Thame Tile Cleaning Archives - Oxfordshire Tile Doctor

Black Negro Marquina Marble Shower Tile Before After Polishing Thame

Polishing Black “Negro Marquina” Marble Shower Tiles in Thame

I received a call regarding a Black Marble tiled shower that the customer thought he would clean himself and ended up unfortunately making worse. Black Marble adds a very opulent and elegant look to a bathroom, and I suspect this particular variety with the white veins is known as “Negro Marquina” which comes from the Basque region of Spain. I did a quick price check on-line and these tiles are priced around £60 each!

Black Negro Marquina Marble Shower Tiles Before Polishing Thame

If you look closely at the before picture you can see the Marble has lost its shine and has a cloudy appearance. This was due to the use of an acid based cleaner. Thame and Oxford lie in a hard water area, so we often find customers seek to remove Limescale deposits off tile using household products such as Vikal or Cillit Bang. The trouble with these products is they are acidic, and marble is acid sensitive so is easily marked and damaged by their use. You should always read the label before using any cleaner to check if its safe to use on natural stone.

The client was desperate to get the shower room looking how it should when he had selected this beautiful stone.

Cleaning a Marble Tiled Shower

To rectify the problem and restore the polished appearance of the marble I burnished the stone using a small 6 inch 200-grit diamond pad attached to a handheld buffer. This coarse pad cuts back the stone surface to remove the etching, I then used a 400-grit pad which removed the fine scratches made by the first pad. This was followed up with an 800-grit pad which starts the honing process which restores the polished appearance. Water is used to lubricate the process and the tiles are rinsed with water after each stage to remove the fine slurry that is generated.

This is further followed by 1500 and 3000 grit pads the last pad is applied dry with only a little bit of water and leaves the tiles dry and ready for the next stage.

Polishing a Marble Tiled Shower

To further build the polish and protect the stone I applied Tile Doctor Shine Powder buffed in with a white pad. This was applied to the marble wall tiles and then rinsed with water and wiped dry with a clean cloth. When the tiles were fully dry, I buffed the tiles with a clean white pad to show the final polished finish. The tiles looked much improved and very shiny.

Black Negro Marquina Marble Shower Tiles After Polishing Thame

The job was completed in a day and the customer was much relieved that I was able to restore the appearance of the marble. I suggested that he should use Tile Doctor Aqua Pro as his tile cleaner of choice in future. This is pH neutral so will not damage the tiles like the acidic products he had used previously, and it should help him keep the shower room looking sparkling and opulent as initially intended!

Professional Restoration of a Marble Tiled Shower in Oxfordshire

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Restoring Dull and Dirty Quarry Tiles in Thame

Dirty Black and Red Quarry Tiles Rejuvenated in Thame

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

Sometimes it isn’t until you’ve deep cleaned your tiles that you realise just how dirty they were to begin with. This was the case with my customer in Thame, in the south of Oxfordshire where I worked on a classic red and black Quarry tiled floor which was far from being in its best condition.

Quarry Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Thame

Cleaning Dirty Quarry Tiles

My starting point in the cleaning process was to mix a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean, which is the reliable, multi-purpose alkaline cleaner that is safe to use on tile, stone and grout. The solution was left to soak into the tiles for ten minutes before being scrubbed into the floor with a rotary floor machine fitted with a stiff brush.

Following this, I rinsed the floor with clean water and then proceeded to wash it with Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up. This is a concentrated phosphoric acid cleaner designed to remove efflorescence and other mineral deposits such as grout smears.

Finally, I rinsed the tiles again with water and Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, which is a pH neutral solution, to neutralise the chemicals and leave the floor fresh and clean, ready to be sealed. The floor was left to dry overnight.

Sealing Quarry Tiles

The next day I returned to seal the floor after checking the tiles were dry. I opted to use two different sealers. The first was Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which is an impregnating sealer with the added effect of enhancing the natural colour in the stone. The second was Tile Doctor Seal & Go, a topical sealer that adds the high quality, durable sheen finish to the floor that the customer had requested.

I took the photograph below after sealing half the floor, it really shows the difference a sealer can make to a tiled floor.

Here’s the photo of theQuarry tiled floorafter sealing the whole floor. As you can see, they now have a new lease of life, and they’ll be much easier for the customer to keep looking great in the future.

Professional Cleaning and Sealing of a Dirty Quarry Tiled Oxfordshire

Dirty Black and Red Quarry Tiles Rejuvenated in Thame Read More »

Limestone Patio After Cleaning Haddenham

Limestone Patio Tiles Deep Cleaned in Haddenham Near Thame

1 Comment / Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Thame Tile Cleaning, Work History / TileProf

This was a job I did earlier in May this year where I was asked to clean this lovely Limestone patio installed at the rear of a house in Haddenham near Thame on the Oxfordshore borders which had succumbed to the ravages of the English winter weather and was far from looking its best.

As a Tile Doctor and carpet technician I have invested a lot in powerful high pressure machinery that can make light work of interior and exterior installations so taking on this patio was not a problem and it was nice to work outside for a change.

Limestone Patio Before Cleaning Haddenham

Power washing a Limestone Patio

On arrival I set-up the high pressure equipment and then proceeded to pressure wash the patio in order to get the worst of the dirt out of the tile. Then I soaked the tiles in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to dwell for thirty minutes. The next process was to use a deck brush to scrub the cleaner into the stubborn areas and then rinse the patio with clean water which was then removed using a wet vacuum. After letting it dry I then had to re clean the worst areas again following the same process until I was satisfied with the condition of the tile.

Sealing a Limestone patio

The patio soon dried in the warm sun and later that day I was able to seal it using a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing impregnating sealer that can be used internally and externally, it works really on Limestone and did well to bring out the natural colours in the stone.

Dirty stone patio stripped, cleaned and sealed

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Terracotta Tiled Floor Thame After Cleaning and Sealing

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Thame

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

This customer had recently moved into a house with a Terracotta Tiled Floor in Thame, Oxfordshire and decided she did not like the colour of the floor grout and also was unable to clean off some back marks in the corners. When I went to view the property I performed a test clean on a sample area to show her that the black marks could be removed and also stripped back the tile show how much cleaner they could look. The work was agreed and I was booked to come back and completely strip the floor tile, reseal it and also change the grout colour.

Terracotta Tiled Floor Thame Before Cleaning

Cleaning Terracotta Tile

On the first day I carefully taped up all the kitchen cupboards and skirting board to protect them from any splashes or damage. Once this was done a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a multi-purpose cleaner and stripper was applied to the Terracotta floor tiles and left to soak into the tile for a while before being worked in with a rotary machine fitted with a black stripping pad and then a floor scrubber.

Once the whole floor had been treated in this manner the now soiled Pro-Clean solution was removed from the floor using a wet vacuum and then the floor rinsed with clean water using a spinner tool attached to the wet vacuum. The spinner tool has been a great investment for us, it applies water under pressure to the floor and at the same time removes it via an adjacent suction connection saving loads of time; it’s also a versatile tool that can also be used for Carpet Cleaning which incidentally we also do.

The Terracotta tile was now stripped of all sealer so the next step was to cleaned the black grout with Grout Clean Up which is a mild acid cleaner that can remedy a number of grout related issues, after this I rinsed the floor again with fresh water. At this point I noticed some of the grout joints had loose or missing grout so the loose grout was removed and new grout applied to the affected areas, I then had to wait overnight so the floor could dry.

Sealing Terracotta Tile

On the second day I set about sealing the floor using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which as well as protecting the floor also brings out the natural colours in the Terracotta tile. For added protection and to enhance the shine on the floor I then applied a further five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, the combination of the two compatible sealers provided the effect the customer wanted. I then had to wait overnight for the sealer to dry hard.

Grout Colouring

If you recall from the start of this post, the customer also wanted to change the grout colour to a light grey so I came back for a third day to complete this. With the original grout colour being black I was concerned that the dark grout may show through the lighter grey and so I first let the customer know that it might take two coats of Grout Colourant to achieve this. However once I got started colouring the grout using an applicator I noticed that the light grey was consistently covering the black grout and therefore one coat would be sufficient.

When I had finished she was very impressed by the colour of the tile and grout and remarked on how much brighter her kitchen looked. She also asked me to come back later to do the hall floor which is a multi coloured Victorian floor.

Terracotta Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Oxfordshire

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Thame 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 »

Thame Sandstone Fireplace After Cleaning

Cleaning a Sandstone Fireplace Surround in Thame

1 Comment / Fireplace Cleaning, Sandstone Tile Cleaning, Thame Tile Cleaning, Work History / TileProf

Details below of a Sandstone Fireplace surround from a house in Thame, Oxfordshire. The fireplace had never been cleaned as the customer did not know where to start and so gave us a call.

Thame Sandstone Fireplace Before Cleaning

Sandstone Fireplace Cleaning

To clean the fireplace I used a diluted mixture of Tile Doctor Pro Clean and NanoTech Ultra Clean which combines the cleaning power of Pro-Clean with the tiny abrasive particles in Ultra Clean to produce a very effective cleaning product that is safe to use on Stone. This was left to dwell on the stone for a short while in order to let it soak in and work on the dirt before scrubbing it into the Sandstone with a hand brush. This process did a good job cleaning the stone and once I was happy with the result the soiled cleaning solution was removed using a wet vacuum and the stone was rinsed with water to make sure all the chemical had been removed.

Sandstone Fireplace Sealing

When dry the Sandstone was sealed using a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which will protect the stone going forward as well as bringing out the deep colour in the stone. To finish the job off I removed the grate and cleaned it up using some grate black to make it look new again before putting it back; last step was to remove the protective strip I had put around the fireplace to protect the wall and carpet and the job was done.

As you can imagine the customer was quite surprised by the results and hadn’t realised what a wonderful fireplace they had until now.

Sandstone Fireplace Cleaned and Sealed in Thame, Oxfordshire

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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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