Original Victorian Tiled Hallway Extended and Refreshed in Sevenoaks
This customer has recently purchased a house in Sevenoaks and was looking to extend and reconfigure the interior layout. As part of this, they had removed a wall, effectively extending the hallway which had been tiled in fantastic original Victorian tiles. Naturally, they felt the extended hallway should look the same and wanted the Victorian tiles extending into this new area with matching tiles.
Cleaning a Dirty Victorian Tiled Hallway
To clean the floor, I applied several different products. When cleaning Victorian tiles, I usually start by applying our heavy duty cleaner known as Tile Doctor Remove and Go because it is particularly effective at breaking down grime that has been built up on these tiles over many years, and as its name suggests strips away any old sealer. This is left to dwell on the tile for ten to fifteen minutes before being scrubbed in with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary floor buffer.
Once the cleaning slurry from the Remove and Go had been vacuumed up and cleared completely from the area, I then applied a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean, a high alkaline cleaner which helps to get deep into the stone to eliminate ingrained dir and staining.
I finished the deep cleaning process by applying a solution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up, which is an acid-based cleaner that is good for removing grout haze and other mineral deposits such as effloresce. After diluting it with water, I used it to rinse the floor, neutralising any efflorescence and limescale. It also assisted in opening the pores in the clay based tiles to get them ready for an impregnating sealer.
Laying a Victorian Tiled Hallway
The next step was to extended the hallway using reproduction tiles which I had sourced to match the existing Victorian pattern. There were also a couple of areas where the existing tiles need replacing. Rebuilding Victorian tiled floors is quite a common request for Tile Doctor so over the years we have built up a good list of suppliers and often source tiles from ebay that we keep in stock in case someone needs them.
Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway
One the new tiles were laid and the grout had gone off I returned to complete the project by sealing the whole floor with a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, a colour-enhancing impregnating sealer that leaves the floor richer in colour while retaining the natural looking matte finish requested by the customer.
Professional Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration and Extension in Sevenoaks
Slate Tiled Wet Room Treated for Grout Haze and Restored in Sevenoaks
A builder had made a real mess of this customer’s new Slate tiled wet room. When installing any new natural stone tiles, it is always recommended to apply the sealer before grouting, since – as was the case here – the porosity of the stone can cause the grout to stick with to the stone, leaving a terrible blotchy and uneven appearance.
Restoring the appearance of a Slate Tiled Wet Room
To begin, I had to tape up all the chrome and metal fittings found around the bathroom to stop them coming into contact with the cleaning products. I them started the restoration by applying Tile Doctor Acid Gel, which is a PH1 blend of Phosphoric and Hydrochloric acids for the removal of grout haze.
As it comes in a gel form, this product is especially effective on vertical or sloped surfaces, where more dwell time is required. A liquid product would, of course, simply run off the tiles. So, working on small areas at a time, I allowed the gel to dwell for around five minutes, before agitating the solution with a pan scrubber, and rinsing the gel off with water. Once I had completed this process on the whole of the wet room, I allowed the tiles to dry out before repeating the process on some of the areas suffering from thicker smears of grout.
Sealing Slate Wet Room Tiles
When I was happy that I had removed all of the grout smears, I ensured that all the tiles were dry before applying Tile Doctor Stone Oil. This product is an easy-to-apply, pre-polish impregnating sealer which is ideal for low porosity stone and also suitable for more porous stone, such as Terracotta. It is also specially designed to enhance the natural colours and textures of tiles, and improve mechanical strength once cured. The oil is particularly effective when used on dark stone, like this Slate, as it really helps to deepen the colour.
I returned the next day to seal the tiles completely using one coat of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal to lock in the Stone Oil applied the previous day. Ultra Seal is a premium, no-sheen, natural-look, solvent-based penetrating sealer formulated to provide maximum stain protection. It allows moisture vapour transmission and is an excellent grout sealer.
Professional Slate Tile Restoration in a Kent Wet Room
Cleaning and Removing Grout Haze from a Quarry Tiled floor in Kemsing, Kent
The attached pictures are of a Quarry Tiled floor in a kitchen and family room of a cottage in Kemsing, Kent. The cottage was undergoing a full renovation and extension, and the quarry tiled floor was recently installed, however it was not sealed prior to grouting, and a grey grout haze was now sitting across the whole floor. Quarry tiles are highly porous and if not sealed before grouting the grout sitting on the tile soaks in leaving the colour of the grout as a haze over the tile.
Cleaning Quarry Tiles
There had been a number of tradesmen working constantly on the premises so it was difficult to tell what was grout haze and what was builders mess so I the first job was to give the floor a good clean. For this I used a strong mixture of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted with water in a 3:1 ratio. I also added a squirt of Tile Doctor NanoTech Ultra-Clean which is an abrasive clean cleaner and processed to apply the solution to the floor. I left the solution to dwell on the floor for a short while and then scrubbed the floor using my weighted floor scrubbing machine fitted with a black 17inch scrubbing pad. The cleaning residue was removed using a wet vacuum and we could now see all the grout haze quite clearly.
Removing Grout Haze from Quarry Tiles
To remove the grout haze one part Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up was mixed with three parts water and poured into a spray bottle; Grout Clean-up is a product specifically designed for removing grout haze. This was then sprayed onto the floor, covering an area of around 1m2 and spread so it covered the grout haze evenly. This was allowed to dwell on the tile for three to four minutes before I agitated the solution by hand with a pan scrubber and water. This was then vacuumed up before I took a scrubbing brush and clean water from another bucket and scrubbed the area, before again vacuuming up. This ensured that all the formula had been cleansed from the floor; this process was repeated across the whole floor, working on 1m2 at a time and then left to dry ready for sealing.
Sealing Quarry Tiles
The floor was now ready for sealing; Quarry tile floors can accept two types of sealer, a topical sealer or an impregnated sealer. I usually recommend Tile Doctor Seal & Go for Quarry tiled floors which is a Topical sealer as it is easier to maintain. On this occasion however the customer wanted to wait until they had completed decorating and was happy to seal the floor themselves, so I gave them advice on what sealers to use and how best to use them and left them to it.
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Grout Haze removal from Quarry Tiles in Kent
Tired Black Slate Tiled floor in Sevenoaks restored
The photographs below are of a black slate tiled floor in the kitchen and utility room of a house in Knatts Valley, Sevenoaks Kent, it was laid around six years ago when the kitchen was installed. The owner was now having the whole kitchen re-decorated and was considering laying a new floor as the current slate looked so tired and was difficult to clean.
Cleaning Black Slate Tiled Floor
Normally I would use a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean solution mixed with Tile Doctor Nanotech Ultra-Clean and a floor buffing machine, but due to the deep riven nature of the slate, the floor would have to be scrubbed manually. The floor had been sealed originally and although old and broken there was still a lot of sealer on the floor which all had to be removed. I decided to use the blanket system, which involves a mixture of Tile Doctor Remove & Go mixed with Nanotech Ultra-Clean 70:30 mix. This mixture was applied to floor, and covered in plastic to prevent the solution from drying out. This was left on the floor for two hours, and then scrubbed off, you can just use a natural bristled scrubbing brush, but I find them cumbersome with the solution, so I opt for oversized pan scrubbers, which are pliable for getting into deep riven tiles. As the solution was scrubbed it was rinsed with water and removed with a wet vacuum. When everything was removed for from the floor and vacuumed up, I rinsed the floor again with water and vacuumed up to ensure all the solution had gone, the floor was then left for 48 hours to ensure it had fully dried out.
Sealing Black Slated Tiles
The slate floor was sealed using five coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go, which despite being a low sheen finish, it really enhanced the colour of the black slate giving it more depth. The tiled floor was ready for light foot traffic in a few hours, achieving a full cure in 24 hours. The beauty of using a topical sealer such as Seal & Go on a riven stone is that the feel of the stone is smoother and therefore easier to mop. For everyday cleaning purposes we recommend Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner, diluted 1:30 with water.
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The customer was very pleased with the result and was pleased not to have to replace the floor.
Restoration of tired black slate floor in Sevenoaks
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Kent Tile Doctor