Garstang Tile Cleaning Archives - Tile Doctor Lancashire

Indian Sandstone Kitchen Floor Renovation Garstang

Rough Indian Sandstone Floor Milled and Restored in Garstang

Due to the textured nature of the Indian Sandstone tiles installed their kitchen, this client from Garstang was having trouble keeping their stone floor clean. Having decided enough was enough they contacted Tile Doctor to see what could be done to rectify the problem.

I went over to survey the floor and could see dirt was being trapped in the riven surface of the Sandstone and any sealer put there to protect the stone had long since worn off. I find the best solution for rough stone floors like these is to mill the stone with coarse diamond pads thereby removing the grubby surface layer and revealing a new surface underneath. This action also flattens the stone to remove the roughness and makes it easier to maintain.

Indian Sandstone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Garstang

I provided a price for milling the stone, cleaning up the grout lines and then applying a new sealer to protect it going forward. Happy with the price, the client arranged to purchase the required products, and we booked in a date for the work to commence. It was only a small 5 m2 area so I was happy that it could be done by one Tile Doctor over a couple of days.

Cleaning and Restoring an Indian Sandstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

To mill the Sandstone, we use a couple of very coarse milling pads of different grades which are applied to the stone with water for lubrication. The pads are fitted to a rotary floor machine to which extra weight is added to ensure a good contact with the stone. The floor was rinsed with water as I progressed, and the soiling generated was extracted with a wet vacuum.

Indian Sandstone Kitchen Floor During Cleaning Garstang

Circular pads do struggle to maintain contact with the edges and especially corners so this is done manually using a set of hand-held diamond blocks. I also scrubbed the grout lines with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to get the lines as clean as possible.

It’s worth noting that Indian Sandstone is full of iron and a lot harder to mill compared to English Sandstone, Flagstone, and Slate etc. As a result, it took most of the first day to complete this stage.

Sealing an Indian Sandstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

Once milled and cleaned I left the sandstone to dry off overnight and then called back the next day to apply the sealer. For this floor we went with Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which is a breathable oil-based sealer that contains a colour enhancing formula to improve the general appearance of the stone.

Indian Sandstone Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Garstang

What might not be noticeable from the pictures is the smoothness of the stone after it’s been milled, this makes it a lot easier to clean and makes it a lot less absorbent to dirt and muck etc.

The fresh sealer will maintain its appearance for many many years to come and maybe in another 100 years it will need to be milled again.

It always helps to use the right product when cleaning stone after it’s been sealed, so we dropped off a bottle of pH Neutral Cleaner for the client which we call Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This will ensure easy maintenance without damaging the sealer.

Professional Restoration of an Indian Sandstone Tiled Kitchen in Lancashire

Rough Indian Sandstone Floor Milled and Restored in Garstang Read More »

Sandstone Effect Concrete Floor Before After Cleaning Garstang

Sandstone Effect Concrete Hallway Floor Deep Cleaned in Garstang

1 Comment / Garstang Tile Cleaning, Work History / Russell Taylor

We were called by our client to visit a property in Garstang, a small market town in Lancashire which is halfway between Preston and Lancaster. Where possible we like to survey the floor before doing any work, so we can ascertain what may have happened to the floor, what the best course of treatment is and of course provide the customer with a quote.

The large hallway floor was certainly in need of some love and care as it was not looking its’ best. On initial inspection it appeared to be tiled in Sandstone slabs, but it is in fact a Sandstone effect concrete floor. The owner had been using washing-up liquid to clean the floor which over time had upset the colours that were dyed into the cement. The pores in the concrete were also ingrained with dirt.

Sandstone Effect Concrete Before Cleaning Garstang

We discussed with the client the cleaning process and showed them a test patch. They were happy with the test area and the price for the work, so we booked a mutually convenient time in to carry out the cleaning.

Deep Cleaning Sandstone Effect Concrete Tiles

To deep clean the floor, we applied a strong alkaline cleaning product called Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. Not only does this product break down the dirt it can also strip off coatings such as old sealers when used in a more concentrated form. We left the product to dwell for a short while and then using a rotary buffing machine fitted with a Black Buffing pad we gave the floor a good scrub. Using the wet vacuum to remove the soil residue generated by the clean. We repeated the process to ensure the floor was deeply cleaned and any sealer residue removed. The floor was then left overnight to dry out, with a little help from the radiators as the weather had turned a little cooler.

Sealing a Concrete Effect Sandstone Tiled Hallway Floor

We returned the following day and checked the floor was fully dried out using our moisture meter. We then applied four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, this provides both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable low-sheen appearance.

The concrete tiles now looked great but unfortunately the colour of the grout lines had been affected by the washing-up liquid and needed more work. We decided the best course of action was to apply a Sandstone Grout Colourant, so we arranged to call back the next day once the sealer had fully dried and applied the colourant. We use the Tile Doctor range of Grout Colourants which are available in ten popular colours, the colorant also provides a barrier over the surface adding further protection.

Sandstone Effect Concrete After Cleaning Garstang

The customer had left us the keys to the property so needless to say, they were very happy with the transformation when they returned. I think you’ll agree the floor looks great and they can keep it looking in great shape by using Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is designed for cleaning sealed floors.

Professional Clean of Concrete Effect Sandstone Tiled Hallway in Lancashire

Sandstone Effect Concrete Hallway Floor Deep Cleaned in Garstang Read More »

Heavily Worn Terracotta Tiled Conservatory Restored in Garstang

1 Comment / Garstang Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / Russell Taylor

This Terracotta tiled floor was installed in the conservatory of a house in the old market town of Garstang, Lancashire, famous for being the world’s first ever ‘Fairtrade Town’.

There were quite a few problems with this floor; for one, my client had not re-sealed the tiles in many years and had therefore allowed the existing seal to become very worn and almost completely ineffectual. This had subsequently allowed the floor to become very dirty and marked with white blotches. These white blotches had occurred where the fertilizer held in decorative plant pots had started to eat away at the sealer.

Terracotta conservatory floor Before cleaning Garstang

Cleaning a dirty Terracotta Tiled Floor

The tiles were cleaned with a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, which is a strong alkaline cleaner. The solution was liberally applied to the floor and left to dwell for a short period, allowing time for the cleaner to seep into the pores of the Terracotta and lift the ingrained dirt to the surface. The solution was then agitated using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a heavy rotary machine, making a marked difference to the appearance of the tiles within a matter of minutes.

Tile Doctor Acid Gel was then used to spot treat the white marks, the acid content in the product breaks down the alkaline salts that had developed, left behind by the leaked plant fertilizer.

The entire floor was then rinsed several times to remove the soiled cleaning residue and the excess moisture was extracted using a wet-vac machine.

Sealing a Terracotta tiled floor

The Terracotta tiles were left to dry for an entire week as there was no evident damp proof membrane in place at the property. I used damp testers to approximate when the tiles would be dry enough to seal, which was very important as any excess moisture can upset the performance of the sealer.

My first choice of sealer was Tile Doctor Colour Grow, an impregnating sealer that also intensifies the natural colours in the stone. A single coat of Colour Grow was applied, before I opted to follow this up with six coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go, which provides a very robust surface seal and also helped to give the Terracotta the aesthetically pleasing my client had requested.

Before leaving the property with its newly restored Terracotta tiled conservatory, I made sure to give my client some tile maintenance advice. Needless to say, she was very pleased with the results.

Professional Terracotta Tile Restoration in Lancashire

Heavily Worn Terracotta Tiled Conservatory Restored in Garstang Read More »

Silicone Seal Replacement Garstang After

Replacing the Silicone Sealant around a Sink in Garstang

1 Comment / Garstang Tile Cleaning, Work History / Russell Taylor

We often get calls to refresh bathrooms, which by the way if your selling your house is highly recommended as its cheap to do and it can transform a dingy bathroom into one that looks like it has just been installed; so replacing the silicone sealant strip around sinks and baths is something we tend to do a lot of and if you have ever done this yourself you will probably realise how tricky it can be.

This customer in Garstang only needed the strip around the sink replacing which isn’t a large job so I agreed to pop-in on the way back from another job in the local area and sort it out. The process is relatively simple, you use a sharp knife to remove the old sealant, clean the area up and then apply new, the trick is to apply just the right amount of silicone and then shape it with an angled tool. My preference is to use a Mapei silicone which if you live in Garstang can be sourced from Rockform tiles.

Silicone Seal Replacement Garstang Before

On the subject of bathroom maintenance I can highly recommend a product we sell called Tile Doctor Mould Away which used regularly does a great job of keeping your Silicone mould free.

Bathroom Refresh in Garstang

Replacing the Silicone Sealant around a Sink in Garstang Read More »

Uncovered Victorian Floor Tiles Restored

Garstang Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Russell Taylor

Photographs below from the restoration of Victorian Floor Tiles in the hallway of a house in the town of Garstang near Preston. The owner of the house had discovered the tiled floor during renovations and was keen to repair and restore it as a period feature. The carpet had done a reasonable job of protecting the floor and I have come across floors in much worse condition in the past so we were confident it could be restored.

Cleaning a Victorian Floor Tiles

The floor was stained from carpet adhesives and some cement haze which we managed to remove using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which contains concentrated Hydrochloric Acid and solves a number of problems of this nature. Acids can dissolve calcium based stone so you have to be careful what you use it on, my advice is not to leave it too long on any surface and to wash it down afterwards with water.

The next step was to give the floor a thorough clean which we did using Tile Doctor Remove and Go mixed 50/50 with Nanotech Ultra-Clean; a steamer came in really handy at this point for those tricky stubborn areas. Last step was to give the floor a good rinse with water to remove any remaining chemical before sealing, if you’re doing this work yourself I recommend you hire a Wet Vacuum as it makes light work of removing surface water.

Sealing the Victorian Tiled Floor

The last step was to seal the floor however before we could do that it need to be dry so we checked for dampness first using a Damp Meter. When we happy the floor was sufficiently dry with sealed the floor using 4 coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which provides a low sheen finish whilst offering excellent stain protection. You have to leave each coat to dry before applying the next.

To source Victorian tiles similar to these visit www.rockform.co.uk

Restoring a Victorian Tiled Floor

Uncovered Victorian Floor Tiles Restored Read More »

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