Nantwich Tile Cleaning Archives - West Cheshire Tile Doctor

Paint Stained Quarry Tiled Floor Renovation Alpraham Tarporley

Paint-Stained Quarry Tiled Flooring Renovated in Alpraham near Tarporley

These Quarry Tiled floor photos came from a period property in Alpraham which is a few miles south of Tarporley. The owner was renovating the property and wanted help with the Quarry tiles flooring laid in several ground floor rooms.

Quarry Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Alpraham Tarporley

As usual I called in to survey the floor, run some tests and quote for its renovation. In this case the floor just needed a deep clean to removing ingrained dirt and staining and then resealing to protect it. The cleaning would need to tackle the white paint splashes from decorating which was evident across a lot of the tiles.

Later that day I worked out a detailed quote for the work which included all the products needed to do the work and emailed it over to the owner. Happy with my quote we agreed a date for the work to commence.

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Ground Floor

From the testing I had done earlier it was clear to me that the best way forward would be to cover the floor with a diluted mixture of Tile Doctor Remove & Go, a strong stripper to remove paint and old sealers, combined with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an effective tile and grout cleaner. Both products are alkaline so are safe to use on all types of tile and stone.

The mixture was applied with a mop and left to dwell for twenty minutes before being worked in, this gives the products time to digest the dirt and soften up the paint. The floor was then scrubbed using a black pad fitted to a rotary buffing machine with a little water to further lubricate the process and capture the dirt. After scrubbing each section, the soiling was rinsed away and removed using a wet vac and then inspected to see if more work was needed.

Following the cleaning the next step was to give the floor an acid wash with a dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up to help further clean-up the tiles and neutralise any salts in tile which can be a problem on old quarry tiled floors like this one. The floor was then then rinsed and extracted as before and the floor then left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Ground Floor

Work resumed the following day to seal the floor starting with several moisture checks with a damp meter. It’s important to check the floor was dry before sealing the finish can be patchy.

For the best result I used two sealers on the Quarry tiles starting with a base coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is an impregnator that soaks into the pores of clay tile protecting it from within and improving colour in the process. This sealer however gives a matt finish so to give the floor the lovely satin sheen the customer wanted it was finished with a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go.

Quarry Tiled Floor After Renovation Alpraham Tarporley

Once complete all the floors were clean, free of paint stains and had an attractive protective finish. The new sealer will ensure dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away, for which we recommend Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a mild yet effective cleaner that won’t impact the sealer.

Quarry Tiled Floor After Renovation Alpraham Tarporley

Professional Renovation of a Quarry Tiled Flooring in West Cheshire

Paint-Stained Quarry Tiled Flooring Renovated in Alpraham near Tarporley Read More »

Sandstone Kitchen Floor Renovation Church Minshull

Incredibly Dirty Sandstone Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovation in Church Minshull

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Nantwich Tile Cleaning, Sandstone Tile Cleaning / Alastair Robb

We received an enquiry from a client in the sleepy village of Church Minshull, North of Nantwich, in the Cheshire countryside to ask if we could renovate a Sandstone tiled kitchen floor.

Availability was critical in this case as they were having a new kitchen fitted and they wanted someone who could work on the floor in between the old units being removed and the new ones being fitted. Happy to help if I could, I arranged a visit to survey the floor and discuss timings.

Sandstone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Church Minshull

Whilst at the property I conducted a test clean on a small section of flooring which revealed just how incredibly dirty the stone had become. It was clear to me that the sandstone was heavily ingrained with dirt and that any sealer that may have been present was now long gone. Sealers prevent dirt from dirt becoming ingrained into the pores of the stone which keeps the dirt on the surface where it’s much easier to remove.

Sandstone Kitchen Floor During Test Cleaning Church Minshull

Impressed with the difference I had been able to achieve so quickly and happy with my quote for renovating the whole floor the only thing outstanding was to work out if I could get the floor clean before the new kitchen was installed. Fortunately, I was able to move a few things around so it would work.

Cleaning a Sandstone Tiled Kitchen

To get the floor clean, work started with an application of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong alkaline tile and grout cleaner. I used a very strong solution diluting four parts Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to only one part water. This was then left to soak into the sandstone for twenty minutes to give it time to break down the dirt.

The grout lines were then scrubbed using a stiff grout brush before turning attention to the Sandstone which was scrubbed using a rotary floor machine fitted with a Black scrubbing pad and more water. All this scrubbing released a lot of dirt from the floor turning the cleaning solution into a dark slurry. The dirty residue was then removed by wet vacuum.

The floor was then inspected, and the process repeated where needed. Once I was happy the Sandstone and Grout were clear of all the dirt, I gave it a final rinse and extracted as much moisture as possible with the wet vacuum.

Sealing a Sandstone Tiled Kitchen

The floor was left to dry overnight, and work resumed the next day to seal the floor. First the floor was checked with a damp meter to make sure it was dry and ready to take a seal.
The results were fine and so the floor was sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating colour enhancing sealer. Large fans were used to speed up the drying process between coats.

Sandstone Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Church Minshull

Once done the floor looked incredibly different, the patterns and colours in the stone were now visible and it looked so much cleaner. The grout had also responded well and the floor was completely transformed by the work.

Sandstone Kitchen Floor After Renovation Church Minshull

For aftercare cleaning I recommended they use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is an effective pH neutral tile and grout cleaner that won’t impact the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Sandstone Tiled Kitchen in West Cheshire

Incredibly Dirty Sandstone Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovation in Church Minshull Read More »

Old Brick Floor Renovation in Church Preen

Old Brick Floor Renovated in Church Minshull Wash House

1 Comment / Brick Tile Cleaning, Nantwich Tile Cleaning, Winsford Tile Cleaning, Work History / Alastair Robb

We were contacted by an existing client who lives in the lovely Cheshire village of Church Minshull regarding a Brick tiled floor. We had already worked on restoring floors at their property before and on this occasion, they wanted us to improve the appearance of the bricks that comprised the floor in their old wash house.

Brick Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Church Minshull

Like the village in which it’s situated the property was pretty old, and they were not sure when the floor had been laid. You can see from the photographs however it was stained, dull and now well overdue a facelift. Having used our services previously, they knew how we worked and were happy with the quote which would take two days to complete. Although it wasn’t a particularly large floor it was an awkward shape, tight to work in and would result a lot of manual work.

The village of Church Minshull is approximately 5 miles north west of Crewe, just West of the River Weaver and Shropshire Union Canal. The modern village centre is a designated conservation area which contains many houses of Tudor style architecture so it really is a lovely place to visit and to work in.

Cleaning a Brick Tiled Kitchen Floor

The first task was to give the floor a good sweep to remove any debris. After this I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a high alkaline cleaner/coatings striper and left it to soak in. This product gets to work on ingrained dirt and grime as well as removing any existing sealers.

The solution was left to dwell on the brick floor for about twenty minutes before being scrubbed in with a Black pad fitted to a slow speed rotary machine and by hand. This process lifted the dirt out of the brick nicely and the resultant slurry was then removed with assistance of a wet vacuum.

After rinsing the remaining residue off the floor, it was given a thorough inspection. I noticed there were a few stubborn areas so the process was repeated until I was satisfied the floor could be as clean as it possible could be. After a final rinse with water the floor was dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum and left to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Brick Tiled Kitchen Floor

The next morning, I was on site early and the first job was to test the floor with a damp meter to make sure it was dry enough to start sealing. The results were good, so I set about sealing the brick floor starting with a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that enhances colour. Once this had dried, I applied four further coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra which adds a subtle sheen that enhances the appearance of the old bricks even further.

Old floors like this don’t have a damp-proof membrane under the floor so it’s important to use breathable sealers that allow the moisture to rise through the brick and evaporate. Using a non-breathable sealer could lead to damp building up below the floor where it can spread to the walls and cause rising damp.

Brick Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Church Minshull

The floor looked much healthier after I had finished, and the new sealer will make it so much easier to keep clean going forward. For aftercare I recommended they use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to maintain the floor. It’s a pH neutral product which won’t prematurely erode the sealer like some of the stronger tile cleaning products you find in supermarkets which are only for use on Ceramic tiles and Vinyl flooring. It comes in a concentrate, so you only need to dilute a small amount in a bucket of warm water.

Professional Restoration of a Brick Tiled Floor in Cheshire

Old Brick Floor Renovated in Church Minshull Wash House Read More »

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Appleton Tile Cleaning, Beeston Tile Cleaning, Birkenhead Tile Cleaning, Brick Tile Cleaning, Bunbury Tile Cleaning, Ceramic Tile Cleaning, Chester Tile Cleaning, Encaustic Cement Tile Cleaning, Fireplace Cleaning, Flagstone Tile Cleaning, Frodsham Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Marble Tile Cleaning, Nantwich Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Runcorn Tile Cleaning, Sandbach Tile Cleaning, Sandstone Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Vinyl Tile Cleaning, Warrington Tile Cleaning, Wincham Tile Cleaning, Winsford Tile Cleaning, Wirral Tile Cleaning / Alastair Robb

West Cheshire Tile Doctor

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