sealing tiles Archives - Oxfordshire Tile Doctor

Tumbled marble mosaic bathroom Kidlington Before After

Tumbled Marble mosaic bathroom refresh Kidlington

The picture below really tells the story but basically this is bathroom from a house in Kidlington that has been tiled with Marble mosaic wall tiles which has become stained around the bath. Additionally the silicone strip between the bath and the wall had become badly stained with mould and needed replacing.

Tumbled marble mosaic bathroom Kidlington before

Refreshing Marble Wall Tiles

To get the tile and grout clean I decanted a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean into a spray bottle and began to apply it in sections to the Marble mosaic wall tiles. Mixing the cleaning solution with air makes it lighter and less likely to run off the wall giving it chance to dwell on the tile and get to work. I left it to soak in for a few minutes before scrubbing into the tile and grout with a stiff brush finishing with a rinse with water; this process was then repeated on stubborn stains and the rest of the area until the wall was clean. Then the mouldy silicone was removed from around the bath, dried and replaced with new.

Sealing Marble Mosaic Tile

The wall was dried and then the mosaic tiles sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that penetrates into the pores of the Marble to make an effective barrier. Colour Grow also enhances the colour of natural stone so when finished the colour of the tiles were far more vibrant which was especially noticeable around the bath trim where the tiles had gone white.

Tumbled marble mosaic bathroom Kidlington after

The client was extremely happy with the result and was considering completely replacing the tiles.

Stained Marble Shower wall tiles refreshed in an Oxfordshire bathroom

Tumbled Marble mosaic bathroom refresh Kidlington Read More »

Limestone Entrance Hall Burford After Burnishing

Limestone Tiled Entrance Hall Cleaned in Burford

1 Comment / Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Work History / Barry Woodward

This Limestone tiled floor was located in the entrance hall of a residential property in Burford. I popped round following a cleaning enquiry to provide a quote and did a sample clean on a test area, I was then asked if I could do the whole floor there and then and not wanting to disappoint I managed to shuffle a few appointments round and got on with it.

Limestone-Entrance-Hall-Burford-Before-Cleaning

Cleaning Limestone Floor Tiles

To get the best from this floor I used a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads which if you have read any of my previous posts you will remember we always recommend these for hard stone floors such as Limestone, Travertine and Marble. They come in four different grades from coarse to very fine and you work your way through them starting off with the coarse stripper pad with a little just water and then carry on with the remaining pads which are a finer and finer grade until the floor is thoroughly cleaned, polished and any previous sealer removed. Next step was to use Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along the grout lines with a stiff brush to get the grout clean. When done the floor was washed down with water which was then removed from the tile using a wet vacuum and then left to dry.

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

Once the floor was dry it was sealed using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer which provides maximum stain protection on natural stone floors whilst bringing out the deep colour in the stone. The last step was to buff the floor to a nice shine with a rotary machine fitted with a white buffing pad.

The customer was very pleased with the results so much so she booked me to clean the grout on her kitchen floor.

Limestone Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Burford

Limestone Tiled Entrance Hall Cleaned in Burford Read More »

Victorian Tiled Floor Thame After Cleaning and Sealing

Filling Holes and Restoring Shine on a Victorian Tiled Floor in Thame

1 Comment / Thame Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / TileProf

The pictures below were taken in the entrance hall of a residence in the market town of Thame in Oxfordshire where the Victorian Floor Tiles although in good condition had become dull, you will see there is also a photograph of part of the tiles where holes had been drilled in the floor (don’t ask). Naturally the owner wanted both problems resolving and so called in their local Tile Doctor.

Victorian Tiled Floor Thame Before Cleaning 1

Victorian Tiled Floor Thame Before Cleaning 2

Restoring Victorian Quarry Tiles

The first task was to clean the floor which I used a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to dwell on the tile for around thirty minutes before being scrubbed in. This was a small area so I used a small black scrubbing pad attached to a cordless drill to do this; a stiff scrubbing brush was also run along the grout lines to make sure any staining to the grout was also dealt with. The resulting soiled solution was then removed using a wet vacuum and the tiles rinsed with water.

The next step was to remove some stubborn paint marks for which Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up was applied and scrubbed in with a stiff scrubbing brush, you have to be very careful with this product as it is an acid so you can’t leave it on the tile for too long however it does resolve all sorts of tile staining problems. Again this was removed with a wet vacuum and the floor rinsed thoroughly with fresh water to remove any trace of the product.

Sealing Victorian Quarry Tiles

When the floor dried I filled the holes in the Victorian Tile with a quick drying flexible grout which was left to dry and then painted using an acrylic paint to colour the grout the same as the different colours in the tile. On close inspection the hole damage is still visible however they are now a lot less obvious.

The next step was to seal the floor using five thin coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go which adds a nice sheen to the floor as we as providing protection and making it easier to clean going forward.

Victorian Tiled Floor Thame After Cleaning and Sealing 1

Victorian Tiled Floor Thame After Cleaning and Sealing 2

Victorian Tiled Hall Restoration in Thame, Oxfordshire

Filling Holes and Restoring Shine on a Victorian Tiled Floor in Thame Read More »

Banbury Slate Flagstone Tiles After Cleaning

Cleaning Old Slate Flagstones Tiles in Banbury

1 Comment / Banbury Tile Cleaning, Flagstone Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Work History / TileProf

These photographs from the hallway of a house in Banbury where old thick slate tiled floor had been laid and the customer was unable to get them clean or restore any colour back into the stone.

Banbury Slate Flagstone Tiles Before Cleaning

Cleaning Slate Flagstone Tiles

I prepped the skirting boards with masking tape to protect them and then cleaned the floor with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to dwell on the floor for a while before being worked into the flagstones by hand using a stiff bristle brush. Normally I use a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad for this but given it was a small area it made sense to get on my hands and knees and apply some elbow grease. This process soon saw the dirt coming out of the tile and the dirty solution was removed using a wet vacuum before rinsing the floor down with clean water. This allowed me to see the stubborn areas where more Pro-Clean and elbow grease were applied, again this was removed and the floor given a thorough rinse using a wet vacuum to remove the liquids and get the floor dry.

Sealing Slate Flagstone Tiles

The floor soon dried so it wasn’t long before I could seal it for which I used two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow Sealer which as its name suggest enhances the natural colours in the stone. Once this was dry I continued with a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which adds a nice low sheen to the stone as well as adding to the protection provided by the sealer. As you can see it brought all the dark slate colour back and the sealer should ensure the floor is easy to clean in future.

Large Slate Flagstones Cleaned and Sealed in Banbury

Cleaning Old Slate Flagstones Tiles in Banbury Read More »

Travertine Tiled Floor Maintained in Brightwell-Cum-Sotwell

1 Comment / Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / Barry Woodward

This Travertine tiled floor had been laid in a house in the picturesque village of Brightwell-Cum-Sotwell in south Oxfordshire and the owner had decided it was time to have it properly cleaned and re-sealed.

Cleaning Travertine Floor Tiles

The floor was given a wash with Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner to remove any surface grit and we then filled the small holes, which are quite a common feature of natural travertine, with a matching coloured grout.

This was then followed by the use of the Tile Doctor burnishing system which involves the use of a set of four Burnishing pads fitted to a rotary machine. There are four pads and you start off with a course stripper pad with a little just water and then carry on with the white pad and then the yellow pad until the floor is thoroughly cleaned and any previous sealer removed. Next step was to use Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along the grout lines with a stiff brush to get the grout cleaner.

To bring up the polish on the Travertine tile you then apply the last of the four burnishing pads with gives a final polish.

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

To seal the floor and protect it from staining two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow as applied; Colour Grow is a colour enhancing sealer which enhanced the natural colours in the stone. Once dry the last step was to buff the floor to a nice shine with a rotary machine fitted with a white pad..

Travertine Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Oxfordshire

Travertine Tiled Floor Maintained in Brightwell-Cum-Sotwell Read More »

Terracotta Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Henley on Thames

1 Comment / Henley-on-Thames Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / TileProf

Another Terracotta tiled floor installed in a conservatory this time in Henley on Thames. The previous sealer was mostly worn away and was no longer offering much protection allowing dirt to get ingrained into the tile and making it difficult to clean effectively resulting in dull looking tile and grout.

Terracotta Tiles Henley On Thames Before

Cleaning Terracotta Tile

I first covered the floor with a mixture of Tile Doctor Pro Clean and water which was scrubbed in with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a slow speed floor scrubber; the soiled solution was removed using a wet vacuum and floor was rinsed down with clean water until all the chemicals were removed again using a wet vacuum to remove the liquids. The process was repeated a number of times until we were happy the tile and grout was clean and took most of the day.

Sealing Terracotta Tile

I left the floor to dry overnight and came back the next day to seal it checking with a moisture meter first to ensure the floor had dried. Terracotta is very porous so in the end it tool eight coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go to seal the floor, Seal and Go is a water based sealer so it doesn’t give off an odour when it’s drying and also offers durable stain protection together with a low sheen finish.

The floor has been much improved certainly the customer was very pleased with the result.

Terracotta Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Oxfordshire

Terracotta Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Henley on Thames Read More »