TileProf, Author at Greater Manchester Tile Doctor

Renovating Dull and Dirty Yorkstone Tiles in Hyde

Heavily Soiled Yorkstone Tiled Floor Cleaned & Sealed in Hyde

This customers, who live in the town of Hyde, Greater Manchester, were in the process of replacing their kitchen furniture when they realised just how soiled their fantastic Yorkstone tiled floor had become after years without attention.

Yorkstone Slab Floor Before Cleaning and Sealing in Hyde

If you’re not already familiar with Yorkstone, you may be interested to know it is a variety of Sandstone that is manufactured unsurprisingly in Yorkshire quarries since medieval times. It’s known for its hard wearing and durable qualities, but no stone can be completely immune to dirt and staining built up over years of use.

The customers were struggling for success with their own cleaning methods and supermarket products so they decided instead to see what a Tile Doctor could do to restore the floor. I was happy to oblige and on my first visit demonstrated what was possible by doing a test clean which the customers were very impressed with and booked me in straight away.

Cleaning a Soiled Yorkstone Tiled Floor

As a result of the test clean I knew I could get good results cleaning the floor using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a heavy duty alkaline yet flexible cleaning product that can also can strip sealers from tiles when used in a strong dilution. In this case a strong dilution was exactly what I needed and it was applied liberally across the floor, and left it to dwell and soak into the stone for about ten minutes. I followed this by scrubbing it into the stone with black scrubbing pad fitted to rotary machine, successfully eradicating the thick layers of muck and any remaining sealers in the process.

Yorkstone Slab Floor During Cleaning in Hyde

After scrubbing the entire floor, I extracted all the now soiled cleaning solution using a wet vacuum and then spot treated any areas that looked like they needed more work. On the whole, the cleaning process was a success, however, in one corner I discovered a thick tar stain that had been there for years. As the tar was solid as a rock I decided to apply an even stronger product to shift it. Fortunately, I have a number of products that I can use and in this case I was able to deal with it by applying Tile Doctor Nano Tech HBU, which is our heavy soil build-up remover. After application, it was left it to dwell for half an hour and then with the aid of a steamer and black scrubbing pad to soften the build-up even more I managed to remote it entirely.

Once I was happy with the condition of the flagstones and grout I gave the floor a thorough rinse with water, this was to ensure any trace of cleaning product was removed before sealing again the wet vacuum was used to remove the water from the floor and get the stone as dry as possible. The floor was then left to dry for 48 hours after cleaning.

Sealing a Yorkstone Tiled Floor

When I returned the the property two days later I promptly ran some damp tests all over floor and discovered a few minor issues. I solved these with heat gun and the floor was then ready for sealing.

To seal the Yorkstone tiles, I used Tile Doctor Seal & Go, which is topical water-based blend of acrylic polymers designed to provide durable surface protection and a low sheen finish. As a topical sealer (which sits as a protective barrier on the surface of the tiles) Seal & Go makes cleaning the floor much easier.

Yorkstone Slab Floor After Cleaning and Sealing in Hyde

I used four coats of the sealer, allowing for a 30 minute drying period between coats. As you can see from the photograph the result was truly fantastic! The customers were extremely pleased with the result and told me that they never knew there was such a lovely floor hiding underneath the muck. They also said that I saved them a lot of money and preserved the character of house because they now no longer feel compelled to replace the floor!

Deep Cleaning a Heavily Soiled Yorkstone Tiled Kitchen Floor in Greater Manchester

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Quarry tiled porch floor before and after cleaning in Middleton

Stained Quarry Tiled Porch Cleaned and Sealed in Middleton

1 Comment / Middleton Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Work History / TileProf

It’s not uncommon for us to hear from customers who have decoration work undertaken, only for the builders to leave plaster and paint stains all over the floor. These types of stains can be particularly difficult to remove from tiles – especially if you rely on using everyday, supermarket quality products.

Quarry tiled porch before cleaning Middleton

This was a problem for this customer from the town of Middleton, who had just had a new porch built and in the process the Quarry tiled floor had become very noticeably stained. Struggling to deal with the problem herself, the customer found Tile Doctor online and decided to make use of our expertise.

Cleaning Stained Quarry Tiles

To clean the porch tiles we used a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean, our powerful alkaline product designed to remove dirt and stains on natural stone tiles and grout. We evenly applied Pro Clean and left it to dwell for five minutes, allowing it to seep into the tiles. We then agitated the product with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine, breaking down the stubborn paint and plaster marks.

The resulting slurry was then removed using a wet vacuum, before the floor was rinsed thoroughly to remove any chemicals from the stone. With the tiles looking fresh and clean, we left them to dry completely overnight. We recommend a natural drying period of about 24 hours, although in some circumstances heat guns and turbo dryers can assist in speeding up the process.

Sealing Quarry Tiles

I returned to the property the next day, starting by using my damp tester to check whether the floor was dry enough to seal. There were some areas that were still damp, but I managed to get them dry quickly with my heat gun.

For sealing, I used four coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go, our water-based blend of acrylic polymers that provides both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable low-sheen finish that compliments the natural stone. The addition of a fresh sealer will make the tiles far easier to keep clean in the future.

Quarry tiled porch after sealing Middleton

The customer was very pleased with the overall result. However, she was keen to make sure she could give the tiles the regular maintenance they need, so I left her with a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This gentle, pH-neutral cleaner is perfect for regular maintenance as it reliably removes dirt and stains without damaging the sealer. You can use it to clean all types of tiles, stone and grout.

Cleaning and Sealing of a Stained Quarry Tiled Porch in Greater Manchester

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Travertine floor before and after polishing in Didsbury

Burnishing the Polish Into Travertine Tiles in Didsbury

1 Comment / Stockport Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / TileProf

While popular and highly coveted due to its natural brown colouring, Travertine is not as tough as other types of natural stone and thus needs regular maintenance if you wish to keep it looking good. Without it the polish can quickly dull, and can suffer from erosion over time if acidic cleaning products are used often resulting in small holes or pitting appearing.

This house in the Manchester suburb of Didsbury had a particularly large area of Travertine tiles which had proven to be very difficult for the property owner to maintain. When I spoke to her I explained that Tile Doctor have a reliable process for the restoration of Travertine and similar types of natural stone such as Marble and Limestone using a polishing process we have developed called burnishing, and I assured her that we could achieve the same with her floor.

Travertine tiled floor before polishing in Didsbury

Cleaning and Polishing Travertine Tiles

Tile Doctor’s burnishing system involves the application of four different diamond encrusted burnishing pads in sequence from coarse to fine, using a small amount of water with each pad for lubrication.

I started work on this Travertine by applying a Coarse 400 grit burnishing pad to strip away dirt and any old sealer remaining on the tiles, before removing any dirty water with a wet vac machine and rinsing the floor (a process which is repeated after the application of each pas). Next, I moved on to the Medium 800 grit pad, which I used to break down any ingrained dirt and stubborn marks, and to start smoothing down the rough and uneven surface that had developed on some of the tiles. I then used the Fine 1500 grit pad to smooth the surface even further and get the floor ready for its final polishing.

However, before applying the fourth and final pad, I took the time to carefully fill all the cracks and holes as these were spoiling the overall appearance of the tiles. Following this I left the floor for the day so it could dry off fully overnight.

Sealing Travertine Tiles

I returned to the property the next morning to seal the floor. My first course of action was to run a damp test; which we do in every situation as even a small amount of damp threatens to spoil the sealer. The test did reveal some damp spots, so I used my heat gun to dry them out quickly.

Once the floor was completely dry, I went over the floor with the Very Fine 300 grit pad, without any water as lubricant this time, to achieved the final desired polish. In this situation, I used Tile Doctor Colour Grow to seal the tiles as I knew it would enhance the natural shades in the Travertine. Colour Grow is a solvent based colour intensifying sealer that provides durable surface protection while allowing the surface to breath and enhance colour.

It’s really important that all excess sealer – that which doesn’t penetrate the stone – is polished off. For polishing off the excess, I used our three cloth system. After completing the sealing process, I went over the floor one final time with the Very Fine 3000 grit diamond burnishing pad to ensure a smooth and shiny finish.