Neutral Tile Cleaner Archives - Dorset Tile Doctor

Restoring a Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor in Ferndown

This client from Ferndown had decided to replace the carpets in the Kitchen and in the process discovered a Quarry tiled floor underneath. The tiles were in reasonable condition so rather than covering them up again they decided to contact Tile Doctor about having them restored.

Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Ferndown

I went over to inspect the floor and provide a quote for its restoration. I could see that the tiles were in need of a deep clean and seal which was certainly not an issue; however, the carpet had been secured to the Quarry tiles with double sided tape which had left adhesive staining. We have solutions for all these problems so I worked out a renovation plan to do this work and this fed into a detailed quote for the work.

Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Ferndown

The quote was accepted and we returned on the agreed date to begin the renovation.

Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Kitchen

Work started with scrubbing the floor with a black pad fitted to a rotary buffer to work in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. This is a versatile tile and grout cleaning product that is especially useful for grout cleaning. Stubborn adhesive staining was then spot treated using Tile Doctor Remove & Go which is a strong coatings remover that’s safe to use on all types of tile and stone.

Unfortunately, the grout was badly stained in places, and I tried numerous products on this including Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up. However, the stains were deep seated and it proved impossible to get it consistently clean across the floor. We therefore suggested to the client to recolour the grout using a Tile Doctor Grout Colourant which she agreed, and the results were transformational!

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Kitchen

The floor was left to dry off overnight and work resumed the next day to seal the Quarry tiles and protect them ingrained dirt going forward. To do this, three coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go were applied allowing for 30 minutes drying time in-between coats. Seal and Go brings out the best on clay tiles and being water-based it doesn’t leave a smell as it dries.

Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor During Sealing Ferndown

Once complete the sealer added a subtle shine to the Quarry tiles and the along with the coloured grout the floor looked amazing. As you can imagine my client was very pleased to say the least.

Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Ferndown

Before leaving I took a little time to discuss aftercare cleaning and to make sure she was aware to use the right product. A lot of products you find in supermarkets are simply too strong for use on a sealed floor and can erode the sealer prematurely. For this floor I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a sealer safe tile cleaner.

Professional Renovation of a Quarry Tiled Kitchen in Dorset

Flagstone Kitchen Floor Resurfacing Dorchester

Resurfacing an Old Flagstone Kitchen Floor in Dorchester

1 Comment / Dorchester Tile Cleaning, Flagstone Tile Cleaning / Stuart Tibu

This client lived on a farm on the outskirts of Dorchester and had a rustic kitchen with very old flagstones. The flags had been down a very long time and were uneven and some were in a very bad state due to the top layer of stone flaking away. They had found it very difficult to keep the rough stone clean and this was proving increasingly irritating.

Flagstone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Dorchester

I recommended that the best course of action would be to mill the stone to remove the rough areas and resurface the stone, this would also reduce the lippage between the flagstones. Milling is a process championed by Tile Doctor which utilises very coarse diamond pads to remove a thin layer of stone from the surface and then finer grit pads to refine the appearance of the new surface making it smooth and easier to maintain in the process.

Flagstone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Dorchester

Keen to go ahead with my recommendation I measured up and put together a quotation that included all the products and labour needed to mill the floor. With the quotation accepted we agreed a date to begin then work.

Cleaning and Milling a Flagstone Tiled Kitchen

The milling started with the application of a very coarse 50-grit diamond Flexi-Pads fitted to a heavy-duty floor buffer with added weight to ensure maximum traction with the stone. Using only water for lubrication these pads do the bulk of the work and remove a fine and often contaminated layer from the surface of the stone to reveal new stone underneath.

This is the slowest part of the job with each flagstone requiring five to ten minutes of milling before moving onto the next. A lot of water was used in this process which mixes with the cut stone to form a slurry which is then vacuumed away. It took a full day to cover all the floors, and I got through three of the 50-grit pads in the process.

The process from here ran significantly quicker. A finer 100-grit flexi pad was applied next, followed by a 200-grit flexi pad, a 200-grit soft diamond pad then 400 and finally 800-grit pads. Less and less slurry was produced as I worked through each of the finer grit pads. Again, using water for lubrication and removing the slurry with a wet vacuum as work progressed.

The floor was then rinsed and allowed to dry thoroughly overnight.

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Kitchen

The following day I returned to start the sealing process. I tested the floor with the damp meter, satisfied the result was within the correct parameters, I was ready to start. To seal two coats of Tile Doctor Colour-Grow were applied to bring out the colour and make the floor easier to clean going forward. Colour Grow is also a fully breathable sealer which is an important feature when choosing a sealer for an old floor like this one.

Flagstone Kitchen Floor After Renovation Dorchester

Once complete the floor looked so much healthier and my client was thrilled with results. For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to maintain the floor, this is pH neutral and so won’t harm the newly applied sealer.

Flagstone Kitchen Floor After Renovation Dorchester

Professional Restoration of a Flagstone Tiled Kitchen in Dorset

Resurfacing an Old Flagstone Kitchen Floor in Dorchester Read More »