Sealing Slate Archives - South London Tile Doctor

Restoring the Appearance of Black Slate Tiled Courtyard in Roehampton

Here we have a Slate tiled courtyard at a property in Roehampton SW15 that had been installed 20 years prior and clearly not received much love since. The main issue was the grouting which was cracked in places and water had been leaking into the basement below. I suspect the Slate had been previously cleaned with a strong acidic patio cleaner as the stone had lost all its colour and looked bleached.

Slate Tiled Courtyard Before Cleaning Roehampton

The owner contacted me to see what could be done and once it was clear these were originally black slate tiles, I knew exactly what to do to restore the colour and put the life back into the floor. I discussed the restoration process with the owner and worked out a quote for the work. Happy to have finally found a solution I was given the go ahead and a date set for the work to start.

Cleaning and Repairing a Slate Tiled Courtyard

I started by removing the cracked and failing grouting and replaced it with a modern epoxy jointing compound normally sold for paving. There were a lot of grout lines to cover so it took some time to complete. The floor was then left to set before moving onto the next stage of cleaning.

To clean the Slate tiling I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and left it to soak in for ten minutes before scrubbing it in with a carbide brush fitted to a rotary machine. The dirt released from the tiles was then rinsed away and extracted with a wet vacuum. The floor was then inspected and the process repeated where needed until I was happy the Slate was as clean as it could be.

Sealing a Slate Tiled Courtyard

The floor was then left to dry off again and I returned later to seal the tiles when the weather was dry. I used Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal for this, in fact it was a perfect choice as its suitable for external use and is an oil-based sealer which is exactly what the slate needed to restore the black colour to the stone.

Slate Tiled Courtyard After Renovation Roehampton

For aftercare I advised the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a mild but effective tile and grout cleaner that won’t impact the sealer. The floor looked great, and my client was very happy with the completed project.

Professional Restoration of a Slate Tiled Courtyard in South London

Black Slate Kitchen Floor Renovation Tooting

Black Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated in Tooting

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Wandsworth Tile Cleaning, Wimbledon Tile Cleaning / Daniel

The photos below are of a Black Slate Kitchen floor at a property in Tooting SW17, which as you can see had lost all its colour and character. I went over to survey the floor and discussed a renovation plan with the owner.

One of the problems was the grout which like the tile hadn’t faired very well over the years and being in the Kitchen was subject to staining. I explained that like all stone floors the Slate needed to be sealed in order to keep the dirt out of its pores and keep it looking its best. Sealers however wear down with use and in this case the floor hadn’t been deep cleaned and sealed for some time.

I costed out a renovation plan which included deep cleaning the Slate tile removing any remaining sealer in the process, renovating the grout, and then re-sealing the whole floor to bring back the appearance of the stone and protect it going forward. Happy with the quote we agreed a date to start the work.

Deep Cleaning a Natural Black Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

Normally I would use a Tile Doctor product called Remove and Go to remove the sealer, however in this case testing had shown that what was left of the sealer could be removed with Pro-Clean which is also our go to Tile and Grout Cleaner.

I used a strong dilution of Pro-Clean to do this, spraying it onto the floor and leaving it to soak in for ten minutes and break down the dirt etc. Then using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a heavy rotary buffer machine it was worked into the Slate to release the dirt and old sealer. The floor was then rinsed with water and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum.

The pads can struggle to get into the corners and edges of the floor and the recesses of the grout line. So, to complete the cleaning a handheld scrubbing brush was used and a wire brush run along the grout lines, again with more Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. After another rinse and extraction with the wet vacuum the floor was left to dry aided with a couple of floor blowers.

Grout Colouring and Sealing Black Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

Once dry the grout was coloured with a Black Tile Doctor grout colourant which is basically painted onto the grout with a small brush and any excess wiped off the tile. This grout colourant gives the grout a uniform appearance and adds an impenetrable barrier over the grout sealing it in and keeping it safe from further staining. Keeping grout clean in a kitchen is always a problem so the colourant will protect it and make it very easy to clean.

Black Slate During Cleaning Grout Colouring Tooting

The last step was to seal the Slate for which I used Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal. This was chosen because it’s an impregnating oil-based sealer that will restore the beautiful dark colour in the stone. Impregnators work by occupying the tiny pores in the stone thereby forcing dirt to remain on the surface where they can easily be cleaned away.

Black Slate During Sealing Tooting

In the subject of maintenance cleaning, I recommend the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a gentle but effective cleaner that won’t harm the sealer. Many of the floor cleaning products you find in supermarkets etc are not for use on sealed stone, they contain strong chemicals such as bleach etc which will strip off the sealer prematurely so best avoided.

Black Slate After Renovation Tooting

Professional Renovation of Black Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in South London

Black Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated in Tooting Read More »