Black Scrubbing Pad Archives - North Lincolnshire Tile Doctor

Beauty Restored to a Dull Multi Coloured Slate Floor in Caistor

I was contacted by a couple from the Lincolnshire market town of Caistor who had a beautiful multi-coloured Slate floor installed in their Kitchen, Hallway and WC. They had moved into the property a few years ago and during that time they had noticed how the appearance of the slate and grout had slowly degraded, they had tried to deep clean it themselves but gave up and decided to get some help.

Multicoloured Slate Floor Before Cleaning Caistor

I arranged a time to go over to the property, survey the tiles and provide a quote for doing the work. I could see the sealer was wearing off and nothing was in place to stop dirt from becoming trapped in the pores of the slate. I provided a quote for stripping the old sealer off the whole floor, deep cleaning the stone to remove the dirt and then once clean and dry applying a fresh sealer. The quote was accepted, and a date arranged to do the work.

Cleaning a Multi-Coloured Slate Tiled Floor

The job was very straight forward, and the type of job Tile Doctor carries out on a regular basis. On the first day I started by applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and let it soak into the tiles for ten minutes. Then using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary floor buffer the solution was worked into the stone to strip off what remained of the remaining sealer and pull the dirt out of the stone. At this point I also ran a stiff brush along the grout lines to get them as clean as possible.

The floor was then rinsed, and the soiled solution was removed using a wet vacuum.
At this point the floor was inspected and the process repeated on a couple of stubborn areas. The area was quite large, so we worked around methodically and once done the floor was thoroughly rinsed and dried again with the wet vacuum.

Sealing a Multi Coloured Slate Tiled Floor

After rinsing I left the floor to dry out over a few days and returned a couple of days later to seal with 2 coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. I selected this sealer as it a colour intensifier so will bring out the best in the colours of the multi coloured slate. It has a matt finish so it is not too shiny, but is very hardwearing, giving great protection to these high traffic areas.

Multicoloured Slate Floor After Cleaning Caistor

The household is a busy one, so keeping the floor in good condition will ensure maintenance is easier. With this in mind, I also recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, this is pH neutral and is mild enough to use daily. A small amount of the product goes a long way, so the bottle will last, and it has a lovely fresh smell.

My client was over the moon with the results and wished she had had it done sooner.

Professional Restoration of a Multi Coloured Slate Tiled Kitchen, Hallway and WC Floor in North Lincolnshire

Terracotta Floor Restoration Mablethorpe

Renovating Terracotta Floor Tiles in Mablethorpe

1 Comment / Mablethorpe Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning / William

Details below of a Terracotta Tiled floor that was installed in the Kitchen, Hallway and WC of a house in Mablethorpe. You can see from the photographs below that the floor was not looking its best having been splashed with paint from decorating and overdue a deep clean and seal.

Terracotta Floor Before Restoration Mablethorpe

Terracotta tiles are very porous and need to be sealed to prevent dirt from becoming ingrained in the tile as once that happens, they become very difficult to keep clean and just look permanently dirty. Unfortunately, sealers wear off with use and so overtime dirt starts to become lodged in the tiles. Another problem we find is the premature degradation of the sealer due to the use of bleach-based supermarket floor cleaning products that are simply too strong for use on a sealed floor.

Having surveyed the floor I could see straight away that the tiles needed a deep clean to remove the ingrained dirt and deal with the paint spots, then resealing with a durable product that will enhance the look of the floor and importantly protect the Terracotta. I worked out a quote for the renovation work which my client was happy to accept and a date was set for my return.

Deep Cleaning Terracotta Floor Tiles

To get the tiles clean we applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed 50/50 with Nanotech Ultra Clean which combines well to produce a heavy-duty alkaline cleaner/coatings stripper. This combination is ideal for working with difficult floors and for best results I spray the solution onto the tile and grout and leave it soak in for ten to twenty minutes. Long dwell times give the product more time to work breaking down the dirt and softening up the paint.

The next step was to work the products into the floor using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine running at a slow speed. Once done the resultant slurry was rinsed off with water and then extracted with a wet vacuum. The floor was inspected and any stubborn staining was spot treated using the same process until I was completely happy the floor was clean.

The floor was still quite wet at this stage with small puddles of water forming in the dips of the uneven floor; the wet vacuum took care of most of this but the floor was still too damp for sealing so I left a couple of air blowers to assist with the drying of the floor and returned two days later to start the sealing.

Sealing Terracotta Floor Tiles

When I returned the floor was mainly dry but there were a couple of damp spots which I took care of with a heat gun. Tile Doctor Seal and Go was used to seal the floor; Terracotta can be very porous so eight coats were required to completely seal the floor so it was some time before it was finished.

Terracotta Floor After Restoration Mablethorpe

When finished, I gave the customer instructions on how to maintain the floor using Tile Doctor Neutral Clean which is a mild but effective Tile and Grout cleaner. He was over the moon with the result and said that it had far exceeded his expectations which is always nice to hear.

Professional Terracotta Tile Maintenance Service in Mablethorpe

Renovating Terracotta Floor Tiles in Mablethorpe Read More »