Henley-on-Thames Tile Cleaning Archives

Travertine Patio Renovation Henley-on-Thames

Large Pitted Travertine Patio Renovated in Henley-on-Thames

This client in Henley-on-Thames had a large and no doubt expensive Travertine patio installed at the rear of his property. The patio was now looking rather grubby with the usual staining and dirt you would expect with an outside patio that had not been professionally cleaned for several years. Additionally, many holes had formed in the stone which in turn had filled with dirt making effective cleaning difficult.

Travertine Patio Before Renovation Henley-on-Thames

I went over to survey the stone and work out what would need to be done to renovate its appearance. The patio measured 150m2 and I recommended cleaning the patio, filling the holes and then honing the stone with a set of burnishing pads to brink back its appearance, a process which would take three days due to its large size.

Happy with my quote a date was set for the work to start with the proviso that it may need to be re-arranged if the weather was bad.

Deep Cleaning a Travertine Patio

Work started up with an application of Tile Doctor Patio & Driveway Cleaner which was left to dwell so it could breakdown the soils. The patio was then scrubbed with a Carbide Brush fitted to a rotary floor scrubber whilst spraying water onto the stone from the tank fitted to the machine. This hard-wearing brush gets right into the holes in the stone ensuring a very effective clean.

After scrubbing the whole area, the patio was inspected and any stubborn stains spot-treated using the same process. Once I was happy the patio was rinsed thoroughly with water and left it to dry off.

On the second day my attention turned to the holes in the stone which were filled by floating an epoxy grout filler into the holes and grout tiles. Again, it was a very large area to cover so this work took up the whole day.

Travertine Patio During Renovation Henley-on-Thames

On day three I quickly went over the patio again with the carbide brush to remove any detritus that had appeared overnight and then replaced the brush with the first burnishing pad in the set of four to being the honing process.

Applied with water for lubrication the first pad is 400-grit which opens the pores in the stone so the deep-seated dirt can be flushed out. The pad is run over each Travertine tile at least three times and then the soiling that is generated is rinsed off and extracted with a wet vacuum. This process is then repeated with the finer pads which were 800 and 1500 grit, these pads gradually close the pores in the stone and restore its polished honed appearance.

Travertine Patio After Renovation Henley-on-Thames

Once complete the patio was transformed, looked very inviting and was ready for the first of many summer pool parties. I did offer to seal the Travertine when finished but my client decided to do that themselves, it’s a straightforward process, just time consuming. I recommended Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal for this as it won’t alter the natural appearance of the stone and keep it looking very light in colour.

Professional Renovation of a Large Travertine Patio in Oxfordshire

Large Pitted Travertine Patio Renovated in Henley-on-Thames Read More »

Quarry Tiled Shop Floor Renovation Henley-on-Thames

Quarry Tiled Shop Floor Renovation in Henley-on-Thames

If you want an example of the improvement that we can make to a Quarry tiled floor, then pop into the Farrow & Ball Paint shop in Henley-on-Thames. They were in touch in August this year about renovation of their very well-worn Red and Black quarry tiled floor, which after many years of commercial foot fall was now in need of deep cleaning and sealing.

I visited the property to survey the floor and discuss with them the work that needed to be done. I was confident we could make a big improvement to the floor and would soon have the shop looking very much more welcoming.

Red Black Quarry Tile Before Renovation Henley-on-Thames Paint Shop

Being a shop, the work had to be done out of hours, so we discussed the options and decided on starting work at 5pm on a Sunday evening and working through the night. I provided a quote for the work which they were happy to accept, and a date set for the work to begin.

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Paint Shop Floor

The first process was to remove what was left of the old sealer and soiling by putting down a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. I left this to dwell and soak into the tile and grout for ten minutes before scrubbing it in with a a rotary machine fitted with a silicon carbide brush.

Once all the tiles had been scrubbed, the floor was rinsed with water and the soiling extracted using an industrial wet vacuum. The floor was then expected and the process repeated on those areas that needed more work.

Next, the floor was treated to an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which is a mild acidic product that removes old grout smears, alkaline salt deposits and further cleans up the tiles. This process also neutralises the pH level of the floor following the use of the strong alkaline cleaner used earlier. Again, this was then rinsed off the floor with water and removed with the wet vacuum.

Once the tile and grout were clean and free of old sealer the wet vacuum was used to get the floor as dry as possible. Several air movers were placed around the floor to speed up the drying of the floor.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Paint Shop Floor

After waiting some time for the floor to dry it was then sealed with a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra which is a hard wearing acrylic based sealer that leaves a mild sheen and will protect the tiles for many years to come.

I finished at 4am.

Red Black Quarry Tile After Renovation Henley-on-Thames Paint Shop

As you can see the floor looked fantastic, the owners were over the moon with the improvement. I left them a small bottle of Tile Doctor pH Neutral Cleaner and recommended they purchase some. This is a pH neutral cleaner which can be used every day by their cleaner and it will keep the newly applied sealer in place. It has a lovely fresh smell, so will be very welcoming for their customers. I also recommended our Tile Doctor Maintenance Plan which means will return annually and give the floor a deep clean and seal.

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Paint Shop in Oxfordshire

Quarry Tiled Shop Floor Renovation in Henley-on-Thames Read More »

Slate Tiled Floor Before After Cleaning Henley on Thames

Dull Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Restored In Henley-On-Thames

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

These photographs below are of a Slate Tiled Kitchen floor taken at a customer’s house in Henley-on-Thames which, as its name suggests, sits alongside the River Thames in Oxfordshire. My client’s Slate kitchen floor had recently been cleaned with unsuitable cleaning products which I suspect impacted the sealer leaving it looking dull. Sealers really to improve the look of a stone floor so unsurprisingly once the sealer had been damaged my client had been unable to find a cleaning product that could have any kind of positive effect on the tiles.

Slate Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Henley-on-Thames

It’s fairly well known that many supermarket quality cleaners are only really designed for use on Ceramic or Porcelain tiled floors as they contain acids which strip away at sealers and acid sensitive stone floors, leaving the stone beneath vulnerable. So your select a cleaning product for your floor always read the small print on the back of the label and make sure you avoid anything that mentions not for use on acid sensitive stone; belter still Tile Doctor have a number of products for cleaning tiled floors including Neutral Cleaner and Stone Soap.

Cleaning a Slate tiled floor

To clean the floor and remove any remaining sealer I first made a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean which is a strong alkaline cleaner and then spread this over the floor, leaving it to dwell. This allows the cleaner to seep into the slate and get underneath, breakdown sealers and start to lift out ingrained dirt.

Following a dwelling period of roughly ten minutes, I agitated the floor periodically with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad and scrubbed along the grout lines with a stiff grout brush. I then used a wet vacuum to extract the resultant slurry away and then followed up by rinsing the floor with clean water, and once again vacuumed up the residue.

Any stubborn areas were retreated until I was happy with the floor and then I left the floor to dry off completely overnight, in preparation for sealing the following day.

Sealing a Slate tiled floor

Upon my return to the house the following day, I ran some damp tests on different parts of the floor to check for any excess moisture which could potentially damage the performance of the sealer. Once I was satisfied that the floor was completely dry, I proceeded to seal the tiles using Tile Doctor Seal & Go. This will provide a robust surface seal for the future, along with an aesthetically pleasing low-sheen finish.

This sealer works particularly well on Slate tiles and, being a water-based sealant, additionally Seal & Go does not emit an unpleasant smell as it dries. Slate is quite a porous stone so I applied six coats of seal to provide long-lasting protection.

Slate Tiled Floor After Cleaning Henley-on-Thames

Professional Cleaning and Sealing of a Slate tiled kitchen floor in Northamptonshire

Dull Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Restored In Henley-On-Thames Read More »

Limestone Kitchen Floor Henley on Thames After Cleaning

Very Dirty Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned in Henley on Thames

1 Comment / Henley-on-Thames Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Work History / TileProf

Photograph below of a very dirty Limestone tiled kitchen floor at a house in Henley on Thames, the sealer had worn off some time ago and now the tile was trapping dirt that was proving very difficult for the home owner to remove. I do love floors in this condition as they make great adverts for how well Tile Doctors can restore your floors.

Limestone Kitchen Floor Henley on Thames Before Cleaning

Cleaning Limestone Floor Tiles

To restore the floor back to its original condition I used a set of burnishing pads which are encrusted with industrial diamonds and come in four different grades from coarse to very fine. Applied with a little water the coarse pad strips the floor of dirt and old sealer whilst the remaining pads which are a finer restore the polished surface. Between each pad you need to rinse the floor with fresh water which is removed with a wet vacuum before finally being left to dry overnight.

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

The next day I check the floor was dry which it was and then proceeded to seal the Limestone with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing impregnating sealer which occupies the pores in the natural stone to provide maximum stain protection.

Limestone Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Henley on Thames

Very Dirty Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned in Henley on Thames Read More »

Travertine Tiled Floor After Cleaning Henleyon Thames

Grout Haze removed from Travertine Tiles in Henley-on-Thames

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

The photograph below taken at a house in Henley-on-Thames shows a Travertine tiled floor covered with grout haze smears across the surface of the tile. The tiler should of dealt with this after laying the floor however removing grout smears from natural stone is tricky as normally you would use acid but Travertine is very sensitive to acid so I suspect the tiler decided against it in-case the tiles were ruined.

Travertine Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Henleyon Thames

Refurbishing Travertine Tiles

The first step was to give the floor a general wash to remove any grit and to get the grout clean so we started by applying a mild dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was spread over the floor with particular attention paid to getting the solution into the grout lines where it was scrubbed in with a stiff brush. Next we removed any trace of product by using a wet vacuum and rinsing thoroughly with clean water.

To remove the grout haze and restore the surface polish the floor needed to be burnished which is done using four diamond encrusted burnishing pads applied in the correct sequence of grits from coarse through to super fine. First using coarse pad number 1 we put some clean water on the floor and using our rotary machine slowly burnished the area making sure that we passed over each tile around four times. The coarse pad cuts into the surface grime of the floor and also removes sealers and in this case the grout haze. The resultant soiled water is rinsed away with clean water which in turn is removed using a wet vacuum. This process is then repeated with the remaining pads to hone and polish the floor, rinsing between each pad until a nice polish is built up on the tile. The floor is then given a final rinse and once we were satisfied that all the slurry had been removed we left the floor to dry.

Cleaning Travertine and Limestone Tiles

I returned the next day to seal the Travertine Tile for which I used two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that will occupy the pores in the stone preventing contaminates getting in there; Colour Grow also brings out the colours in the stone and in this case has done well to bring out the deep brown colours.

The floor now looks 100% better and how it should have looked in the first place.

Travertine Tiled Floor Burnished and Sealed in Shropshire

Grout Haze removed from Travertine Tiles in Henley-on-Thames 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 »

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Abingdon Tile Cleaning, Banbury Tile Cleaning, Bicester Tile Cleaning, Ceramic Tile Cleaning, Chipping Norton Tile Cleaning, Didcot Tile Cleaning, Encaustic Cement Tile Cleaning, Fireplace Cleaning, Flagstone Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Henley-on-Thames Tile Cleaning, Kidlington Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Marble Tile Cleaning, Oxford Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Sandstone Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Thame Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Vinyl Tile Cleaning, Wallingford Tile Cleaning, Wantage Tile Cleaning, Witney Tile Cleaning, Woodstock Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Barry Woodward

Oxfordshire Tile Doctor

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