duxford

Block Paved Patio Before After Renovation Duxford

Cleaning and Re sanding a Block Paved Patio in Duxford

I was called out to a house in Duxford to quote for cleaning kitchen floor tiles when the customer realised, we could also clean and re-sand block paved patios. We provided her with a quote and booked the work in alongside her kitchen tiles which I will detail in another post.

Duxford is a small village around 10 miles from Cambridge, and is an area which is rich in history. Duxford is most famous for RAF Duxford, a former RAF airfield that was used as a sector station during the Battle of Britain. Back in 1972 the Ministry of Defence began to store historically important aircraft in the hangars on the airfield and it is now used to house the Duxford Imperial War Museum .

Dirty Block Paved Patio Before Deep Cleaning Duxford

The block paved patio was looking worse for wear after the winter, what was once lovely shades of red brick was now dark and almost black in places with dirt and algae. Regular maintenance is always suggested to ensure the paving is looked after and to prevent it becoming slippery.

Dirty Block Paved Patio Before Deep Cleaning Duxford

Cleaning an outside Block Paved Patio

Our first job was to sweep the patio down to remove loose dirt and leaves.

Next job was to tackle the heavily stained areas that were treated with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean solution which was applied neat and left to soak in for fifteen minutes. Normally I would dilute Pro-Clean with water but in this case, I needed the full power of the product and even applying such a strong solution would not cause the brick pavers any harm. Whilst the Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was soaking in, I set up the high-pressure machine in my van and ran the long hose out to the garden area.

The Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was then scrubbed in by hand with a long handled scrubbing brush. The area was quite large, so this took most of the morning. The patio really was very dirty so lifting the layers of dirt took some time.

Next the block paving was deep cleaned using water delivered under high pressure from a wand supplied by our truck mounted cleaning machine. This machine can deliver water at various pressure levels, much higher than your average Karcher and makes easy work of cleaning patios. Immediately the patio started to look dramatically cleaner.

Once the block patio was done, I left it to dry and turned my attention to the decking around the other side of the house.

Re Sanding a Block Paved Patio

After a day of drying out we returned the following morning to re-sand the patio with kiln-dried sand which is essential to maintain the integrity of the patio and keeping the weeds down.

Dirty Block Paved Patio After Deep Cleaning Duxford

The renovation process worked really well, and the patio now looks as new as it did when it was laid. My customer was overjoyed with the results, hopefully the weather will enable them to get the patio furniture out so they can have lots of barbeques this year and make the most of the space.

Dirty Block Paved Patio After Deep Cleaning Duxford

 

Professional Block Paved Patio Renovation in Cambridgeshire

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Slate Floor Duxford After Cleaning and sealing

Dirty and Stained Slate Tiles Refreshed Near Duxford

This wonderful Slate tiled floor at a property near the old village of Duxford had been installed throughout the ground floor kitchen, utility room, dining room, and downstairs toilet, making it a very large area. As such, the property owner had struggled to keep the tile and grout looking it’s best and had tried many off the shelf supermarket-quality products without much success and you can see from the photographs the slate was now looking tired and the grout was quite stained and so we were called in to work our magic

Slate Floor Duxford Before Cleaning
While Slate is typically known for its durability, any kind of porous stone will over time become dirty and stained if the sealer is not maintained, sealers do fail eventually and usually in the highest traffic areas first where they become worn down the most.

Slate Floor Duxford Before Cleaning

Cleaning Dirty Slate Tile

Before starting the cleaning process, we protected the walls and skirting boards from coming into contact with products by covering them with plastic. I also opted to remove the kickboards from around the edges of the kitchen units, kickboards are usually just clipped into place and are easily put back later.

Slate Floor Duxford Before Cleaning Adding Protection
I then applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go to the floor, which is a multi-purpose stripper/cleaner designed to strip away old sealers and remove grout haze, adhesives and paints. It also draws out ingrained stains. The entire floor was blanketed in a thin plastic sheet to give the chemical time to emulsify the old sealers without drying out.

Slate Floor Duxford With Plastic Blanket
Next, I used our high-pressure extraction system to remove all the emulsified sealers. The system works by applying hot water under high pressure to the floor deep cleaning the tile, whilst simultaneously extracting the dirty water back to a tank on our van. This process did a great job of getting the floor clean and free of old sealers etc., and after completing the initial clean a thorough walk through of the floor was done to identify any stubborn areas that needed further treatment.

Slate Floor Duxford During Pressure Cleaning
Finally, the floor was left to dry overnight.

Sealing Slate Tiles

Upon arriving back at the property, the next day, I ran some quick damp tests to check that the floor was completely dry and ready to be sealed. Once satisfied, I applied several coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, which works really well on Slate giving it that much needed protection against dirt and stains, along with a full lustre finish that enhances the character of the floor, it was a large area and you have to wait for the first coat to dry before applying the next so it took some time to complete as I’m sure you can imagine.

Slate Floor Duxford After Cleaning and Sealing
You should be able to see the floor was quite transformed after our visit and needless to say the customer was very happy with the result.

Slate Floor Duxford After Cleaning and Sealing
 

Refurbishing a tired Slate Tiled Floor in Cambridgeshire

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