Edwardian Tiled Floor Covered In Tar Chaplefields Coventry Before and After Restoration

Beautiful Edwardian Tiled Hallway Repaired and Restored in Chaplefields

The owner of this house in Chaplefields near Coventry had bought this property as an investment and was keen to improve its appearance. As part of this work he had lifted the vinyl tiles in the hallway and discovered a lovely Edwardian tiled floor. Unfortunately, whoever had laid the Vinyl tiles had decided to use Tar as an adhesive and this had left a black mess all over the floor.

Edwardian Tiled Floor Covered In Tar Chaplefields Coventry Before Restoration

Realising the potential value an original feature such as this could add to the property he was keen to restore the tiles but not so keen to deal with the Tar, so we were asked to deal with the problem and restore the floor as close to its original condition as possible.

Repairing and Cleaning a Dirty Edwardian Tiled Floor

To get the tiles clean and remove the horrible tar I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go, which as its name suggest is great for removing coverings from tiles. I applied the Remove and Go with a mop, left it to soak in for a few minutes and then worked it in using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. The soil was extracted off the floor using a wet and dry vacuum and then the process repeated until I was happy all the tar was gone.

I then gave the tiles an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel; this serves to break down alkaline mineral deposits such as cement and grout smears, it also counters any efflorescence problems which can be an issue with these old floors where no damp proof membrane has been installed.

Finally, the floor was given a rinse with clean water and a steam clean to remove any trace of cleaning products and to neutralise the tiles in preparation for sealing.

Sealing a Edwardian Tiled Floor

I left the floor to dry off overnight and returned to the property to seal the tiles the next day. To seal the tiles, I used three coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a water based sealer that leaves a subtle sheen finish and being water based doesn’t leave a smell as it dries. The sealer will provide durable protection going forward preventing dirt from becoming ingrained into the pores of the tile and ensuring it remains easy to clean and keeping its appearance for some time to come.

Edwardian Tiled Floor Covered In Tar Chaplefields Coventry After Restoration

The floor now looks fantastic and gives a great impression when you come into the property which is exactly what the owner wanted.

Professional Restoration of an Edwardian Tiled Hallway in Warwickshire

Beautiful Edwardian Tiled Hallway Repaired and Restored in Chaplefields Read More »

Factory Floor Degrease in Coventry

Coventry Tile Cleaning, Work History / Mick Gayton

Called out to a factory floor in Aldermans Green Industrial Estate, Coventry in the West Midlands to clean and degrease the floor prior to keys being handed back to the local council .The floor also need to be repainted with epoxy floor paint but had to be clean first, we were happy to offer both services, i.e. cleaning and repainting.

The floor was cleaned using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted 1 to 5 with water and an additional 100ml of Tile Doctor Remove and Go to help strip cut the grease. The solution was mopped onto the floor and left to dwell for 10 minutes before being scrubbed with a buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad.

The soiled water was removed with a wet and dry vacuum, we tackled the floor tape with a steamer and solvents before a final high pressure rinse with water.

The picture above shows cleaning being done and tape removed, in total it took a total of 22 hours over 2 long days.

Factory Floor Degrease in Coventry Read More »

Slate Hallway After Cleaning and Sealing

Removing Grout Haze from Slate Tile Flooring

Grout Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Stratford-upon-Avon Tile Cleaning, Work History / Mick Gayton

You may remember a previous Limestone floor job we did for a Mrs Schwartz from Stourbridge, well true to her word she invited us back to clean and seal the slate tile flooring in her hallway which had been left with grout smears (aka grout haze) on the surface after tiling. Grout smears can be removed however if the floor is sealed it’s necessary to remove the sealer first.

Cleaning Grout Haze off Slate Tile Flooring

To remove the sealer and clean off the grout smears we used a 50/50 mix of Tile Doctor Remove and Go combined with Nanotech Ultra-Clean for added effect, the solution was left to dwell on the surface of the slate for 15 minutes to break down the polymers in the grout. The next step was to turn on a high pressure spinner tool which is a very effective cleaning tool on its own; the water from the spinner tool also washes away any chemicals and neutralises the floor ready for sealing.

Sealing Slate Tiles

We speed dried the slate tile flooring using a number of industrial fans and applied three coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which offers a good combination of stain resistance with a low sheen finish that brings out the natural colours in the slate.

Cleaning and Sealing Slate Tile Flooring in Stourbridge

Removing Grout Haze from Slate Tile Flooring Read More »

Cleaning Travertine in Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / Mick Gayton

Travertine Cleaning in Stratford

We started the cleaning of a travertine floor in Stratford (that’s Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire not East London where the 2012 Olympics are being held) using Pro-Clean diluted with water and a floor buffer fitted with a Scrubbing Pad and Grout Brush. For best results it’s best to leave the cleaning solution to dwell on the Travertine floor for five minutes before agitating and scrubbing, this allows the cleaner to penetrate the tile better and lift the dirt out of the floor.

Travertine Floor Before Cleaning

Travertine Floor Cleaning

The floor was rinsed down with clean water and the use of a high pressure floor spinner tool, before being cut back with a set of Twister burnishing pads finishing on the yellow polishing pad.

Travertine Floor After Cleaning and Sealing

Travertine Floor Sealing

After the Travetine Cleaning the floor was left to dry before sealing with Tile Doctor Colour Grow, we then applied the last Green burnishing pad in the set to lock in the seal and remove any excess sealer from the surface of the tile. The last step was to use Tile Doctor Shine to give leave a durable high shine on the floor. The floor took a full day to clean, seal and re-polish.

The Customer, Mrs Gough was very pleased with the results and left the following comment on the Tile Doctor website:
Mick is a true professional who totally puts you at ease. It was a lot of money for me as I chose the most expensive package but worth every penny.

Travertine Tiled Floor Restoration in Stratford

Cleaning Travertine in Stratford-upon-Avon Read More »

Limestone Floor Restoration

1 Comment / Coventry Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Work History / Mick Gayton

Limestone Floor Restoration

Some photographs below of a Limestone floor in a property in the West Midlands. The property had just been sold and the new owners wanted the Limestone floor, which was heavy damaged from pets and the application of the wrong cleaning products, restored back to its original condition. Owners of stone floors really need to take care not to use acidic products to clean their floors as this slowly eats away at the stone; you get the same problem from pet urine which contains Uric acid.

Limestone floor before restoration by Tile Doctor Warwickshire — Limestone floor before restoration

I cleaned the floor using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along with the diamond coated burnishing pad system and then sealed with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is great for bringing out the colours in stone.

After sealing we polished the floor with Tile Doctor Shine which is a crystallising powder that provides a very high deep shine and tough durable finish.

Limestone Kitchen Floor After Restoration

All in the entire Limestone Floor restoration took two long 12 hour days however our efforts were rewarded by the look on the faces of the new owners who were over the moon with the finished job.

Limestone Floor Restoration Read More »