Cheadle Hulme Tile Cleaning

Cheadle Hulme Tile Cleaning

Welcome to my Work History archive where you will find examples of the cleaning and renovation of tiles carried out in Cheadle Hulme.

Quarry Tiled Floor Restoration Cheadle Hulme

Old Cement Covered Quarry Tiled Floor Restored in Cheadle Hulme

These photos are from a house in Cheadle Hulme where the owner wanted the 120-year-old quarry tiles in the dining room restored as an original feature. The tiles had been discovered when a carpet was removed and as well as being very dirty had been covered with a cement based self-levelling compound.

Old Quarry Tiled Floor Before Restoration Cheadle Hulme

It’s not unusual to find tiles covered in self-levelling compound when a carpet or lino is fitted. It’s done to smooth out the grout depressions which otherwise would eventually show through. Fortunately, it can be removed however it does require a lot of work.

Old Quarry Tiled Floor Before Restoration Cheadle Hulme

Removing Cement from a 120-Year-Old Quarry Tiled Floor

To deal with the cement I treated the Quarry tiles with neat Tile Doctor Acid Gel and left it to get to work on the cement for ten to fifteen minutes. I then ran over the floor with an abrasive 200 grit milling pad fitted to a weighted rotary floor buffer. This action loosened the cement so it could be removed although in some of the stubborn areas I had to use a little extra force with the careful application of a hammer and chisel. I also used handheld abrasive diamond encrusted blocks which came in very handy near the skirting boards and corners.

Old Quarry Tiled Floor During Cleaning Cheadle Hulme

It took a lot of effort to get all the cement off the tiles, but they responded well to the treatment, and I could see the floor slowly transform in the process. A lot of water was used to provide lubrication and during rinsing for which I used a wet vacuum to extract the resultant slurry off the floor. The Acid Gel also removes old grout smears from the tile and neutralises any efflorescent salts in the floor which can be a problem with floors of this age with no damp proof membrane.

Sealing a 120-Year-Old Quarry Tiled Floor

The floor was left to dry off overnight and I came back a few days later to check the moisture levels in the floor with a damp meter. Unfortunately, the readings were still too high to apply a sealer, so I re-arranged my return. In fact, it took weeks for the moisture level to drop below 25% which was the minimum acceptable level before sealing.

The sealer I used on this floor was Tile Doctor Colour Grow. It’s a fully breathable colour enhancing impregnating sealer that will cope with any damp moisture rising through the tile and being a colour enhancer really brought out the red and black colours in the tiles.

Old Quarry Tiled Floor During Sealing Cheadle Hulme

Whilst the sealer was drying, I painted the fireplace hearth with black paint, this really tied it in with the Black Quarry tiles and neatly finished off the appearance of the room. Needles to say by the time I had finished the floor it looked great, and my client was very happy with their newly restored Quarry tiled floor, so much so they took time to leave the following feedback which is always appreciated:

“Within hours of sending in an enquiry on the tile doctor website I was contacted to say that the local rep would be in touch. Within another couple of hours, Kamila got in touch. Right from the start Kamila was accommodating to suit my needs, carrying out a trial ‘out of hours’ to suit me. Her communication was fantastic, regularly keeping me updated. She is a lovely lady who is trustworthy. I had to leave Kamila a few times and she locked up and posted the key as agreed. I am extremely pleased with the results of my refurbished quarry tiled floor, I never thought it would come up as well as it has done.”

Old Quarry Tiled Floor After Restoration Cheadle Hulme

For aftercare cleaning I recommended they use the Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. It is pH neutral tile cleaner that will not degrade the new sealer which is important as many supermarket cleaning products are simply too strong for use on sealed tiles. (Always check the label!)

Old Quarry Tiled Floor After Restoration Cheadle Hulme

 

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Floor in East Cheshire

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Sandstone Tiled Floor Before and After Renovation Disley

Renovating a large Sandstone Floor in Disley

This is a large 17.2 m2 Sandstone Floor installed throughout the living and kitchen areas of a property in the beautiful village of Disley close to Lyme Park which is run by the National Trust. The floor had been installed four years ago and my client was unhappy with the original sealer which hadn’t lasted very long. Without the protection of a sealer dirt had become ingrained in the pores of the stone which was now difficult to clean. Another issue was the rough nature of the Sandstone meant it was impossible to mop as it shreds the mop! As a result, the floor was mainly cleaned with a hoover which was not ideal, especially in a kitchen.

I went over to survey the floor and before quoting I ran a small test clean in the kitchen which took the floor back to its natural pale colour and really showed how dirty the floor had become. Test cleans are great as it helps me to formulate an effective cleaning plan and provide an accurate quote. My client was impressed with the result and so I was booked to come back and deep clean and then reseal the whole floor. Due to its size I estimated the floor would take two days to deep clean and a further day to apply a new sealer, so three days in total.

Large Sandstone Floor During Test Clean Disley

Deep Cleaning and Restoring a Sandstone Tiled Floor

Working in large sections I started by cleaning the floor and stripping off the old sealer with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a coatings remover that is safe to use on stone. The solution was left to soak into the pores of the Sandstone for ten minutes before being worked in with a 200-grit diamond pad fitted to a rotary floor machine. This action not only removed the old sealer and cleaned the floor but the 200-grit pad being vey coarse removed a lot of the roughness from the surface of the Sandstone so it shouldn’t shred any more mops.

Large Sandstone Floor During Cleaning Disley Large Sandstone Floor During Cleaning Disley

After rinsing the floor with water and removing the slurry with a wet vacuum I set about cleaning the grout with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked into the grout line with a stiff brush and assisted with steam from a professional steam cleaner with a grout attachment. Once done the floor was rinsed and extracted again to remove the soil from the grouting. There was also an area near one of the doors where the grout had become loose and needed replacing so I made up a batch of matching grout and filled this in. The floor was then left overnight to dry with assistance from a couple of air movers.

Large Sandstone Floor During Cleaning Disley

Sealing a Sandstone Tiled Floor

I returned the next day to finish the floor by applying a sealer. First, I double checked the floor was dry with the damp meter. The readings confirmed the air movers had done a good job and that the floor was within the accepted parameters, so I was ready to seal. The sealer I chose was Tile Doctor Seal and Go which being water based doesn’t leave a smell as it dries, it really works well on Sandstone and adds a nice subtle sheen to the stone.

Once finished the floor looked much cleaner, lighter in colour overall more inviting, you could even see the fossils in some of the tiles.

Large Sandstone Floor After Cleaning Showing Fosils Disley

The surface was also smoother so the customer should find cleaning with a mop much easier in future. On that subject its worth pointing out that owners of sealed floors should always use a neutral pH tile cleaner on their floors as most supermarket products are simply too strong and will prematurely strip the sealer off a tile if used repeatedly. Tile Doctor sell a product called Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner which is ideal for cleaning sealed Sandstone floors like this one.

My client was really happy with the results and sent me a message later saying: “the floor looks amazing!”

Large Sandstone Floor After Cleaning Disley Large Sandstone Floor After Cleaning Disley

 

Professional Renovation of Sandstone Tiled Kitchen and Living Room in Cheshire

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Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Wall Before After Renovation Handforth

Bathroom Shower Tile & Grout Renovation in Handforth

The pictured Ceramic tiled bath with a shower over was installed eight years prior at a house in the Cheshire town of Handforth. They had cleaned it regularly, but the client was not able to remove all the stains from the grout along with the soap scum which was present on both the tiles and the bath.

Bathroom Shower Tile Before Cleaning Handforth

Despite their best efforts with all varieties of household cleaner, the bathroom looked dirty and uninviting, the grout was getting discoloured in some places and there was lots of soap residue and limescale on the bathtub and taps.

I visited site and discussed with them the process, I was very confident that we could get the bathroom clean again without too much trouble and within one day. They were happy to go ahead with my quote and we arranged a mutually convenient time to return.

Cleaning a Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Shower

To get the tiles clean I used a combination of Tile Doctor Duo Clean on the grout and then a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go on the soap scum, this product also draws out ingrained stains and removes heavy grease build-up. With some help from a professional steamer that had a grout attachment I was able to give the area a very deep clean

The soap scum was particularly difficult to remove but the combination of Tile Doctor Remove and Go, the steamer and lots of elbow grease we got the job done.

Bathroom Shower Tile During Cleaning Handforth

Sealing a Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Shower Floor

Although Ceramic tiles are factory sealed, after cleaning I dried the tile and grout with a heat gun and then sealed with Tile Doctor Wall Tile Aerosol Sealer. This would ensure the grout was sealed and it also ensures that water runs straight off the tile.

The last step was to strip out the old silicone sealant that ran around between the bathtub and the tiles and replace with new in white.

Bathroom Shower Tile After Cleaning Handforth

The work was completed in less than a day and the customer was very happy with their revamped bathroom. It now looked a lot more inviting and more like it had when it was installed. I also suggested they should use Tile Doctor Aqua Pro to maintain the tile and grout going forward, its designed for cleaning bathroom tile and will help prevent the build-up much more effectively than the household cleaners they had been using previously. It also has a fresh lemon scent which leaves the room smelling clean and fresh.

Bathroom Shower Tile After Cleaning Handforth

 

Professional Restoration of a Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Shower in East Cheshire

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Sandstone Tiled Kitchen Floor before and after Renovation in Bramhall

Dull Sandstone Kitchen Tiles Revitalised in Bramhall

Bramhall is an affluent area of East Cheshire and home to some truly fantastic properties with equally impressive floors. I recently had the pleasure of visiting one of these properties to attend to a Sandstone tiled kitchen that was looking past its best.

Sandstone has been used as a building material since ancient times, with some famous examples of Sandstone architecture being the Strasbourg Cathedral in Strasbourg, France, and Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Of course, Sandstone is also commonly used for paving and tiled floors. It is typically very porous, meaning that dirt and stains can easily become ingrained if the stone is not taken care of correctly. The wonderful natural shades in the Sandstone quickly lose their character and, as was the case with this floor, the tiles become dull and unappealing.

Sandstone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Bramhall Sandstone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Bramhall

Cleaning Dirty and Dull Sandstone Kitchen Tiles

To clean this floor, I first mixed a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go, which is multi-purpose stripper and cleaner. The product strips away any old sealer on the tiles and draws out ingrained dirt, stains and heavy grease build-up. It always provides consistent results and it can be used it on all kinds of tile, stone and grout to great effect.

I applied the product and left it to soak for roughly 20 minutes to allow time to penetrate the pores of the stone and reach the deeply embedded dirt. Next, I scrubbed the floor using a specialised buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad to get the stone clean. The resulting dirty cleaning slurry was quickly soaked up using a wet vacuum and after rinsing with water I used the wet vacuum again to get the floor as dry as possible before leaving for the day and allowing the floor to dry off fully overnight.

Sandstone Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Bramhall

Sealing Sandstone Kitchen Tiles

Upon returning to the property the following day, I tested the floor with a damp meter, checking for any excess moisture that could prevent me from sealing the stone.

Thankfully the floor proved dry and I could seal the floor using two different types of sealer. First, I applied a coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which is an impregnating sealer designed to fill the pores of the tiles to block ingrained dirt, as well as to enhance the natural colours in the stone.

By itself, Colour Grow provides a natural-looking matte finish, but in this instance the customer had requested a low-sheen finish, so I also applied Tile Doctor Seal and Go. Seal and Go is a water-based acrylic sealer which provides both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable low-sheen finish.

Sandstone Kitchen Floor After Sealing Bramhall Sandstone Kitchen Floor After Sealing Bramhall

Looking at the before and after photos, you can see the floor underwent a real transformation. The deep clean really restored the condition of the Sandstone, while the addition of robust sealers will ensure that it is easy for the customer to keep clean in the long term. Needless to say, the customer was really pleased with the result!
 
 

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