tiled floor

Moroccan Encaustic Cement Tiles Barrhead After Cleaning

Moroccan Encaustic Cement Tiled WC Refresh in Barrhead

Similar in many ways to Victorian tiles, these are Moroccan Encaustic Cement tiles which come in a huge range of patterns and are ideal for indoor and external use although they should be sealed to protect against water penetration and dirt as well as making cleaning easier. Very popular in hot countries, they certainly add a nice flair which they have done to this ground floor WC at residence in Barrhead which is a town south west of Glasgow in East Renfrewshire.

Moroccan Encaustic Cement Tiles Barrhead Before Cleaning

Cleaning a Victorian Floor

The tiles were looking rather dull and in need of a deep clean and re-seal so the first job was to clean the floor and remove and remaining sealer by applying a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary bonnet machine, with all the excess extracted using a wet vacuum. This process was repeated three times until I was satisfied any remaining sealer had been removed and the tile and grout was now as clean as it could be. The floor was then given a rinse with water and cleaned again with Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to remove any trace of Pro-Clean; again the fluids were extracted using a wet vacuum.

Sealing a Victorian Floor Sealing

The floor was left to dry overnight and we came back the next day to seal it using six coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which works well on these types of tiles as it adds a nice subtle sheen as well as adding the necessary stain protection.

Moroccan Encaustic Cement Tiles Barrhead After Cleaning
 

Moroccan Tiled floor cleaned and sealed in Renfrewshire

Moroccan Encaustic Cement Tiled WC Refresh in Barrhead Read More »

Porcelain tiled shower room in Inchinnan after

Deep Cleaning Porcelain Bathroom Tiles in Inchinnan

The Porcelain tiles in this bathroom installed at a house in the small village Inchinnan were in good physical condition but were looking dull and being let down by the grout which had gone dark in a number of areas. This is often the case with Porcelain floors which are very tough and generally out-live the life of the grout which has a porous top layer that is subject to staining especially from the dyes in personal products.

Porcelain tiled shower room in Inchinnan before

Deep Cleaning Porcelain Tile and Grout

To get the tile and grout really clean a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied to the tile and grout and left to soak in to the surface for around ten minutes before scrubbing it in; the area was quite restrictive so this process was done by hand. The soiled cleaning solution was then then rinsed away with warm water which was removed by a wet vacuum and stubborn areas sport treated. The floor was then given a final wash with Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner diluted with water to remove any remnants of Pro-Clean and then dried as much as possible.

Grout Colouring

The cleaning process made a big difference to the Tile and Grout however there grout still showed evidence of staining. To resolve this we would have need to laboriously scrape out the grout and re-grout it; however this does take a long time and there is a quicker solution by using a Grout Colourant. Grout Colourants apply a thin but impermeable epoxy layer on top of the existing grout and come in a range of colours which is handy if you want to completely alter the look of your floor. In this case however the customer was happy to have the white original colour of the grout restored; two coats were sufficient to achieve this.

Once done and dry we gave the floor another rinse with Neutral Cleaner and finished by buffing the Porcelain tiles with a white pad on a hand polishing machine which brought up the natural shine on the tiles.

Porcelain tiled shower room in Inchinnan after
 

Rejuvenating Bathroom Tiles in Renfrewshire

Deep Cleaning Porcelain Bathroom Tiles in Inchinnan Read More »

Slate tiled floor Huston after cleaning and sealing

Slate tiled kitchen floor cleaned and re-sealed in Houston

This particular Slate tiled floor was installed in the kitchen of a house in Huston, that’s Houston near Glasgow not the city in Texas. This is another example of a natural stone floor was overdue a deep clean and re-seal, any remaining sealer on the slate has worn off and the tiles have become dull and stained.

Slate tiled floor Huston before cleaning

Cleaning Slate Floor Tile and Grout

First we stripped any remaining sealer from the slate tiles by applying a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to soak in before being worked into the stone using a black pad on a rotary bonnet machine; the resultant soiled cleaning solution was then extracted using a wet vacuum. This process was repeated three times to make sure all the sealer and dirt was completely removed and extracted.

After this we focused on cleaning the grout using more Pro-Clean this time worked in using a stiff grout brush by hand. Once done the floor was given a thorough rinse using clean water again using the wet vacuum to remove the water and get the floor as dry as possible.

Changing the Colour of Grout

We then left for the evening to allow the floor to dry off overnight and returned the second day and coloured the grout to dark grey using a grout colouring kit to achieve an even grout appearance. This is rather painstaking work but the effect is well worth the effort, then once that had dried we gave the floor a quick clean using Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner.

Sealing Slate Floor Tiles

After allowing to dry overnight again, we came back the third day to seal the slate tiles for which we used six coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a water based sealer (no smell) which added a nice sheen to the tile and gave the desired finish.

Slate tiled floor Huston after cleaning and sealing
 

Cleaning and Sealing a Slate tiled floors in Huston, Renfrewshire

Slate tiled kitchen floor cleaned and re-sealed in Houston Read More »

Porcelain Tiles Glasgow After Deep Cleaning

Deep Cleaning Porcelain Kitchen Tiles in Glasgow

Porcelain tiles are very hard wearing and a great choice for kitchens where they are likely to see a large amount of foot traffic, you do need to be careful however if they are the micro porous porcelain which as the name suggests are slightly porous and can trap dirt and become difficult to clean. The other problem you are likely to have with any tiled floor is the grout which has a porous top layer that can become stained.

This was the case with the kitchen floor tiles at this house in Glasgow where you can see from the photograph below the improvement in the centre of the floor where we had test cleaned the tiles; the grout used was dark in colour which hides the dirt so unfortunately you cannot tell from the photograph the improvement in the grout.

Porcelain Tiles Glasgow Before Deep Cleaning

Deep Cleaning Porcelain Tile and Grout

To get the tile and grout really clean a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied and left to soak in to the surface for around ten minutes before scrubbing it into the tile with a bonnet machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad and also a stiff hand brush along the grout lines. This was then rinsed away with warm water all of which was removed by a wet Vacuum. This whole process was repeated three times until we were satisfied that the tile and the grout was looking new again after which the floor was given a final wash with Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner and then dried as much as possible using the wet vacuum.

Porcelain Tiles Glasgow After Deep Cleaning
 

Deep Cleaning Porcelain Kitchen Tiles in Glasgow

Deep Cleaning Porcelain Kitchen Tiles in Glasgow Read More »

Terrazzo vestibule After cleaning and sealing in Glasgow

Terrazzo Vestibule Refreshed in Glasgow

Just to prove we take on any job large or small I thought I would post the details of this small Terrazzo Vestibule that we recently cleaned at the entrance to a house in Glasgow. The Terrazzo was not looking its best which is hardly surprising being in front of the main entrance to the house it must have seen a lot of foot traffic over the years.

Terrazzo vestibule before cleaning in Glasgow

Cleaning and Burnishing a Terrazzo Floor

Terrazzo is a very hard surface and as a result it has to be treated in the same way as other hard surfaces such as Travertine, Limestone and Marble which typically involve burnishing the surface to remove the dirt and restore the appearance.

Before burnishing the floor was cleaned using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to dwell on the Terrazzo for a while before being scrubbed in by hand due to it being such a small area; following that the floor was given a quick rinse with water and a quick clean with Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner to remove any trace of strong cleaning product.

The next step was to burnish the floor using a set of four diamond encrusted burnishing pads. You start with a coarse 400 grit burnishing pad which is run over the surface with a little water to help lubricate and this removes surface dirt and coatings such as sealers. Once that was finished we moved onto the medium 800 grit pad which is the first step of the polishing process and also removes ingrained dirt. The surface of the Terrazzo is still quite rough at this stage so once complete with the medium pad the fine (1,500 grit) is used smooth down the surface and continue to build up the polish in the floor. The last pad is a very fine (3,000 grit pad) and this pad builds on the existing polished effect to create a high shine finish.

All these pads are applied with water and the resultant slurry needs to be cleaned off during the process with the final step of giving the floor a thorough rinse with clean water.

Sealing a Terrazzo Floor

Once the floor was completely dry it was sealed using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer designed to bring out the natural colours in the stone and penetrate into the pores of the tile preventing dirt from getting in there and providing maximum on-going stain protection. The floor was then buffed using a white buffing pad to bring up the shine further and remove any smears left from sealing.

Terrazzo vestibule After cleaning and sealing in Glasgow
 

Deep Cleaning a Terrazzo Vestibule in Glasgow

Terrazzo Vestibule Refreshed in Glasgow Read More »

Dark slate tiled floor glasgow after cleaning

Dark Slate tiles cleaned and Grout Coloured in Glasgow

Slate is a hard-wearing product ideal for floors however it does need a sealer to bring out the best in it and sealers do wear off after a few years and this had happened with the Slate tiled floor in this post. The floor was now looking dull and the grout had also discoloured so time to call in Tile Doctor to breathe new life into the tile and grout.

Dark slate tiled floor glasgow before cleaning

Cleaning a Slate Floor

It’s not a good idea to apply a new sealer on-top of existing as it can affect the final result so the first task was to strip back the floor to the natural stone giving the Slate and Grout a thorough clean in the process.

To do this a strong solution of Tile Doctor Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied and left to soak into the floor for about 20 minutes; Pro-Clean has a strong alkaline base so it’s safe to use on Stone as opposed to a weak acid cleaner. After twenty minutes it was worked into the slate and grout using a low speed bonnet machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad with the excess extracted using a wet vacuum.

This process was repeated three times to make sure all the old sealer and dirt was completely removed and after this the grout was cleaned by hand using more Pro-Clean and a stiff brush. Once done the whole floor was then neutralised with more water to ensure there was no trace of cleaning product remaining on the floor prior to sealing.

Grout Colouring

The floor was left to dry off overnight and returned the second day to colour the grout to dark grey which made a big improvement to the overall look of the floor; the grout colours we use come in 12 colours so we can usually find one that matches the customers’ requirements, once applied they also form a great barrier preventing future staining. Once the colourant has dried the floor was given a further clean with Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner which is an everyday cleaning product we recommend for sealed floors.

Sealing a Slate Floor Sealing

The floor was left to dry and we came back two days later to re-seal the tile for which we used five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a great sealer for Slate tiled floors as it leaves a low sheen finish whilst providing excellent stain protection. I should mention that Seal and Go is also a water based sealer so it doesn’t leave a smell whilst it’s drying.

Dark slate tiled floor glasgow after cleaning
We left the floor to dry overnight again and came back the third day to seal the Slate tiles for which we used six coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which give a subtle shine to the tiles and matched the customers requirements.

Cleaning and Sealing Slate tiled floors in Glasgow

Dark Slate tiles cleaned and Grout Coloured in Glasgow Read More »

Cleaning Flagstones in Glasgow

Flagstone Tiles Cleaned and Sealed in Glasgow

These photographs are of a Flagstone floor tiled floor installed at a house in Glasgow. They were well worn, looking washed out and overdue a deep clean and re-seal, there was also remnants of adhesive and paint and I suspect the floor had been covered in carpet at some point in the past.

Cleaning Flagstones in Glasgow

Cleaning Flagstone Floor Tiles

Working in sections the tiles were covered in Tile Doctor Remove and Go which as the name suggests is designed to safely remove coatings from tiles, this was left to soak in for a while before scrapping off the glue and paint from the stone surface using a wire brush and paint scrapers.

The second step was to scrub the floor using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in using a rotary bonnet machine fitted with a hard nylon brush attachment. The floor was then then rinsed down with clean water and the soiled solution extracted using and industrial wet vacuum. This process was completed three to four times to ensure all the dirt was removed.

The floor was then left to dry assisted by a turbo air mover and damaged pointing and cracks between the stone was patched up using a sand/cement mortar. The cleaning and repairing process took most of the day so once complete we left for the day leaving the turbo air mover switched on to ensure the floor would be nice and dry of the next day.

Cleaning Flagstones in Glasgow Cleaning Flagstones in Glasgow

Sealing Flagstones

We returned the next day and once we had checked the stone had dried we proceed to seal it using five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which will protect the floor and also adds a nice sheen to the tile.

Cleaning Flagstones in Glasgow
 

Flagstone floor cleaned and sealed in Glasgow

Flagstone Tiles Cleaned and Sealed in Glasgow Read More »

Victorian Mosaic tiles glasgow after cleaning

Victorian Mosaic Hallway Tiles Cleaned and Sealed in Glasgow

These unusual period Victorian mosaic tiled floor at a residence in the west end of Glasgow were far from looking their best and well overdue for a deep clean and re-seal.

Victorian Mosaic tiles glasgow before cleaning Victorian Mosaic tiles glasgow before cleaning

Cleaning a Victorian Floor

I’ll try and keep the details short so as not to lose your attention but basically the tiles were first stripped from all sealers and coatings that had been previously applied to the floor using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was left to dwell for an hour before working it in with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad and then rinsing the floor with water which was extracted with a wet vacuum. Secondly we then cleaned the floor four times using a rotary machine and a strong mixture of Pro-Clean which was again wet extracted and rinsed again. Finally we cleaned and rinsed the floor using Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner to neutralise the tiles from any products which may affect the sealer before leaving the floor overnight to dry assisted with a turbo air mover.

Sealing a Victorian Floor Sealing

Once the floor was dry it was then sealed using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which brings out the colour in the tile and provides the matt effect the owners were looking for as well as protecting the floor from staining.

Victorian Mosaic tiles glasgow after cleaning Victorian Mosaic tiles glasgow after cleaning

 

Victorian Mosaic Tiled floor cleaned and sealed in Glasgow

Victorian Mosaic Hallway Tiles Cleaned and Sealed in Glasgow Read More »

Slate Tiles in Glasgow Kitchen After Cleaning and sealing

Slate Tiles Cleaned and Sealed in a Glasgow Kitchen

These Slate tiles were installed in the kitchen of a house in Glasgow and as you can see from the photograph below they were looking dull and tired and there was evidence of grout haze over a lot of the tiles. The Tile Doctor diagnosis was that a face lift was in order for which a deep clean and re-seal was prescribed.

Slate Tiles in Glasgow Kitchen Before Cleaning

Cleaning a Slate Floor

The first step was to sweep up all the loose debris from the floor; we scrub the floor quite hard during our work so it’s important to remove any grit that could scratch the surface of the tile. We then mixed a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go 50/50 with Nanotech Ultra Clean and began to work the solution into the floor allowing it to dwell for around an hour first (This process helps to soften and break down the remains of the sealer on the stone). We used a hard deck scrubber to agitate the chemicals and loosen the dirt and old sealer from the floor which is then extracted from the surface using a wet vacuum and rinsed down with clean water several times to make sure all chemicals are removed.

The next step was to apply a dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which was then scrubbed the floor once again with hard deck scrubber. This broke down and removed all of the cement/ grout haze that the installer had left over the surface of the tile, again the floor was then rinsed with water and extracted to remove any chemical residue.

The floor was scrubbed again this time using a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to make sure all old sealer, cement, grout haze and dirt had been completely removed. We then give the floor a thorough and final rinse and mopped the tiles with Neutral Tile Cleaner to neutralise any remaining trace of chemicals and removed the solution using the wet vacuum before leaving the floor to dry overnight.

Sealing a Slate Floor Sealing

Once the floor was dry it was then sealed using five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which was chosen to provide the desired finish that the customer wanted.

Slate Tiles in Glasgow Kitchen After Cleaning and sealing
 

Slate Tiled Kitchen floor cleaned and sealed in Glasgow

Slate Tiles Cleaned and Sealed in a Glasgow Kitchen Read More »

School Terrazzo Floor Kilmacolm after cleaning

Terrazzo Floor Cleaned at Kilmacolm School

This Terrazzo Floor was at the entrance to a School in Kilmacolm where as you can see from the photograph below had come under some heavy use and was now proving difficult to keep clean. We were asked to give it a deep clean, polish and re-seal therefore making it much easier to maintain going forward.

School Terrazzo Floor Kilmacolm before cleaning

Cleaning a Slate Floor

Hard stone surfaces such as Terrazzo have to be burnished to get the shine back and this process basically involves cutting back the surface with a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads.

Before burnishing however the floor was swept out to remove any loose debris that could get caught under the pads and scratch the floor. Once that was done a Coarse 400 grit burnishing pad was fitted to our heavy rotary machine and run over the surface with a little water to help lubricate the process, the coarse pad removes surface dirt and coatings such as sealers. Once that was finished we moved onto the medium 800 grit pad which is the first step of the polishing process and also removed ingrained dirt. The surface of the Terrazzo is still quite rough at this stage so once complete with the medium pad the fine (1,500 grit) is used smooth down the surface and continue to build up the polish in the floor. The last pad is a very fine (3,000 grit pad) and this pad builds on the existing polished effect to create a high shine finish.

All these pads are applied with water and the resultant slurry needs to be cleaned off during the process with the final step of giving the floor a thorough rinse with clean water, I can recommend a wet vacuum at this point as it makes light work of removing liquids from floors.

Sealing a Terrazzo Floor

Once the floor was completely dry it was sealed using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a great product to use of these characteristic floors as it brings out the colour in the floor as well as providing on-going stain protection. The floor was then buffed using a white buffing pad to bring up the shine further; needless to say our client was extremely happy with the finished result.

School Terrazzo Floor Kilmacolm after cleaning
 

School Terrazzo floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed

Terrazzo Floor Cleaned at Kilmacolm School Read More »

Slate Kitchen Floor Tiles Glasgow after cleaning

Slate tiled floor cleaned and re-sealed in Glasgow

The photographs below are from the Kitchen of a house in Glasgow with a Slate tiled floor fitted. The sealer on the slate has started to go and if you look closely at the photographs you can see how tired and dull the tiles are looking; this is a common problem with natural stone floors where you will find the sealer wears down and dirt starts to penetrate into the tile making it difficult to clean effectively.

Slate Kitchen Floor Tiles Glasgow before cleaning Slate Kitchen Floor Tiles Glasgow before cleaning

Cleaning a Slate Floor

The first job with any clean and seal work of this nature is to protect the kitchen units by removing the kick boards and then to remove any sealers and coating from the tile so when you re-seal you’re not trapping in dirt or layering on top of another potentially incompatible sealer.

The original sealer had almost worn off so a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed 50/50 with NanoTech Ultra Clean was applied and left to soak into the floor for about 20 minutes. Pro-Clean is a multi-purpose cleaning product that will strip a sealer off the floor if weakly diluted whereas the NanoTech Ultra Clean adds tiny abrasive particles into the mixture increasing the cleaning power of the solution. This was worked into the slate and grout using a buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad until I was satisfied the floor had been stripped and cleaned of all surface coatings and dirt. All the dirty water was extracted with a wet vacuum and the floor neutralised with more water to ensure no chemicals remained on the floor prior to sealing.

Sealing a Slate Floor Sealing

The floor was left to dry and we came back two days later to re-seal the tile for which we used five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a great sealer for Slate tiled floors as it leaves a low sheen finish whilst providing excellent stain protection. I should mention that Seal and Go is also a water based sealer so it doesn’t leave a smell whilst it’s drying.

Slate Kitchen Floor Tiles Glasgow after cleaning Slate Kitchen Floor Tiles Glasgow after cleaning

Overall I was quite pleased with the floor although there were some stubborn grout stains that proved to be tough to shift.

Cleaning and Sealing Slate tiled floors in Glasgow

Slate tiled floor cleaned and re-sealed in Glasgow Read More »

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