Atherton Tile Cleaning

Atherton Tile Cleaning

Welcome to my Work History archive where you will find examples of the cleaning and renovation of tiles carried out in Atherton.

High Gloss Marble Effect Porcelain Floor Polishing Atherton

High Gloss Marble Effect Porcelain Kitchen Floor in Atherton

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 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 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 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 »

Victorian Minton Tiled Floor Restoration Wigan

Old Minton Tiled Victorian Hallway Floor Repaired and Renovated in Wigan

Earlier this year I was contacted by a homeowner from Wigan who could not believe it when they took up the old hallway carpet to reveal a lovely, but neglected, Victorian Minton tiled floor. Although the carpet had offered some protection It was covered with paint splashes and marks and there were some loose, cracked, and missing tiles.

Victorian Tiled Floor Before Renovation Wigan

Whilst the clients had removed as much paint of as possible, lots of splashes remained. They wanted it cleaned, made sound, and missing tiles replaced before sealing also, if possible, have the cemented door threshold replaced with matching tiles. Basically, they wanted to retain the character of the floor and only replace where necessary.

Deep Cleaning Old Victorian Floor Tiles

To begin, I took moisture readings over all areas due to be worked on; an old floor like this will have been laid before Damp Proof Membranes (DPM) were made standard so its useful to get a baseline moisture reading. Next the floor was cleaned using Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel which was scrubbed into the tiles using 50 and 100-grit pads fitted to a rotary floor buffer running at slow speed. Gel cleaners are ideal for use on floors without a DPM as they use less water which keeps the moisture levels lower. The resultant soiling was then extracted using a wet vacuum and the floor inspected. Stubborn marks and inaccessible areas were spot treated by hand with more Oxy-Gel and Tile Doctor Nanotech HBU Remover.

The next step was to give the tiles an acid wash using another gel product by Tile Doctor called Acid Gel. A 200-grit pad was used to work this into the floor and then it was removed using the wet vacuum as before. This product serves two purposes, first it will counter any efflorescent salts in the tile and second it neutralises the pH level of the floor following the use of the alkaline cleaning products used earlier.

Repairing a Victorian Tiled Floor

The floor was Left to dry overnight, and I returned the next day to make the tile repairs discussed earlier. Victorian floors are still popular to this day so finding replacement tiles that match the originals isn’t a problem although they do need to be cut to fit the original size and pattern.

Victorian Tiled Floor During Renovation Wigan

Using the replacements and unbroken original tiles I was able to re-sit the loose tiles and replace the missing and damaged tiles whilst maintaining the character of the original floor.

Sealing Old Victorian Hallway Tiles

The floor needed to be dry before applying the sealer and so before getting to work I checked the floor with the damp meter and compared it with my previous readings. The use of gel cleaners had worked a treat, and the readings were all within range.

The sealer applied was Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which is an impregnating oil-based sealer designed to occupy the pores in the tile so dirt can’t become ingrained there. This keeps the dirt on the surface where it can be easily removed. X-Tra seal is fully breathable and rated for indoor and outdoor used so will cope easily with any dampness rising through the floor.

Victorian Tiled Floor After Renovation Wigan Victorian Tiled Floor After Renovation Wigan

The job took three days in total and on returning home on the last day and seeing the results the customer immediately commented “I love it, great job thank-you”. They also left the following review the Tile Doctor feedback system.

“Kevin was very responsive and talked us through exactly what the job entailed. We’re extremely pleased with the end result, just how I wanted my 130 year old minton tiles to look.”

For aftercare cleaning of sealed Victorian tiles, I recommended using Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a mild but effective tile cleaner that’s safe to use on sealed tiles. Its important to use a cleaning product like this as stronger product can erode the sealer.

Victorian Tiled Floor After Care Wigan

 

Victorian Floor Restoration in Greater Manchester

Old Minton Tiled Victorian Hallway Floor Repaired and Renovated in Wigan Read More »

Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle Refreshed in Wigan

Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle Refreshed in Wigan

Shower cubicles can be the most difficult of tiled features to keep clean. Most are exposed to various acid-based soaps and shampoos on a daily basis, allowing mould and general muck to quickly build up along the grout lines and silicone. This leaves the entire area looking quite unappealing. In some cases, the grout lines become stained beyond a point where they can be restored to their original condition, so property owners will typically request to have the grout cut out and replaced however a faster and cheaper method is to have the grout completely recoloured.

Such was the case with this Ceramic tiled shower cubicle at a house in Wigan. It would take a lot to get the cubicle looking great again, having not been cleaned properly for a long time. The property owner decided to contact me for a professional refresh, including cleaning, new silicone sealer and recolouring of the grout.

Ceramic Shower Cubicle Before Refresh Wigan

Cleaning a Ceramic Tiles Shower Cubicle

I started the refresh by applying Tile Doctor Mould Away spray to the tiles and grout, and leaving it to dwell for an hour. As the name of the product suggests, Mould Away is a fast and effective cleaner for the removal of mould from silicone and grout, making it ideal for use on shower cubicles similar to this one. I then rinsed the entire area down with water before scrubbing the grout lines and tiles with a stiff grout brush to remove any remaining mould and lime scale, leaving them looking a lot cleaner.

Colouring Grout in a Ceramic Tiles Shower Cubicle

The cleaning process made a big improvement however the grout was still too stained so after removing the silicone strip from around the base of the shower I proceeded to recolour with our white Grout Colourant. The colourant is painted onto the grout and any excess is wiped of the tile before it dries which both improves the appearance of the grout and seals it in to protect it from further staining. The last step was to apply fresh white silicone along the base of the shower.

Ceramic Shower Cubicle After Refresh Wigan

The customer was very pleased with the refreshed appearance of their shower and you must admit it looks much more inviting now.
 
 

Professional Ceramic Tiles Shower Cubicle Restoration in Greater Manchester

Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle Refreshed in Wigan Read More »

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Horwich

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Horwich

This customer from the town of Horwich near Bolton had just had a new kitchen fitted and was considering ripping up the Terracotta tiled floor but thought they would contact Tile Doctor first to see if anything could be done. I went round to take a look and could see that the floor had lost its vitality and managed to convince the owner it was really just in need of a good deep clean and seal

Cleaning the Terracotta Tiled Floor

The Terracotta tiles still held some sealer so the first job was to remove that using a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was worked into the floor using a buffing machine fitted with a black buffing pad. Once the floor was clean and I was happy the sealer was removed I rinsed the floor three times using clean water to neutralise the floor and remove any remaining cleaning product before sealing. I may have mentioned this before but I highly recommend the use of a wet vacuum at this stage as it makes the job of removing liquids from floors much faster.

Terracotta-Kitchen-Floor-Before Terracotta-Kitchen-Floor-Before

Sealing Terracotta Floor Tiles

The floor was left to dry overnight and I came back the next day to apply the sealer. For Terracotta floors I usually use Tile Doctor Seal and Go, its recommended for terracotta and as well as providing good stain protection adds a nice low sheen to the floor. Terracotta is very porous and as a result I had found it was necessary to apply seven coats of sealer before it had become fully sealed; this does take time as it’s necessary to allow each coat to dry before applying the next.

Terracotta-Kitchen-Floor-After Terracotta-Kitchen-Floor-After

I thought the floor looked transformed after the work we did, certainly my customer was very pleased with the work and left the following remark:

First class professional job that brought the terracotta floors up better than new
Mr. D. Hall, Horwich
 
 

Cleaning and Sealing Terracotta Floor Tiles in Horwich

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Horwich Read More »

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Greater Manchester Tile Doctor

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