Sealer Removal Archives - West Cheshire Tile Doctor

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned Sealed Whightgate Northwich

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Whitegate

We received an enquiry from a previous customer who lives in Whitegate near Northwich asking for a clean and seal of her small terracotta kitchen floor. It seems we did such a great job five years ago she was keen to ask us back to do it again.

Terracotta looks great in a Kitchen but you do need to maintain the sealer otherwise it will eventually wear down with use and let dirt become trapped in its pores, at which it becomes very difficult to keep clean as your standard mop and bucket won’t flush the dirt out of the pores.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Whightgate Northwich

Its also worth mentioning at this point that the life of a sealer can be greatly reduced with the use of strong cleaning products, most tile cleaning products you find in a supermarket are only designed for use on Ceramic or Vinyl flooring and are simply too strong for use on a sealed tile (always read the label!).

Deep Cleaning a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor

After protecting the Kitchen units and skirting boards with plastic sheeting my first job was to strip any remaining sealer off the Terracotta tiles using Tile Doctor Remove and Go in 1 part solution to 4 parts water dilution. The solution was spread across the floor and then left to dwell for ten minutes before scrubbing it in with a black scrubbing pad attached to a rotary floor buffer running at a slow speed.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor During Cleaning Whightgate Northwich

Removing all the old sealer is an important step as the floor will have experienced different levels of wear across the area and to apply more sealer on top will mean some areas become darker due to the build-up. For the best finish its always best to strip off the old sealer first and get down to the bare tile.

With the sealer removed the next step was to improve the appearance of the grout using more Remove and Go and worked in by hand with a scrubbing brush and a wire brush. Once done the slurry was extracted with a wet vacuum and the process repeated where necessary to make sure the Terracotta and grout was as clean as it could be. After a final rinse and dry with the wet vacuum the floor was left to dry off fully overnight.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Whightgate Northwich

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned the next morning and tested the tiles with a damp meter to ensure the tiles were dry before applying the sealer. All was well, so I started with the application of the first coat Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a water-based sealer that works well on clay tiles and adds a lovely sheen finish to the floor. Due to the porous nature of Terracotta, it actually took eight coats of Seal and Go before it was completely sealed, each coat was applied using a paint pad.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor After Sealing Whightgate Northwich

The clean and new sealer really lifted the appearance of the kitchen much to the delight of my customer who was once again over the moon with the result. For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a mild but effective cleaning product designed for use on sealed tiles.

Professional Cleaning of a Terracotta Tiled Floor in Cheshire

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Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Before After Polishing Delamere

Polishing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor in Delamere

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Winsford Tile Cleaning / Alastair Robb

This Travertine Polishing enquiry came from a homeowner in the village of Delamere which is in the middle of the Cheshire countryside, West of Winsford. The customer had recently moved to the area and was unhappy with the dull appearance of their Travertine tiled kitchen floor, there were also small holes in the tiles which needed filling.

Travertine is a natural stone and holes or pitting can appear as thin layers of surface stone break down to reveal a cavity underneath. This is a common problem and can be made worse by the use of strong acidic cleaning products that eat away at the surface over time.

The solution was to fill the holes using a matching epoxy filler, deep clean the grout and then burnish the tiles to remove the dirt and bring up the polish. Happy with my quote we agreed a date for the work to commence.

Travertine Floor Tiles Before Polishing Delamere

Grout Cleaning and Filling Pitts in a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

The first job was to fill the holes/pitts in the Travertine using a purpose made product called Tenax which comes in a variety of colours and is described as an adhesive filler that sets hard.

Travertine Floor Tiles During Filling Delamere

Step two was to get the grout clean so I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an alkaline tile and grout cleaner. I left this to soak in and breakdown the dirt for roughly ten minutes before scrubbing it in by hand. Once done the floor was rinsed with water and the soil now released from the stone extracted using a wet vacuum.

Polishing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

To bring back the polished appearance of the Travertine I applied a set of four diamond burnishing pads of different grades in sequence from coarse to extra fine. The first two pads take off any remaining sealer and dirt, the floor is then washed down and the residue removed by wet vacuum. We then go onto the third pad which is a 1500 grit which starts to put a shine back on the stone. The floor is then washed down again with clean water and the slurry removed with the wet vacuum.

The floor is then forced dried by large fans and once dry the last pad is applied which is a 3000-grit pad that puts a high shine on the floor. A small amount of water is sprayed onto the tiles during this process which we refer to as a spray burnish.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

Spray burnishing also leaves the floor dry and ready to be sealed. The owner wanted the Travertine to look as natural as possible so two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal were applied. This is an impregnating sealer which is recommended for use on polished stone and for use in kitchens. To finish and to remove excess sealer the floor was then buffed with a White pad.

Travertine Kitchen Floor Tiles After Polishing Delamere

I mentioned at the beginning of this post not to use strong cleaning products on Travertine and this advice is especially relevant if the stone is sealed as strong products including bleach can also erode the sealer. For the regular cleaning of sealed Travertine, I would recommend using Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is a gentle but effective cleaner that also helps maintain the patina.

Professional Renovation of a Dull Travertine Kitchen Floor in Cheshire

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Restoring a Carpet Covered Terracotta Tiled Floor in Appleton

1 Comment / Appleton Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / Alastair Robb

I was contacted by a home owner in Appleton near Warrington who had a Terracotta tiled floor in their dining Room. The floor had previously been covered in carpet and they were keen to have the whole floor restored.

To complicate things further the Carpet had been stuck down with a strong adhesive and a local builder had advised them to remove the glue using brick acid. Although this was successful it had the side effect of discolouring the grout lines and no amount of rinsing with the floor with water to dilute and wash off the acid would resolve the problem.

Carpet Covered Terracotta Tiled Floor Before Restortion in Appleton

Happy for me to resolve the problem, my client informed me they were going on holiday and would like me to do the work whilst they were away. This was a great idea as it would guard against unwanted foot traffic during the cleaning and sealing process and it would also mean they would have a nice surprise waiting for them on their return.

Deep Cleaning a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor

After protecting the Kitchen units and skirting boards with plastic sheeting my first job was to strip any remaining sealer off the Terracotta tiles using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. The solution was spread across the floor and then left to dwell for twenty minutes before scrubbing it in with a black scrubbing pad attached to a rotary floor buffer. I then used a wet vacuum to remove the now dirty cleaning solution from the floor.

The grout was also given a good scrub using more Tile Doctor Pro-Clean but this time it was scrubbed in with a narrow stiff brush until I was satisfied it was as clean as it could be. The floor given a good rinse and I then inspected the floor tile and grout to ensure it was clean and free of sealers, any areas that needed ore work were retreated and the floor given a final rinse and dry with the wet vacuum before being left to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned the next morning and tested the tiles with a damp meter to ensure they were dry before beginning applying the sealer. All was well, so I started by applying a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer that seeps into the pores of the tile protecting it from within and enhancing the natural red colour of the Terracotta in the process.

Once the first coat had dried I followed up with two coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a compatible water-based sealer that works really well on clay tiles and adds a lovely sheen finish to the floor.

The last step was to resolve the problem with the discoloured grout lines by applying a white grout colourant to the grout. This gave the grout a fresh and consistent appearance throughout and also has the benefit of sealing the grout which will protect it from staining and also make it much easier to clean.

Last step was to finish the sealing of the floor by topping up the sealer with another three coats of Seal and Go to ensure the floor was fully sealed.

The result was a huge improvement and now looked like a recently installed Terracotta floor. When my customer returned from holiday they were more than happy with the floor and the work I had done.

Restoring a Tired Terracotta Tiled Floor in Cheshire

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