Penrith Tile Cleaning Archives - North Cumbria Tile Doctor

Flood Damaged Red Sandstone Hallway Renovation Penrith

Flood Damaged Red Sandstone Hallway Floor Renovated in Penrith

1 Comment / Penrith Tile Cleaning, Sandstone Tile Cleaning / Heidi Taylor / Cumbria, Flood Damage, Flood Restoration, floor restoration, Grout Clean-up, Milling Pads, Milling Stone, Penrith, Pointing Sandstone, Red Sandston, Remove and Go, Stone Cleaning, Stone Sealing, X-Tra Seal

The customer from Penrith called us in to see if we could improve the appearance of their Red Sandstone hallway floor. Several weeks earlier it had been covered in mud and water from flooding. Once the flood waters had subsided the floor was given a general clean, but the stone looked terrible and completely washed out.

Flood Damaged Red Sandstone Hallway before Cleaning Penrith

Its important to let everything dry out before attempting any renovation work and this is especially the case with Stone and Clay tiles. When the floors this bad there’s no point trying to get a decent clean just by using chemicals alone, so we often offer a system we have perfected at Tile Doctor called “Milling”. We discussed the project in detail with the client and agreed a price and a time to complete the work.

Restoring Flood Damaged Red Sandstone

Milling pads are encrusted with very coarse industrial diamonds and allow you to cut deeper into the stone than the burnishing pads we use for polishing. We use them to remove a thin layer of stone from the floor to reveal new stone underneath.

Tile Doctor supply these pads in different sizes, types and grits and on this occasion, we used a 17 inch 200-grit milling pad fitted to a Numatic buffing machine running on low speed. Extra weight was added to the machine to improve the depth of clean and the process was lubricated with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go. The edges were then cleaned with a set of handheld Diamond Blocks which allow you to get right into the corners. Once the whole floor had been treated it was rinsed with water and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum.

The Sandstone floor was then given an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up to remove stone resins and neutralise alkaline salts which can build up in the stone and present themselves as White Efflorescence later. The floor was then given a final rinse and dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum before allowing it to dry off overnight.

Sealing Red Sandstone Flooring

The stone floor was left to dry out for a full 24 hours and we called back on the 3rd day to apply a coat of Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal, which is an oil-based sealer that improves colour and structure to the stone. This product is fully breathable and rated for external use and so will cope with any further dampness coming up from the ground.

The sealer really brought out the true red colour of the Sandstone and completely transformed its appearance. The customer has only lived in the house a short time and had no idea of what colour the stone should be as it was Grey when they moved in.

Re-Pointing Red Sandstone Flooring

It was quite rewarding to bring the stone back to life and to finish the renovation of the floor our attention turned to the pointing which had been compromised by the flooring and was in a bad state.

The old pointing was carefully knocked out and after cleaning up the floor was re-pointed using a modern breathable pointing product called VDW 800 which comes in four different colours, it’s very easy to apply, copes well with wide gaps and fully hardens in 48 hours.

Traditionally a Lime mortar was used for this but there are several draw backs with this as it never really sets, and if you mop or clean the floor then traces of White pointing stain the stone. This is very noticeable on darker stones and secondly, it’s difficult to work with and remove after it has dried.

Flood Damaged Red Sandstone Hallway after Renovation Penrith

All in all, the Sandstone floor responded very well to our restoration methods and sealer, needless to say the customer was very happy with the result. For aftercare cleaning of Sandstone flooring I recommend the use of Neutral Tile Cleaner which is gentle enough not to impact the sealer yet an effective floor cleaning product that can be used regularly.

Flood Damaged Red Sandstone Hallway after Renovation Penrith

Professional Restoration of a Red Sandstone Hallway Floor in North Cumbria

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Mixed Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovation Clifton

Deep Cleaning a Mixed Chinese Slate Floor in Clifton near Penrith

1 Comment / Penrith Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Heidi Taylor / Chinese Slate, Clifton, Cumbria, Kitchen Tile Cleaning, Mixed Slate Floor, Penrith, Rough Slate, Sealing Slater, Semi-Riven Slate, slate tile cleaning, Stone Cleaning

The pictures below are of Chinese Slate floor in the Kitchen of a property in the small village of Clifton just south of Penrith. We often get asked what the difference is between Rough and Semi Riven Slate, and this floor was a mixture of both.

If you look closely at the pictures and check out the darker parts of the floor you will see these smoother Semi Riven Slate, whereas the light copper-coloured parts of the floor were of the rougher textured variety. It’s not that unusual for stone to be mixed in this fashion as it can be supplied from different quarries in order to achieve a particular look.

Rough Chinese Slate Floor Before Cleaning Clifton Penrith

The blend of different slates makes little difference when it comes to cleaning as the process is essentially the same. I would advise though if you intend to clean the floor using a mop then you should opt for Semi Riven Slate as Rough Slate can shred your mops and make it harder to maintain. We tend to use industrial floor buffing machines which work well on both surfaces so are less effected.

Cleaning a Rough Chinese Slate Kitchen Floor

There was a bit of wax on this floor so to remove this Tile Doctor Wax Away was applied. The product was left to stand for fifteen minutes before being scrubbed into the stone, rinsed and then the soil extracted with a wet vacuum.

We then finished the cleaning with an Acid Rinse which involves scrubbing the Slate with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up. This not only works well at cleaning up the stone and grout but also neutralises the alkaline pH left over from using Wax Away. I am very wary of the pH level of the floor as it could have an impact on the new sealer, giving the floor an acid rinse before sealing also ensures a better bond with the sealer.

Naturally, you can’t leave a strong product like Grout Clean-up on the Stone for long as it could etch the surface so once done the floor was thoroughly rinsed with water and extracted again with a wet vacuum. A mop and bucket and lots of sponges won’t do the job on a large area like this.

Sealing a Rough Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

Once we finished the clean, we left it to dry off overnight and came back the next day to apply the sealer. We were originally going to apply a satin finish sealer, but the client had a big dog with sharp claws which could of scratched and marked the sealer so decided against it. I advised the client to use an Impregnating sealer called Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which lifts the natural colours in the stone, but is not a topical shiny sealer as the seal soaks into the Slate and leaves a a nice matt finish instead. Only two coats of sealer were needed, and the floor looked like new again.

Rough Chinese Slate Floor After Cleaning Clifton Penrith

My client was very happy with the difference in the appearance of the stone and how much cleaner the grout was, so much so they the following feedback for us, which is always appreciated.

“Totally impressed with the team they couldn’t have been more professional and even left me with some cleaner. My horrible 12 year old slate tiles look fabulous”

As usual we left a free bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for aftercare, it’s very important not to undo all that hard work by using a product which will damage the seal, using a pH neutral cleaner will keep the seal looking sharp and fresh for years to come.

Professional Restoration of a Rough Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen in North Cumbria

Deep Cleaning a Mixed Chinese Slate Floor in Clifton near Penrith Read More »

Mexican Terracotta Tiled Floor Before After Clean Seal Penrith

Cleaning of a Mexican Terracotta floor in Penrith

1 Comment / Penrith Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / Heidi Taylor / Acid Rinse, acrylic based sealers, Clean and Seal, Gout Cleaning, Kitchen Floor Cleaning, Mexican Terracotta, North Cumbria, Penrith, Terracotta Cleaning, Terracotta Sealing

I have lost count of how many Terracotta tiled floors we have cleaned and sealed over the years and the one thing it has taught me is to wary of Mexican Terracotta. This type of Terracotta is extremely hard to work with, its porous and made of soft clay which has usually been badly fired. Even if you do have all the equipment, experience and the right products it can be a challenge.

Mexican Terracotta Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Penrith

If you look at these pictures of this Mexican Terracotta floor, we recently worked on in Penrith you will see the tiles looked very dull before we cleaned them. Testing indicated there was still a sealer present however we didn’t know what type it was. Knowing what your dealing with really helps narrow down the best cleaning products to use which for Terracotta tiles tends to fall into one of three different categories.

To remove wax-based sealers, we use Tile Doctor Wax Away
To remove acrylic based sealers, we use either Tile Doctor Pro Clean for light sealer coatings or Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel for heavier coatings.
To remove solvent based matt sealers we use Tile Doctor Remove and Go for light coatings or Tile Doctor Nanotech HBU for thicker coatings.

If you have the misfortune of having had Varnish laid on top of these tiles, then the job becomes significantly harder. Because of this we have to be flexible when pricing for the work, naturally if we give a quote and we use the wrong system then not only will we be out of product but also the extra labour time to get the job right for the customer.

Cleaning a Mexican Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor

On this occasion the sealer at this property in Penrith was of the more common acrylic type, so we used a combination of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and some Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel for the stubborn areas. The products are applied to the floor and then scrubbed in using a black pad fitted to a rotary buffing machine. This releases the old sealer and dirt from the tile resulting in a slurry that is then extracted off the floor using a wet vacuum. The floor is then rinsed with water and extracted again to make sure all the soil has been removed.

Last step the cleaning is to treat the tiles to an Acid Rinse to further clean the tiles and equalise the floors pH level after the use of alkaline cleaners. We used Tile Doctor Acid Gel for this which was first scrubbed in, then rinsed with water and finally extracted as before. The floor is then rinsed down again with water to remove any trace of product and the wet vacuum used to extract as much moisture from the floor as possible so it can have a better chance of drying out overnight.

Sealing a Mexican Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor

We called back the next day to seal the Terracotta first checking in several areas with a damp meter that the floor was nice and dry. All was well so several coats of a Tile Doctor Seal and Go were applied to the floor for a nice mid satin finish.

Mexican Terracotta Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Penrith

The finished floor looked fantastic and was doubly improved by the grout cleaning which had responded well to the Pro-Clean. The customer was over the moon with the transformation in their floor which now looked clean and bright.

Before leaving we left the customer with a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral cleaner for aftercare. To get the best from their Terracotta tiles it’s important that customers use the correct product for regular maintenance cleaning from the start.

Professional Clean and Seal of a Mexican Terracotta Tiled Kitchen in Cumbria

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Marble Floor Before and After Cleaning Penrith

Restoring Heavily Soiled Marble Tiles with Burnishing in Penrith

1 Comment / Marble Tile Cleaning, Penrith Tile Cleaning, Work History / Heidi Taylor / kitchen, marble tiles, North Cumbria, Penrith, tile cleaning, tile sealing

When you have high quality tiles like Marble, Limestone and Travertine, it’s even more important than normal to use suitable cleaning products. If, for example, you apply a slightly acidic cleaner to Limestone, it can cause severe, irreparable etching that significantly damages the appearance of the stone.

In a similar way, this customer in Penrith had been using an unsuitable wax-based liquid soap to clean her “Crema Marfil” Spanish Marble kitchen tiles. It had failed to prevent a heavy buildup of dirt, and had in fact darkened the stone, leaving it looking stained, unnatural, and all-around difficult to clean.

To avoid the floor becoming a complete nuisance, the customer contacted me to see what could be done to alleviate the problems.

Burnishing a Dirty Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor

I explained to the customer that a process we use at Tile Doctor known as burnishing would be the most effective way to clean the Marble. Also suitable for Limestone and Travertine, this process involves the sequential application of specialist diamond encrusted pads of different grits to grind down any soil buildup and gradually create an aesthetic polish in the surface of the tiles.

Our system consists of four burnishing pads: Coarse, Medium, Fine and Very Fine. I started, using a little water as lubrication, by applying the Coarse pad across the floor, as its rough grit is ideal for breaking down stubborn dirt and stains – and doss so without damaging the tile in any way.

Satisfied with the initial cleaning result achieved by the Coarse pad, I proceeded to work my way through the four burnishing pad system, applying the Medium, Fine and Very Fine pads in turn to restore the polish to the tiles. Following this, I paid some specific attention to the dirty grout, cleaning it with our reliable, multi-purpose alkaline cleaner, known as Tile Doctor Pro Clean, in combination with a steaming system.

Sealing a Marble Kitchen Floor

After completing the burnishing process, I left the tiles to dry overnight. Upon my return to the property I polished the floor one final time with the Very Fine pad before deciding that it was time to give it a fresh seal.

My choice of sealer in this situation was Tile Doctor Colour Grow, an impregnating, colour intensifying sealer that I knew would really do well to emphasise the natural beige shades in the Marble. I applied two coats of the sealer, before polishing off the excess with a buffing pad and leaving the tiles to dry again for a few hours before they could be walked on again.

My customer was very pleased with the outcome. Naturally, she was drill quite concerned about keeping the tiles clean in the long term, so I left her with a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Stone Soap, which is specifically designed for aftercare cleaning on polished Marble, Limestone and Travertine.

Professional Marble Tiled Kitchen Floor Restoration in Cumbria

Restoring Heavily Soiled Marble Tiles with Burnishing in Penrith Read More »

Sandstone floor Before and After milling and sealing in Penrith

Milling, Cleaning and Sealing Sandstone tiles in Penrith

1 Comment / Penrith Tile Cleaning, Sandstone Tile Cleaning, Work History / Heidi Taylor / kitchen, milling, North Cumbria, Penrith, sandstone tiles, tile cleaning, tile sealing

Here’s an interesting job that I recently completed down in Penrith, a small market town just under three miles from the Lake District National Park.

My client had a Sandstone tiled flagstone floor in her kitchen which had been continually sealed over its lifetime – but without removing the old sealer first. This is not advised, as it can lead to a severe problem where the layers of sealer become compacted on the surface. The result is a significant build-up of old sealer which is almost impossible to remove, even with some of the best and strongest products available.

Sandstone floor before milling in Penrith

This problem is particularly acute in Sandstone because, as a naturally porous stone, it has a high grab factor when it comes to polyurethane type wax sealers. As a result, it would take me a significant amount of work to reduce the problem as far as possible.

Milling Sandstone tiles

As no chemical products would prove effective in resolving the issue, I opted to use a milling technique using abrasive, coarse milling pads. The idea is that the milling pads penetrate beneath the many layers of old sealer and re-finish the stone. In order to validate the proposed solution I conducted an experiment in a test area under the dishwasher. The test proved satisfactory, and so my client was happy to extend the solution to the rest of the kitchen floor.

Sandstone floor during milling in Penrith

As you can see from the photos, the milling pads allowed me to get in deep where chemical products were simply unable to make a difference, giving the Sandstone tiles a much more refined look. As well as flattening a stone milling does strip a tile naked so it’s necessary to seal the stone after to enhance the natural colours and features as well as protect the stone going forward.

Cleaning and sealing Sandstone tiles

After spending all day milling the rest of the floor, it came time to give it a thorough clean to remove any remaining dirt and muck, especially along the grout lines. My choice of cleaner was Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, a high-alkaline cleaner which is used on most natural stone floors, including Sandstone, Granite, Limestone and Slate. The Pro-Clean was diluted with water and then scrubbed into the tile and grout.

After finishing the clean, I left for a few days as the floor needed at least 48 hours to dry completely before it could be sealed. Tiled floors must always be left to dry completely before being sealed because any excess moisture or residue can damage the performance of the sealer. When I returned, I applied three layers of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, an impregnating, colour intensifying sealer which is designed to provide durable surface protection from within, while also accentuating the natural shades and colours in the stone.

Sandstone floor after milling and sealing in Penrith

My client was very pleased with the results, and was amazed I was able to do anything to resolve the compacted sealer issue considering that the chemical products used previously were unsuccessful.

Bringing a Sandstone tiled floor back to life in Cumbria

Milling, Cleaning and Sealing Sandstone tiles in Penrith Read More »

Victorian Tile Renovation Penrith Before and After

1831 Victorian Tiled Hallway Renovation in Penrith

1 Comment / Penrith Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Heidi Taylor / cleaning services, floor restoration, hallway cleaning, North Cumbria, Penrith, sealing victorian tiles, tile cleaning, tile maintenance, tiled floor, victorian floor

Details below of a Victorian Tiled floor I renovated in Penrith earlier this year. The floor had previously been hidden under laminate flooring and the mat well had been concreted over and other tiles were missing and replaced with concrete infill.

Victorian Tile Renovation Penrith Before

Restoring Victorian Floor Tiles

I carried out a damp test and started by removing the concrete infill and levelling the mat well with a self-levelling compound. Fortunately I had been able to source reproduction tiles that were a pretty good match to the originals which is amazing bearing in mind that the floor was originally laid in 1831 (pre Victorian in fact).

Before replacing the missing tiles I cleaned the existing floor with a diluted mixture of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and NanoTech UltraClean; Remove and Go is a coatings remover so as well as cleaning the floor it also removed the traces of adhesive that was used to stick down the line. I washed down the floor and found there were still some stubborn marks which I tackled with neat Remove and Go and a steam cleaner. Once I was happy with the floor I gave it another rinse and then set about fixing the replacement tiles.

Sealing Victorian Floor Tiles

I needed the floor bone dry before sealing so I allowed it to dry out for a couple of days before returning. I sealed the tiles with Tile Doctor Seal and Go which adds a nice subtle shine however I did find the Victorian tiles to be extremely absorbent and so needed seven coats of sealant in total which took much of the day. The sealer did well to bring out the deep colours in the tile as well as brought out the colour in the tiles as well as providing the lovely satin finish. The customers were extremely satisfied with the final result