Silverdale

Amtico Vinyl Floor Before After Cleaning Silverdale

Renovating Amtico Vinyl Flooring in Silverdale

This client from Silverdale had called us over to renovate their 12-year-old Amtico vinyl floor that runs from the back door, through the kitchen and then over to the dining room. Although modern brands of Vinyl are much more durable than in the past, they do require a sealer to protect the surface from marking, enhance the colour and general appearance. This floor had not been retreated for twelve years and so its appearance had become dull and patchy in places.

Amtico Floor Silverdale Before Cleaning Amtico Floor Silverdale Before Cleaning

Tile Doctors are trained in the renovation of all types of Tile and this includes Vinyl flooring with which we use the same methods and equipment to strip the old sealer away and replace with new. Vinyl if a manufactured material so the products we use are different and Tile Doctor supply a Stripper and Sealer which are designed for the job.

Cleaning and Stripping an Amtico Vinyl Floor

We started by applying a clear mastic silicone around the base of the MDF panels in the kitchen, we would be using water in the cleaning process, so this was done to prevent any moisture being absorbed via capillary action which would ruin the panels.

Amtico Floor Silverdale Prep Before Cleaning

Once the area was prepped, we started stripping the old sealer off the Amtico using Tile Doctor Vinyl Strip diluted with five parts warm water. The solution was gradually applied as a slow speed buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad was run over the surface. The soil generated was rinsed off the floor with water and then extracted using a wet vacuum

The floor was then steam cleaned to remove any excess product from the Vinyl, as well as making sure the floor area was as clean and dust free as possible before moving onto the next step of applying a fresh sealer.

Amtico Floor Silverdale During Steam Cleaning

The Amtico would need to be dry in order to seal it so as much moisture as possible was removed using the wet vacuum and then left to dry for about an hour with air blowers in place. This is very important as applying sealer to a damp Vinyl floor can cause issues with the bonding process resulting in the affected area turning white and feeling sticky.

Amtico Floor Silverdale Drying After Cleaning

Sealing Amtico Vinyl Flooring

Once I was satisfied the floor was dry three thin coats of Tile Doctor Vinyl Shine applied to the Amtico leaving the floor to dry for up to forty minutes between coats. Thin coats are the key, if it has a blueish tinge to the seal (what we call pooling) then the coat is too thick and needs to be thinned out which is best done with a paint pad. If the first coat is patchy, we just let it dry and then add a second coat to which will even out the patchiness.

Amtico Floor Silverdale After Cleaning Amtico Floor Silverdale After Cleaning

Tile Doctor Vinyl Shine is a modern high solids polymer floor seal and polish designed to protect and enhance the appearance of Vinyl floor tiles. It works well on all types of Vinyl including Amtico and Karndean and the optional third coat adds a super high gloss finish.

The floor looked great and really lifted the room. The client was very happy with the result and was kind enough to leave the following feedback.

”Very professional, efficient service, with an excellent end result. Very clean and tidy, punctual and made sure the job was finished to a high standard. Very pleased with the finish on my Amtico floor. – Sheila and Kevin S”

 

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Mosaic tiled worktop after grout colouring

Grout Colouring and Cleaning of a Mosaic Tiled Kitchen Worktop in Silverdale

Tiled kitchen worktops work really well, but just like any other kind of tiled surface they will need regular cleaning and maintenance to keep them looking great. Kitchen worktops in particular can fall into poor condition quickly when exposed to all manner of dirt and stains resulting from food preparation, with the grout lines often suffering the most which if you have tiles in your shower is a problem I’m sure you will be familiar with.

Mosaic tiled worktop before grout colouring
The grout lines on this Mosaic tiled kitchen worktop had become discoloured following years of exposure to soaps and washing up liquid from the nearby sink, as well as, most likely, food and drink spillages. The property was in the picturesque village of Silverdale, Morecambe Bay, and the owner had decided it was time to have the worktop professionally refreshed. This was a job that would only take a few hours to complete, and would involve both grout cleaning and recolouring.

Mosaic tiled worktop before grout colouring

Cleaning and Recolouring Dirty Grout for a Mosaic Worktop

Before beginning the restoration, I had to decide upon the best method. I realised that if I took out the grout to replace it completely I may have dislodged or even damaged the tiles – especially considering that they are at least 30 years old and give the age of the tiles it would be difficult if not impossible to find replacements if they were damaged.

As a result, I opted to clean the tiles and grout using Tile Doctor Oxy Gel. This product is a strong alkaline-based cleaner in gel form designed to break down dirt and grime, including soap scum and mildew stains. While it can be used on both horizontal and vertical surfaces, it is particularly suitable for the latter as the gel is able to dwell for a long time without running down the wall. Oxy Gel proved to be very effective in restoring the grout lines to top form, but I chose to follow by steam cleaning the area to get rid of any bacteria.

Mosaic tiled worktop during grout colouring
To finish the restoration, I recoloured the grout lines using our fresh White grout colourant – one of 10 available colours. Tile Doctor’s grout colourant seals and rejuvenates existing grout joints, and is equally effective for interior or exterior applications, including bathrooms and kitchens. The colourant was left for a little while to cure, before I polished off the excess with white sponge pads.

Mosaic tiled worktop after grout colouring
The result was a quick and effective transformation for the Mosaic tiled kitchen worktop that left the customer very happy!

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Milling Blue Lias Limestone After

Milling and Polishing Blue Lias Limestone tiles in Silverdale

The owner of this Blue Lias Limestone tiled floor in the village of Silverdale was not happy with the installation which had occurred two years earlier and several attempts by the Builder/Tiler to put it right had not resolved the problem. Basically the floor was not flat and had several raised tile edges resulting in what is known in the trade as a Lippage problem. Fortunately natural stone can be ground down to remove this issue.

Milling Blue Lias Limestone Before Milling Blue Lias Limestone Before

Milling and Polishing Limestone Tiles

To level a stone surface such as Limestone you need to use a special grinding disc formed of diamond segments that is attached to a heavy rotary machine and run over the tiles until the desired effect is achieved, in our case up to 4mm of Limestone had to be removed in some areas to ensure the tiles were flat. Once this was done the floor was rinsed down to remove the slurry that was generated from the milling process and also scrubbed clean with a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean with particular attention paid to the grout lines.

Milling Blue Lias Limestone Milling Pad
Once the surface was level the next step is to burnish the Limestone tiles and restore the polish which is done via the application of a different set of diamond encrusted pads which come in a set of four. You start with a coarse stripper pad with water to strip back the surface and then move onto the finer pads to polish the floor.

Sealing Limestone Tiles

Being a natural stone the tile needs protecting from contaminates which can stain and this is especially relevant in a kitchen. So the next step was to wait for the floor to dry and then seal it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone. Colour grow is a great sealer to use on natural stone as not only does it offer good stain protection but it also brings out the colours in the stone.

Whilst sorting out the floor we noticed that the skirting boards and kitchen units had not been sealed to the tile with silicone to prevent water ingress that could damage the wood so to finish the job off we sealed in-between.

Milling Blue Lias Limestone Tile Silicone
The customer was extremely pleased with the end results as they were considering taking it all up and starting again, and left the following feedback on the Tile Doctor website.

We’re absolutely delighted with the result. The floor, of blue limestone, was laid unevenly and unpolished. Russell and Heidi removed the lippage, polished and buffed the stone and sealed it properly, so it now looks the way it ought to have looked in the first place. It was certainly not cheap; but it was considerably cheaper than having a new floor laid – and it was done in three days without putting the kitchen completely out of action.

Milling Blue Lias Limestone After Milling Blue Lias Limestone After

 

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Shower Cubicle Silverdale After

Cleaning a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle in Silverdale

This ceramic tiled shower cubicle was installed at house in Silverdale, you can see from the photographs below that there was staining from the chemicals in domestic products and there was also a build-up of mould on some parts of the grout and silicone sealant. Mould can get a grip here due to a porous top layer and this is especially a problem in the UK where bathrooms tend to be small with inadequate ventilation.

Shower Cubicle Silverdale Before Shower Cubicle Silverdale Before

Cleaning Tile and Grout

The ceramic tiles and grout was treated using Tile Doctor Oxy Pro which is a ready to use tile and grout shower cleaner that comes with a trigger spray attachment which allows the cleaner to mix with air making it lighter and allowing it to stick to vertical surfaces. It was then worked in using a stiff scrubbing brush by hand before being rinsed off with water; this process was repeated a number of times until we had managed to clean all the areas and then left to dry.

Unfortunately it’s not possible to remove mould from silicone sealant, the only solution is to have it stripped off and replaced. Once this was done the edges were cleaned up and fresh mould resistant silicone was applied.

It’s worth mentioning at this point that silicone will last longer if the residue from soaps, shampoos and body washes etc. are rinsed away with clean water after having a shower as it’s the chemical and not the water that damages the silicone in the first place.

Shower Cubicle Silverdale After Shower Cubicle Silverdale After

The results are plain to see and my customer was very satisfied with the work.

Prevention is always better than the cure and another tip you might find useful is to improve ventilation which is a major problem with draught free modern housing fitted with insulation and double glazing, if this is not possible try leaving your shower room door wide open after having a shower. Another option is to look at installing a ventilation and heat recovery system which extracts the hot air from kitchens and bathrooms through a heat exchanger to warm up fresh air from outside and recycles it back into the house.

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