tile restoration

Red And Black Victorian Tiled Floor Dorchester Pattern Restoration Lancaster

Dorchester Pattern Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Restoration in Lancaster

This is a Red and Black Victorian tiled floor laid in a Dorchester pattern at a property in Lancaster. The owner has only just bought the property which dates to the 1890s and this floor had previously been covered in carpet which had started to smell and leave a pungent aroma in the air.

Red And Black Victorian Tiled Floor Dorchester Pattern Before Cleaning Lancaster

Once the carpet had been removed and the Victorian floor allowed to breathe and dry out the smell disappeared. This is the right course of action with old floors which were laid without a damp proof membrane, floors of this age need to breathe and allow moisture to rise through the tile and evaporate at the surface, carpets and underlay prevent this.

Red And Black Victorian Tiled Floor Dorchester Pattern Before Cleaning Lancaster

The damp issues had resulted in efflorescent salts being deposited on the surface of some of the tiles and this is an important consideration when cleaning the floor. Salts and damp go together, so the more water we use the more salts will come through after the floor has been cleaned. Additionally using an alkaline cleaner such as Tile Doctor Pro Clean or Remove and Go this will further increase the alkalinity of the floor and cause yet more salt issues so a different approach is required.

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Naturally I didn’t want to exacerbate the moisture problems by using liquid products to clean the floor, so I used a low, moisture cleaning technique. This involves applying Tile Doctor Acid Gel as the main cleaning agent and working it in with a 200-grit milling pad fitted to a rotary machine. The gel keeps the moisture level low, and it is a very effective cleaning product and being an acid will neutralise the salts in the floor and keep the pH level at the correct balance. Once done the floor was briefly rinsed with water and all the soils extracted with a wet vacuum.

Red And Black Victorian Tiled Floor Dorchester Pattern During Cleaning Lancaster

The floor was left to dry off overnight then I called back the following day to see how it had faired. There were some areas where efflorescent salts had appeared, so I spot treated these areas with more Acid Gel and then scrubbed and rinsed with water using the wet vacuum again to remove as much moisture as possible. You will see on the photos how soft the salt was and I was able to scrape it off without too much difficulty, however if left untreated this salt would harden into a crystalline structure and become more difficult to remove.

Red And Black Victorian Tiled Floor Dorchester Pattern Efflorescencent Salt Removal Lancaster

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

To make sure the sealer would cope with the damp floor I applied a thin coat of Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal to several areas before leaving. The decision on which type of sealer to apply was influenced by the damp issues as the moisture needs to be able to evaporate at the surface, so it is important to select a fully breathable sealer.

Red And Black Victorian Tiled Floor Dorchester Pattern After Cleaning Lancaster

I called back the following day and the floor was more settled, and the sealer had fully cured, the client gave his thumbs up and we continued sealing the floor with one coat of Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which is fully breathable.

Red And Black Victorian Tiled Floor Dorchester Pattern After Cleaning Lancaster

Once completed the floor was transformed and worked well with other period features in the property. For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of a Neutral PH cleaning product such as Tile Doctor Neutral Clean.

 

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Lancashire

Dorchester Pattern Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Restoration in Lancaster Read More »

Victorian Tiled Lobby Floor Restoration Lytham St Annes

Victorian Tiled Lobby Floor Rebuild in Lytham St Annes

I visited this property in Lytham St Annes to survey a small Victorian tiled lobby which was in a sorry state. The client was keen to have it restored and wanted to know if it was possible. I discussed with them what we could do, and I gave them a quote for the work. Although it was only a small lobby, I could see the job could be quite involved and would be subject to the replacement tiles which I was confident we could source.

Victorian Tiled Lobby Before Rebuild Lytham St Annes

Repairing a Victorian Tiled Lobby Floor

This is one of those jobs you wish you hadn’t started as there were a lot more tiles to remove than anticipated and it mushroomed into replacing half the floor. Once the area was cleaned up, I applied a self-levelling compound to bring up the height of the base.

Victorian Tiled Lobby During Rebuild Lytham St Annes

Once the levelling compound had set, I was able relay the Victorian tiles using a combination of original tiles and replacements which had to be cut to shape. Cutting tiles to fit is quite intricate and time-consuming work especially when you consider new tiles are all metric in size and a 2mm difference becomes very telling after a foot or so! My solution was to use 150 mm tiles which are the biggest the stockist offers and then cut them down on my Rubi cutter using a template made from the original tiles. This the only way I could get it to look tight, it takes longer but it makes for a thorough job and a better finish.

Victorian Tiled Lobby During Rebuild Lytham St Annes

I always use flexible floor adhesive when laying tiles, my preference is Keraquick Grey from Mapei. There are other brands off course but this one is quite easy to get hold of and as the term grouting is a relatively modern invention (in the past it was called pointing ) I find it looks right with this type of tile and similar to the screed cement the Victorians used in the past.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Lobby Floor

After the tiling had been completed, I left the floor to cure and fully dry and returned at a later date to give the floor an overall clean. For this I ran a coarse 200-grit diamond floor pad across the floor lubricated with water and used handheld diamond blocks for the edges where the pad can’t reach. The slurry was rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

With old floors like this, which don’t have a damp-proof membrane installed under the floor, efflorescence is always a concern and can lead to white salts appearing on the surface of the tile as moisture rises through the floor. To counter this, I finished cleaning the floor by scrubbing it with Tile Doctor Acid Gel. This was then rinsed off with water and the soil extracted using a wet vacuum.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Lobby Floor

The client was happy to seal the floor themselves (they wanted to save some money and it wasn’t a big area) so I supplied them with a bottle of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. I recommended this sealer as it will enhance the dark colours and being fully breathable it will cope with any moisture rising through the base. I recommended they apply two coats to start leaving time to allow the first coast to dry they could also then decide to leave it at that if they were happy with the finish.

Victorian Tiled Lobby After Rebuild Lytham St Annes

 

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Lancashire

Victorian Tiled Lobby Floor Rebuild in Lytham St Annes Read More »

Quarry Tiled Floor Before After Renovation Lancaster

Old Quarry Tiled Floor Repaired and Renovated in Lancaster

The pictures below are taken from a property in Lancaster which had two areas of tiled flooring that needed work, one Quarry tiled and the other an original Victorian tiled hallway which was over 100 years old.

We often get called out to restore broken tiles, replace missing pieces and then do a clean and seal afterwards to make it all look as good as possible. Tile Doctor covers both areas and our aim is to restore a tiled floor to its best possible condition, ideally making it look new or at least as close to new as is feasible with an old floor.

Quarry Tiled Floor Lancaster Before Repair

Repairing a Quarry Tiled Floor in Lancaster

The focus of this article will be the renovation of the Quarry tiled floor which required a lot of tiling work due to cracked and missing tiling. This presents a problem as it can be difficult to find exact match replacements, especially when the floor has been down for some time. There are a few companies that specialise in reproduction Victorian tiles however Quarry tiles don’t have a dedicated store or website where we can get matching tiles. In this case the client had scoured the internet and hunted down replacements which came close to matching the original.

Quarry Tiled Floor Lancaster During Repair
The first step in repairing a tiled floor is to carefully remove any damaged tiles and, in this case, there were quite a few. The exposed area is the cleaned of old adhesive and grout and the subbase is made good where required. Next the replacement tiles are laid onto a base of new rapid set flexible floor adhesive, I prefer to use a flexible adhesive as it will allow for any further moment in the floor. Once the adhesive had set the tiles were grouted in and we then left floor to fully set overnight.

Deep Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Floor in Lancaster

I came back the next day with our cleaning equipment and products to get the floor clean which should help blend the new tile in with the original.

I started by applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to the Quarry tiles and then scrubbed it in with a rotary floor machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. Pro-Clean is a strong and effective alkaline cleaner which is safe to use on Tile and Stone and unlike acid wont damage the clay. The cleaning solution soon turned black with the dirt that had been released from the old Quarry Tiles, so I gave the floor a rinse with water and extracted the soil with a wet vacuum.

The last job was to give the tiles a light acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up, this isn’t a strong acid like the brick acid you find in DIY stores so it’s safe to use on most surfaces if it isn’t left for too long. The Grout Clean-up removes any old grout and minerals such as efflorescent salts from the Quarry tiles and is then rinsed off with water and extracted with the wet vacuum. The other advantage of giving the floor an acid rinse is it counters the alkaline cleaning products used earlier effectively neutralising the pH level of the tiles. Lastly the acid slightly etches the clay tile ensuring a much stronger bond with the sealer.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Floor in Lancaster

The Quarry tiled floor was then sealed with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a matt sealer that impregnates the pores of the clay enhancing colour in the process and effectively adding protection to the tile from within.

Quarry Tiled Floor Lancaster After Repair
The quarry tiled floor looked much cleaner and fresher following the work, the cracked tiles were gone, and our customer was pleased with transformation we had managed to achieve.

 

Professional Restoration of an Old Quarry Tiled Floor in Lancashire

Old Quarry Tiled Floor Repaired and Renovated in Lancaster Read More »

Applying Anti Slip Treatment to Ceramic tiles in Lancaster After

Application of Anti-Slip Treatment at an Office Block

We recently had a request to take a look at the Ceramic floor tiles installed at a fairly new office building in Lancaster. Well over 300 people work at the builder and they all come and go via the entrance hall where ceramic tiles have been installed which when wet were very slippery. To confirm this we conducted a pendulum test which is a specially designed piece of certified equipment that measures the surface co-efficient of friction which basically is a recognised measure of how much traction a surface has. The testing is very detailed and the output is an official report that can be used for insurance purposes; the report came back high risk which was expected so no surprise there, the next step was to see how this could be improved.

Applying Anti-Slip Treatment to Ceramic tiles in Lancaster Before

Cleaning Porcelain Tiles ready for Anti-Slip treatment

As well as maintaining Tile and Stone Tile Doctor are also trained in the application of Anti-Slip treatments so we were asked to apply Anti-Slip to the 36m2 of Ceramic tiles in the entrance and rectify the problem. We do this by first getting the floor as clean as possible for which we use a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked into the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. The dirty cleaning solution is removed using a wet vacuum and the floor rinsed with clean water.

Applying Anti-Slip treatment to Porcelain tiles

The second step is to apply a Priming and Locking solution which is part of the treatment diluted one part solution to four parts water. This is then left to dry and once dry is followed by the application of the Anti-Slip treatment itself.

The third step in the treatment is to re-apply the diluted Priming and Locking solution before the floor fully dries out and it’s this last step that activates the treatment and locks it in place. There’s no need to wait for the floor to dry at this point it can be used immediately after the last step has been applied.

Applying Anti-Slip Treatment to Ceramic tiles in Lancaster During
Once completed we conducted another Pendulum test so this could be compare to the original test to see if there had been any improvement. I’m glad to report the treatment worked as expected and the latest report came back as low risk. The customer keeps this to prove to any potential insurance claimant that steps had been taken to make the floor as safe as possible. You might notice that floor looks much better as well.

Applying Anti-Slip Treatment to Ceramic tiles in Lancaster After
I should mention that the work was carried out outside of working hours so no disruption was made to the normal operation of the building.

Surface Friction improvement at Derbyshire Golf Club

Application of Anti-Slip Treatment at an Office Block Read More »

Chorley Tile and Grout Before and After Cleaning

Kitchen Tile and Grout Cleaning in Chorley

We received a call to visit a house in Chorley where the grout in the kitchen tiles had gone black with the build-up of dirt and the owner was having trouble cleaning it. Porcelain and Ceramic tiles are a great choice for kitchens as they are very easy to clean however what most people don’t realise is that the top layer of grout is actually porous and can becomes stained with dirt. With the agreement of the home owner I did a test clean using a strong cleaning product called Tile Doctor Remove and Go leaving it to dwell on the tile and grout before scrubbing it in by hand and then washing off the soiled solution; you can see from the photograph below that the tile and grout cleaned up nicely so I was booked to do the job the following week.

Chorley Tile and Grout Cleaning Test

Cleaning Tile and Grout

On my return I repeated the earlier process on the whole floor cleaning the grout with Remove and Go and working it in along the grout lines with a stiff grout brush making sure to thoroughly scrub every grout joint working in small sections at a time.

Chorley Tile and Grout Before Cleaning
Once I was happy with the grout in a section the floor would be rinsed off with clean water and a wet vacuum was used to remove the dirty water. I did this all over the floor until all the grout joints were clean retreating areas that needed extra attention.

Chorley Tile and Grout During Cleaning
The next step was to give the ceramic tiles a good clean by applying a strong general Tile and Grout cleaning product called Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. The solution was scrubbed onto the floor and left to dwell for ten minutes scrubbed some more and then rinsed off. The floor was then washed down with clean water three times to make sure all the cleaning products had been removed and then dried with a wet vacuum. I then left the floor to completely dry for a couple of hours and came back later to check all the grout joints were clean and followed up with a bit of detail work on corners and edges rinsing the floor again when I had finished.

Chorley Tile and Grout After Cleaning
I managed to complete the job in a day and with all the cleaning the tile and grout came up much lighter than before making it look like a new floor had been installed. The customer was really happy with the final result and left the following feedback on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Heidi cleaned a very dirty tiled floor back to its original state and it now looks superb. She was extremely professional and courteous but just as important she didn’t leave a mess like a lot of tradesmen do!!! I would have no hesitation in recommending Heidi to any of my friends to carry out similar work. A job well done!!!
Chris Palmer, Chorley

Chorley Tile and Grout Before and After Cleaning
 

Cleaning Tile and Grout in Lancashire

Kitchen Tile and Grout Cleaning in Chorley Read More »

Black Slate with White Marble Inserts Southport After Cleaning

Cleaning Black Slate with White Marble Inserts in Southport

An unusual but attractive combination of semi riven black Slate with white Marble inserts had been installed in the hallway of this residence in the town of Southport. This floor had not been cleaned properly in some time, in fact the local Tile Shop had given the customer the incorrect tile cleaning product for the job which had slowly stripped the sealer off the tile leading to dirt becoming ingrained into the tile and making it difficult to clean which resulted in the deteriorated condition you see on the picture below:

Black Slate with White Marble Inserts Southport Before Cleaning

Cleaning Black Slate and Marble Inserts

The remedy was to give the floor a good deep clean and then reseal so I got to work and applied a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean onto the floor leaving it to soak in for fifteen minutes before working it in with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary buffing machine. This process soon had the dirt running out of the floor and the soiled solution was removed using a wet vacuum. The process was repeated for stubborn area and this time the grout was scrubbed by hand using a stiff brush and more Pro-Clean. Pro-Clean is a multi-purpose alkaline based cleaning product that’s safe to use on Tile, Stone and Grout and given there was hardly any sealer left it wasn’t necessary to use a stronger dilution.

Once I was happy with the floor it was washed down with more water to remove any trace of cleaning products and then the water removed using the wet vacuum and then left to dry overnight.

Sealing Black Slate and Marble Inserts

We have a number of sealing products suitable for Slate and Marble each one with a different effect but given then floor was predominately slate I decided opt for four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which provides stain protection and leaves a nice low sheen finish.

Black Slate with White Marble Inserts Southport After Cleaning
Before leaving I let them know about Tile Doctor Neutral Clean which is a cleaning product that has a near neutral PH and is specially designed for cleaning sealed floors.

Cleaning and Sealing a Slate Tiled floor in Southport

Cleaning Black Slate with White Marble Inserts in Southport Read More »

Victorian Tiles Southport After Cleaning

Victorian Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Southport

Southport is an interesting seaside town with many Victorian terraced properties so it came as no surprise when I was asked to maintain a Victorian Tiled hallway in the town.

Cleaning a Victorian Floor Tiles

The floor was in good condition for its age and just in need of a clean and re-seal to keep it looking good, hallway area’s as you can imagine get more footfall than other parts of the house so are more likely to need a regular deep clean.

Victorian Tiles Southport Before Cleaning
To get the floor clean and remove any remaining sealer the floor was sprayed with Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was left to soak into the tile for five minutes before being scrubbed in using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. The next step was to wash off the residue with water which was then removed using a wet vacuum. Following this the tiles were given a rinse in Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which is an acid based product that can remove grout smears and mineral deposits, it also improves the ability of the sealer to bond with the tile. Last step before sealing was to give the floor a thorough wash down with clean water, which is designed to remove any trace of cleaning products before sealing; the water was removed with the wet vacuum and then left to dry overnight.

Sealing the Victorian Tiled Floor

The next day I returned and checked the floor for dampness using a Damp Meter which indicated the floor was dry and ready for sealing. For Victorian Floor tiles I recommend several coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which provides a low sheen finish whilst offering great stain protection.

Victorian Tiles Southport After Cleaning
 

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Floor in Stockport

Victorian Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Southport Read More »

Terrazzo Tile at Wigan Fish and Chip Shop Completed

Stained Terrazzo Tiles Cleaned at a Wigan Fish and Chip Shop

These photographs are of a Stained Terrazzo Tiled floor from an old Fish and Chip shop in Wigan which had been closed for several months due to the owner being ill. The shop had then been sold and the new owners asked us to call in and re-furbish the tired and badly stained tiles rather than go to the expense of re-tiling or re-surfacing the Floor area, which would have cost a lot more than what we charged.

Terrazzo Tile at Wigan Fish and Chip Shop Before Terrazzo Tile at Wigan Fish and Chip Shop Before

Terrazzo is a composite tile made up of Marble and Limestone chippings, sometime Granite, all mixed into a clear cement resin and then made up into tiles of all sizes. We estimated these tiles we laid more than fifty years prior and were not looking their best after being stained with rust stains from heavy equipment, cooking oil and grease, ingrained dirt and grime. Although a tough job to tackle it didn’t put us off and as you will see we still managed to get them clean again.

Cleaning Terrazzo Tile

The method we used to restore the surface was to cut them back using a set of burnishing pads which take off a few millimetres off the tile surface and regrinds to make them look as good as new, this is something you can’t do with Vinyl Tiles or Ceramic and Porcelain. The pads are encrusted with diamonds and are used in conjunction with a little water; you start with a coarse pad and work through the set of pads which become finer in grade as you progress until your polishing the surface. Once this process is complete the floor was given a good wash down to remove any soil and allow us to spot any areas that needed further attention.

Sealing Terrazzo Tile

When the Terrazzo tile was dry it was sealed sealing with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating matt sealer that brings out the colours in natural stone, the client had also specified they didn’t want a shiny finish as they had a concern about slippery surface that could lead to slips and falls. Once the sealer was dry it was buffed using a white buffing pad.

Terrazzo Tile at Wigan Fish and Chip Shop After Terrazzo Tile at Wigan Fish and Chip Shop After

The results are quite satisfying given the age of the floor and the stains we had to deal with not only that but the owner had engaged a number of other cleaning companies who had tried a test clean and he had even tried cleaning it himself but the results were poor.

Terrazzo Tile at Wigan Fish and Chip Shop Completed
 

Original Terrazzo tiles restored in a Wigan Shop

Stained Terrazzo Tiles Cleaned at a Wigan Fish and Chip Shop Read More »

Flagstone Floor After Cleaning

Flagstone Floor in a Victorian House in Lancaster

Restoration of Flagstone Floor in the Kitchen

Details of an original Flagstone Floor cleaning job below from a Victorian House in the City of Lancaster, we often find flagstone floor tiles in kitchens and hallways and in this case they were in the hallway. You can see from the photographs below that the flagstone floor tiles were in a very bad state and it became clear that no amount of cleaning was really going to remove the decades of trapped dirt embedded in the pores of the Sandstone.

Flagstone Floor Before Cleaning Flagstone Floor Before Cleaning

Cleaning the Flagstone Floor

To get over this problem it was necessary to remove the top surface of the flagstone using a milling pad together with a small amount of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. The flagstones were then washed down with water which was then removed using a wet and dry vax machine. There was no damp proof course under the tiles so I left it to dry for a week before coming back to seal.

Flagstone Floor After Cleaning Flagstone Floor After Cleaning

Sealing and Restoration of Flagstone Floor

The milling process had opened up the pores in the sandstone flagstone floor tile so to seal it I used 1 coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow in order to bring out the colour in the stone and then topped this off wth a further 3 coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go.

Flagstone Floor Restoration in Lancaster

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