Stockport Tile Cleaning Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Greater Manchester Tile Doctor

New Travertine Floor After Cleaning in Disbury

Recently Laid Travertine Tiled Floor Cleaned in Didsbury

Incredibly this Travertine tiled floor had been laid just two weeks prior and unfortunately the tiler had not cleaned the floor prior to sealing thus trapping in dirt and dust that were present on the floor and now the tiles looked dull and dirty. Sealing floors can be a minefield and it’s possible the dirt was not that obvious and by sealing the floor it magnified the issue literally; whatever the reason the only solution would be to strip the floor of its sealer, clean the floor and then reseal.

New Travertine Floor Before Cleaning in Disbury

Maintaining Travertine Tiles

To strip the floor of the sealer and clean it requires the application of a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads which are fitted to a rotary machine in a set sequence and run over the floor lubricated with a little water. There are four pads in the set, you start with a coarse pad which will remove ingrained dirt and sealers before moving on to the medium, fine and very fine polishing pads which are a much finer grit and restore the polished finish of the stone. The floor needs to be rinsed down between each pad application to remove the soil that is produced and then given a final wash at the end to make sure the floor is clean before sealing.

Polishing and Sealing Travertine Tile

The floor must be dry before sealing so it was left to dry overnight and I came back the next day to seal it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that occupies the pores in the stone so dirt cannot become ingrained there and in the process it also enhances the natural colours in the stone. Once the sealer was dry it was buffed using a white buffing pad to make sure that I hadn’t left any residues from the seal.

The customer was very happy with work and they now have the floor that they wanted.

Travertine tiled floor cleaned and re-sealed in Greater Manchester

Recently Laid Travertine Tiled Floor Cleaned in Didsbury Read More »

Terracotta floor cleaning Didsbury after

Cleaning Terracotta Kitchen Tiles in Didsbury

1 Comment / Stockport Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / Kevin Parry

This Terracotta tiled floor was in the kitchen of a house in Didsbury near Manchester. The tiles had never been sealed before and so had become ingrained with dirt making them very difficult to clean.

Terracotta floor cleaning Didsbury before

Cleaning Terracotta Tiles

To get the Terracotta tiles clean I soaked tiles in a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and left it to dwell for ten minutes. Then using a large 17inch black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine and a stiff grout brush proceeded to work the cleaning solution into the tile and grout. This process soon turned the cleaning solution dark with the dirt that had been released from the tile and this was removed using a wet vacuum. The floor rinsed down with water and stubborn areas retreated, finally once happy with the condition of the floor the tiles were thoroughly rinsed to remove any trace of cleaning product prior to sealing and the floor left to dry overnight.

Sealing Terracotta Tiles

I returned the next day to seal the floor testing it first with a damp meter to make sure it had dried. I then started to seal the tiles using Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a water based sealer so it doesn’t leave any smell as it dries. Terracotta is a very porous clay based material and so the floor took seven coats of sealer to do the job, this is not unusual and I’ve known some Terracotta to need even more coats of sealer.

Terracotta Tile Cleaning near Manchester

Cleaning Terracotta Kitchen Tiles in Didsbury Read More »

Victorian Tiled Floor Restoration at Buxton Outward Bound Centre

Stockport Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Kevin Parry

Derby University have a 58 acre outward bound centre in Buxton at the centre of the famous peak district. The manor which was previously a hotel is the hub of centre and caters for numerous outdoor pursuits including climbing, underground caving and canoeing; as you can imagine the floors in manor house get a fair amount of wear as students come and go in their boots and rucksacks. All this takes its toll and I was asked to restore a marvelous old Victorian tiled floor at the manor house.

Cleaning the Victorian Tiled Floor

The Victorian tiled floor was looking tired; any sealer that may have been applied previously had long since worn off. There were a few cracked and broken tiles which needed replacing and fortunately you can still source these tiles and so once this was done I set about cleaning the floor. To clean I used Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an alkaline product in conjunction with a buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad; once the floor was clean I washed it down with clean water to remove any remaining chemical before sealing. I can recommend the use of a wet vacuum at this point as it makes the job of removing liquids from floors much faster.

Sealing the Victorian Tiled Floor

One the floor was dry I started the sealing process or applying five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, this can take a while as it’s necessary to allow each coat to dry before applying the next. The sealer added a nice sheen to the floor and will provide protection to the Victorian tiles going forward; you can see the difference in the photographs.

Tiled Victorian floor restoration in Buxton for Derby University

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Travertine Tiled Floor Polished in West Didsbury

Stockport Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / Kevin Parry

This job was a Travertine tiled Kitchen floor in West Disbury, the customer ask me to have a look at the tiles which had been down for three years and had quite a lot of cracks in, on top of that it had not been sealed very well when it had been laid which had allowed dirt to become ingrained into the tile leaving it looking dull.

Maintaining Travertine Tiles

The first job was to wash the floor down to remove any grit from the floor and then remove what remained of the old sealer, now with Travertine being a very hard stone it has to be removed using of a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads fitted to a rotary machine. Once this was done all the cracks in the Travertine were filled in using a flexible grout which was a blend of three different grout colours in order to get a shade that matched the colour of the travertine. The tiled area was quite confined and tricky to work in so this process including the sealer removal took two days in all.

Polishing and Sealing Travertine Tile

On the third day I used the fine burnishing pad to give the final polish and then to protect the floor from stains it was sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer that brings out the colours in natural stone. Once the sealer was dry it was buffed using a white buffing pad to make sure that I hadn’t left any residues from the seal.

The customer was very pleased with the finish and found it very hard to spot the cracks I had filled.

Travertine tiled floor maintained in Greater Manchester

Travertine Tiled Floor Polished in West Didsbury Read More »

Problems with Travertine in Shower

Stockport Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / Kevin Parry

As you can see from these photographs we don’t just clean and seal stone floors we can also rectify problems with wall tiles as well. In this case our customer had a problem with Travertine installed in a shower at a house in Stockport which had not been sealed following installation. Travertine is porous and over time the tiles had becomes stained with the dyes and soap scum, mould had also managed to get a grip in the pores of the travertine.

How to Clean a Travertine Shower

To get the Travertine back to its original condition it was necessary to use a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean with a set of six inch Burnishing pads, each one serves a different function from scrubbing to polishing, the buffing pads are applied with water and restore the shine on the surface of the tile. The Tile Doctor Pro-Clean also came in handy to clean the Grout, its best applied with a spay attachment so it can mix with air allowing it to dwell on the tile before being scrubbed with a stiff brush and washed down. The whole Travertine Shower tile was washed down with water and left to dry before sealing. Last step was to remove and replace the silicone seal at the bottom of the tray using mildew-resistant Mapei Mapeisil Silcone in Jasmine in order to match the grout.

How to seal Travertine Shower

Once the shower was dry we sealed the Travertine using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which brings out the natural colours in the stone as well as providing surface protection. The sealer will wear off over time so it will be necessary to reapply it from time to time however it will prevent the problems from re-occurring. The transformation was quite remarkable and the customer was extremely happy with the results.

Cleaning Travertine Shower Tile in Stockport

Problems with Travertine in Shower Read More »

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Maintained in Stockport

Stockport Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / Kevin Parry

The owner of this modern bungalow in Stockport requested that we visit and rejuvenate the Travertine tiled floor installed in their kitchen. Stone floors do loose their appearance over time and so if you want to keep them looking good it makes sense to call us in every few years to give them a face lift.

Cleaning Travertine Tiles

For the best results hard stone tiles such as Travertine and Marble etc. need to be polished with a set of Burnishing pads however before you start that process it’s necessary to remove any surface dirt from the floor first, this will ensure any grit that could get trapped in the burnishing pads and scratch the floor is removed first. With this in mind we washed the floor using a mild dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, this was also a good opportunity to get a stiff brush into the grout lines and give them a good scrub. We washed the floor down with clean water using a wet vacuum to remove the water from the floor before moving onto the next step.

Polishing and Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles

We polished the floor using a set of 17” Burnishing pads fitted to our weighted polishing machine; the pads are diamond encrusted and you start with the coarser Red pad designed to remove sealers before moving on to the White, Yellow and finally Green polishing pad to achieve a high shine finish.

The last step was to seal the floor which we did using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is colour intensifying sealer that will provide on-going durable surface protection as well as enhancing the natural colours in the Travertine tile.

The kitchen wasn’t a large area and the Travertine dried quite quickly so we managed to clean, polish and seal the floor in the same day.

Cleaning Travertine Tiled Kitchen floor in Stockport

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Maintained in Stockport Read More »

Victorian floor tiles After cleaning and sealing

Victorian Floor Tile Cleaning

Grout Cleaning, Stockport Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Kevin Parry

Details below of a Victoria floor tile renovation we did recently in the hallway of a house in Heaton Mersey, which is an old suburb of Stockport. The floor was an original feature in the house being laid sometime in the eighteen hundreds, some sealer was left on the floor to offer protection but most had been worn down and the floor was suffering from the impact of ground in dirt from recent building works.

Cleaning the Victorian Floor

The floor was cleaned using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a black buffing pad to loosen the soil that had built up on the floor. The floor was then neutralised to remove any remaining cleaning solution by rinsing it three times with water and then left to dry.

Sealing the Victorian Floor

Once dry the floor was sealed with 5 coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is ideal for sealing Victorian tiled floors as it brings out the colours in the tile whilst providing stain protection and allowing moisture vapour to breathe through.

The owner Mr Mitchell was very pleased with my work and left a great testimonial which is copied below.

“Steve has done an excellent job of cleaning up a very dirty old Victorian floor. The job was not without its problems, but Steve dealt with them very professionally, taking responsibility for issues with third parties that he had little control over. He has also done an excellent job of cleaning our carpets.”

Cleaning and Sealing a Victorian floor in Heaton Mersey, Stockport

Victorian Floor Tile Cleaning Read More »

Disbury bathroom tile and grout refresh after

Bathroom Tile and Grout Facelift in Didsbury

Ceramic Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Stockport Tile Cleaning, Work History / Kevin Parry

This Ceramic tiled bath with shower was installed at house in Didsbury, this customer wanted to give the bathroom a facelift and not usually it was the grout rather than the ceramic tile that had discoloured, the silicone also needed to be replaced due to the mould build-up and if you get mould on silicone it’s impossible to remove and can only be replaced. Unfortunately mould build-up in bathrooms is quite common in the UK due to our damp climate and modern insulated homes that restrict air flow. If you’re having this problem yourself consider installing a more powerful extractor fan or simply leaving the door to the bathroom open more often.

Disbury-bathroom-tile-and-grout-refresh-before

Cleaning Tile and Grout

The Ceramic tiles and grout were treated using a strong 2:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a highly recommended Tile and Grout cleaning product; being alkaline it’s safe to use on all sorts of tile and stone surfaces. For vertical tiled surfaces I recommend the mixture is decanted into a bottle with a trigger spray attachment which when sprayed onto the wall allows the cleaner to mix with air making it lighter and allowing it to stick better. The solution 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. If you’re doing this work yourself then you should know that Tile Doctor produces a product that comes with a spray attachment called col=”https://www.TileDoctor.co.uk/Oxy-Pro-Shower-Tile-Grout-Cleaner.asp” target=”_blank”>Oxy Pro that is ready to use and can save you some time.

Whilst waiting for the tile and grout to dry the Silicone Sealer was removed using a sharp knife, as I mentioned before once mould gets a grip on silicone it will need to be replaced. It’s also 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.

Grout Colouring

Cleaning the grout had made a visible difference and improved the overall look of the bathroom but it wasn’t showroom condition so to improve it further it was necessary to apply a white Grout Colourant. The product we use is epoxy based and forms a thin impermeable barrier over the grout so not only does it look good it protects the grout as well; it’s very easily applied using a small brush along the grout lines and you just wipe of the excess so it wasn’t long before the grout was looking like new.

Last step was to re-new the silicone sealant around the top of the bath and the job was finished; my customer was very pleased with the results and made the comment that she thought it looked like new.