Quarry Tile Cleaning Archives - East Surrey Tile Doctor

Quarry Tile Floor Before After Cleaning Outwood East Surrey

Quarry Tiled Lounge Floor Renovated in Outwood

This client who lived in a property in the Village of Outwood had a tired looking Quarry tiled floor in their lounge and asked if we could improve the look of it. I went over to take a look and can see the tiles were situated in front of a brick fireplace and added a nice rustic feel to the room that was well suited to the house.

Quarry Tiled Floor Before Renovation in Outwood

It had clearly been some time however since the Quarry tiles had been given a good clean and seal; the tiles were looking dull and lifeless and the grout was especially bad and had darkened with the ingrained dirt. I could see a deep clean would be required to lift the dirt out so after discussing the process we agreed a date for me to come back and renovate the floor.

Quarry Tiled Floor Before Renovation in Outwood Close Up

Deep Cleaning Quarry Tile and Grout

When I returned to clean the floor my first task was to protect any areas that may be impacted by the cleaning process which in this case related to the adjacent carpet.

To be able to reach into the pores of the tile and grout and lift out the dirt I needed to remove any remaining sealer. To do this I applied a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a strong coatings remover and cleaner that’s ideal for these situations. The product is left to dwell for ten minutes, so it can get to work breaking down the old sealer and dirt and is then scrubbed into the floor. Normally I use a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine running on slow speed to do this however given the size of the floor I decided to use a deck brush to scrub the tiles and a narrow grout brush along the grout lines.

The soiled cleaning solution was rinsed off the floor with water and extracted using a wet vacuum. I then inspected the floor and spot treated any areas that needed further attention with a repeat of the same process. Once I was satisfied the Quarry tile and grout was as clean as it could be, I left for the night so the floor cold dry off.

Sealing Quarry Tiles

Returning the next day, I sealed the Quarry tiles with several coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which adds a nice subtle sheen finish to the tiles and will provide the tiles with long lasting protection. Seal and Go is a water-based sealer so doesn’t leave a smell as it dries which is always a plus.

My client was impressed with the transformation and as I think you will agree the Quarry tiles now look much brighter and the grout has returned to a much lighter shade.

Quarry Tiled Floor After Renovation in Outwood

Professional Renovation of a Quarry Tiled Floor in Surrey

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Quarry Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Ashtead

1 Comment / Leatherhead Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning / TileProf

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.

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.

Old Quarry Tiles Restored in Ashtead, Surrey

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Quarry tiled floor restoration in Grove Park, South London

1 Comment / Oxted Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning / TileProf

I recently completed this Quarry Tile restoration work for a young couple in Grove Park, South London. They were refurbishing their property and wanted to keep as much of the original features that they could. In the kitchen they had the original quarry tiles and had attempted to clean the floor themselves but we’re unsuccessful. I quoted for the job and took time to explain the process and which products I would be using.

They contacted me a couple of days later to let me know that they wanted me to carry out the work which was gratifying as I had put a lot of time into the quote. Turns out I got the job because they could see I knew what I was talking about giving them confidence I could do the work and another company had quoted twice the price I gave them and didn’t even pop round to carry out a site survey.

Cleaning Hallway Quarry Tiles

I turned up at the agreed time and set about by cleaning the floor with a mixture of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and NanoTech UltraClean which combine well together to produce a very effective cleaning product that is safe to use on tile and stone. The solution was worked into the floor using a rotary scrubbing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad; after a while the soiled solution was removed using a wet vaccum and the floor was given a thorough rinse with clean water to see what I had left to deal with.

What was left was a mixture of paint, grease and sticky residues from old carpet tape and if that wasn’t enough there were limescale deposits. To tackle this a stronger product was required so I laid down Tile Doctor Remove and Go and left it to dwell on the tile for about 45 minutes which was sufficient to break down the stubborn marks and allow for them to be scrubbed out. Remove and Go is a strong coatings remover which as its name suggests should remove just about anything and with the exception of the limescale it lived up to its name.

I think it’s a fair statement to say that Tile Doctor have a product to treat every problem and to remove the limescale I used Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which is an acid based product usually used to remove excess grout but it’s also effective on the removal of mineral deposits; needless to say it removed the limescale without a problem. You do have to be very careful when using strong products like these on tile so I only left it on the floor long enough to do the job.

The last step was to fit a brush head onto my rotary floor machine and gave the floor a thorough rinse neutralising the floor and making sure that all trace of cleaning products were removed. Once I had finished I locked up the house and left the floor to dry for several days.

Sealing Hallway Quarry Tiles

When I returned I first checked that the floor was dry enough to seal using a moisture meter. The floor was dry so we started the process of sealing the floor with Tile Doctor Seal and Go, the Quarry Tiles were very porous and it tool seven coats of sealer before the tiles were completely sealed. Seal and Go was chosen as the customer wanted liked the low sheen finish this sealer provides whilst also offering excellent stain protection.

The owners were absolutely delighted with the results and they put in a fantastic review about me on the Tile Doctor website.

“Bill Bailey provided an extremely professional and high quality service from first point of contact to end result. He took time to assess the tiles to be cleaned and approached the job with a genuine commitment to get it right and achieve the best possible results. He carefully explained all the processes involved and was able to answer all our questions and provide advice. We would not hesitate to recommend him very highly. Gemma, London”

Quarry Tile Renovation in Grove Park, South London

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Quarry Tile Kitchen Floor Before and After

Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Brixton

1 Comment / Merstham Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning / TileProf

These photographs are from a Quarry Tile Cleaning job we did for a lady in Brixton recently, as you can see from the early pictures they were not only dirty but there was also evidence of an old sealer and splashes of paint on them as well both of which would have to be removed first.

Cleaning Hallway Quarry Tiles

The first task we did on arrival was to disconnect her cooker and washing machine which were placed outside in the garden, this would allow us to get at all the tiled areas and also meant there was less to protect.

Working in small sections the next step was to pre-wet the floor tiles followed by adding a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go combined 50/50 with Nanotech UltraClean, these two products combine to make a powerful cleaner/stripper that’s safe to use on tile. The cleaning solution was left to soak into the tile whilst we set up all of our equipment and added protective coverings to the kitchen units, walls and adjoining floors.

After about forty five minutes we re-wet the areas and hand scrubbed the tiles using scouring pads. This process was repeated covering small areas at a time until the kitchen was finished. We then used our scrubbing machine with a medium brush head fitted and thoroughly rinsed the floor to remove any trace of chemical.

We needed the floor dry for sealing so a couple of Turbo blowers we setup to force dry the floor and this took a couple of hours before my moisture meter told me that the floor was dry enough.

Sealing Hallway Quarry Tiles

After discussing sealer choices with the customer it was decided to seal the floor with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which provides a natural finish whilst lifting the natural colours in the tile. Two coats were sufficient and once it had dried we refitted the cooker and washing machine, put all the plinths back and removed all of our protective coverings.

The lady was really pleased with our work and left the following testimonial.

“Bill did a fantastic job on my kitchen floor, I can’t thank him enough. Mrs Scott, Brixton”

Quarry Tile Renovation in Brixton

Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Brixton Read More »

Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Wallington

Merstham Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning / TileProf

The owner of this house wanted her hallway quarry tiles renovating, someone had varnished them around 15 years previously and were now overdue a good clean and seal.

Cleaning Hallway Quarry Tiles

The first step was to scrub in a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. However this only managed to remove some of the varnish and so I next applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a much stronger product designed for stripping coatings from floors. The process I used was to apply Remove and Go in sections leaving it to dwell for a hour and then scrubbing it with a brush. I rinsed the floor down to reveal a few stubborn spots that needed some further work and then washed the floor down again before leaving it for the evening to dry.

Sealing Hallway Quarry Tiles

We returned the next day and began to seal the floor using six coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which leaves a nice deep low sheen on the tile surface as well as providing stain protection. The owner was extremely happy with the result and left the feedback below.

“Very professional, worked continuously. A joy to have 2 men working in the house who conversed quietly with no unpleasant language! A superb job done on our (more than 100 year old) quarry tile floor.”

Mrs Quested, Wallingon

Quarry Tile Renovation in Wallington

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Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned in Leatherhead

Grout Cleaning, Leatherhead Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Work History / Bill Bailey

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.

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.

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.

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

Leatherhead Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Work History / Bill Bailey

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.

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled floor at a Leatherhead School

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

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East Surrey Tile Doctor

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