Spray Burnish

Marble Tiled Floor Before After Polishing Middleton

Marble Floor Tiles Polished and Sealed in Middleton, Manchester

This customer in Middleton near Manchester wanted to bring the shine up on the tiled floor in their Kitchen and Dining Room, it had been laid nearly fifteen years before and was now dull, lifeless and the grout was also in need of a clean.

I was told the tiles were Ceramic however after visiting the property and running some tests if became clear that the tiles were in fact Marble. There are some very realistic Ceramic and Porcelain tiles on the market however you usually find they have a set of repeating patterns whereas with natural stone no two tiles are the same.

Marble Tiled Floor Before Polishing Middleton Manchester Marble Tiled Floor Before Polishing Middleton Manchester

The floor had lost its shine over the years which is a common problem with natural stone such as Marble which ideally needs to be polished and have the sealer topped up every year to keep it in the best condition. The cleaning test results were so good that the customer booked us in to complete the floor straight away after agreeing the quote.

Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Tiled Kitchen and Dining Room Floor

We started by giving the floor a general clean with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean paying special attention to the grout where it was scrubbed in along the grout lines using a stiff narrow brush. The soiled cleaning solution was then rinsed off and extracted using a wet vacuum.

The next step was to clean and re-polish the Marble using the 400, 800 and 1500 grit burnishing pads which re-hone the stone bringing up the polish gradually. You use water to lubricate the process and rinse with more water in-between each pad to rinse off the soil that is generated. The soil is then extracted with a wet vacuum.

After running all three pads over the floor in sequence and the floor was left to dry off overnight and I returned the next day to complete the work.

Sealing a Marble Tiled Kitchen and Dining Room Floor

On my return I started by running over the floor with the fourth burnishing pad in the set which is a very fine 3000-grit pad. It’s applied with a little water sprayed onto the floor using a technique we call a “Spray Burnish” and it really brings up the polish on the Marble tiles.

The last step was to seal the Marble tiles which will protect them from dirt becoming ingrained in the pores of the stone and make them easier to clear. For this I chose to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer which has the added benefit of enhancing the natural colours in the stone.

Marble Tiled Floor After Polishing Middleton Manchester Marble Tiled Floor After Polishing Middleton Manchester

It was the perfect choice for the floor and the final result was quite a transformation. Certainly my customer was very happy with the results and left the following feedback on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

“Excellent professional service. The floor tiles are back to how to how they were 14 years ago.”

Before leaving I discussed aftercare and explained that the more a polished floor gets used the more the shine and sealer wears off, so I always advise having the floor re-polished once a year using the 3000-grit pad and then adding another coat of sealer. My customer agreed and has already booked me in for a years’ time to do the work which should only take about two hours.

 

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Terrazzo Kitchen Tile Floor Before After Cleaning Manchester

Deep Cleaning Grubby Terrazzo Kitchen Tiles at Manchester Apartment

I recently visited a customer with a grubby Terrazzo tiled kitchen floor who lived in the Skyline Apartments in the centre of Manchester. Billed as luxury accommodation the building has a Gym and apparently a 20-metre swimming pool on the roof. The floor in the Kitchen was around 6m square and my customer originally thought the tiles were Limestone, but I was able to confirm they were Terrazzo, not that it mattered from my point of view as the cleaning process would be the same.

Terrazzo Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Skyline Apartments Manchester

The previous owner of the apartment had never maintained the floor properly, so my customer inherited a very grubby Terrazzo floor and had tried getting rid of the dirt without much success. After running a few tests, I could see that that any protective sealer had long since failed and dirt was now ingrained in the pores of the tile. The tiles would now need to be burnished to restore the appearance and then sealed to protect it from ingrained dirt going forward.

Cleaning and Polishing a Terrazzo Tiled Floor

To get the floor clean and ensure what was left of the old sealer was removed I scrubbed a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go into the tiles. This product works best if you leave it to dwell on the tile for around ten minutes before working it in. Afterwards the soiled product was removed using a wet vacuum which makes light work of extracting liquids from hard floors.

To burnish the Terrazzo, I used a set of Tile Doctor Burnishing pads which are applied to the floor using a rotary floor buffer running a slow speed in sequence from coarse to very fine. Lubricated with water this process uses a coarse pad to cut back through the tile to remove marks and ingrained dirt. This is followed by the medium and fine pads rinsing the floor with water in between each pad and extracting the soil with a wet vacuum. The last pad which is a 3000-grit very fine pad is applied dry to the floor with only a little water sprayed onto the tile using a process we call a spray burnish.

Being a kitchen there were a few deep stains in the floor which I was able to spot treat with Tile Doctor Reduxa which is an interesting product that is absorbed into the floor and then when heat is applied it evaporates lifting the stain out with it.

Terrazzo Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Reduxa Skyline Apartments Manchester

Sealing a Terrazzo Tiled Kitchen Floor

To seal the Terrazzo, I used two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which as the name suggest is a colour enhancing sealer. The product works by soaking into the tile occupying the pores so dirt cannot become ingrained there. It added a lovely finish to the Terrazzo, enhancing its appearance and will make the floor much easier to keep clean going forward.

Terrazzo Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Skyline Apartments Manchester

The completed floor now looks clean and fresh and an amazing transformation considering how dirty the floor looked when I first arrived. My customer was very pleased with the improvement and left the following short comment on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Kamila is the best!! great job.

Terrazzo Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Closeup Skyline Apartments Manchester

 

Restoring a Terrazzo Tiled Kitchen and Family room Floor in Manchester

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