Quarry Tile Sealing

Small Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovation Purley

30-Year-Old Laminate Floor Removed to Reveal Heavily Stained Quarry Tiles

The photos below are of a Quarry tiled floor situated in a small kitchen at a house in Purley. The quarry tiles were previously covered in laminate for about 30 years which had recently been removed. This left the floor in quite a state as you can see from the photograph below. The floor was stained with numerous deposits including paint and adhesive and some sort of wax covering which was all over the surface.

Small Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Renovation Purley

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor

Before cleaning I covered the entire kitchen in a drop cloth to protect the units from splashing, I normally remove the kick boards as part of this process however, in this case the bottom of the units were already siliconed to the tiles. This is good practice as otherwise the boards which are usually made of MDF can soak up the water used during cleaning and warp the boards.

Next, I tackled the staining, surface paint, adhesive and wax using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove & Go combined with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to make a double strength stripper and cleaner. This was applied to the tiles and grout, and then left to soak in for ten minutes. I used a floor scraper to dislodge the glue which had been softened by the solution and then removed using a wet vacuum. The next step was to scrub the floor with a carbide brush and a coarse 200-grit diamond pad using only water to lubricate the process.

Once this was done, I rinsed the floor with water and extracted the slurry with the wet vacuum and allowed it to dry.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor

Once the floor was dry, I returned to protect the tiles by applying Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer. This is an impregnating sealer that works by soaking into the pores of the quarry tiles occupying the spaces within and thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained and making it much easier to clean. Tile Doctor Colour Grow also contains a colour enhancer that works well on Quarry tiles as it brings out the red colours in the tiles. Two coats of the sealer were applied allowing thirty minutes between coats.

I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for ongoing maintenance. This is a pH neutral product which is mild enough to use every day, gentle on the floor and will ensure the newly applied sealer will stay in place and the floor will continue to look great.

Small Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor After Renovation Purley

The result was transformational, and it certainly impressed my customer who left the following 5 star feedback.

“Daniel and his team were amazing! Extremely professional, thorough, and undeniably delivered an excellent end result for my old and tired tiles. So impressed! I would most certainly use this service again. By Sarah, Purley, 12 June 2023”

 

Professional Renovation of a Quarry Tiled Kitchen in South London

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Quarry Tiled Porch Before After Restoration South Croydon

Painted Quarry Tiled Porch Floor Restored in South Croydon

I thought you might find this Quarry tiled floor restoration from a property in South Croydon interesting, especially considering the transformation that we were able to achieve. The Quarry Tiles were in a covered porch at the front of the property and the previous owners had painted them with red tile paint several times and they had also become stained from other decoration work. They were now in a neglected state and really needed to be stripped of paint and restored.

Quarry Tiled Porch Before Restoration South Croydon Quarry Tiled Porch Before Restoration South Croydon

Removing Paint from Quarry Tiles

To get the red paint off the Quarry tiles, Tile Doctor Nanotech HBU Remover was applied to the floor and left to dwell and soak into the tile and grout for about twenty minutes. HBU stands for Heavy Build-Up and is a strong product that utilised small Nano sized abrasive particles to remove floor coatings. There were a number of layers of paint that needed removing so a scouring pad was used to work the product into the floor.

Quarry Tiled Porch During Restoration South Croydon
As you can imagine that paint didn’t want to come off easily, so it took several attempts before the Quarry tiles were completely clean. After each application the floor was given a thorough rinse to remove any trace of product and the soil removed with a wet vacuum.

Grout Renovation with a Charcoal Grout Colourant

When we eventually cleaned everything off, we found the grout had absorbed the paint in places leaving a patchy appearance. Removing and replacing the grout would take a long time so I suggested to the owner that we Colour Seal the grout lines using a Charcoal Grey Grout Colourant. The colourant is basically painted onto the grout with a small brush and when it hardens it forms a protective barrier over the grout and would give a consistent appearance. The process is quite quick and given then grout lines had already been given a good scrub the colourant should achieve a good bond. The owner was happy to for us to proceed and I think you will agree we achieved a very good result.

Sealing Porch Quarry Tiles

The floor was left to dry out for a few days and we returned to finish the restoration by sealing the tiles in order to protect them from future staining and also make them easier to clean. I used an impregnating colour enhancing sealer called Tile Doctor Colour Grow for this purpose and I think you will agree the floor looks much improved.

Quarry Tiled Porch Before Restoration South Croydon Quarry Tiled Porch Before Restoration South Croydon

My customer was delighted with the final result and left the following review on our website.

“My small hall floor proved to be a challenge but couldn’t be more pleased with the results. Very professional service throughout. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.
Helen B, South Croydon.”

Quarry Tiles Restored in South London

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Quarry Tiled Floor Before and After Renovation Croydon

Rebuilding and Restoring a Damaged Quarry Tiled Floor in Croydon

There is perhaps nothing more irritating for a homeowner than to discover a leaking pipe. Even worse still is when that leak occurs underneath a natural stone floor!

This recent customer of mine, who lives in Croydon, had unfortunately discovered a leaking pipe underneath her Quarry tiled kitchen floor. The plumbers had dug a trench in the floor to replace the pipe and fix the problem. As you can see in the photos below, the original tiles were not replaced and the entire floor was generally left in a bit of a mess.

Quarry Tiled Floor Before Rebuild Croydon Quarry Tiled Floor Before Rebuild Croydon

The customer had been trying to find a professional company to restore the floor, but her insurance company would only agree to sending normal cleaning companies to the job. Given the reality of the situation, you won’t be surprised to know that these companies all politely refused!

The situation went unresolved for over six months before the customer finally decided to contact Tile Doctor to restore the floor.

Rebuilding and Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Floor

The restoration took place over the space of six days. Our first port of call was to replace the tiles that had been removed as part of the plumbing work. This wasn’t the easiest process as we had to level up the floor before the tiles could be replaced.

Making matters more complicated, the tiles were all hand-made, and it was a bit like completing a jigsaw to avoid lippage. Lippage – for those unfamiliar with the term – means when a floor is laid unevenly and it can make walking on it hazardous.

Quarry Tiled Floor During Rebuild Croydon Quarry Tiled Floor During Rebuild Croydon

Once the tiles were reinstalled, it was time to give the whole floor a deep clean. For this, we used Tile Doctor Oxy Gel, leaving it to dwell on the surface for around ten minutes, before scrubbing it into the stone in combination with hot water. Oxy Gel is a strong, alkaline-based cleaner which works effectively to break down dirt and grime, as well as old sealers and waxes.

The next stage of the restoration was to rinse the floor with fresh water, and then lay down Tile Doctor Acid Gel for 15 minutes. Acid Gel is a blend of phosphoric and hydrochloric acids in gel form which is used to neutralise any grout haze and efflorescence on the tiles.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Floor

After completing the deep cleaning process, we rinsed the floor again with fresh water and then left it to dry for three days. Giving the floor enough time to dry was important, since any excess moisture would not have allowed us to complete the restoration by sealing the tiles.

After a few days, however, the floor was indeed thoroughly dried and could receive a fresh seal. We sealed the floor using five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, a topical sealer which eliminates traditional two-step sealing methods. What this means is that it provides both a robust surface seal and a high-quality low sheen finish – in one product.

After six months of difficulty and disruption, the customer was very happy to have her Quarry floor completely restored in just six days. Check out the photos below to see the outcome.

Quarry Tiled Floor After Rebuild Croydon Quarry Tiled Floor After Rebuild Croydon

 

Professional Tile Repairing, Cleaning and Sealing for a Quarry Tiled Floor Restoration in Croydon

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