

To burnish the tiles a coarse pad is applied first lubricated with a little water and this removes surface deposits such as Limescale and in this case also the etching. The resultant residue is washed away and then you proceed on with the Medium, Fine and Very Fine polishing pads until the surface has been restored.

Sealing Marble Shower Tiles

Once I had finished applying the Very Fine pad I gave the tiles a thorough rinse and then dried them so they could be sealed for which I used a coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that gets into the pores of the stone enhancing the natural colours in the process.

Limescale removed from Marble Shower Tiles Addlestone
The owner was really grateful because she was thinking that they would need to be replaced which as you can imagine would have been very expensive.

Etched Marble Walls Tiles Burnished and Polished in Addlestone, Surrey

Removing Limescale from Marble Shower Tiles in Addlestone Read More »

Porcelain Pool Surround Oxshott Before And After

Removing Limescale from Porcelain Swimming Pool tiles in Oxshott

The owner of this swimming pool at a large residence in the suburban village of Oxshott had put the property on the market and naturally wanted the pool area to look its best. The pool was surrounded by Porcelain tiles which are very resilient and generally a good choice for a swimming pool surround, additionally the slate effect tiles in this post had a riven surface which would make them less slippery than the highly polished variety. The chemicals used in swimming pools however are quite strong and I suspect this has contributed to the build-up of Limescale on the surface of the tiles.

Cleaning Porcelain Tiles

The first job was to give the tiles a deep clean and this was done by scrubbing in Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted 1 part cleaner to four parts hot water using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine. Once scrubbed the soiled cleaning solution was removed using a wet vacuum and the tiles given a thorough rinse. There were a lot of tiles to clean and naturally care has to be taken to avoid getting any cleaning solution in the pool.

Porcelain Pool Surround Oxshott Before Cleaning Porcelain Pool Surround Oxshott Before Cleaning

After rinsing the tiles were dried with the assistance of an air mover so we could get an idea of what other remedial work would be required and in this case it became clear where the areas with Limescale staining were.

Porcelain Pool Surround Oxshott During Cleaning

Removing Limescale from Porcelain Tiles

To remove the Limescale each stain was spot treated using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which is a strong acid based cleaning product normally used to remove grout smears from tiles but also equally useful at dealing with mineral deposits such as Limescale. You have to be very careful with acids on tiles, especially natural stone so once it had done its job the tiles were thoroughly rinsed and the whole floor rinsed again once we have completed everything.

Porcelain Pool Surround Oxshott After Cleaning Porcelain Pool Surround Oxshott After Cleaning

When we had finished the client couldn’t believe the transformation we have managed to achieve.

Porcelain Pool Surround Oxshott Before And After
 

Deep cleaning Porcelain pool surround tiles in OxShott, Surrey

Removing Limescale from Porcelain Swimming Pool tiles in Oxshott Read More »

Limestone tiled floor Westminster Before and After

Limestone Kitchen and Hallway floor Cleaned and Sealed in Westminster

Details below of a Limestone Tiled Floor that I recently cleaned and sealed at a residence in Westminster in the heart of London. The tiles were not looking the best and after deciding to do something about the owner searched the internet for a solution saw my website and emailed to book me in 2 months before.

Limestone tiled floor Westminster Before Cleaning Limestone tiled floor Westminster Before Cleaning

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Floor

I arrived on site at the agreed time and decided to scrub the floor first using a hot 4:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a heavy duty alkaline cleaning product specially designed for cleaning stone floors. This was left to dwell for a while and then agitated using a rotary machine fitted medium brush head. The soiled solution was then removed using a wet vacuum and the floor was then rinsed down with fresh clean water. Doing this removed a lot of dirt, that was ingrained in the stone, and by using the brush it got into the recesses of the grout, once I had done this the floor looked great but I could see it would still needed to be burnished to restore the original appearance.

Limestone tiled floor Westminster Initial Clean Limestone tiled floor Westminster Initial Clean

Burnishing Limestone Floor Tiles

We used a set of diamond encrusted Burnishing Pads fitted to a rotary buffing machine to polish the Limestone floor. These pads are ideal for restoring the shine on hard stone surfaces such as Limestone, Travertine and Marble, the come in a set of four and you start with the Coarse pad together with plain water and this cuts through and removes surface grime and any surface seal. You then progress through the Medium, Fine and Superfine polishing pads one to achieve a high polish.

Sealing Limestone Tiles

The floor was left to dry and I returned a couple of days later to seal it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer that brings out the colours in natural stone, finally buffing the floor using a soft white buffing pad.

Limestone tiled floor Westminster After Cleaning Limestone tiled floor Westminster After Cleaning

The lady was really pleased with the result and left a nice testimonial on the tiled doctor website, she has also booked me in to sort out two bathroom floors (one Marble and one Limestone) and she has also booked me in to carry out the cleaning of all her carpets.

Limestone tiled floor Westminster Before and After
 

Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing in Westminster, London

Limestone Kitchen and Hallway floor Cleaned and Sealed in Westminster Read More »

Travertine Floor Surbiton After

Travertine Tiled Floor Diamond Polished in Surbiton

I recently carried out a clean and diamond polish of a Travertine tiled floor in Surbiton for a customer who had been fed up with the floor since she and her husband had moved in 2 years ago. The floor was the last job on their list of things to be done and they wanted to make sure that it was done properly as unfortunately in the past they have fallen prey to unscrupulous tradesmen who had not lived up to expectations.

When I was asked to quote I explained what I would do and showed pictures of previous work, and also my Trustmark Accreditation. They had also researched my work through my website and through the work history where there are lots of examples of Travertine tiles I have worked on in the past. I received the work order the next day and booked the job in for three weeks after.

Travertine Floor Surbiton Before Travertine Floor Surbiton Before Marked

Stripping and Polishing Travertine Tiles

I arrived at the agreed date and time and was pleasantly surprised to see that they had put sheeting around all of their kitchen units and skirting so all I had to protect was the wooden flooring next to the travertine.

Travertine Floor Surbiton Before Cleaning Travertine Floor Surbiton Before Cleaning

My first job was to scrub the floors Using Tile Doctor Pro Clean to get rid of any ingrained dirt and clean the grout, the soiled cleaning solution was then removed using a wet vacuum and we moved onto burnishing the stone. This is done using a rotary scrubbing machine fitted with a coarse diamond encrusted burnishing pad and a little water began to strip off the old dirt and seal from the floor, the resulting slurry was then removed using a wet vacuum. The burnishing pads come in a set of four so once we were done with the coarse pad we moved on to the Medium pad which is the first step in the polishing process.

At this point I could see more work was required to improve the grout which was done using a combination of pressurised steam, more Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a stiff brush. Once I had removed all the dirt and old seal from the grout I went on to the next stage of polishing and used the fine pad finally moving on to the extra fine pad to give the floor that extra deep shine.

Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles

Once the floor was dry we set about sealing it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing impregnating sealer designed to provide maximum stain protection on natural stone floors whilst bringing out the colour in the stone. After the second coat was applied I waited 10 minutes before buffing any excess residue with a white buffing pad.

Travertine Floor Surbiton After Travertine Floor Surbiton After

I offered the customer the option of creating a higher shine by applying Tile Doctor Shine Powder to give it a mirror polish but she declined as she was more than happy with the finish. Overall the floor came out really well and I found it quite a humbling experience as she was constantly saying thank you due to the fact that she had been messed about by previous contractors so was quite relieved to find someone who could actually do the job properly.

Travertine Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Surbiton

Travertine Tiled Floor Diamond Polished in Surbiton Read More »

Victorian Tiled Floor Balham Before and After

Restoring a Victorian Tiled floor hidden under Carpet in Balham

This post is from a house in Balham where the owner was doing some renovation work and after deciding to change the flooring in the hallway they discovered an original Victorian tiled floor. They planned to restore the floor unfortunately however their builders did not listen and didn’t bother to put down any protection when decorating leaving it in a worse condition than when they found it.

Victorian Tiled Floor Balham Before Cleaning Victorian Tiled Floor Balham Before Cleaning

Cleaning the Victorian Tiled Floor

To initially clean the floor I put down a 50/50 mixture of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and Nanotech Ultraclean diluted with four parts water; this creates a powerful alkaline cleaner that is safe to use on tiles and contains tiny abrasive particles to cut through the grime. This solution was left to dwell on the tile for twenty minutes before being agitated using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This action did well to deep clean the tiles and remove dirt but there was still plenty of other problems to deal with including paint from the decorating and glue from the carpet.

To remove the glue and paint I treated the surface with Tile Doctor Remove and Go which as its name suggest is designed to remove coatings from the surface of tiles without damaging them. Working in sections the product was left to dwell for forty minutes on the surface of the tile before being worked in by hand into the glue and paint. Once it had all been removed I gave the whole floor a scrub with Grout Clean-Up to remove grout from the surface of the tile and this brightened up the colours. Last step was to give the floor a thorough rinse down using clean water, this is quite important and you need to ensure any trace of product has been removed before sealing. The water was removed using a wet vacuum which literally sucks the water off the floor and reduces drying times, the floor was still fairly damp at this stage so we called it a day leaving an air blower in place to help the floor to dry overnight.

Sealing Victorian Tiles

When I came back the next day I decided to seal the tiles using Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that penetrates into the pores of the tile blocking any dirt from getting in and making the tiles easier to clean.

Victorian Tiled Floor Balham After Cleaning Victorian Tiled Floor Balham After Cleaning

Two coats were sufficient and Colour Grow also brings out the colour in the tile improving its look, certainly my customer thought so as all they could say was:

“AMAZING I didn’t think it was possible to get like this.”

Victorian Tiled Floor Balham Before and After
 

Victorian Floor Restoration in Balham

Restoring a Victorian Tiled floor hidden under Carpet in Balham Read More »

Limestone Tiled Floor Kensington Before and After Cleaning

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Polished in Knightsbridge

Details below of a Limestone Tiled Floor we cleaned and polished in the kitchen of a flat in Knightsbridge, the customers were waiting to move into their new home and the kitchen floor was dirty, especially after they had some new tiles fitted and looked out of place.

They had other companies in to quote but were not impressed by their knowledge of how to clean the floor, and one large London based company sent some people to do a test patch with completely inappropriate equipment and failed to make any difference at all. Sorting out natural stone floors is what we do for a living so and although I was unable to carry out a demo on this occasion I managed to get the job by answering all their questions in detail setting realistic expectations without promising the earth and showed them pictures from a portfolio of work we had done before.

Limestone Tiled Floor Kensington Before and After Cleaning

Stripping and Polishing Limestone Floor Tiles

Before starting to clean the floor we removed the plinths from the kitchen units and then using a rotary scrubbing machine fitted with a coarse diamond encrusted burnishing pad and a little water began to strip off the old dirt and seal from the floor, the resulting slurry was then removed using a wet vacuum.

The burnishing pads come in a set of four so once we were done with the coarse pad we moved on to the Medium and then Fine pads again with a little water until the floor was polished. The Next step was to use Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along the grout lines with a stiff brush to get the grout clean as well.

To bring up the polish on the Limestone tiles the last “Very Fine” pad was fitted to the rotary machine and run over the floor to buff it to a nice shine.

Limestone Tiled Floor Kensington Before and After Cleaning

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

Once the floor was dry we set about sealing it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer designed to provide maximum stain protection on natural stone floors whilst bringing out the colour in the stone, this was followed with a final buff with a soft white pad.

Limestone Tiled Floor Kensington Before and After Cleaning
The customers were really pleased with the finish and pleased that they chose a Tile Doctor to do the work. I should mention that they were not expecting to be able to see the new and the old tiles blend and were really happy that we could achieve this for them.

Limestone Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Knightsbridge

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Polished in Knightsbridge Read More »

Limestone Floor Fulham Before and After

Limestone Tiled Floor Cleaned and Polished in Fulham

This Limestone tiled floor was installed at a property in Fulham, I was asked round to quote for cleaning the floor and whilst I was there I did a patch test. The test worked very well and the owner couldn’t believe that the grout was actually white not dark grey.

Limestone Floor Fulham Grout Cleaning 1

Cleaning Polished Limestone Floor Tiles

The first step was to give the floor a quick sweep to remove any surface grit etc. Before starting the burnishing process which we use on hard stone surfaces such as polished Limestone to clean and bring up the shine on the floor. The burnishing pads and encrusted with diamonds and come in a pack of four consisting of Coarse, Medium, Fine and Very Fine 17” pads. I started with a coarse pad which removes sealers and dirt from the floor, a little water is added to lubricate the process.

Limestone Floor Fulham Before Cleaning Zoom 2 Limestone Floor Fulham Before Cleaning 3

Once we had finished with the coarse pad the grout was cleaned up using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted 1 part cleaner to 4 parts water. The solution was then scrubbed into the grout with a stiff hand brush until it was clean. The floor was then rinsed with clean water to remove any cleaning products and we then continued with the remaining burnishing pads applied in order with Medium, Fine and Very Fine until the floor was thoroughly cleaned and polished. We left for the day at this point to allow the tiles to dry overnight.

Limestone Floor Fulham Before Sealing 4

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

The following day we returned to seal the floor using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a great sealer for natural stone such as Limestone as it works to lift the colours out of the stone. The last step was to buff the floor to a nice shine with a rotary machine fitted with a white polishing pad.

Limestone Floor Fulham After Cleaning Sealing 5 Limestone Floor Fulham After Cleaning Sealing 6

The customer was really pleased with the result and couldn’t believe that the floor could look so good.

Limestone Floor Fulham Before and After
 

Limestone Floor, Cleaned, Scrubbed, Polished and Sealed in Fulham

Limestone Tiled Floor Cleaned and Polished in Fulham Read More »

Old Encaustic Floor Fulham Before and after Restoration

Old Encaustic Tiled Floor Restored in Fulham

I had an inquiry from a client in Fulham, who was representing the residents of an old building. The building had recently undergone redecoration and in the hallway, they had removed a thirty year old carpet to discover an original encaustic tiled floor underneath which turned out to be 102 years old.

Old Encaustic Floor Fulham Before Cleaning 1 Old Encaustic Floor Fulham Before Cleaning 2

As you can see from the photographs the floor was extremely dirty and covered in lots of glue and paint from the carpet and decorations. Naturally they were keen to have it restored and brought back to life. Given the condition of the tile and the age I to set their expectations and told them that although I was confident of making a big difference to the floor I couldn’t give any guarantees. I gave them my quotation and although it was slighter higher than what they had I mind, it was still less than other quotations that they had received and were also considering the option of replacing the carpet.

After a couple of days I received a call asking me to go ahead with the work and I booked it in.

Encaustic Tiled Floor Cleaning

My approach to the job was to initially spray a mixture of Tile Doctor Remove and Go combined with Tile Doctor NanoTech UltraClean which creates a powerful tile safe coatings remover with tiny abrasive particles that aid the cleaning process.

I left this to dwell on the tile for about fifteen minutes before scrubbing it in using a black scrubbing pad on my rotary machine. This approach removed some glue and a lot of old grime so I then sprayed down more Remove and Go and also used a steamer to loosen the remaining glue and paint. This process was repeated a section at a time until at the end of the day I gave the whole are a thorough rinse before packing away my equipment and leaving it to dry.

Encaustic Tiled Floor Sealing

I returned three days later and carried out a test with my moisture meter to make sure that the floor was dry enough to seal. The meter confirmed it was dry so I then sealed the floor using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that really brings out the colour in the tiles.

Old Encaustic Floor Fulham After Cleaning 3 Old Encaustic Floor Fulham After Cleaning 4

And as you can see the floor is transformed and now I have some happy residents who are really pleased that they opted to have the old floor cleaned instead of replacing the carpet. Not to mention that restoring such an original feature has probably added value to their investment as well.

Old Encaustic Floor Fulham Before and after Restoration 5

Original Encaustic Tiled floor cleaned and restored in Fulham

Old Encaustic Tiled Floor Restored in Fulham Read More »

Marble Tiled Floor Oxshott

300m2 Marble Tiled Floor Cleaned and Polished in Oxshott

Following on from a referral from a Property Management company I paid a visit it to this palatial property in Oxshott which had approximately 300m2 of Marble tiled flooring that they wanted cleaning and re-polishing, my initial quotation to do this mechanically was too high so I offered an alternative using diamond encrusted burnishing pads which reduced the cost significantly. I didn’t receive an answer so I thought that was the end of it however five months later I got an email asking me to carry out the works.

Marble Tiled Floor Oxshott Marble Tiled Floor Oxshott

Marble Tiled Floor Polishing

This was a very large area so we had two men working with burnishing pads in 10 metre sections. The pads come in a set of four; you start with the coarse pad together with a little water and this cuts through and removes surface grime and any surface seal. You then progress through the other finer pads one by one until you get to the final polishing pad which provides a high polish.

Marble Tiled Floor Oxshott Marble Tiled Floor Oxshot

Fortunately there were not many stains and the ones that were there came out quite easily. When we had completed a room using this system we then applied Tile doctor Shine powder which is a crystallising power worked into the floor using a white buffing pad and a little water; it adds an extra level of deep shine to the marble floor giving it that extra wow factor together with a tough durable finish, we did this working 1 m2 at a time.

This whole process took five days to complete and when we had finished the client came to inspect it with the homeowner. She was delighted with the final finish and has said that she will be recommending us to all her friends and clients. This is also great for the property manager because it has given him a good reputation for providing a trustworthy and highly skilled contractor for the works. Also he has promised us further work from his other clients including a job to carry out the external stone cleaning works for the same client.

Marble Tiled Floor Oxshott Marble Tiled Floor Oxshott

 

Cleaning and Polishing a Large Marble Tiled floor in Oxshott, Surrey

300m2 Marble Tiled Floor Cleaned and Polished in Oxshott Read More »

Antislip Porcelain Tile Wimbledon

Applying Anti Slip Treatment to Porcelain tiles in Wimbledon Office

We were contacted by a builder who had recently laid Porcelain Tiles in an office reception in Wimbledon. Although he has laid this type of tile in various art galleries around London without problem, in this particular lobby which is situated next to a shopping centre the tiles were extremely slippery and the facilities manager wanted the tiles changed at the expense of the builder.

Antislip Application Porcelain Tile Wimbledon
Obviously this would have been an expensive option and so the builder contacted Tile Doctor for help. Initially he had considered having a member of his team apply the treatment however he realised that as a Tile Doctor applicator we had been trained to apply the treatment properly and this gave the facilities manager confidence it would have been applied to the correct standard so we were awarded the work and asked to carry it out on a Sunday when the building would be empty.

Antislip Application Porcelain Tile Wimbledon

Applying the Anti-Slip Treatment

We arrived at the agreed time and were let in by the shopping centre security team. The area we were treating was around 25m2 so decided to work in 5m2 sections first cleaning the tile using the first stage Ant Slip product worked into the tile with a rotary floor machine fitted with a polypropylene brush head and then removing with a wet vacuum followed by rinsing with clean water.

We carried on with this process until the whole floor was done and let it dry before going onto the next stage to apply the Anti slip (stage two) and leaving for between 3 to 5 minutes before applying the stage three which locks in the Anti Slip.

Antislip Porcelain Tile Wimbledon
The Anti Slip product is invisible to the eye however it’s very easy to test it’s been applied, all you need to do is wet the tile as the product only activates when it’s wet.

Antislip Porcelain Tile Wimbledon
When we had finished the whole floor we then tested it again just to make sure that everything worked well we cleared away all the tools making sure we left the area tidy and safe and locked the building up.

The Job took us one night and the customer is now recommending us to all other sites that have had these tiles fitted.

Preventing slips and trips on Porcelain Tile in a Wimbledon Office

Applying Anti Slip Treatment to Porcelain tiles in Wimbledon Office Read More »

Victorian Tiled Floor Balham After Cleaning

Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in Balham

Set of photographs here from a Victorian Tiled floor for a customer in Balham, South London. They had found the floor under an old carpet, and wanted to restore it. Unfortunately their builders did not listen and didn’t bother to put down any protection when they painted, as a result there was paint everywhere, I’ve include a detailed photograph below so you can see for yourself what a state the floor was in.

Victorian Tiled Floor Balham Before Cleaning Victorian Tiled Floor Balham Before Cleaning

Cleaning the Victorian Floor Tiles

Initially the floor was cleaned using a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed 50:50 with NanoTech UltraClean which had been left to dwell for 20 minutes before being agitated using a rotary machine fitted with a buffing pad. I used a wet vacuum to remove the dirty cleaning solution and then realising something more powerful would be required to shift the stubborn stains and paint marks. To rectify this I applied a Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a coatings remover and left it to dwell on the Victorian tile for forty minutes before applying plenty of elbow grease. This did the trick to remove the paint and glue etc. so I worked across the floor in sections applying the same treatment until the floor was completely clean.

Once it had all been removed I gave the whole floor a scrub with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up and this brightened up the colours and finally I gave the floor a very thorough rinse with clean water to remove any remaining cleaning product that might have an adverse effect on the sealer. I left the floor to dry over the weekend and returned on the following Monday to seal it, but first I carried out a couple of repairs because some of the tiles were loose so I reset them in cement.

Sealing Victorian Tiled Floor tiles

On my return I sealed the floor using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a penetrating sealer that provides maximum stain protection whilst bringing out the colour in the stone.

Victorian Tiled Floor Balham After Cleaning Victorian Tiled Floor Balham After Cleaning

All the customer could say was AMAZING I didn’t think it was possible to get like this.

Victorian Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Balham, South London

Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in Balham Read More »

Quarry Tile Cleaning Ashtead after

Quarry Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Ashtead

A while ago I was asked to quote to clean up an old quarry tiled floor in a converted barn in Ashtead. Whilst I was there I carried out a test patch for the lady to show what the results would be; she had said that if she wasn’t satisfied she was going to replace the floor so she must have met her expectations as a week later we were given the go ahead to carry out the work.

Quarry Tile Cleaning Ashtead before
 

Quarry Tile Cleaning Ashtead before2

Cleaning Hallway Quarry Tiles

Fortunately for us they had recently removed the old kitchen and scheduled us after to clean the quarry tiles before completing the decorating and refitting a new kitchen. We cleaned the tiles using a mixture of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted 1:4 parts with water and Nanotech Ultraclean which adds tiny abrasive particles into the cleaning solution. Normally I would work this into the floor using a black scrubbing pad however the floor was very uneven so I used a medium nylon brush on my rotary machine instead, this had the added advantage of reaching into the grout as well. I should mention we thoroughly rinsed the floor as we went along using a wet vacuum to remove the soiled solution. It took two of us two days to scrub the areas that had to be done and we had a blower running to help dry out the floor.

Sealing Hallway Quarry Tiles

We returned three days later and carried out moisture test to ensure the floors were dry and ready to be sealed. The Quarry tiles were then sealed them with five coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that reaches into the pores of the tile and lifts the natural colours. The owner was extremely happy with the floor and couldn’t wait to have her new kitchen installed to see how it would look.

Quarry Tile Cleaning Ashtead after
 

Quarry Tile Cleaning Ashtead after2
 

Old Quarry Tiles Restored in Ashtead, Surrey

Quarry Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Ashtead Read More »

Applying Anti Slip to Shiny Slippery Porcelain Tiles in Ashtead

Applying Ant-Slip to a shiny Porcelain Patio

Last week we were asked to carry out a demonstration of our AntiSlip Treatment for a lady in Ashtead Surrey. She has white shiny Porcelain tiles laid on a patio area and when they get wet they are really slippery and dangerous and she was especially concerned about young children hurting themselves. We carried out a test patch for her and asked her to see if she could slip, not only did she try, but her gran and mother-in-law also tried and were extremely impressed. I left her with our quotation so she could discuss it with her husband. The next day I received a call asking me to go ahead and carry out the works.

Applying the Anti-Slip Solution

When applying this treatment it is vital that you follow all the guidelines and times for the different types of stone. It is a 3 stage application, the first is the primer which is mixed 4 : 1 which we scrubbed into small areas of about 6m2 at a time, when scrubbing we used a brush head on our rotary scrubbing machine which has the added advantage of cleaning the tiles.

Shiny Slippery Porcelain Tiles in Ashtead26
After about 5 minutes of scrubbing using a scrubbing pad we then vacuumed it all and left the tiles to dry and because we were outside in the sun it didn’t take long to dry. The next stage is to apply the Antislip treatment and for this we used a flat mop and for these type of tiles we needed to leave it to dwell for between 3 and 5 minutes, but we had to make sure that it did not dry in.

After the dwell time the 3rd stage is to scrub in another solution of the primer, but this time it locks in the Antislip. When you are scrubbing this stage you can feel the treatment working. Once we have completed this stage we vacuum it all up then rinse the area with fresh water to remove any residues.

Applying Anti Slip to Shiny Slippery Porcelain Tiles in Ashtead33
The complete area was around 50m2 and luckily the treatment package covered this area. In all the application took two of us around five hours to complete and after clearing our equipment away we then put all the garden furniture back in place.

We returned the next day because the customer also asked us to clean their driveway and the patio area was wet because of rain, but it was great to walk on and I did not slip at all.

Shiny Slippery Porcelain Tiles in Ashtead41
The customer was really happy, because if the treatment hadn’t worked her only other option would have been to rip up the tiles and replace them at a cost of thousands and to make things even better for her, this treatment will last around 4 years before she needs to have it re-applied.

Preventing slips and trips on shiny porcelain patio tiles

Applying Ant-Slip to a shiny Porcelain Patio Read More »

Balham Slate Floor Before and After

Slate Tiled Floor restored to a natural finish in Balham, South London

This beautiful slate tiled floor installed in the kitchen and hallway of a house in Balham London; I was asked by the owner if we could restore the floor following some work that had been carried out by a builder who had failed in his attempts to remove the old seal. To instill confidence that we could complete the work we carried out a demonstration on a small test area which was enough to prove that money would not be wasted and we were booked for the job, we even agreed to clean the floor on Sunday and seal it on the Monday so it would be ready in time for visitors who were due on the Wednesday.

Balham Slate Floor Before Balham Slate Floor Before

Cleaning slate Floor Tiles

We cleaned the floor using Tile Doctor Pro-clean which is an alkaline cleaner safe to use on natural stone such as Slate; it’s very good at removing general dirt, grime and even grease. Next step was to remove the remaining sealer using Tile doctor Remove & Go which was applied to a small area at a time. I scrubbed the product into the slate and left it on the surface for a further hour making sure not to let the area dry out which temporarily made it look really dark (see photo below). Finally I gave the floor a through rinse to make sure that no chemical remained on the stone before sealing and then left for the evening.

Balham Slate Floor After Cleaning

Sealing Slate Floor Tiles

The next day I checked the floor was dry using a moister meter which thankfully it was and then started to seal using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer design to provide maximum stain protection on natural stone floors whilst bringing out the deep colour in the stone and providing a natural matt finish.

Balham Slate Floor After Sealing

My customer was really happy with the results and left a nice testimonial on the Tile Doctor website, she has also booked me in to clean her driveway next month.

Balham Slate Floor Before and After-

Slate Floor Cleaned, Stripped and Re-Sealed in Balham, South London

Slate Tiled Floor restored to a natural finish in Balham, South London Read More »

Limestone Tiled Floor Before and After

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Polished in Fulham

Beautiful Limestone tiled floor installed in the kitchen of a house in Fulham, the owner was keen to have the floor cleaned and re-polished; Limestone is a very hardwearing material but does need an occasional professional polish to keep it looking its best.

Limestone Tiled Floor Before Limestone Tiled Floor Before

Cleaning Limestone Floor Tiles

The floor was given a quick wash with Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner in order to remove any surface grit and then cleaned using a set of Burnishing pads fitted to a rotary machine. The burnishing pads come in four different colours and you work your way through them starting off with the red pad with a little just water and then carry on with the white pad and then the yellow pad until the floor is thoroughly cleaned. Next step was to use Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along the grout lines with a stiff brush to get the grout clean as well. To bring up the polish on the Limestone tiles I used a green polishing pad which is the last in the set of the four burnishing pads.

Limestone Tiled Floor During Limestone Tiled Floor During

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

Once the floor was dry we set about sealing it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer designed to provide maximum stain protection on natural stone floors whilst bringing out the deep colour in the stone. The last step was to buff the floor to a nice shine with a rotary machine fitted with a white pad.

Limestone Tiled Floor After Limestone Tiled Floor After

This job took me two days, and the owner was extremely happy with the results and said it looked better than when it had first been laid eight years ago.

Limestone Tiled Floor Before and After
 

Limestone Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Fulham

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Polished in Fulham Read More »

Marble Cloakroom WC Floor

Marble Wall and Floor Tile Refresh in Woking

This job was to refresh the Marble tile installed in a house in Woking. There were a number of different marble tiles installed on the wall and floor including two shower cubicles, a bathroom floor, a small cloakroom floor and the kitchen floor; the pictures below show before and after photographs for each job.

Cleaning a Marble Tile Shower Cubicle

I started with the shower cubicles using Tile Doctor Oxy-Pro which is a specific product for cleaning showers and comes with a spray attachment that mixes the cleaning agent with air making it lighter and helping it stick to vertical surfaces. This was left to dwell on the surface for a while and then the tiles were scrubbed before being rinsed down. This action not only cleaned the dirt and soap scum off the tile it also got rid of some mould that had started to grow.

Marble Shower Cublicle Marble Shower Cubicle

In one shower there was a build-up of limescale on the wall so to get rid of this I used a little Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up, this product is usually for removing grout smears from tile however it’s also good at removing most types of mineral deposits such as Limescale, you do have to be quick though as it’s an Acid based product I had to be quick and to thoroughly rinse because I didn’t want to damage the marble.

Marble Mosaic Bathroom floor tile cleaning

The next job was to tackle the bathroom floor which was tiled with small Marble mosaic tiles. A long time was spent cleaning and scrubbing the grout of this floor using a solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed 50/50 with NanoTech Ultra-Clean to add tiny abrasive particles making a very effective tile cleaner. Again once the cleaning was finished cleaning the floor was rinsed thoroughly with clean water to remove any cleaning product.

Marble floor Tiles Before Cleaning Marble floor Tiles After Cleaning

Marble Kitchen floor tile cleaning

The next floor on the list was the kitchen floor, again all Marble tile; on this I used a rotary scrubbing machine fitted with a medium brush head and again a mixture of Pro-Clean and NanoTech UltraClean. The reason I used a brush head instead of a scrubbing pad is because it is a textured marble the brushes will get into the nooks and crannies, the grout was especially stained in this area and this is now much improved.

Marble Kitchen Floor Tile Before Marble Kitchen Floor Tile After

Marble Cloakroom floor cleaning

The last floor on the list to do was the cloakroom WC which was cleaned using the same method as on the bathroom floor described above using the Pro-Clean, NanoTech, and UltraClean mixture worked in with some elbow grease.

Marble Cloakroom- WC Floor
Once everything had been cleaned, and rinsed. I left it all to dry out overnight.

Sealing Marble Tiles

The following day before I sealed I checked everything just in case I had missed anything, but it was all okay. I sealed everything twice using Tile Doctor Colour Grow and checked that the tiles were properly sealed by doing a water test. When sealing you have to make sure that you don’t let the seal puddle so I buff the tiles with terry towelling and on the large areas I also buff the floors with a white buffing pad.

As you can imagine this was a very large job and when everything was eventually finished the lady said she was really happy and couldn’t believe how the tiles had come out, she even had her neighbours round to see how it all turned out and they were all suitably impressed.

Multiple Marble Tile Wall and Floor Tiles cleaned in Woking, Surrey

Marble Wall and Floor Tile Refresh in Woking Read More »

Sandstone Tiles Before and After

Resolving Sandstone Flagstone issues in Clapham

Details below of a Sandstone floor installed in the Kitchen of a house in Clapham, South London. The client had not been happy with the floor since it had been installed because the tiler hadn’t applied the seal correctly. The owner had also had a quote from a stonemason who had recommended grinding off the top later of stone. I explained that that would not be necessary and went on to explain the process to restore it. As it turns out my quote was £500 cheaper that the Stone mason but I was confident I could get as good a result and the customer could see I knew what I was talking about and gave the job to me.

Sandstone Tiles Before Cleaning Sandstone Tiles Before Cleaning

Sandstone Tile Cleaning

I began work on the floor using a coarse diamond burnishing pad fitted to a rotary scrubbing machine with a little water. I slowly scrubbed the floor in small areas and removed the old sealer from the whole tile. The next step was to tackle the grout which was done by applying Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in along the grout lines using a stiff grout cleaning brush. After this the pad was replaced on the rotary machine with a medium brush head and the floor was given a good scrub followed by rinsing thoroughly with fresh water.

At this stage it was evident that a couple of stubborn areas were still in need of attention due to the old sealer still being present so Tile Doctor Remove and Go was applied which is a strong sealer stripper and left to dwell for around 40 minutes before being scrubbed in and washed down again.

I can recommend a Wet Vacuum at this point as they are great at removing liquids from floors; at this point I left for the day to allow the floor to dry overnight ready for sealing the next day.

Sandstone Tile Sealing

Then next day when I returned I checked to make sure the floor was dry and ready to seal, there were a couple of little patches I needed to redo and once they were rinsed I dried them using my heat gun. I then sealed the floor with four coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow and when the last coat had dried I demonstrated to the customer that it was fully sealed using a water test.

Sandstone Tiles After Cleaning Sandstone Tiles After Cleaning

The client was really pleased with the results and that I had saved him so much money and left the following comment on our feedback system.

Bill was great and worked hard to restore and protect the floor. We’re very pleased. There has been some accidental damage outside which I’m happy we’ll sort.
Ian Blandford, Clapham

Sandstone Tiles Before and After
 

Sandstone Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in South London

Resolving Sandstone Flagstone issues in Clapham Read More »

Travertine Mitcham After

Travertine Tiled Kitchen floor in Mitcham

I was recently asked to visit a customer with a Travertine Tiled Kitchen floor in Mitcham South London who had spilt a strong cleaning product on the Travertine Tiles. Due to the litigious nature of the wold in which we live I can’t name the product in this post but I can tell you it’s advertised on the TV as a wonder cleaner, unfortunately acidic products like this one will eat into the sealer and with frequent use cause holes to appear in natural stone. Fearing that he had ruined them I checked the floor over and assured him I could make his tiles look as good as new.

Travertine Mitcham Before Travertine Mitcham Before

Cleaning Travertine Tile

I used the diamond encrusted burnishing pad system starting with the red pad and water to clean the tiles and remove any topical sealers that may have been present. This was continued with the white and yellow pads using nothing but water and then with a stiff grout cleaning brush and a weak solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along the grout lines to make sure all the grout was thoroughly cleaned. Last step of the cleaning process was to rinse the floor of any dirt picked up by the pads and then when the floor was dry I used a green polishing pad to add a shine to the floor.

Sealing Travertine Tile

To protect the travertine it was sealed using a single coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer which brings out the natural colour in stone. Once it was all dry again I buffed it up again but used a soft white buffing pad. As you can see by the photos the tiles look great and I have one very grateful customer who said they look better than when they were first laid.

Travertine Mitcham After Travertine Mitcham After

 

Travertine Tiled Kitchen floor in Mitcham

Travertine Tiled Kitchen floor in Mitcham Read More »

Travertine Floor After

Travertine Tiled floor in Gerrards Cross

I had a phone call a few weeks ago from a lady in Gerrards Cross to come and clean her large Travertine tiled floors prior to her renting out a property. I had actually carried out this job for her four years ago and she was really pleased with the service we provided and had therefore asked me come back. Thinking back four years is a long time between floor polishes so we certainly did a good job on the floor the first time.

Travertine Floor Before Travertine Floor Before

Maintaining Travertine Tiles

Travertine is a very hard stone which required the surface to be cut back before polishing, to do this we make use of a diamond encrusted burnishing pad system which is supplied in a set of four pads each one having a different purpose. We started with a Red pad first together with a little water and this strips dirt and old sealers from the floor, this is followed with the White, Yellow and finally Green pad which doesn’t required the use of any water. As you progress through the pads you find the polish is restored and you get a deep shine in the surface of the tile.

Travertine Floor Mid-Clean Travertine Floor Mid-Clean

Sealing Travertine Tile

To protect the floor from stains it was sealed with a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer that brings out the colours in natural stone. Once the sealer was dry it was buffed using a white buffing pad to make sure that I hadn’t left any residues from the seal.

Once again the lady was really pleased with our work and promised to call the next time the property was to be let out again, but next time she wants me to do the carpets and the patio areas as well.

Travertine Floor After Travertine Floor After

 

Travertine tiled floor maintained in Gerrards Cross

Travertine Tiled floor in Gerrards Cross Read More »

Dirty Travertine Sealed

Kitchen Travertine Tiled floor cleaning in Mortlake

We recently cleaned and sealed a small Travertine floor in a kitchen for a customer in Mortlake near Richmond upon Thames in Surrey. To be fair the floor wasn’t that bad, it was just a bit dirty because the customer had been told to use a steamer to clean the floor which was bad advice as the heat from the steam was breaking down the sealer and resulting in the tiles getting dirty.

Dirty Travertine Before Dirty Travertine Before

Cleaning Travertine Kitchen Tile

I first applied a 50/50 mix of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and Nanotech Ultra Clean leaving it to dwell on the tile for 15 minutes before scrubbing it in with a rotary Machine fitted with a brush head. Once I was satisfied the floor was clean it was thoroughly rinsed with clean water. The dirty solution removed using a wet vacuum and then left it to dry overnight.

Dirty Travertine Cleaned not Sealed Dirty Travertine Cleaned not Sealed

Sealing Travertine Tile

The next day the floor had dried and we proceeded to seal it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which as well as providing a good level of stain protection also brings out the natural colours in the stone. I always use a water test to determine if the right about of sealer has been applied, very simply you drop a small amount of water onto the stone and if it forms a bubble on the surface it’s sealed.

Dirty Travertine Sealed Dirty Travertine Sealed

Before I left I provided the customer with a proper maintenance plan for the floor, and expect a call in around a years’ time to come and do a deep clean and seal. The customer was delighted with the results and said the floor looked better than when they had it laid.

Resolving Travertine steam cleaning problems in Surrey

Kitchen Travertine Tiled floor cleaning in Mortlake Read More »

Victorian Floor After Cleaning

Victorian Tiled Hallway Cleaning in Richmond

This hallway floor was at a property in the London borough of Richmond which had just been sold and the new owner wanted the Victorian tiled floor cleaning before she moved in.

Victorian Floor Cleaning Before

Cleaning a Victorian Floor

To clean the floor I applied a 50/50 mix of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and NanoTech Ultra Clean diluted with water. Pro-Clean is a strong alkaline cleaner so it won’t damage the tile like some acidic cleaners and NanoTech Ultra Clean adds tiny abrasive particles to the solution that can help penetrate into the tile to lift out the dirt. This was left to dwell and soak into the floor for a while before being agitated using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This worked to clean the floor and strip any remaining sealer from the tile; the soiled solution was removed from the floor using a wet vacuum and then thoroughly rinsed to remove any cleaning products before sealing and neutralise the floor.

Victorian Floor Cleaning During

Sealing a Victorian Floor Sealing

The floor was dried using an floor blower, which is a like an industrial hair dryer, before being sealed with five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is an ideal sealer for Victorian tiled floors as it leaves a low sheen finish whilst providing excellent stain protection. You have to wait for each coat to dry before moving on to the next so it was a long day, fortunately the house was empty which made the job easier.

Victorian Floor After Cleaning
 

Victorian Tiled hallway floor cleaned and sealed in Richmond

Victorian Tiled Hallway Cleaning in Richmond Read More »

Cleaning Porcelain Car Showroom Weybridge After

Porcelain tile cleaning in a Car Showroom, Weybridge

We were asked to visit a prestige car showroom near Weybridge in surrey to see what could be done to improve the appearance of the Porcelain Tiles in the showroom. As well as foot traffic the floor also had to cope with the rubber from car tyres; naturally they had been cleaning the floor regularly themselves but were not happy with the results.

Cleaning Car Showroom Weybridge Before

Cleaning Porcelain Tiles

Porcelain is quite a durable material that likes ceramics don’t usually need a sealer so we prescribed a Deep Clean was in order and set about scrubbing the floor using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong alkaline cleaning product specially designed for use on Tile, Stone and Grout where acidic cleaners can cause damage. The solution was scrubbed in using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad and then thoroughly rinsed down. I should point out a wet vacuum machine comes in very handy here for removing the liquids from the floor. When it had dried I buffed it up using a white buffing pad.

It’s difficult to see the improvement from the photographs but I can tell you the owner was really pleased with the result as were some customers who came in when we were finishing up.

Cleaning Porcelain Car Showroom Weybridge After
 

Cleaning Porcelain tiles at a prestige car showroom in Weybridge

Porcelain tile cleaning in a Car Showroom, Weybridge Read More »

Quarry Tile Cleaning After

Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned in Leatherhead

Details below of a Quarry Tiled kitchen floor that were cleaned and sealed for a lady in Leatherhead. As you can see it was quite a large area and the quarry tiles were looking dull and tired, there was some staining to the grout.

Quarry Tile Cleaning Before

Cleaning Kitchen Quarry Tiles

A solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied to the floor and left to soak for a short while before being scrubbed in with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. The grout also need attention, unfortunately we don’t have a machine that will get into the grout lines so this had to be manually scrubbed by hand using a grout brush, which as you can imagine took some time to do. The soiled cleaning solution was then removed using a wet vacuum and the floor thoroughly rinsed with water and then left to dry overnight.

Quarry Tile Cleaning Before Zoom Quarry Tile Cleaning After Zoom

Sealing Kitchen Quarry Tiles

When we returned the next day we could see there were some grout lines that we had missed the day before so we set about cleaning those up. Once we were happy with the floor it and it had managed to dry off we sealed the floor using six coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which provides surface stain protection to the quarry tile and grout and also leaves a nice deep low sheen on the tile surface. The lady was over the moon with the results and her husband was even happier because it meant he didn’t have to pay out for a new kitchen.

Quarry Tile Cleaning After
 

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor in Leatherhead

Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned in Leatherhead Read More »

Leatherhead Quarry Tiles after restoration

Quarry Tile Floor Restoration at a School in Leatherhead

This Quarry Tile floor was found under carpeting at a school in Leatherhead, Surrey during a refurbishment; you can see from the photograph what a terrible state it was in however the school was keen to keep the tiles and we were brought in to restore them.

Leatherhead Quarry Tiles before restoration

Cleaning Quarry Tiles

There was a lot of dirt on the tiles so a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied to the floor and left to soak in for around 20 minutes; Pro-Clean is a multipurpose alkaline cleaning product designed specifically for cleaning tile and stone. The floor was then scrubbed using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad and then thoroughly rinsed with water which was removed using a wet vacuum. Once the Quarry tiles were dry it was possible to spot the areas in need of further attention and these were scrubbed by hand together with more Pro-Clean.

Sealing Quarry Tiles

Once happy with the floor it was left to dry off overnight and we came back the next day to seal it with six coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which will provide future surface stain protection and also leaves a nice deep low sheen. The builders working on the refurbishment couldn’t believe the finish, I must admit looking at the photographs it was quite a transformation.

Leatherhead Quarry Tiles after restoration
 

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled floor at a Leatherhead School

Quarry Tile Floor Restoration at a School in Leatherhead Read More »

Limestone Floor After

Limestone Tiled Floor Cleaning in Fulham

This Limestone tiled floor hadn’t been cleaned properly for 5 years and we were asked to clean and reseal, hopefully you can appreciate the improvement in the photographs.

Limestone Floor Before Limestone Floor Before

Cleaning Limestone Floor Tiles

The first step was to scrub the Limestone tiles with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad and a solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong multi-purpose alkaline cleaning product designed for use on stone. A strong dilution of Pro-Clean can remove sealer however it was apparent some sealer was still present on parts of the floor so Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a dedicated coatings remover was applied to remove the remaining seal.

The floor was then rinsed thoroughly with clean water to remove any cleaning products and we then used the Twister Burnishing Pad system with a rotary machine to complete the cleaning process and polish the floor. The pads come in four different colours and you work your way through them one by one until the floor is thoroughly cleaned and polished.

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

Once the floor was dry we set about sealing it using two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is a no-sheen natural look penetrating sealer designed to provide maximum stain protection on natural stone floors including Limestone, Granite and Marble. The last step was to buff the floor to a nice shine with a rotary machine fitted with a white pad.

Limestone Floor After Limestone Floor After

The customer was extremely happy with the result and has since recommended us to others.

Limestone Floor, Cleaned, Scrubbed, Polished and Sealed in Fulham

Limestone Tiled Floor Cleaning in Fulham Read More »

Victorian Tiled Floor in Putney Cleaned and Sealed

Attached are photos from a Victorian tiled hallway floor I completed recently in Putney, South West London. The owner had asked if we could do anything to improve her floor because she has been renovating her house for 2 years since she bought it and had left the floor until last. She didn’t know when it was last cleaned or what products had been used, it’s handy to know a floors history when you’re cleaning it so you know what issues you might face.

Victorian Tiled Floor in Putney Before Cleaning Victorian Tiled Floor in Putney Before Cleaning

Victorian Tiled Floor Cleaning

The first step was to remove any remaining sealer and give it a good clean so I applied a solution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go mixed 50/50 with Nanotech Ultra-Clean to half the floor and left it to dwell while i brought in the rest of my equipment. These two products combine together to create an active cleaning product that can remove coatings; after an hour I then scrubbed it with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad and clean water getting on my hand and knees with a scrubbing brush to get into the edges without damaging the skirting board. The last step was to thoroughly rinse the floor and remove any remaining cleaning products which could upset the sealer at a later stage; in fact I rinsed the floor 5 times to be sure. Once this process was complete I repeated it on the other half, I often do hallway floors in two stages so people in the building can still get around without being impacted by the work. I finished off the cleaning using any industrial steamer over the whole floor and plugged in an AirMover to assist with the floor drying before I left for the night.

Sealing Victorian Tiled Hallway

When I returned the next day I checked the floor to make sure I hadn’t missed anything when cleaning and that it was dry enough to apply a Sealer. All was well so I set about applying Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is recommend for Victorian Tiled floors and provides stain resistance along with a durable low-sheen finish. The floor took six coats and as you have to let the floor dry between each coat it took most of the day to complete. Once the last coat was dry I put the AirMover on to help dry it even more and then buffed it with a white buffing pad.

The lady was not there on completion but her mother was and was ecstatic with the result.

Victorian Tiled Floor in Putney After Cleaning and sealing Victorian Tiled Floor in Putney After Cleaning and sealing

 
 

Victorian Tiled hallway floor cleaned and sealed in Putney, South London

Victorian Tiled Floor in Putney Cleaned and Sealed Read More »

Limestone Tiled Kitchen floor in Kensington

The photographs on the page come from a house in Kensington, London which had recently been decorated. The Limestone Tiled floor was already in need of clean however to make things worse the decorators had managed to get paint splashes on the floor which they had removed using white spirit, this resulted in a patchy appearance which you should be able to make out in the photo below:

Limestone Tiled Floor Before Cleaning

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Floor

To clean the floor we applied a solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a heavy duty alkaline cleaning product specially designed for cleaning stone floors. This was left to dwell for a while and then agitated using a rotary machine fitted with a Black Scrubbing pad. The soiled solution was then removed using a wet vacuum and the floor was then rinsed down with fresh clean water.

Limestone Tiled Floor Polishing

We used a set of diamond encrusted Twister Burnishing Pads fitted to a rotary buffing machine to polish the Limestone floor. These pads are ideal for restoring the shine on hard stone surfaces such as Limestone and Marble, the come in a set of four and you start with the Red pad together with plain water and this cuts through and removes surface grime and any surface seal. You then progress through one by one until you get to the final Green pad which provides a high polish.

Sealing Limestone Tiles

The floor was left to dry and I returned a couple of days later to seal it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour intensifying sealer that brings out the colours in natural stone. I carried out a water test to the customer so they could see that the floor was fully sealed; this involves placing a drop of water on the surface of the tile after each coat has dried, if the water forms a bubble on the surface then its fully sealed. The last step was to give the floor a final buff with a rotary machine fitted with a white buffing pad.

Limestone Tiled Floor After Cleaning

Customer was extremely happy because she had never seen the floor so clean.
 
 

Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing in Kensington, London

Limestone Tiled Kitchen floor in Kensington Read More »

Fulham Victorian Floor After

Victorian Tiled Floor Restoration in Fulham

Details below of a Victorian tiled floor that we cleaned and sealed for a gentleman in Fulham South West London after he had refurbished his house and the workmen had left it worse for wear.

Victorian Floor Cleaning

I used a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted with hot water and applied to the floor and agitated using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This worked to clean the floor and strip the existing sealer from the whole area, I then got on my hands and knees to scrub the edges and to check that all paint and glue had been removed. The soiled solution was removed using a wet vacuum and then rinsed three times before using an industrial steamer over the whole floor. This helps to neutralise and remove any products which could upset a sealer.

Fulham Victorian Floor Before Fulham Victorian Floor Before

Victorian Floor Sealing

I then left the floor to dry out and came back two days later to seal it. On my return I checked that all the chemicals had been removed and that there was no paint and muck left on the floor.

Once I was happy I then laid 6 coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is an ideal sealer for Victorian tiled floors as it provides stain resistance with a low sheen finish. An industrial air mover was used to reduce drying times between coats. The last step was to buff the floor using a white buffing pad to harden the seal. The gentleman was really happy with the result and was pleased that the new tiles that had been laid as part of the renovation now blended in perfectly with the old tiles.

Fulham Victorian Floor After Fulham Victorian Floor After

 

Victorian Tiled floor cleaned and sealed in Fulham

Victorian Tiled Floor Restoration in Fulham Read More »

Central London Office Slate After

Slate Floor Cleaning at a Central London Office

I was asked by a building company to look at some slate flooring that was laid during a refurbishment to the offices of a German television station based in central London.
The architect was not happy because there appeared to be some grout haze and some grout along the ridges that you get in slate. I carried out a demonstration to the building manager and she was pleased with the result and we were awarded the job.

Because of the nature of the business I had to do the job out of hours, which suited me because there were 4 toilet areas to do over 6 floors and I was able to get on with the job without any interruption.

Central London Office Slate Before Central London Office Slate Before

Slate Tile Cleaning

On my arrival I laid a coating of Tile Doctor Remove and Go mixed 50/50 with NanoTech Ultra-Clean to 2 toilets and left it to dwell while I brought all my equipment in and set up. These two products together create a very powerful stripper cleaning solution ideal for the job in hand. I left the products to soak into the tiled slate floor of the first toilet for an hour before scrubbing it in using water and a hand scrubbing brush. The soiled solution was then removed using a wet vacuum and then rinsed and sprayed with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up to remove any remaining grout haze off the surface of the tile. The slate was the given two mores rinses with clean water before being left to dry.

Before starting on the next floor I left a mixture of Remove and Go and NanoTech Ultra-Clean to dwell on the next floor. I then carried on with this process described above until all the floors were cleaned.

Slate Tile Sealing

Once the floors were dry I put a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer down on each floor which is a sealer which really brings out the natural colour of the stone.
The client had requested a shiny final finish so the sealing was completed using two coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go on each floor.

Central London Office Slate After Central London Office Slate After

When I had finished the site manager said that he couldn’t believe how nice they had come out and was looking forward to the reaction of the clients.

Cleaning and Sealing Slate in Central London Office

Slate Floor Cleaning at a Central London Office Read More »

Limestone Tile After Strip and Seal

Limestone Tiled Floor Strip and Seal in Wimbledon

Details below of a Limestone tiled floor strip and seal job we did recently for a lady in Wimbledon, South West London. It was a fairly common Limestone problem which had lost its polished appearance and was looking dull.

Stripping the Limestone Tiled Floor

To resolve we had to stripped back the Limestone surface using a set of burnishing pads, these diamond encrusted pads come in a number of different colours each one does a different job from scrubbing to polishing. I started with the red pad together with water and then carried on with the white, then yellow pads using water. 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 overnight.

Limestone Tiled Floor in Wimbledon Limestone Tiles in Wimbledon

Sealing the Limestone Floor

The next morning I arrived to find the floor had dried out enough for me to seal it which was done using a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a great sealer for lifting the natural colours in the Limestone floor as well as providing stain protection. Once the sealer had dried I then finished it all off with a quick buff using a white buffing pad.

Limestone Tile After Strip and Seal Limestone Tile After Strip and Seal

I’m not sure the photographs really show the difference in the floor however I can tell you that when the lady returned home from work that day she was over the moon with the transformation and wrote the following testimonial:

So pleased with the service and advice received. Prompt and Professional, My floor looks like new again. Would highly recommend and use again. Thank you.

 

Limestone Floor Restoration in Wimbledon

Limestone Tiled Floor Strip and Seal in Wimbledon Read More »

Victorian Floor Cleaned and partly Sealed in Richmond

Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in Richmond

Set of photographs here from a Victorian Tiled floor in a block of flats in Richmond Upon Thames. The floor was in the communal hallway and as a result had seen a lot of traffic and was looking very dull and in need of a good clean and re-seal.

Victorian Floor before cleaining in Richmond

Cleaning the Victorian Tiled Floor

The floor was cleaned using a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which had been left to dwell for 20 minutes before being agitated using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. We use a wet vacuum to remove the dirty cleaning solution before thoroughly rinsing the floor down with clean water to remove any remaining cleaning product that might have an adverse effect on the sealer. The floor was left to dry assisted by the use of a warm air blower.

Victorian Floor Cleaned and partly Sealed in Richmond

Sealing the Victorian Tiled Floor

Having the right equipment can make light work of cleaning a large area and the blower meant we were soon looking at sealing the floor. The trouble with working in a communal area however is we had residents coming and going so we had to seal the floor in two halves. We used Tile Doctor Pro-Seal to seal the floor; it’s more expensive than some but gives a natural look whilst penetrating deeper into the tile to provide maximum stain protection, something you need in high traffic areas.

When the rest of the floor was completed and left to dry for an hour I used a rotary machine fitted with a white buffing pad to harden the floor up.

The managing agent was really pleased because she received a lot of calls from the residents to thank her as this floor hadn’t been cleaned and sealed for a lot of years.

Victorian Floor Cleaned Sealed in Richmond
 

Victorian Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Richmond Upon Thames

Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in Richmond Read More »

Travertine Wall Tiles After Cleaning

Travertine Wall Tile Shower Refresh in Wandsworth

These travertine wall tiles were laid in a brick pattern in a large shower cubicle in a house in Wandsworth, South London. As you can see the tiles hadn’t been cleaned for a couple of years and had become discoloured from the shampoo dyes etc, there was also some mould which is a common problem in wet areas and usually down to insufficient ventilation. The owner wanted to sell her house and was keen to get the shower looking like new again.

Cleaning Travertine Wall Tiles

We cleaned the Travertine wall tiles using a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. It’s always best to leave Pro-Clean to dwell for a few minutes before cleaning so it can get to work on the dirt, as you would expect however liquids will simply run down a wall tile so the trick here is to apply the solution using a spray attachment; the idea behind this is to combine the product with air so it becomes lighter and sticks to the tile. Then next step is to get in with a small stiff scrubbing brush and really work the solution into the tile and grout and loosening the dirt along the way and the wash the wall down with water to remove any cleaning products.

Travertine Wall Tiles Before Cleaning Travertine Wall Tiles Before Cleaning

Sealing the Travertine Wall Tiles

The wall was wiped down and allowed to dry for before applying the sealer. There are a number of products you can use for sealing Travertine and in this case I used Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which provides stain protection without changing the appearance of the tile. The last step was to remove and replace the silicone seal between the Travertine tile and the shower tray, there was some mould build up on the original silicone which wants it gets a hold into the silicone it cannot be removed and so it’s always best to replace. At the end I had one happy customer and I think you will agree I achieved the aim of making it look like new again.

Travertine Wall Tiles After Cleaning Travertine Wall Tiles After Cleaning
Travertine Wall Tiles Finished

 

Wandsworth Travertine Shower Refresh

Travertine Wall Tile Shower Refresh in Wandsworth Read More »

Line Textured Slate Kensington Partly Sealed

Removing Limescale from a Slate Tiled Floor in Kensington

We were asked to look a bathroom at a flat in Kensington by a property management company; the slate tiled floor was textured with lines and the stone was affected by a number of problems including limescale and grout haze which had been partly sealed in. The owner was at the property when I arrived and I was able to demonstrate how it was possible to remove the limescale and grout haze using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which is an acid based product and so was given instructions to complete the job.

Line Textured Slate Kensington Before

Removing Limescale from Textured Slate

Armed with more quantities of Grout Clean-Up we were able to remove the limescale from the surface of the slate tile. The floor was then rinsed and then covered with Tile Doctor Remove and Go in order to remove the remaining sealer. We had to repeat this process twice in order to remove the grout haze that had been locked in under the sealer.

Sealing Textured Slate

After a thorough rinsing down to ensure no products remained on the floor we left it to dry and returned later to apply three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which will provide future protection and as you can see from the photographs really helped to give the floors appearance..

Line Textured Slate Kensington Partly Sealed Line Textured Slate Kensington Sealed

I then explained how to clean the tiles going forward. She was extremely happy with the work carried out and also pleased with the management company for contacting us in the first place.

Removing Limescale from a Slate Tiled Floor

Removing Limescale from a Slate Tiled Floor in Kensington Read More »

Marylebone Slate After Restoration

Slate Tiled Floor in Marylebone, London

The customer was an American lady who lived in a flat in Marylebone right in the centre of London; she worked in the City and had the slate tiles in her kitchen cleaned and sealed by another company the year before and she had not been impressed with the results.

I had provided a quote and did a small demonstration on the floor to give her an idea of how the finished result would look; having been unhappy with the previous company we had to work hard to win her confidence but the demo combined with photographs and testimonials from previous work that we had done managed to assure her we could complete the job to the right standard.

Cleaning the Slate Tiled Floor

Having turned up at 7am so that she could get to work we set about scrubbing the slate tiled floor with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a rotary machine fitted with a black pad, we used a grout brush to clean out the grout lines and then rinsed the floor thoroughly with clean water before switching on a air blower to help the floor to dry.

Marylebone Slate Before Restoration

Sealing the Slate Tiled Floor

Once the floor was dry we proceeded to seal it with Tile Doctor Seal and Go which provides good stain protection with a low sheen finish, slate is quite porous and it took five coats before it was fully sealed.

That night I received a call from the lady thanking me for such a good job and not only was she pleased with the work but we were half the price of the original company.

Marylebone Slate After Restoration
 

Cleaning and Sealing a Slate Tiled Floor in Marylebone, London

Slate Tiled Floor in Marylebone, London Read More »

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East Surrey Tile Doctor

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