Hallway Floor Archives - Cambridge Tile Doctor

Pale Limestone Floor Before and After Renovation Toft

Cleaning a Stunning Pale Limestone Hallway Floor in Toft

1 Comment / Cambridge Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Tom Conlon

This job was for a repeat client in Toft near Cambridge who had aa stunning large hallway that was tiled in beautiful pale Limestone. My client had asked me back to work on the floor having previously completed the deep clean and seal of a Terracotta floor previously.

Polished Limestone Floor Before Cleaning Toft

The Limestone tiling in the entrance hall had years of some type of topical sealer applied to it. This caused the stone to look slightly discoloured and from certain lights showed up hundreds of scratches and smudges embedded in the seal. I’ve tried to capture this problem in the photographs on this page, but it was very difficult.

A topical sealer sits on the surface of the tile where it is vulnerable to scratching, hallways are generally high traffic areas and so more likely to see this sort of problem. Ideally an impregnating sealer should have been applied, impregnators work by occupying the pores in the stone thus preventing soiling from becoming ingrained in the stone.

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Hallway Floor

Before starting we protected the woodwork against splashing with blue film, I don’t usually make a great deal of mess, but you can never be too careful when working in someone’s property especially one as beautiful as this.

To strip off the old sealer I began by applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go to the Limestone tiles. I split the floor into sections and used a 400-grit diamond burnishing pad to work the Tile Doctor Remove and Go into the tiles. The floor was then rinsed off using our high-pressure cleaning system that applies pressurised hot water to the floor whilst simultaneously extracting the soil with its built-in vacuum. The system is quite heavy, so it is built into my van, and I run a large flexible hose to a spinner tool that does the cleaning. It is an expensive tool, but it saves a lot of time and leaves the floor fairly dry afterwards.

The 400-grit pad had released a lot of the sealer but there were quite a few layers to get through, so I changed the burnishing pad to a coarse 200-grit pad and repeated the process. After another rinse and extract I would see it had the desired effect and I was able to carry on building up the finish on the Limestone by apply the 400-grit followed by the 800, 1500 grit pads. It was a large floor and so this took up much of the day so once complete I left for the day so it could dry off overnight.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Hallway Floor

The next day I finished the polishing process with the application of a 3000-grit burnishing pad which is applied with a little water sprayed onto the tile and really brings up the polish on the stone. This process has the added advantage of leaving the floor dry so not long afterwards I was able to move on to sealing.

For this floor two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal were applied, it is an impregnating sealer that won’t alter the colour of the tiles leaving a natural look.

Polished Limestone Floor After Cleaning Polishing Toft

My client was much happier with the new finish and has asked for another quotation on some more Terracotta flooring that needs attention. For aftercare I recommend using Tile Doctor stone soap, it’s a special formula that builds on the patina which will help maintain the polished appearance of the Limestone.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Hallway in Cambridgeshire

Cleaning a Stunning Pale Limestone Hallway Floor in Toft Read More »

Pitted Limestone Floor Before After Renovation Warboys Cambridgeshire

Pitted Limestone Tiled Floor Deep Cleaned and Sealed in Warboys

1 Comment / Cambridge Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Work History / Tom Conlon

The photographs below are from a Limestone tiled floor which had been installed throughout the kitchen, hall and downstairs WC of a property in the Cambridgeshire village of Warboys. The owner was fed up with the floor which was not cleaning up after multiple attempts, he surmised it was overdue a deep clean and re-seal and so got in touch with us to do the work.

We visited the property to survey the floor and could straight away that the owner was right to call us, the floor was definitely overdue a professional clean and he would not have been able to improve it without the right equipment. It was a large space and being the hallway and kitchen area, it was subject to a lot of foot traffic so was not looking its’ best. One of the biggest problems was the pitting in the Limestone which had trapped a lot of dirt which was difficult to shift. We discussed the options and the cost for the work which was agreeable to the client and arranged an appointment to return to carry out the renovation.

Deep Cleaning and restoring a Limestone Tiled Kitchen and Hallway Floor

Before starting I wrapped protective tape around the woodwork and removed the kickboards from underneath the kitchen units to protect them during the cleaning process.

Limestone and Travertine are notorious for pitting and on this floor the pits had trapped dirt making it look very unattractive. To deal with this I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go, allowed it to soak in and break-down the dirt and old coatings such as sealers for ten minutes and then scrubbed it in with a 400-grit diamond burnishing pad fitted to a rotary machine.

To remove the slurry that was generated I used our hot water pressurised extraction system which is a great tool that operates from a large compressor situated in my van which was parked outside. It fires hot pressurised water onto the floor via a floor spinner tool and then extracts the dirty water back onto a tank in the van. The pressure allows the water to penetrate deep into the pits of the stone to maximise the dirt extracted. This machine was an expensive investment however it saves a lot of time and allows me to achieve some outstanding results.

This process was repeated across the floor using the 800-grit and then the 1500-grit diamond burnishing pads using only water to lubricate and the extraction system to extract the slurry afterwards.

There were number of areas to cover so it took most of the day to clean all the floors, by the end of the day however the floor looked much cleaner and brighter. I left the floor to dry out overnight and came back the next day to apply a sealer.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen and Hallway Floor

The next day I inspected the floor and checked it was dry before applying the sealer. To seal the Limestone I applied multiple coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer which penetrates into the stone, protecting it from within and enhancing the natural colours in the stone in the process. Any excess sealant was buffed off the surface with a cloth after ten to fifteen minutes.

Limestone Tiled Floor After Cleaning Sealing

The sealer really brought out beauty and colours in the natural stone and the floor was transformed in just two days. The owner of the house was happy with the results and left the following feedback on the tile doctor feedback system.

‘Tom did a superb job of cleaning my tiles to look like new. Very professional, methodical and proud of his work’
Brian A, Warboys

Professional Renovation of Pitted Limestone Floor Tiles in Cambridgeshire

Pitted Limestone Tiled Floor Deep Cleaned and Sealed in Warboys Read More »

Quarry Tiled Floor Before After Renovation Wicken

Salt Stained Quarry Tiled Floor Renovated Wicken

1 Comment / Ely Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Work History / Tom Conlon

We were called out to quote for restoring this Quarry tiled living room & hallway for a building contractor in the local area of Wicken. This is a small village on the edge of The Fens near Soham in East Cambridgeshire.

The works needed to be completed at short notice as the property was due to be put up for rent, so I agreed to work over two evenings to make sure it was ready for the first tenant. We discussed the cost and the process, and the contractor was happy to go ahead. We can always be flexible with our diary to help out our clients.

Quarry Tiled Floor With Salt Staining Wicken Before Cleaning

The floor had signs of alkaline salt efflorescence which had left white patches on the tiles, this problem is usually indicative of a damp issue but when I went over to survey the floor, I checked with a damp meter and couldn’t find any evidence of dampness. Clearly something had happened in the past and as the floor dried out it left these white salt deposits on the surface.

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Living Room and Hallway Floor

To remove the salt stains the floor was given an Acid Wash several times with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up worked in with a stiff brush pad fitted to a rotary machine. The acid in the product counters and removes the alkaline salts, it also cleans up the tiles of any other mineral deposits such as old grout smears. The floor was then rinsed with water to remove the now soiled solution and then extracted using a wet vacuum.

Once I was happy that the salts had been removed, we applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go to strip the quarry tiles of old sealers. This is a non-flammable, multi-purpose stripper which is safe to use on tiles and works best when left to soak into the tile for ten minutes first. This product also draws out ingrained stains and removes heavy grease build-up and any ingrained dirt. We used the rotary machine again fitted with the stiff brush as before to get the floor nice and clean. As before the floor was rinsed with water and the soils extracted using the wet vacuum.

The floor was then left to dry overnight in preparation for the sealant to be applied.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Living Room and Hallway Floor

Upon arriving the following evening, the floor was checked again with the damp meter to make sure it was dry, all was well, so it was then sealed with multiple coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go. This provides both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable low-sheen. The sealer brought back the deep colour in the tile and made a huge difference to the look of the floor. It would also make the floor much easier for the new tenant to maintain going forward.

You can see from the pictures the transformation that was achieved. The client was very happy with the completed work and was satisfied he would now be able to rent the property out to his next tenant.

Quarry Tiled Floor Wicken After Cleaning

Professional Quarry Tiled Floor Restoration in Cambridgeshire

Salt Stained Quarry Tiled Floor Renovated Wicken Read More »