Porcelain Tile Cleaning Archives - Greater Manchester Tile Doctor

Travertine Style Bathroom Tile and Grout Cleaning Manchester

Refreshing Travertine Style Bathroom Tile and Grout in Central Manchester

This bathroom and shower enclosure at a home in Central Manchester needed a complete refresh. Over time, the grout had become heavily discoloured, losing its original cream appearance and becoming stained with dirt and mould. In several areas, black mould growth was particularly noticeable, leaving the tiled surfaces looking tired and neglected.

Travertine Style Bathroom Tile and Grout Before Cleaning Manchester

Unsure what to do the owner contacted Tile Doctor for advice on the best way to restore the installation so I popped over to offer an opinion. The tiles resembled Travertine but were in fact Ceramic or Porcelain which are very low maintenance and an excellent choice for bathrooms. Grout however with its rough cementitious surface does attract dirt which it’s always the grout that lets down a bathroom like this one first.

During the inspection we discussed several restoration options and I recommended that they best way forward would be to apply a grout colourant that would restore the appearance of the grout and protect it going forward making ongoing maintenance much easier. I worked out a detailed quote which was accepted and a date scheduled.

Grout Cleaning and Preparation

To prepare the grout Tile Doctor Grout Colourant Pre-Treater was sprayed onto the grout and tile and then left to soak in. This product is designed to deep clean and condition the grout surface while creating an ideal base for the colourant to bond effectively.

Focusing mainly on the grout lines the treatment was scrubbed in and then thoroughly rinsed with clean water to remove any remaining dirt and product residue. The area was then dried using a heat gun to ensure the grout was ready for the next stage of the restoration.

Applying Tile Doctor Grout Colourant

The customer had selected a cream shade from the Tile Doctor Grout Colourant range, as it complemented the surrounding beige travertine effect tiles and would create a more uniform appearance throughout the bathroom.

After confirming the grout was completely dry, two coats of Tile Doctor Grout Colourant were carefully applied using a small brush. The colourant was worked directly into the grout lines, with any excess removed from the tile surfaces before drying. Once cured, the epoxy-based formula forms a durable protective barrier that helps resist staining and makes routine cleaning significantly easier.

Replacing the Silicone Sealant

To complete the refurbishment, the existing silicone seal between the bath and tiled walls was removed. The old sealant had become stained and affected by mould, so it was carefully stripped out and replaced with a fresh application of mould-resistant white silicone, providing a clean finish that matched the bathroom suite.

Travertine Style Bathroom Tile and Grout After Cleaning Manchester

The entire project was completed in a single day. The restored grout and new silicone sealant transformed the appearance of the bathroom, and the customer was extremely pleased with the result.

For aftercare I recommended Tile Doctor Aqua-Pro, it’s a gentle but effective Tile and Grout Cleaner that comes with a trigger spray so very easy to use in a bathroom.

Professional Refresh of a Travertine Style Bathroom Tile and Grout in Manchester

Refreshing Travertine Style Bathroom Tile and Grout in Central Manchester Read More »

Grey Porcelain Tiled Hallway Floor Renovation Sale

Chipped Grey Porcelain Tiled Hallway Floor Repaired and Cleaned in Sale

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Sale Tile Cleaning / Mal Malick

A customer from Sale which is northeast of Altrincham in the Trafford district, requested a visit after having some work done in the house. Unfortunately, the tradesmen had not protected the Grey Porcelain hallway floor tiles and these became very soiled resulting in the grout turning black. Happy to oblige I arranged a time to survey the floor and provide a quote.

The tiles were modern Porcelain in a light grey colour with a floral pattern, possibly Laura Ashley. Porcelain tiles are normally quite low maintenance however the surface of grout is rough and traps dirt easily so I expected this would require the most attention. Some of the tiles had been chipped and although happy to fill them I didn’t feel the repair would be invisible enough to pass a close inspection.

Grey Porcelain Tiled Hallway Floor Before Cleaning in Sale

I left a quote with him and after reviewing other repair options was instructed to carry out the renovation and challenged to repair the chips as best as I could.

Deep Cleaning Porcelain Tile and Grout

I knew the grout would be the biggest challenge so work started by cleaning the grout lines with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up worked in by hand using a scrubbing brush. This product is also good at removing thin grout smears, so it leaves the grout in a much better state. After the first pass it was rinsed down with water and the soiling extracted using a wet vacuum. The process was then repeated two to three times in some areas until I was satisfied the black grout was gone and the desired finish had been achieved.

Work then progressed onto cleaning the porcelain tiles using a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean scrubbed in using a rotary oscillating machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad to dislodge the dirt. This combination worked a treat but as before had to be repeated two to three times in certain areas rinsing and extracting as before.

Grey Porcelain Tiled Hallway Floor During Cleaning in Sale

Once dry the last step was to repair the chips which was done with a filler and then carefully painted with a combination of white, grey and black paint to match the tile pattern. It wasn’t perfect but a lot less work than replacing the tile and it certainly made the damage a lot less obvious.

Grey Porcelain Tiled Hallway Floor After Cleaning in Sale

Once complete the tile and grout looked like a new installation and as most Porcelain tiles won’t accept a sealer no further work was required so the project was finished in a day.

Professional Renovation of a Grey Porcelain Tiled Hallway Floor in Greater Manchester

Chipped Grey Porcelain Tiled Hallway Floor Repaired and Cleaned in Sale Read More »

Porcelain Tiled Plank Floor Leigh Grout Colouring

Planked Effect Porcelain Floor Renovated after Water Damage in Leigh

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Leigh Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning / Mal Malick

I was originally called to this home in Leigh to deep clean approx. 100m2 of porcelain floor tiles in the living area after recent works, but plans changed somewhat when I arrived.

Porcelain Tiled Plank Floor Leigh Before Renovation

On my arrival the owners informed me that since my last visit to quote for cleaning the Porcelain floor a leak had come through the ceiling. This had left the previously dark grout in the textured ‘plank’ effect porcelain looking washed out and, leaving the floor in need of a refresh. I strongly suspect it wasn’t the leak that caused the problem, but the use of strong cleaning products used afterwards to clean up the mess, a lot of these cleaning products contain bleach, and this can wash the colour out of grout.

Out of interest the main issue we encounter with this type of flooring is grout haze, which occurs when the installer doesn’t manage to remove all the grout. This results in a thin film of grout on the surface which detracts from the final appearance. This probably happens with all installations but is certainly very evident on porcelain. The solution is to give the floor an acid wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up, but most tilers don’t bother.

After discussion it was agreed to re-focus the time, we had available on the grout. However, after a deep clean it became clear the grout would need recolouring to look it’s best.

Grout Colouring Porcelain Floor Tiles with Chocolate Grout Colouring

Applying a Tile Doctor Grout Colourant in Chocolate colour was the ideal solution and after an urgent call to Tile Doctor HQ I set up a delivery to ensure it would be with us the next morning.

In the meantime, I continued the preparation of the grout and cleaning of the tiles using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which not only removes the grout haze but will also etch the surface of the grout to ensure a superior bond with the colourant.

That afternoon we also discussed the high gloss porcelain floor in the hallway, the owners had spent a lot of time polishing it themselves since installation and were not completely happy with it. I setup a floor buffer fitted with a 3000-grit pad and dry burnished a small section in the hallway. The difference was obvious, and they could see an immediate improvement, as a result they decided to rebook me to do a day polishing as well once the living room was completed.

I returned on day two to find the colourant had arrived and so started the process of recolouring the grout with the chocolate colourant. This is a straightforward process but very time consuming as with these thin planks there were a lot of grout lines to cover.

Afterwards the tiles were gently buffed with a White pad before leaving to dry. The owners were very pleased with the result commenting we had done a “brilliant job in the front room.” Later he added the following feedback:

“Kevin was excellent and did a fantastic job at the house.”

Porcelain Tiled Plank Floor Leigh After Grout Colouring

They also booked us in to do the polish on the next available date, but I’ll discuss that in a separate post.

Professional Restoration of a Porcelain Planked Tiled Living Area in Greater Manchester

Planked Effect Porcelain Floor Renovated after Water Damage in Leigh Read More »

High Gloss Marble Effect Porcelain Floor Polishing Atherton

High Gloss Marble Effect Porcelain Kitchen Floor in Atherton

1 Comment / Atherton Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning / Mal Malick

The tiled floor shown isn’t Marble, it is actually high gloss Porcelain made to look like Marble installed in a house near Atherton. This was my second visit to the property after originally resolving several issues with another Porcelain tiled floor that was laid with wood grain effect Porcelain planks.

High Gloss Marble Effect Porcelain Floor Atherton Before Polishing

I had noticed the floor in the Kitchen whilst working at the property on my first visit and so I offered to improve its appearance using a 3000-grit polishing pad. Impressed with the difference I was able to achieve I was booked in to do the whole floor.

Cleaning a Marble Effect Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor

On arrival I took some readings with a gloss meter so I could assess the gloss levels before and after the work, this would enable me to assess the level of improvement once finished. Sometimes it is difficult to see the difference, so this meter is useful for validating the process actually made an improvement, in this case however I need not have worried!

High Gloss Marble Effect Porcelain Floor Atherton During Polishing

This was a large area, but I was confident that the polishing could be done in a day. The process involves fitting a 3000-grit diamond burnishing pad to a floor buffer and slowly running the pad over each tile at least three times. This very fine diamond pad gently cleans and brings up the polished appearance of the Porcelain. The whole area is polished in this manner and then followed up with a soft white buffing pad just to further refine the polished appearance.

High Gloss Marble Effect Porcelain Floor Atherton During Polishing

In addition, we removed some silicone sealant that had spread onto tiles from the adjoining expansion joints.

The gloss meter readings confirmed an improvement and as the owner pointed out the floor now looked like it had water on the surface, such was the deep nature of the polish I had managed to achieve.

Gloss Meter Reading Atherton Before Polishing

Gloss Meter Reading Before Polishing

Gloss Meter Reading Atherton After Polishing

Gloss Meter Reading After Polishing

Sealing High Gloss Porcelain Tiles

In this instance there was no need to seal the floor as this type of Porcelain is sealed in the factory during production. However, the last step before leaving was to discuss aftercare cleaning.

High Gloss Marble Effect Porcelain Floor Atherton After Polishing

For this floor I recommended Tile Doctor Stone Soap, whilst I appreciate this is not a stone floor this product contains a patina enhancer that will help maintain the polished appearance of the tile.

My clients were delighted with the work we carried out.

Professional Polishing of a High Gloss Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor in Greater Manchester

High Gloss Marble Effect Porcelain Kitchen Floor in Atherton Read More »

Slate Affect Porcelain Floor Before After Restoration Bury

Cleaning a Slate effect Porcelain Tiled floor in Bury

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Middleton Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Work History / Mal Malick

A client from Bury, north of Manchester, contacted us to have their Slate tiled floor stripped and sealed and have the grout replaced. They were finding it difficult to keep clean and were mainly concerned about the grout which they described as awful.

As per usual practice I went over to survey the floor and work out a price for doing the work. After running some tests, I realised that the tiles were actually Porcelain which are manufactured to imitate Slate and therefore far easier to maintain. I recommended a deep clean of the tile and grout followed by the application of a grout colourant to restore the appearance. I completed a test clean on part of the floor which they were very happy with and they agreed to my quote. We booked the work in to be completed later in the month.

Slate Look Porcelain Tile and Grout Before Cleaning Bury

Cleaning/Repairing a Slate effect Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor

First, I prepared the area and taped up the plinths and skirting to protect them. I then cleaned the floor using Tile Doctor Remove and Go, which is sprayed onto the tile and grout and then scrubbed in with the aid of a rotary floor machine fitted with a scrub brush. The slurry was then extracted off the floor by rinsing with water and extracting with a wet vacuum.

The next step was to apply Tile Doctor Grout Colourant Pre-Treater to the grout lines and scrub it in. This product is slightly acidic so as well as cleaning it also etches the grout to provide a better bond with the colourant. It was left to get to work on the grout for a few minutes and then was scrubbed in with a stiff narrow brush. I used a steamer and a wet vacuum to get the grout as clean as it could be and then left it to dry for a short time.

With the tile and grout as clean as it could be, I inspected the floor and could see areas where the grout was still stained and others where it was crumbling. Only the application of a grout colourant would give the consistent appearance desired by the customer. First though I needed to tackle the crumbling grout by scrapping out the old grout and replacing with new.

Sealing a Slate effect Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor

I needed the fresh grout to dry out, so I left the floor overnight and came back the next day to complete the grout colouring for which I used one bottle of Tile Doctor Grout Colourant in Limestone wiping off any excess as I went. As the floor tiles were in fact Porcelain there was no need to apply a sealer so once the colourant had dried the job was complete.

Slate Look Porcelain Tile and Grout During Grout Colouring Bury

Once finished the floor looked great, it was now clear that it has been the grout that had brought down the overall appearance of the floor.

My customer was very happy with their new floor and even left me a bottle of wine! I left then with some Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, used regularly it will ensure the appearance of the floor is maintained and the grout is protected.

Slate Look Porcelain Tile and Grout After Renovation Bury

Professional Restoration of a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor in Greater Manchester

Cleaning a Slate effect Porcelain Tiled floor in Bury Read More »

Grout Cleaned and Recoloured in Manchester Office Toilets and Kitchens

1 Comment / Manchester City Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Work History / Jeremy

We recently received a request from the Manchester headquarters of a global engineering and construction company which was founded in 1911 and now operates in over 160 countries. The company contacted us because they were keen to restore the tiled walls and floors in 20 different toilets and kitchens throughout the offices.

It would be a big job, but we were more than happy to respond to the enquiry. We agreed a complimentary visit to the office for us to test clean one of the floors to show what kind of results could be achieved. The management team at the offices was very impressed with the results of the test clean and asked us to complete the whole job.

Toilet Floor at Corporate Offices Manchester Before Cleaning

There was talk of replacing some of the grout completely and I explained that it would be less expensive and time consuming to restore the discoloured grout through cleaning and recolouring and they were happy to let us proceed on that basis.

Mens Toilet Floor at Corporate Offices Before Cleaning

Cleaning Discoloured Grout Lines

As there were 20 different rooms to clean and recolour, our team worked in a couple of rooms at a time to ensure firstly, that we got the job done in time and secondly, that we wouldn’t disturb the normal operations of the offices.

The process was as follows. To clean the grout, we used a strong mix of Tile Doctor Pro Clean, a strong Alkaline-based cleaner which reliably gets the job done in situations where most run-of-the-mill cleaners won’t. We applied the Pro Clean to the grout lines and tiles and left it to dwell for about 10 minutes. We then scrubbed the grout lines with specially designed grout brushes and followed by cleaning the tiles with a black scrubbing pad fitted to our rotary machine.

Ladies Toilet Floor at Corporate Offices During Cleaning

After scrubbing the tiles and grout, we rinsed and removed all the dirty water and cleaning solution with a wet vacuum. We repeated the rinsing process several times to make sure all chemicals were neutralised. Similar cleaning techniques were used to clean the tiles on the walls, but the walls took a lot longer to complete as the tiles were much smaller and therefore had a greater number of grout lines. When all the cleaning process was finished, we left the tiles to dry until the next day.

Toilet Floor at Corporate Offices Manchester After Cleaning

Recolouring the Wall and Floor Grout Lines

To recolour the grout lines, we used the Grout Colourant from Tile Doctor’s own range. Available in ten different colours, this is a brilliant product as it rejuvenates and also seals the grout. The fact that the colourant is epoxy based will also make future maintenance easier, as you can just wipe off the dirt.

Toilet Floor Grout During Recolouring at Corporate Offices Manchester

Toilet Floor at Corporate Offices Manchester After Grout Colouring

For the floor grout lines, we used the Natural Grey colourant and for walls we used White. The application of the colourant is simple yet quite laborious when working in large rooms. After finishing, we wiped off any excess product.

Kitchen Floor at corporate offices Before and After Cleaning

Overall, it took us two weeks to complete all the work but I think you will agree from the photographs that all toilets and kitchens look completely rejuvenated. We got lots of good feedback from the people who work at the company. They all stated that the toilets and kitchen look like new and even asked us about restoring grout in their own homes.

Commercial Toilets and Kitchen Grout Restoration at International HQ Manchester

Grout Cleaned and Recoloured in Manchester Office Toilets and Kitchens Read More »

Anti-Slip Tiled Floor Cleaned at Manchester Country Club

Manchester City Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Work History / Mal Malick

You may recall a Limestone job I did recently at a Manchester Hale country club, this Anti-Slip porcelain floor was installed at the same location in the passageway on route to the toilets and in the toilets themselves. Slips and falls can be a huge problem for buildings with public areas and so tiles which have been etched to make a normally smooth surface rough make perfect sense, the downside of course is that those rough surfaces trap dirt and are difficult to clean. Tile Doctor have a chemical Anti-Slip alternative that only activates when the tile get wet that doesn’t require the tile to be etched but it does need to re-applied every few years.

Cleaning Anti Slip Floor Tiles

The floor tiled need a deep clean to bring out the ingrained dirt so we applied a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean using two parts water to one part Pro-Clean and left it to soak into the tile for twenty minutes. The solution was then scrubbed into the tile using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. You could see the dirt coming out the pores of the tile and the resultant soiled solution was removed using a wet vacuum before washing the tiles down with clean water.

Including the ladies, gents and hallway there was a lot of floor area to cover and some of the stubborn areas had to be re-treated so it was a long job but I think you will agree the floor now looks great.

Anti Slip tiles cleaned at a Hale Country Club

Anti-Slip Tiled Floor Cleaned at Manchester Country Club Read More »

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