Battersea Tile Cleaning Archives - South London Tile Doctor

Shower Tile and Grout Cleaned and Renovated in Battersea Shower Cubicle

Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle Refreshed in Battersea

I was contacted by a customer in Battersea who was concerned about the state of their Ceramic Tiled shower cubicle. Ceramic tiles are glazed so usually very easy to keep clean however grout has a rough surface and attracts dirt easily. Where this happens it best to keep on top of the problem with regular cleaning as once you get a deep-seated stain on grout it’s very difficult to get it clean again.

The photograph below shows the worst of the problem where dirt had collected behind a wire basket that was fixed to the wall. The basket allowed dirt to build-up behind it and had deposited rust on the tile and grout.

Ceramic Shower Before Tile Cleaning Battersea

Maintaining grout is a large part of the work Tile Doctor does and we have several tried and tested products and processes for doing this. Having spoken to the client over the phone and having been sent photographs via email I created a quote for the work which should only take a few hours. My customer was happy with the quote and we agreed a date to do the work.

Cleaning a Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle

To begin, I cleaned the grout lines using our acidic cleaning product, Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up. The product is decanted into a spray bottle and sprayed onto the tile and grout where it was left to dwell for ten minutes before being scrubbed in with a handheld scrubbing brush. Spraying the solution onto the wall mixes it with air to make it lighter and more able to stick to the wall.

Being a concentrated phosphoric acid cleaner, Grout Clean-Up effectively removes mineral deposits including rust and old grout smears from the tile surface to leaving it looking much fresher, it also prepares the grout for a superior bond with the grout colourant that was to be added later.

Following this, I rinsed down the tile and grout with water to remove the dislodged dirt. The next step was to remove all the existing silicone mastic with a sharp knife; the mastic sealant stained with mould and much in need of replacement. Once all the rubbish was swept out, I dried any remaining dampness from the grout and tiles with a heat gun.

I then moved onto to recolouring the grout using a Tile Doctor Grout Colourant which is simply painted onto the grout lines using a small brush and any excess wiped of the tile before it dries. There are eleven colours available in the Tile Doctor colourant range and in this case, we chose a colour to match the tiles.

Ceramic Shower After Tile Cleaning Battersea

The application of Grout Colourant not only colours the grout joints – it also seals the grout in so dirt can’t become stuck in its rough surface, this also makes it very easy to clean going forward.

Once the restoration was finished, I resealed the shower base with fresh mould resistant silicone mastic to match the tile and grout. Tile Doctor don’t sell this but there are many makes available from local DIY stores.

Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle Cleaning and Grout Recolouring in South London

Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle Refreshed in Battersea Read More »

Neglected Victorian Tiled Path Restoration Battersea

Restoring a Neglected Victorian Tiled Path in Battersea

1 Comment / Battersea Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning / Daniel

Here we have an old Victorian tiled path in front of a property in Battersea which was very much worse for wear. Tiled in a red and black diamond pattern it had seen a lot of use and weathering and the owner now wanted it renovating or improving at the very least.

Neglected Victorian Tiled Path Before Restoration Battersea

I was asked to pop over to the property, survey the path and provide a quote for its restoration. Hopefully you can appreciate from the photographs the numerous cracks and missing tiles. It was certainly going to need a lot of work to improve its appearance, which I was happy to do but I had to lower the expectations of the owner as it would never be perfect. We agreed a price for the work and booked the job in.

Repairing a Victorian Tiled Pathway

Before starting work we tried to source salvaged tiles that would blend in with the originals, but unfortunately, we couldn’t find any that were a close enough match, so had to make do with modern tiles. These are still suitable but the metric sizing makes it a little tricker.

Work started by digging out the broken and loose tiles and then cleaning what could be salvaged. Once removed the base was then cleared of debris and where required rebuilt with cement. There were numerous affected areas, so it took quite some time to complete. Finally with the preparation done the tiles were re-laid using a mixture of original and new. The new tiles being metric had to be cut to shape as needed. The repair work was extensive and took two days to complete.

Neglected Victorian Tiled Path During Repair Battersea

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Pathway

On day three the replaced tiles had set, and I was able to clean up the whole path by scrubbing in Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel which being a gel cleaner doesn’t require a lot of water. This was then followed by giving the path an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which further cleans the tiles and again being in gel format doesn’t require a lot of water and is much easier to control. After each stage in the cleaning process the soils were extracted with a wet vacuum.

I recommend the use of gel cleaners on old tiles like this example as they were laid before the invention of the damp proof membrane and less water means it dries quicker. This was important as it was planning to apply a sealer the next day and the tiles must be dry to achieve the best result.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Pathway

The weather held out and after leaving the path to dry overnight I confirmed they were dry the next morning with a damp meter. Two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer were applied to the tiles which is a fully breathable sealer that works by soaking into the tile, occupying the pores and thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there. With the dirt forced to remain on the surface they are much easier to clean. This product also contains a colour enhancing formula which helps improve the deep Red and Black colours in the tile.

Neglected Victorian Tiled Path After Restoration Battersea

The tiles responded very well to the treatment and transformed the appearance of the path. Expecting only a small improvement my client was over them moon with the difference.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Path in South London

Restoring a Neglected Victorian Tiled Path in Battersea Read More »

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before and After Restoration Fulham

Heavily Soiled Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored in Fulham

1 Comment / Battersea Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Daniel

This Victorian tiled floor at a house in Fulham was in an absolutely horrendous state. As you can see from the first photograph, the tiles were caked in layer upon layer of muck, including paint and glue stains. This was due to the floor being unknowingly hidden for many, many years under carpet.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Restoration Fulham

Needless to say, the property owner was desperate to remedy get the fantastic pattern floor back into good nick, and so contacted me for assistance. I travelled up to the property in the town of Fulham in South West London, which is famous for its football club, to survey the situation and begin the work. It was immediately clear that the thick layers of dirt and staining would need to be removed, before being treated to a new seal to provide long-lasting protection.

Cleaning a Heavily Soiled Victorian Tiled a Floor

My product of choice for removing the extremely heavy soil buildup on the tiles was Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU (formerly UltraClean), a powerful solvent-based cream cleaner. What makes this product different from standard cleaners is its use of nano-sized cleaning particles to penetrate below tough stains, dissolve them, and lift them to the surface. NanoTech HBU is a highly versatile product which can be used on most types of natural stone floor, both polished and unpolished.

I laid down the NanoTech HBU and left it to dwell for a short period on the tiles, allowing it to begin eating through the dirt, before using a scraper in combination with a steamer to manually lift the muck away from the tiles. Next, to tackle the glue and paint marks, I applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go, a stripper specifically designed to break down adhesive and solvent stains, and then used a scraper and a scouring pad to manually remove the glue and paint in the affected areas.

Once this was done, I scrubbed in some more NanoTech HBU to dissolve any remaining muck before rinsing the area thoroughly with clean water. To complete the cleaning process, I laid some down some Tile Doctor Acid Gel, which is a blend of Phosphoric and Hydrochloric acids in gel form, to eliminate inherent grout haze and alkaline mineral deposits in the affected areas. I then left this to dwell for ten minutes before giving the floor a final rinse to remove any chemicals and soiled residue. The floor was left for a week to dry out before I returned to seal it.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Floor

With these fantastic Victorian tiles now muck-free, I proceeded to seal the floor. I initially applied a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which is an impregnating, colour-enhancing sealer that really brings out the colourful features of patterned Victorian tiled floors like this one.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Restoration Fulham

Once this initial coat of sealant had dried in, I asked the customer which kind of finish she preferred for the floor. She decided on a sheen finish, and so I laid down an extra five layers of Colour Grow to ensure the desired appearance, as well as to guarantee durable surface protection against dirt, stains and spillages.

The customer was really pleased with the results of the restoration, and left the following feedback:

“Bill worked extremely hard to clean and seal our hall tiles. Everyone is amazed at how good they look. We are extremely pleased with the results.”

Another great Victorian tiled floor brought back to life, and and satisfied customer!

Professional Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in South London

Heavily Soiled Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored in Fulham Read More »

Honed Travertine Kensington Before and After

Honed Travertine Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Kensington

1 Comment / Battersea Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / Daniel

I was asked to clean and reseal this Honed Travertine flooring in Kensington, London which ran through the ground floor area and to a small area in the basement. The floor had been laid nine years prior and had only had regular washing by the housekeeper and was now overdue a deep clean and re-seal..

Honed Travertine Kensington Before Cleaning

Deep Cleaning Travertine Tiles

It was a large area so it was necessary to work in sections which had the added complication of having to move the customer’s furniture around.

With each area I scrubbed the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a medium brush head and a hot 3:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. I scrubbed it in and left it for 10 minutes before scrubbing again then vacuumed it away with a wet vac. I then checked all the grout lines were clean in case the brush head had missed any.

Next I fitted a pad holder to the rotary machine and using a medium grade burnishing pad scrubbed the area again, I then followed this up with the fine grade pad to build a nice sheen on the stone to match the customers’ requirements.

Honed Travertine Kensington After Cleaning

During the cleaning process it became evident that some of the Travertine tiles had holes in them, it’s possible they had been this way when supplied but it’s also possible that they had been worn through by the use of an acidic cleaning solution. so after once the tiles were cleaned and polished I filled in the holes with a matching filler.

Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles

The next step was to seal the Travertine to protect it from future staining and for this I used Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing impregnating sealer that occupies the pores in the stone. In total I had to use three coats on sealer on the stone due to its porosity. I finally buffed the floor using a white soft buffing pad; this was to take off any seal left sitting on the surface of the stone and helps to work it in.

Honed Travertine Kensington After Sealing

In total it took four days to do this job and the customer was really happy with the result and left a very nice testimonial on the Tile Doctor website.

Travertine Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Kensington

Honed Travertine Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Kensington Read More »

Removing wax from a Terracotta tiled floor in Battersea

1 Comment / Battersea Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / Daniel

Traditionally Terracotta tiled floors were protected using wax and this floor at a house in Battersea had been protected with a number of treatments including wax and other sealers, without a full history of the floor it’s not that easy to tell what you’re dealing with. Wax isn’t an ideal sealer as it can scratch easily which allows dirt to become ingrained and modern sealers outperform it in many ways.

Terracotta Tiles Before Cleaning in Battersea

Cleaning Terracotta Tile

To get the floor clean I started the job using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was scrubbed into the tiles using a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. Pro-Clean is a heavy duty alkaline cleaner which can be used to remove wax residues and old sealants and being an alkaline product its safe for use on tiles. Unfortunately because there was so much old sealer and wax in the tiles it took several attempts to get the tiles clean and in the end it took five days to get them back to their natural state. Once this was done the floor was given a thorough rinse to remove any trace of cleaning product and allowed left to dry.

Terracotta Tiles Before and After Cleaning in Battersea

Sealing Terracotta Tile

Tiles need to be bone dry before sealing or it will upset the final effect of the sealer and in the end I had to wait three weeks before I was happy to start sealing, Terracotta being clay based is very porous so this is not that unusual.

To seal the tiles I used eight coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a water based topical sealer which leaves no smell as it dries and also adds a nice sheen to the floor, eight coats is not unusual for Terracotta again due to its porosity.

Terracotta Tiles After Sealing in Battersea

The customer could not believe the transformation and even though it took a lot longer than first anticipated he was really pleased, especially when he got his invoice, because he was expecting to be charged for the extra time it took to complete. I told him that once I had given him my price I do not add extras.

Terracotta Tiles Before and After Sealing in Battersea

Terracotta Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Surrey

Removing wax from a Terracotta tiled floor in Battersea Read More »

Marble tiled floor Westminster water test

Marble Bathroom Refreshed in Westminster

1 Comment / Battersea Tile Cleaning, Marble Tile Cleaning, Work History / Daniel

You may recall a job I wrote about earlier in the year concerning a Limestone tiled floor in Westminster well I’m please to say the owner of that property was so pleased with my workmanship that I was asked back to maintain the Marble tiled bathroom which included a sink unit.

Maintaining Marble Tiles

Normally with polished stone it’s necessary to burnish the floor however in this case the tiles were in good condition with no scratches in the polish, there were a few spots and marks on the tile that needed to come off and they had lost some shine however a full burnish would not be necessary.

Marble tiled floor Westminster Marks before cleaning

To remove the spots and marks I treated them first with a solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted 4:1 with hot water. I then scrubbed them using a red buffing pad on my rotary floor machine, which took the marks away from the stone. Next I used a medium burnishing pad with a little water and followed with the fine pad and finally the ultra-fine burnishing pad to restore the shine and polish. I offered to build-up a durable polish with Tile Doctor Shine Powder however the owner was happy with the finish that had been achieved.

Marble tiled floor Westminster Marks after cleaning

Sealing Marble Tiles

Once the tiles were dry I sealed them using Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer which occupies the pores of the stone and also enhances its natural colours in the process.

Marble tiled floor Westminster after sealing

Marble tiled sink unit Westminster After Cleaning

Once the floor had been done I carried out the same process on the Marble sink unit using small six inch pads with a hand polisher. All went well and as you can see from the water bubble test in the photograph below the floor is now fully sealed however there is more work to be done elsewhere in the house and the owner has now booked me in to clean all of the carpets.

Marble Tile Cleaning and Polishing in Westminster, London

Marble Bathroom Refreshed in Westminster Read More »

Limestone tiled floor Westminster Before and After

Limestone Kitchen and Hallway floor Cleaned and Sealed in Westminster

1 Comment / Battersea Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Work History / Daniel

Details below of a Limestone Tiled Floor that I recently cleaned and sealed at a residence in Westminster in the heart of London. The tiles were not looking the best and after deciding to do something about the owner searched the internet for a solution saw my website and emailed to book me in 2 months before.

Limestone tiled floor Westminster Before Cleaning

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Floor

I arrived on site at the agreed time and decided to scrub the floor first using a hot 4:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a heavy duty alkaline cleaning product specially designed for cleaning stone floors. This was left to dwell for a while and then agitated using a rotary machine fitted medium brush head. The soiled solution was then removed using a wet vacuum and the floor was then rinsed down with fresh clean water. Doing this removed a lot of dirt, that was ingrained in the stone, and by using the brush it got into the recesses of the grout, once I had done this the floor looked great but I could see it would still needed to be burnished to restore the original appearance.

Limestone tiled floor Westminster Initial Clean

Burnishing Limestone Floor Tiles

We used a set of diamond encrusted Burnishing Pads fitted to a rotary buffing machine to polish the Limestone floor. These pads are ideal for restoring the shine on hard stone surfaces such as Limestone, Travertine and Marble, the come in a set of four and you start with the Coarse pad together with plain water and this cuts through and removes surface grime and any surface seal. You then progress through the Medium, Fine and Superfine polishing pads one to achieve a high polish.

Sealing Limestone Tiles

The floor was left to dry and I returned a couple of days later to seal it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer that brings out the colours in natural stone, finally buffing the floor using a soft white buffing pad.

Limestone tiled floor Westminster After Cleaning

The lady was really pleased with the result and left a nice testimonial on the tiled doctor website, she has also booked me in to sort out two bathroom floors (one Marble and one Limestone) and she has also booked me in to carry out the cleaning of all her carpets.

Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing in Westminster, London

Limestone Kitchen and Hallway floor Cleaned and Sealed in Westminster Read More »

Limestone Tiled Floor Kensington Before and After Cleaning

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Polished in Knightsbridge

1 Comment / Battersea Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Work History / Daniel

Details below of a Limestone Tiled Floor we cleaned and polished in the kitchen of a flat in Knightsbridge, the customers were waiting to move into their new home and the kitchen floor was dirty, especially after they had some new tiles fitted and looked out of place.

They had other companies in to quote but were not impressed by their knowledge of how to clean the floor, and one large London based company sent some people to do a test patch with completely inappropriate equipment and failed to make any difference at all. Sorting out natural stone floors is what we do for a living so and although I was unable to carry out a demo on this occasion I managed to get the job by answering all their questions in detail setting realistic expectations without promising the earth and showed them pictures from a portfolio of work we had done before.

Stripping and Polishing Limestone Floor Tiles

Before starting to clean the floor we removed the plinths from the kitchen units and then using a rotary scrubbing machine fitted with a coarse diamond encrusted burnishing pad and a little water began to strip off the old dirt and seal from the floor, the resulting slurry was then removed using a wet vacuum.

The burnishing pads come in a set of four so once we were done with the coarse pad we moved on to the Medium and then Fine pads again with a little water until the floor was polished. The Next step was to use Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along the grout lines with a stiff brush to get the grout clean as well.

To bring up the polish on the Limestone tiles the last “Very Fine” pad was fitted to the rotary machine and run over the floor to buff it to a nice shine.

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

Once the floor was dry we set about sealing it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer designed to provide maximum stain protection on natural stone floors whilst bringing out the colour in the stone, this was followed with a final buff with a soft white pad.

The customers were really pleased with the finish and pleased that they chose a Tile Doctor to do the work. I should mention that they were not expecting to be able to see the new and the old tiles blend and were really happy that we could achieve this for them.

Limestone Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Knightsbridge

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Polished in Knightsbridge Read More »

Balham Slate Floor Before After Cleaning

Slate Tiled Floor restored to a natural finish in Balham, South London

1 Comment / Battersea Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Work History / Daniel

This beautiful slate tiled floor installed in the kitchen and hallway of a house in Balham London; I was asked by the owner if we could restore the floor following some work that had been carried out by a builder who had failed in his attempts to remove the old seal. To instill confidence that we could complete the work we carried out a demonstration on a small test area which was enough to prove that money would not be wasted and we were booked for the job, we even agreed to clean the floor on Sunday and seal it on the Monday so it would be ready in time for visitors who were due on the Wednesday.

Cleaning slate Floor Tiles

We cleaned the floor using Tile Doctor Pro-clean which is an alkaline cleaner safe to use on natural stone such as Slate; it’s very good at removing general dirt, grime and even grease. Next step was to remove the remaining sealer using Tile doctor Remove & Go which was applied to a small area at a time. I scrubbed the product into the slate and left it on the surface for a further hour making sure not to let the area dry out which temporarily made it look really dark (see photo below). Finally I gave the floor a through rinse to make sure that no chemical remained on the stone before sealing and then left for the evening.

Sealing Slate Floor Tiles

The next day I checked the floor was dry using a moister meter which thankfully it was and then started to seal using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer design to provide maximum stain protection on natural stone floors whilst bringing out the deep colour in the stone and providing a natural matt finish.

My customer was really happy with the results and left a nice testimonial on the Tile Doctor website, she has also booked me in to clean her driveway next month.

Slate Floor Cleaned, Stripped and Re-Sealed in Balham, South London

Slate Tiled Floor restored to a natural finish in Balham, South London Read More »

Quarry tiled floor restoration in Grove Park, South London

1 Comment / Battersea Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Work History / Daniel

I recently completed this Quarry Tile restoration work for a young couple in Grove Park, South London. They were refurbishing their property and wanted to keep as much of the original features that they could. In the kitchen they had the original quarry tiles and had attempted to clean the floor themselves but we’re unsuccessful. I quoted for the job and took time to explain the process and which products I would be using.

They contacted me a couple of days later to let me know that they wanted me to carry out the work which was gratifying as I had put a lot of time into the quote. Turns out I got the job because they could see I knew what I was talking about giving them confidence I could do the work and another company had quoted twice the price I gave them and didn’t even pop round to carry out a site survey.

Cleaning Hallway Quarry Tiles

I turned up at the agreed time and set about by cleaning the floor with a mixture of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and NanoTech UltraClean which combine well together to produce a very effective cleaning product that is safe to use on tile and stone. The solution was worked into the floor using a rotary scrubbing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad; after a while the soiled solution was removed using a wet vaccum and the floor was given a thorough rinse with clean water to see what I had left to deal with.

What was left was a mixture of paint, grease and sticky residues from old carpet tape and if that wasn’t enough there were limescale deposits. To tackle this a stronger product was required so I laid down Tile Doctor Remove and Go and left it to dwell on the tile for about 45 minutes which was sufficient to break down the stubborn marks and allow for them to be scrubbed out. Remove and Go is a strong coatings remover which as its name suggests should remove just about anything and with the exception of the limescale it lived up to its name.

I think it’s a fair statement to say that Tile Doctor have a product to treat every problem and to remove the limescale I used Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which is an acid based product usually used to remove excess grout but it’s also effective on the removal of mineral deposits; needless to say it removed the limescale without a problem. You do have to be very careful when using strong products like these on tile so I only left it on the floor long enough to do the job.

The last step was to fit a brush head onto my rotary floor machine and gave the floor a thorough rinse neutralising the floor and making sure that all trace of cleaning products were removed. Once I had finished I locked up the house and left the floor to dry for several days.

Sealing Hallway Quarry Tiles

When I returned I first checked that the floor was dry enough to seal using a moisture meter. The floor was dry so we started the process of sealing the floor with Tile Doctor Seal and Go, the Quarry Tiles were very porous and it tool seven coats of sealer before the tiles were completely sealed. Seal and Go was chosen as the customer wanted liked the low sheen finish this sealer provides whilst also offering excellent stain protection.

The owners were absolutely delighted with the results and they put in a fantastic review about me on the Tile Doctor website.

“Bill Bailey provided an extremely professional and high quality service from first point of contact to end result. He took time to assess the tiles to be cleaned and approached the job with a genuine commitment to get it right and achieve the best possible results. He carefully explained all the processes involved and was able to answer all our questions and provide advice. We would not hesitate to recommend him very highly. Gemma, London”

Quarry Tile Renovation in Grove Park, South London

Quarry tiled floor restoration in Grove Park, South London Read More »

Slate Floor Cleaning at a Central London Office

Battersea Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Work History / Daniel

I was asked by a building company to look at some slate flooring that was laid during a refurbishment to the offices of a German television station based in central London.
The architect was not happy because there appeared to be some grout haze and some grout along the ridges that you get in slate. I carried out a demonstration to the building manager and she was pleased with the result and we were awarded the job.

Because of the nature of the business I had to do the job out of hours, which suited me because there were 4 toilet areas to do over 6 floors and I was able to get on with the job without any interruption.

Slate Tile Cleaning

On my arrival I laid a coating of Tile Doctor Remove and Go mixed 50/50 with NanoTech Ultra-Clean to 2 toilets and left it to dwell while I brought all my equipment in and set up. These two products together create a very powerful stripper cleaning solution ideal for the job in hand. I left the products to soak into the tiled slate floor of the first toilet for an hour before scrubbing it in using water and a hand scrubbing brush. The soiled solution was then removed using a wet vacuum and then rinsed and sprayed with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up to remove any remaining grout haze off the surface of the tile. The slate was the given two mores rinses with clean water before being left to dry.

Before starting on the next floor I left a mixture of Remove and Go and NanoTech Ultra-Clean to dwell on the next floor. I then carried on with this process described above until all the floors were cleaned.

Slate Tile Sealing

Once the floors were dry I put a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer down on each floor which is a sealer which really brings out the natural colour of the stone.
The client had requested a shiny final finish so the sealing was completed using two coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go on each floor.

When I had finished the site manager said that he couldn’t believe how nice they had come out and was looking forward to the reaction of the clients.

Cleaning and Sealing Slate in Central London Office

Slate Floor Cleaning at a Central London Office Read More »

Removing Limescale from a Slate Tiled Floor in Kensington

Battersea Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Work History / Daniel

We were asked to look a bathroom at a flat in Kensington by a property management company; the slate tiled floor was textured with lines and the stone was affected by a number of problems including limescale and grout haze which had been partly sealed in. The owner was at the property when I arrived and I was able to demonstrate how it was possible to remove the limescale and grout haze using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which is an acid based product and so was given instructions to complete the job.

Removing Limescale from Textured Slate

Armed with more quantities of Grout Clean-Up we were able to remove the limescale from the surface of the slate tile. The floor was then rinsed and then covered with Tile Doctor Remove and Go in order to remove the remaining sealer. We had to repeat this process twice in order to remove the grout haze that had been locked in under the sealer.

Sealing Textured Slate

After a thorough rinsing down to ensure no products remained on the floor we left it to dry and returned later to apply three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which will provide future protection and as you can see from the photographs really helped to give the floors appearance..

Line Textured Slate Kensington Partly Sealed

I then explained how to clean the tiles going forward. She was extremely happy with the work carried out and also pleased with the management company for contacting us in the first place.

Removing Limescale from a Slate Tiled Floor

Removing Limescale from a Slate Tiled Floor in Kensington Read More »

Slate Tiled Floor in Marylebone, London

Battersea Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Work History / Daniel

The customer was an American lady who lived in a flat in Marylebone right in the centre of London; she worked in the City and had the slate tiles in her kitchen cleaned and sealed by another company the year before and she had not been impressed with the results.

I had provided a quote and did a small demonstration on the floor to give her an idea of how the finished result would look; having been unhappy with the previous company we had to work hard to win her confidence but the demo combined with photographs and testimonials from previous work that we had done managed to assure her we could complete the job to the right standard.

Cleaning the Slate Tiled Floor

Having turned up at 7am so that she could get to work we set about scrubbing the slate tiled floor with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a rotary machine fitted with a black pad, we used a grout brush to clean out the grout lines and then rinsed the floor thoroughly with clean water before switching on a air blower to help the floor to dry.

Sealing the Slate Tiled Floor

Once the floor was dry we proceeded to seal it with Tile Doctor Seal and Go which provides good stain protection with a low sheen finish, slate is quite porous and it took five coats before it was fully sealed.

That night I received a call from the lady thanking me for such a good job and not only was she pleased with the work but we were half the price of the original company.

Cleaning and Sealing a Slate Tiled Floor in Marylebone, London

Slate Tiled Floor in Marylebone, London Read More »

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Battersea Tile Cleaning, Brixton Tile Cleaning, Caterham Tile Cleaning, Ceramic Tile Cleaning, Cheam Tile Cleaning, Clapham Tile Cleaning, Croydon Tile Cleaning, Encaustic Cement Tile Cleaning, Epsom Tile Cleaning, Fireplace Cleaning, Flagstone Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Marble Tile Cleaning, Peckham Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Purley Tile Cleaning, Putney Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Sandstone Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Vinyl Tile Cleaning, Wandsworth Tile Cleaning, Wimbledon Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Daniel

South London Tile Doctor

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