patio cleaning Archives - Oxfordshire Tile Doctor

Neglected Indian Sandstone Patio Floor Renovated in Headington

Large Indian Sandstone Patio Renovated in Headington

This Indian Sandstone Patio was laid three years ago at a property in the leafy residential Oxford suburb of Headington. The stone patio has not been properly cleaned since it was laid and I was contacted to see if it could be improved and to fill in the missing grout. You can see from the photograph it was in a shocking state and had completely discoloured after being exposed to the ravages of the UK weather and was now turning green with staining from the trees.

Indian Sandstone Patio Before Deep Cleaning Headington Oxford

Except for the grouting the patio was physically solid and I assured owner that with the right treatment we could renovate the stone to bring back the colour and character of the Sandstone.

Renovating an Indian Sandstone Patio in Headington

On arrival I sprayed the patio with Tile Doctor Patio & Brick Driveway Cleaner and left it to soak in and get to work for about half an hour. The patio was then scrubbed with a rotary machine fitted with a carbide brush. I then rinsed the whole patio with water to remove the soiling. Being a very hot day, it dried very quickly and I was able to inspect the patio and repeat the process focusing on the stubborn staining and to make sure the black spots were removed.

With the patio clean I was able to get a better view of the cement grouting which was cracking and crumbling in places. Rather than patching it up I discussed the problem with the customer we decided that the cement grout had to go completely. To do this I used a mortar rake and an angle grinder, it was laborious work but, in most places it came out easily. With the old cement grouting cleared away a new resin-based grouting compound designed for external use for installed.

Indian Sandstone Patio After Deep Cleaning Grouting Headington Oxford

The whole job took 1 1/2 days to complete and was unrecognisable from the original.
I did recommend sealing the stone with a product such as Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which is designed for external use however the owners were so pleased with the new look of their patio they decided to leave it as is.

Professional Restoration of an Indian Sandstone Paved Patio in Oxfordshire

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Large Slate Tiled Patio Before and After Restoration Wantage

Large Slate Patio Renovated in Wantage

1 Comment / Slate Tile Cleaning, Wantage Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Barry Woodward

These photos of a Slate Patio were taken in 2019 at a property in Wantage. It’s an excellent example of the transformation that can be achieved with stone patios and given the current situation something we would like to do more of.

Although structurally sound the stone looked bleached by the weather and the owner of the property wanted the patio to look like it did when it had been first laid with the colour and character of the Slate restored.

I called in to do site visit to take a closer look. The patio was situated in a sunny spot, so had indeed been bleached by the weather. I discussed what we could do to restore the tiles and they were very happy to go ahead with my quote. We booked to return the following week weather permitting.

Incidentally Wantage is an historic market town that was part of Berkshire, but it has been administered as part of the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire since 1974. The town is situated around 8 miles from Abingdon, with Reading, Newbury and Oxford nearby.

Deep Cleaning a Slate Patio in Wantage

It was a large patio, so I did the work in sections starting with the application of a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to soak in for ten minutes. This is a concentrated, multi-purpose high-alkaline cleaner, stripper and degreaser that can be diluted at varying strengths, its effective on mildew and algae in areas that have been neglected or subjected to heavy use. Tile Doctor have numerous products that could have been used to renovate stone patio including a dedicated Patio Cleaner which is something I considered using if I needed extra cleaning power.

After ten minutes the solution was scrubbed into the patio with a rotary floor scrubber fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This action lifted the dirt and previous coatings out of the stone turning the cleaning solution into a dark slurry. The slurry was rinsed off and extracted with a wet vacuum.

I then gave the patio an Acid Wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up to further clean up the stone and disperse any residues, after another rinse with water the patio was dried with a wet vacuum. This product is a cleaner designed to penetrate below the surface to remove light grout smears (grout haze), mineral deposits, rust stains and efflorescence. We also use this product for the removal of most hard water stains, lime deposits and soap scum, it is very effective especially when used in conjunction with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. Our client had not realised quite how dirty the patio had been!

Sealing a Slate Patio in Wantage

To apply the sealer, I had to wait for a weather window when it would be dry for a few days. I know from experience that applying a sealer to damp stone results can lead to an inconsistent result that customers are rarely happy with.

After returning, I started the sealing process with the application of a pre-sealer called Tile Doctor Stone Oil which soaks into the stone and adds the deep colour the slate really needed. Once this was dry, I applied a single coat of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal to lock in the Stone Oil and add protection.

Slate Patio After Cleaning and Colour Restored Wantage

The Slate patio was completely transformed and needless to say, the owner of the property was very pleased with the result. They were looking forward to using the space and entertaining friends and family.

Professional Restoration of a Slate Tiled Patio in Oxfordshire

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Cleaning and Sealing a Slate patio in Chinnor

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

Back here with another job, this time in the small commuter town of Chinnor in Oxfordshire to clean and seal a Slate patio which was looking worse for wear. Slate is a highly durable material that is a popular choice not only for external flooring such as patio, but also for internal flooring in high traffic areas like kitchens and hallways. A few days before I began the cleaning, I visited the property in order to rake and re-fill the grout.

Cleaning a Slate patio

Working in sections, I began the cleaning process by pre-wetting the individual area of the patio, before applying a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean. I use Pro-Clean as a cleaner for several different types of stone flooring, whether internal or external, as it is very good at getting underneath the dirt and lifting it out, being an alkaline it’s also safe to use on all types of Tile and Stone.

The solution was left to on the surface to dwell for a while, before scrubbing in with a medium brush attached to a floor machine. Once I had finished cleaning, I used a wet-vac machine to remove any watery residue before rinsing the area with clean water, and soaking up the excess once again with the wet-vac. I repeated this same process for the entire patio.

Sealing a Slate patio

Before beginning the sealing process, I ensured that the floor was completely dry, as any excess moisture could have impacted negatively on the performance of the sealer. My sealer of choice was Tile Doctor Colour Grow, a colour enhancing, impregnating sealer; two coats were sufficient.

As an impregnating sealer, Colour Grow works its way into the pores of the Slate, providing durable surface protection from within. In addition, the colour intensifying properties of Colour Grow bring out the natural colours and shades in the surfaces to which it is applied.

The finished result, as you can see from the photos, was quite a different look for this Slate patio. The many layers of grime and dirt had previously hidden the fantastic character of the tiles, but with a good clean and colour enhancing seal, the patio was brought back to life. Both myself and my client were very pleased with the outcome.

Patio Restoration in Chinnor

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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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