stockport

Travertine Floor Renovated in Stockport

Renovating Pitted Travertine Tiled Flooring in Stockport

This client was from Stockport and had a travertine tiled floor laid over twenty years ago through the kitchen and adjacent dining space. The floor had the usual issues for travertine with dirt collecting in the small pits in the stone and becoming ingrained in the pores due to the sealer wearing off. The owner was talking of ripping the whole floor up as they had given up trying to keep it clean.

Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning

I recommended deep cleaning the floor with a set of burnishing pads to remove the ingrained dirt, filling in the worst pits and then sealing the stone. My quote was a little more than they were expecting but they appreciated the fact there was a lot of work to do and that the diamond encrusted abrasive pads required are quite expensive. On balance obviously it was cheaper than replacing the floor. We also discussed the final appearance of the stone floor; they wanted the stone to look as natural as possible keeping the colour light with just a slight sheen.

Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Travertine Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning

Deep Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Floor

Work started on the agreed date with an application of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was diluted 1 part cleaner to 5 parts water and sprayed onto the floor. After letting it dwell for ten minutes it was worked in and followed up with an abrasive 120-grit silicon carbide pad attached to a floor buffer fitted with added weights to increase traction. The dirt released from the floor was then rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

The stone was then burnished using the coarser pads from the set of burnishing pads that I mentioned earlier. I started with the 400-grit on the weighted floor buffer and worked it into each of the travertine tiles using only water for lubrication. The pads get the ingrained dirt out of the stone, bringing it to the surface where it is rinsed off with water and then extracted again with the wet vacuum. This process was then repeated with the finer 800-grit pad which is the first step in polishing the surface of the stone.

The last step on day one was to review the travertine, identifying and filling the worst of the pits with a specialist filling compound that would harden overnight.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

On arrival the next day my clients said they loved the results so far and were relieved their problem floor was finally going to be resolved.

I started day two with the application of the third burnishing pad which is 1500-grit. This was applied using the same method, running it over each tile around three times using only water for lubrication. This third pad gave the stone the natural sheen they were after. For highly polished stone I would follow this up with a fourth pad which is 3000-grit however for this floor it wasn’t necessary.

Once the floor was dry it was then sealed with Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which in an impregnating sealer that adds almost invisible protection to achieve that natural light appearance they wanted. Impregnators work by seeping into the stone, occupying the pores so dirt can’t become ingrained there.

Travertine Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Travertine Kitchen Floor After Cleaning

My clients were very happy with the result saying how I had made a real difference and how well it looked, in fact they didn’t want anyone to walk on it just in case. I recommended they used Tile Doctor Stone Soap for everyday cleaning. It’s a mild but effective cleaner that will help maintain the appearance of the stone without impacting the sealer which can be harmed by stronger cleaning products.

Travertine Kitchen Floor After Cleaning

They also left the following comment on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Amazing job. Our floor has never looked so good. Its better now than when first laid. Kevin was very professional and careful and meticulous in his restoration work.
 

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Ceramic Bathroom Tiles Before After Restoration Levenshulme

Glazed Ceramic Mosaic Bathroom Tiles Restored in Levenshulme

I recently visited a property in Levenshulme where the bathroom tiling and grout needed renovation. Although they resembled small square mosaic tiles, they were actually large 45cm x 60cm sheets of glazed ceramic tiles which are easier to install and require less grouting.

Over time the tiles had attracted a lot of dirt from showering and now needed a good clean, additionally mould had got a grip on the lower tiling and mastic sealant between the tile and bath.

Mouldy Shower Bath Tiling Before Cleaning Levenshulme Mouldy Shower Bath Tiling Before Cleaning Levenshulme

Levenshulme sits halfway between Manchester City centre and Stockport and was recently declared by the Times Newspaper as one of the best places to live in the North West. It’s actually only a few miles drive from my base so well within my service area.

Cleaning White Ceramic Mosaic Bathroom Tiles

Normally I would look to renovate the grout lines with a grout colourant however grout had only been used between the sheets of tiles and what appeared to be grout between the small square mosaic tiles was in fact part of the glaze. I knew the colourant would struggle to achieve a bond with a glazed surface and so my only option would be to give the tiles a good scrub with a strong cleaning product.

My solution was to spay the tiles with Tile Doctor Duo Clean which is an effective double action grout cleaner and mould remover. It’s designed for cleaning up bathroom tile and can remove mould and blackspot from grout and silicone. I worked in sections allowing the product to soak in for a good ten minutes before scrubbing it in by hand with a stiff brush. After rinsing the tiles down with water, they were inspected and the procedure re-applied if needed. I found in fact that I had to do this several times before I was happy with the tile, grout and silicone were as clean as the could be. I often find longer dwell times can help the situation.

Mouldy Shower Bath Tiling After Renovation Levenshulme Mouldy Shower Bath Tiling After Renovation Levenshulme

The bathroom looked new by the time I had finished, it was quite the transformation and my client was really happy with the result and left a long testimonial for me which is copied below.

I could not be happier with Kamila’s work. She is delightful, efficient, and quite frankly a genius. My tiles were horrible and my bathroom seal mouldy and disgusting. Now thanks to Kamila I feel like I ha e a new bathroom all over again. She has done the most amazing job and I am so so pleased. I cannot recommend her highly enough! She has done the most outstanding job and the results are better than I could ever have dreamed of. Thank you so much 😊 – By Sarah B, Stockport, 03 August 2020

 

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Ceramic Tiled Shower Before After Renovation Romiley

Cleaning a Ceramic Tiled Shower Room in Romiley

The pictures below are of a White Ceramic tiled shower cubicle at a property in Romiley that was installed twelve years prior. The home owner had cleaned it regularly with household cleaning products but were unable to improve the dirty and mouldy grout and the silicone seal around the edges.

Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Before Cleaning in Romiley

The owner was most concerned about the discolouration of the grout and had never been happy with the silicone sealant between the shower tray and tiles which had been poorly applied and for the most part smeared over 3cm up and down over where the bead should be.

I visited the property and recommended that the best course of action would be to apply a White Grout Colourant over the grout which would seal the grout in and protect it from further staining as well as making it much easier to clean. Grout is cementous and as such its rough surface easily traps dirt as well as making it easier for mould to take a hold.

Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Before Cleaning in Romiley Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Before Cleaning in Romiley

A few miles east of Stockport Romiley was for centuries an agricultural area, until the late Victorian era when it grew into the popular residential area it is today.

Renovating a Ceramic Tiled Shower Room

I started by cleaning the grout using the Tile Doctor Pre-Treater which comes with the Tile Doctor Grout Colouring Kit, I also made use of a professional steamer with a special grout cleaning attachment to get the grout as clean as it could be. The Tile Doctor Pre-Treater is also slightly acidic, so it etches the surface of the grout to improve the bond with the grout colourant. I rinsed the shower wall with water to remove the soiling and then dried it with a soft cloth and heat gun. The White Grout Colourant was applied using a small brush, taking care to wipe off the excess from the surface of the adjacent tile as I went.

Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Window Before Cleaning in Romiley Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Window After Grout Colouring in Romiley

Sealing a Ceramic Tile Shower Room

Whilst waiting for the Tile Doctor Grout Colourant to dry I started to carefully strip away the old silicone using a sharp Stanley knife and scraper. This is a slow job and you have to be careful not to damage the shower tray or the tiles with the blade. The old sealer was smeared all over as you can see in the pictures- so it took me two hours of scraping to remove all the sealant.

Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Silicone Strip Before Replacement in Romiley

They really had made a poor job of applying the seal. The ceramic tiles were slightly textured which didn’t help. Once that was cleaned off and replaced with new silicone the bathroom looked transformed. The silicon just needed to dry for 24 hours before they could start using the shower again.

Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Window After Cleaning and Grout Colouring in Romiley

My customer was very happy. As you can see from the pictures the shower room now looks clean and tidy and like new.

Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Window After Cleaning and Grout Colouring in Romiley Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Window After Cleaning and Grout Colouring in Romiley

 

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Bathroom Floor Grout Before After Cleaning Colouring Romiley

Bathroom Floor Tile Grout Renovation in Romiley

This client in Romiley on the outskirts of Stockport was unhappy with the state of the grout in her bathroom and was looking to have it removed and replaced. This was complicated by the fact that the ceramic tiled floor had electric underfloor heating installed (UFH). Removing grout is an intensive process and there is a big risk of causing damage to the heating elements during the process.

Bathroom Floor Grout Before Restoration in Romiley

My solution to the problem was to give the grout a deep clean and then colour it. Grout colouring is by far the easiest and safest way to restore grout as it is applied to the surface of the existing grout without the need to use any invasive process to remove the grout first. There are a variety of colours available so we can get the floor restored to its original look quite easily. I discussed with the client what we needed to do, and we agreed a price for the work to be completed.

Renovating Bathroom Floor Tile Grout

The process I used was to apply Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up to the tiles and the grout and then scrub it in. This is an acidic product that cleans up grout and removes any mineral deposits and hard water marks on the tiles. Being an acidic product, it also etches the surface of the grout providing a better bond for the colourant to adhere to. The floor was then rinsed with water, and a steamer used to get as much of the staining out of the grout as possible. The soiled water was removed with the wet vacuum to minimise the mess.

Bathroom Floor Grout During Steam Cleaning in Romiley

The tile and grout were then speed dried with an air mover whilst I went for lunch. This would ensure the floor would be ready for the colourant to be applied by the time I returned.

Colouring Grout in a Ceramic Tiled Bathroom

When I came back an hour or so later, I checked the grout was dry with the moisture meter before proceeding to apply the colourant. It was a small bathroom so only one bottle of Tile Doctor Limestone Grout Colourant Kit was needed we chose Limestone as this colour matched the tiles quite closely. The colourant is carefully applied with a small brush, and any residue is wiped off the tiles as we go.

Bathroom Floor Grout After Restoration with Tile Doctor Limestone Colourant in Romiley

The client was very happy with the results and with the colourant forming a barrier over the grout it will prove much easier to clean and will stay looking good for quite some time to come. The process was quick and straight forward and as you can see from the picture below the tiled floor looked a lot more inviting once the work had been completed.

Bathroom Floor Grout After Restoration in Romiley

 

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Encaustic Cement Floor Tiles After Cleaning Stockport

Encaustic Cement Tiles Burnished and Sealed in Stockport

I’m often asked if you should seal a tile before grouting and the answer is a definite yes, and this Encaustic Cement tiled bathroom floor installation in Stockport is a great example as to why. The tiles had not been sealed before grouting and then, once the tiler went to grout the newly installed tiles with a grey grout, the colour ran into the tiles, staining them and leaving them looking grubby and dirty. Had the tiles been sealed it would of made the process of removing the grout from the surface of the tile much easier.

If you haven’t come across them before Encaustic cement tiles are often hand painted and are available in a range of beautifully artistic patterns, so it was a real shame that these tiles were allowed to be spoilt by an avoidable mistake. As you can imagine, the property owner was keen to have the tiles professionally restored, and she contacted me to get the job done. I took some photographs but I’m not sure that they do justice to the problem.

Encaustic Cement Floor Tiles Before Cleaning Stockport

Burnishing and Sealing Encaustic Cement Tiles

Rather than use a liquid cleaning product, I opted to use diamond encrusted handheld burnishing pads to remove the grout stains. Our burnishing system comprises four pads of varying grits. I started with the Coarse grit burnishing pads applying to the tiles it with a small amount of water as lubricant to grind down the grubby marks. Following this I worked my way through the system, applying Medium, Fine and Very Fine pads to gradually restore the appearance of the floor. Once the burnishing process has been completed I rinsed the tiles and then accelerated the drying process using a heat gun to prepare them to be sealed.

Sealing Encaustic Cement Tiles

Removing any excess moisture before sealing is essential as even a small amount can cloud the sealer and prevent it from properly protecting the tiles from dirt and stains. Once satisfied that the floor was dry, I proceeded to seal it using Tile Doctor Colour Grow. As an impregnating sealer Colour Grow penetrates deep into the pores of the stone to fill them and thus prevent dirt from becoming ingrained. Colour Grow’s colour intensifying properties also really accentuated the patterns of the Encaustic Cement tiles.

Encaustic Cement Floor Tiles After Cleaning Stockport

Now that these fantastic tiles have been properly sealed it will be far easier for the customer to keep them clean in future. Needless to say, she was very happy with the result. We recommend topping up your sealer on a regular basis to ensure problems like those which occurred here do not damage the appearance of your tiles.
 
 

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Travertine shower tile after

Problems with Travertine in Shower

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.

Travertine-shower-tile-before

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.

Travertine-shower-tile-after

 
 

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Stockport Travertine Tiled Floor After

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Maintained in Stockport

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.

Stockport-Travertine-Tiled-Floor-Before

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.

Stockport-Travertine-Tiled-Floor-After

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

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