Kitchen Floor Cleaning Archives - Cambridge Tile Doctor

Cream Limestone Floor Before After Refurbish Cambridge

Cream Limestone Floor Refurbished in Cambridge

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

The pictures below are of a Cream Limestone floor that I was recently asked to renovate in Cambridge. Limestone tile had been installed throughout much of the ground floor and due to the original sealer wearing off it had started absorbing dirt into the pores of the stone. This is an inevitable problem with natural stone and once ingrained with dirt the tiles looked permanently dirty despite the efforts of the owner to clean them.

Cream Limestone Floor Before Cleaning Cambridge

Having visited the property to survey the floor, I discussed with the owner the process required to deep clean and polish the stone back to health. Happy with my quotation we agreed a date for the work to be carried out.

Cleaning and Polishing a Large Limestone Tiled Floor

To renovate the stone back to its original condition it need to be honed with a series of floor burnishing pads from 400 through to 3000 grit. Some areas were worse than others especially those which had a heavy traffic flow, i.e. kitchen, hallway, and dining room. For those areas I dropped right down to a very coarse a 200-grit burnishing pad to really get into the pores of the stone before moving on to the 400-grit.

During the first stage of honing I also applied a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was worked into the limestone with the burnishing pad. The process does generate a lot of soil which needs to be removed after each pad. For this I have a van mounted extraction system that applies hot pressurised water onto the floor and then simultaneously extracts the soil back into a collection tank using a vacuum. It is very efficient and saves a lot of time when cleaning a large floor like this, it also has the added benefit of keeping the floor reasonably dry and keeping the mess to a minimum.

Cream Limestone Floor During Cleaning Cambridge

I progressed through the other pads including 400, 800 and 1500-grit using water to lubricate the burnishing process and the van mounted cleaning system to clean up afterwards. The last 3000 grit pad is applied using a little water sprayed onto the floor which is a process we call a spray burnish and really brings up the polish on the Limestone. With the pad being applied dry it also leaves the tile dry and ready for sealing.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Ground Floor

Once the honing was complete, I did a quick test with the moisture meter to ensure the floor was dry enough to seal. Due to only using minimum water during the burnishing and the large area of the floor the areas I had started on were dry enough to seal. I applied multiple coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, this is an impregnating sealer which gives the floor protection and a nice sheen. Any excess sealer was buffed off with a red pad.

Cream Limestone Floor After Cleaning Cambridge

During the work there were multiple trades working on the house, so in all the work took five days to complete. The client was extremely pleased with the final finish and our flexibility in working around the other tradesmen. He also left the following testimonial on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

“We cannot recommend Tom Conlon highly enough. Our indoor limestone floors hadn’t been attended to in 15 years and we are thrilled with the result. Our house is rejuvenated. Tom was always professional, punctual and accommodating over the five days the work took. We would definitely ask him back for any other work in the future. Thank you Tom.”

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Floors in Cambridgeshire

Cream Limestone Floor Refurbished in Cambridge Read More »

Dirty Terracotta Floor Before After Renovation Haslingfield

Renovating a Dirty Terracotta Kitchen Diner Floor in Haslingfield

1 Comment / Cambridge Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / Tom Conlon

A few months ago, I was asked to look at this Terracotta tiled floor that was installed in the kitchen diner of a house in Haslingfield. The client wanted to have it deep cleaned and re sealed because regular cleaning no longer had any effect and the tiles were now looking very dirty. The village of Haslingfield is only about six miles south-west of Cambridge and only a twenty-minute drive from my base in Dry Drayton.

Terracotta Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Haslingfield

After discussing the problem floor on the phone, I arranged to visit the property, survey the floor and work out the best course of action. As you can confirm for yourself from the pictures on this page the floor was indeed looking dull and dirty and I suspected the sealer had worn down and was now allowing dirt to build-up in the pores of the tile. I carried out a test clean to show the client what the result could look like and the floor responded rather well. They were very satisfied and happy to go ahead with my quote and so we arranged a convenient time to carry out the work.

Cleaning and Restoring a Terracotta Tiled Hallway Floor

To deep clean and remove what was left of the old sealer I applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go, this is sprayed on and left to soak in for ten minutes. Then it was scrubbed in with a black pad fitted to a rotary machine. The dirt released from the tiles was then rinsed off the floor with water and extracted with a wet vacuum. This process was repeated as needed before turning my attention to the grout lines which was hand scrubbed with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which cleans the grout and removes any excess grout.

The floor was given a second rinse and then inspected with any stubborn stains spot treated by with a repeat of the previous process. Thankfully the initial clean had been effective and there were only a couple of areas that needed further attention.

Once the deep clean was completed, the floor was left to dry off overnight and the following morning.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Hallway Floor

Returning in the afternoon, I tested the floor for excess moisture with the damp meter. This confirmed the tiles were dry, so I started applying a fresh sealer. I selected to use Tile Doctor Seal and Go for this as this is a specially formulated water-based blend of acrylic polymers which provides both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable low-sheen finish which the client wanted. Five coats were applied allowing enough time for each coat to dry before applying the next.

Terracotta Tiled Floor After Sealing Haslingfield

I think you will agree from the pictures there was a remarkable transformation during this restoration. Certainly, my client was very happy with the result and has since had us back to repeat the process on another Terracotta tiled floor. They also left the following comments on the Tile Doctor feedback system which is always appreciated.

Tom did a great job bringing back depth and tone to our very dirty Terracotta kitchen tiles. Very happy with the results.

Professional Renovation of a Terracotta Tiled Floor in Cambridge

Renovating a Dirty Terracotta Kitchen Diner Floor in Haslingfield Read More »

Terracotta Effect Porcelain Tile Grout Before After Cleaning Ely

Terracotta Effect Porcelain Tile & Grout Deep Cleaned in Ely

1 Comment / Ely Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Work History / Tom Conlon

We were called out to this property in Ely to carry out a deep clean on kitchen tiles that had the look of terracotta but were actually porcelain. The client had been cleaning the floor with household floor cleaner which really wasn’t working, and the grout had now turned black with ingrained dirt. If you have never been then Ely is well worth a visit, it’s a small but beautiful city on the West side of Cambridgeshire with a stunning ancient Cathedral which attracts visitors from outside the area.

Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Ely

My client had dogs and with the kitchen tile and grout not having had a deep clean for several years it was now overdue a clean. We popped round to do a site visit to survey the floor and tested a small area with different products to see what would work best. The results looked good, and we agreed a price to carry the work and arranged a suitable time to complete the work.

Deep Cleaning Terracotta Effect Porcelain Tiles in Ely

We began by applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to the floor and then worked it in with a stiff brush fitted to a rotary floor machine. The brush was run over the tiles and especially the grout lines where the recessed grout can be tricky to reach. Pro-Clean is a heavy duty alkaline cleaner that safe to use on Tile and Grout and works best when left to dwell for a short time so it can digest and breakdown the dirt.

This cleaning solution soon turned black with the dirt that was released from the tile and grout, so the next task was to extract it from the floor. For this we have a special extraction machine that applies hot water under high pressure to the floor and then extracts the soil back to a recovery tank on the van. This machine keeps the mess made to the absolute minimum whilst ensuring a thorough result.

The combination of the two processes had a remarkable effect on the tile and the grout which by now was looking much cleaner and lighter.

Grout Sealing a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor in Ely

If these tiles were Terracotta then I the next step would be seal them once dry, however being made from nonporous Porcelain they won’t accept a sealer. The grout however has a porous cementitious top layer which attracts dirt so to keep the grout looking its best I set about speed drying it with air movers so it could be sealed.

Once dry I sealed the grout using a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is an impregnating sealer that will soak into the pores of the grout and protect it from within. Any excess was removed afterwards from the surface with a red buffing pad fitted to a buffing machine.

Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Ely

As you can see from the pictures the floor looked much cleaner and fresher and with the grout now properly sealed it should no longer attract the dirt.

My Client gave us a 5 Star review with this feedback which we are always very grateful for.

“The tiles look great at present. It remains to be seen if the sealer that was applied really does make them repel stains. Tony P, Ely”

Professional Restoration of a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor in Cambridgeshire

Terracotta Effect Porcelain Tile & Grout Deep Cleaned in Ely Read More »