Abingdon

Terracotta Floor Before After Cleaning in Abingdon

Terracotta Kitchen Floor Deep Cleaned and Sealed in Abingdon

The photos below are from a customer in Abingdon who had a Terracotta tiled floor in their Kitchen. Kitchens are high traffic areas and overtime the sealer had worn off and now dirt was becoming ingrained in the pores of the Terracotta. Once you get dirt in the pores of a clay tile or natural stone it becomes very difficult to remove and now the floor was not looking its best.

Terracotta Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Abingdon

Unhappy with the appearance of the tiles the owner of the property had been in touch requesting a deep clean and fresh sealer. It was a fairly straight forward job and I was able to provide a quick quotation which was accepted and a data agreed to do the work which would take two days.

Cleaning Terracotta Tile

I started cleaning the Terracotta by doing applying a 1:3 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is our goto alkaline tile cleaner. For this floor I actually ended up using two litres of Pro-Clean diluted in six litres of water. The solution is left to soak into the tile for about ten minutes before being scrubbed in using a 180-grit silicon carbide brush attached to a weighted floor scrubber. These brushes are quite expensive however they do last a long time so well worth the investment for someone in my profession. If you were doing this work yourself a Black Buffing pad would do the trick.

This process worked well on the floor and the cleaning solution was soon dirty with the soil that had been released from the pores of the Terracotta tile. The slurry was rinsed off the floor with water and extracted using Numatic wet vacuum.

Final step of the cleaning process was to give the tiles an acid wash. This is done using a 10:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which is applied to the tiles and then scrubbed in using a soft poly brush fitted to a floor scrubber. This process removes any old grout smears and traces of efflorescence and slightly roughens the surface of the Terracotta tile to ensure a better bond with the sealer. Once done the floor was rinsed with more water and extracted with the wet vacuum leaving the floor as dry as possible before leaving for the day.

Sealing Terracotta Tile

I left the floor to dry off overnight and I returned the next day to seal the floor first checking the tiles were dry by taking a few moisture readings with a damp meter. The readings came back fine so I need not have been concerned however Terracotta tiles being made from clay are very porous so it’s always a good idea to check.

The floor was dry, so I set about applying the first coat of sealer which for this floor I used Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra. You need to leave around thirty minutes in-between coats and this floor took five coats before it was fully sealed.

Terracotta Tiled Floor After Cleaning Abingdon

Once finished the Terracotta floor looked much cleaner, fresher and the sealer had given the tiles a nice subtle sheen. For aftercare I recommend Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner which is ideal for the regular cleaning of sealed floors.

 

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Slate Tiled Floor Before After Cleaning Abingdon

Revealing Copper Tones in a Coloured Slate Kitchen Floor in Abingdon

This customer had recently moved into a property in Abingdon and got in touch about having the coloured Slate floor tiles in the kitchen cleaned and sealed. There was a big variation in appearance from one end of the kitchen to the other and they had a hunch that the Slate had a lot more colours in it than they could see!

Coloured Slate Floor Tiles Before Cleaning Abingdon

I called in to survey the floor and could see that the main issue was the usual problem of the sealer wearing down in the high traffic areas allowing dirt to penetrate and build-up in the pores of the stone. I ran some tests on the tiles and carried out a test clean, the difference in the stone and grout was immediate, and the customer was happy to go ahead and have the whole floor done. We arranged to carry out the work later that month.

Cleaning a Coloured Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

To clean the floor, I first spread a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean over a section of the slate tiles. It was then left to soak into the pores of the stone for ten minutes before working it into the slate with a mono rotary floor machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. I find the pad works well on tiles but can struggle in the recesses of the grout line, so I followed this up by running a stiff brush along the grout lines to get them clean as possible.

After scrubbing the floor in this manner, the dirt was released from the pores of the stone into the cleaning solution and I was then able to extract the resulting slurry from the floor using a wet vacuum. I worked in sections like this until the whole floor was completed. It was surprising how much dirt had been lifted and the Slate floor was a different colour after I had finished.

I then rinsed the floor with water a couple of times and then followed up by scrubbing the floor with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which is an acidic product which cleans the stone further and removes any mineral deposits including grout smears. Being an acidic product, it also counters the alkalinity of Tile Doctor Pro Clean effectively leaving the floor with a neutral pH. I rinsed the floor a couple of times with water and then mopped the floor with Tile Doctor Neutral Floor Cleaner.

That completed the first day, I left for the evening and the floor was left to dry overnight.

Sealing a Coloured Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned on day two and tested the floor using the moisture meter to make sure it was dry. The readings were good, and I was satisfied it was dry enough to take a sealer. To seal the floor, I applied Tile Doctor Seal & Go which leaves the floor with a sheen finish that the customer wanted. The Slate was quite porous, so it took seven coats to fully seal the floor which took some time and you have to allow for each coat to dry before applying the next.

Coloured Slate Floor Tiles After Cleaning Abingdon

The floor was transformed by the time I had finished, and you can see from the after picture how clean the grout is and how the lovely Copper tones in the stone were now evident; the natural variations in colour were now as they should be. Clearly their hunch had been right!

The customer was very happy and left the following feedback which is always gratefully received as much of our work comes from recommendations.

“Very happy with the service we received. Barry did an excellent job restoring our floor and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.”

 

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Travertine Tiled Shower Before After Renovation Abingdon

Mouldy Travertine Tiled Shower Deep Cleaned in Abingdon-on-Thames

This shower cubicle at a house in the historic market town of Abingdon on Thames was tiled with Travertine which with use had become grubby and the grout darkened. The properties in the road were of a similar age and many bathrooms had been upgraded in recent years to make them more modern. This one was no different having been fitted a few years prior.

Travertine Tiled Shower Before Cleaning Abingdon

Travertine is a natural stone material that has unique features and colouring that no other stone can offer. The distinctive design and natural patterns found within Travertine make it very popular choice in bathrooms, where it gives a luxury hotel style feel. It does however need to be maintained if you want it keep that luxury appearance and unfortunately due to the English climate and a general lack of adequate ventilation its quite common for them to attract mould and become stained with dyes from soaps and shampoos. The good news is we have a number of tools and products that we can use to restore their appearance, so they look like a new installation.

Deep Cleaning Travertine Shower Tiles

The main problem was the grout which was badly discoloured. To tackle this the Travertine and grout was sprayed with Tile Doctor Duo Clean and then scrubbed in with a hand brush to remove the mould and ground in dirt from the grout, I then rinsed with water. Duo Clean is a fast and effective double action grout cleaner and mould remover. It cleans up grout and can also remove mould and blackspot from the grout and silicone and it is versatile as it suitable for use on plastic and enamel baths and showers and will not cause any damage to them.

To restore the appearance of the stone I set about re-honing the Travertine tiles using six-inch diamond burnishing pads fitted to a hand buffer. The pads are applied in sequence starting with 400-grit, moving onto 800-grit and finishing with 1500-grit. Applied with water which acts as a lubricant, the process deep cleans and tightens the pores in the stone to improve overall appearance. The tiles are rinsed with water after each pad is applied to remove the soil that is generated.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Shower Room

Another issue was the silicone strip between the wall tiles and the shower tray which was looking very mouldy and black. Using a sharp knife this was removed and replaced with fresh white mould resistant silicone.

Once the shower area was dry the Travertine wall tile and grout were then sealed with a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This adds a preventative barrier over the tile and grout allowing water to easily run down the wall, it also improved the appearance of the stone and enhanced the natural brown colours in the Travertine. The customer was very happy with the shower room, it looked much more inviting and they were surprised that I had managed to restore it to the way it looked when it was originally installed.

Travertine Tiled Shower Before Cleaning Abingdon

 

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