tile restoration

Romsey Ceramic Tile and Grout Before and After Cleaning and Colouring

Kitchen Ceramic Tile and Grout Clean in Romsey

This was a straightforward request to deep clean the Ceramic Tile and Grout in the kitchen of a house in Romsey, Hampshire but as you will see from the photograph below the Grout was far too stained to be cleaned effectively. Kitchen grout gets a lot of abuse from spillages so this is not unusual and to prevent it the grout can be sealed or you can choose a dark grout colour.

Romsey Ceramic Tile and Grout Before Cleaning

Cleaning and Preparing the Tile and Grout

To get the tile and grout clean I applied a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and left it to soak in to the surface dirt for a while before scrubbing it with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad and also a stiff hand brush along the grout lines. This was then washed down with warm water all of which was removed by a wet Vacuum. This cleaning process was repeated until the tiles were clean and the grout was a good as I could get it. Unfortunately the grout had stained quite badly and we were unable to get a good uniform appearance so after discussing this with the customer it was agreed that we would apply a white Grout Colourant.

Applying Grout Colourant

If it was a small area I could have considered using a Grout Pen however this required more than a touch up so this is where you need an epoxy grout colourant which forms a hard wearing epoxy barrier over the existing grout that looks natural and effectively protects the grout from further staining.

The grout needs to be clean and dry before you apply it so if you’re doing this from scratch make sure you clean the grout first with Pro-Clean or the Pre-Treater product that is available. The grout colourant is then easily applied using a toothbrush, it sounds easy but you have to be very methodical. The colourant dries in about an hour after which it’s worth double checking your work and then removing any excess by applying a little water and running over it with a white pad.

Romsey Ceramic Tile and Grout After Cleaning and Colouring
I think you will agree from the photographs the tiles look much cleaner and the floor transformed by the improvement in grout colour.

Kitchen Ceramic Floor Restored in Romsey

Kitchen Ceramic Tile and Grout Clean in Romsey Read More »

Farnham Travertine Floor Finished

Travertine Tiled Floor Maintenance in Fareham

I do like a beautiful Travertine Tiled floor however they do need regular maintenance to keep them looking good. This travertine floor installed in the kitchen of a house in Fareham was no different as the tiles were looking dull and the grout was tarnishing.

Farnham Travertine Floor 1

Cleaning Travertine Kitchen Tiles

To protect the kitchen units from water a protective tape was applied around the base and once done we gave the tiles a quick clean using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean working it in with a scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine and then into the grout lines with a stiff hand brush. The dirty solution was then removed using a wet vacuum and we moved onto burnishing the whole tiled floor.

Farnham Travertine Floor Cleaning in Progress
We stated the burnishing process with a red fitted to a rotary machine with a little water. The burnishing pads are encrusted with diamonds and are very good at removing dirt and sealers from hard stone including Travertine and Marble; the surface water and loose dirt was removed used a wet Vacuum. There are four pads in the burnishing system and they are applied to the stone floor in sequence starting with a course pad with a little water and then moving onto the finer polishing pads one after the other until we were left with a high shine finish.

Farnham Travertine Floor Finished 3

Sealing Travertine Tiled Floor

We left the floor to dry overnight and came back the next day to seal the floor. The floor must be dry before sealing otherwise the results can be unpredictable. Once we were happy the floor was dry we proceeded to seal the Travertine tile using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Ultra-Seal which provides a natural look to the stone as well providing excellent stain protection. Two coats of sealer were sufficient to seal the floor.

Farnham Travertine Floor Finished 4

Travertine Floor Tiles Cleaning and Sealing in Fareham

Travertine Tiled Floor Maintenance in Fareham Read More »

Marble Floor Tile Restoration Winchester Finished

Marble Tiled Floor Restored in Winchester

Photographs below of a classic black and white Marble floor tile installation at premises in the city of Winchester. As you can see these Marble tiles had seen some traffic and were not in the best of condition following on from some building work that had been going on; fortunately we are quite used to dealing with these problem and have just the right products and equipment to restore them.

Marble Floor Tile Restoration Winchester Before

Marble Tile Cleaning and Polishing

For best results on hard stone surfaces such as Marble we burnish the floor using a set of diamond encrusted polishing pads. You start with a coarse pad which applied with a little water to remove surface dirt and sealers etc. before moving through a set of finer polishing pads until you reach a high shine glossy finish.

Half way through the burnishing process we stopped to apply a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along the grout lines and give them a scrub with stiff hand brushes repeating the process in stubborn areas.

Marble Floor Tile Restoration Winchester Finished
After the treatment the floor was washed do to remove any soiled solution before being buffed with a white buffing pad. Any trace of its previous condition was now gone and the floor was uniform in appearance, it took much of the day to do the polishing and a set of four burnishing pads to acquire the right lustre.

Marble Floor Tiles restored in Winchester

Marble Tiled Floor Restored in Winchester Read More »

Fareham Terracotta Floor Finished

Terracotta Tiled Floor Maintained in Fareham, Hampshire

This Terracotta tiled floor was installed in the kitchen of a house in Fareham. The floor was in need of a deep clean especially in the high traffic areas where the sealer had worn down and on the tiles near the kitchen units there were some stubborn stains from spillages.

Fareham Terracotta Floor Before

Cleaning Terracotta Tile

I started the job using a solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, which is a heavy duty alkaline product ideal for cleaning natural products such as Terracotta, this was scrubbed in with a black pad fitted to a rotary machine. The cleaning process was repeated a couple of times and a stiff hand brush was used along the grout lines to clean up the grout. To treat the suborn stains we mixed Pro-Clean 50/50 with Tile Doctor NanoTech UltraClean which adds tiny abrasive particles to the cleaner making it even more effective; its best to leave the resultant solution to soak into the tile for half an hour before working it in with a scrubbing brush. Once happy the floor was clean it was given a thorough rinse to remove any remaining chemical and left it to dry overnight.

Fareham Terracotta Floor During

Sealing Terracotta Tile

The next day came back to seal the Terracotta but first checked the floor for any spots we might had missed and also to ensure it had dried sufficiently. Tile Doctor Seal and Go was used to seal the floor, it’s a water based sealer so it doesn’t give off an odour when it’s drying and also offers durable stain protection together with a low sheen finish. Terracotta is very porous and in the end the floor actually took seven coats of sealant before it was fully sealed. Applying a sealer does takes a long time to apply as you have to wait for it to dry before applying the next coat.

Fareham Terracotta Floor Finished
The work took two days in all and you can see the difference for yourself, the Terracotta tile and grout look wonderful and have lifted the overall look of the Kitchen.

Terracotta Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Fareham

Terracotta Tiled Floor Maintained in Fareham, Hampshire Read More »

Scroll to Top