Slate Tile Cleaning Archives - Monmouthshire Tile Doctor

Black Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovation Caldicot

Black Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated in Caldicot

I recently cleaned and sealed this small Black Slate tiled kitchen floor in the market town of Caldicot. You can see from the before image below that the sealer that was applied when the floor was installed twelve years ago had completely failed and had begun to flake away. Kitchen floors and especially small floors like this one do get a lot of foot traffic resulting in wear to the sealer, they are also subject to staining from cooking.

Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Caldicot

To restore the Slate back to its original appearance what was left of the old sealer would need to be stripped back entirely, then the tiles would need deep cleaning and resealing. In this case the customer wanted to keep the permanent wet look finish however I had a sealer in mind that would provide this.

I discussed with the client the process to get the floor cleaned and restored and created a quote for doing the work which would only take a day. Happy with the quote a date was set for the work to start.

Cleaning a Black Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

After protecting the kitchen unit plinths from splashing I started by brushing diluted Tile Doctor Pro-Clean onto each tile and left it to dwell for fifteen minutes. This gives the product time to breakdown and lift the remnants of the remaining sealer. The solution was then agitated with a seventeen-inch 120-grit poly brush that attaches to a rotary floor machine along with more water to help lubricate the process.

Fortunately, being a small floor with large format Slate tiles there wasn’t much grout so it didn’t take too long to get the grout clean with more Pro-Clean scrubbed in by hand with a scrubbing brush.

The scrubbing turns the cleaning solution black with the dirt and old sealer released from the tile which was then vacuumed up. I noticed however that not all the sealer had been removed so I repeated this process once again until I was satisfied.

After drying the floor completely using an air mover it was evident that all the previous sealer had been removed and the floor was now ready to be sealed

Sealing a Black Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

The customer had requested a high satin finish, the same as it looked after it was first laid. To achieve this, I applied Tile Doctor Seal and Go, applying four even coats which left the floor glistening.

The new sealer will ensure dirt cannot find its way into the pores of stone and remains on the surface where it can easily be cleaned away by the client. This allows the customer to easily maintain the cleanliness of the floor.

Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Sealing Caldicot

My customer was delighted with the results and said that it even looked better than when it was installed over 12 years ago! For aftercare I left the customer with a bottle of Tile Doctor PH Neutral Tile Cleaner which will help maintain the appearance of the floor. You do need to be careful when choosing a floor cleaning product as most are simply too strong for use on sealed tiles and will strip off a sealer with repeated use.

Professional Restoration of a Black Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Monmouthshire

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Green Riven Slate Floor Cleaning and Sealing Chepstow

Green Riven Slate Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Chepstow

1 Comment / Chepstow Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning / Max Iacono

This client in Chepstow had a beautiful Green Riven Slate Tiled floor installed in their living room some year prior but were now unhappy with its appearance. What was once a real feature of the property had lost its deep shine and now looked flat and unappealing.

The client called us in to see what could be done to put the life back in the stone and so I went over to survey the floor and come up with a renovation plan. The owner explained that the floor was sealed with a satin finish sealer and although they liked the way that looked it had deteriorated over time and now the floor looked patchy.

Green Riven Slate Floor Before Cleaning Chepstow

This is a common problem with sealed stone floors, sealers do wear off in the busiest parts of the floor and once this happens, they will lose their appearance as dirt gets trapped in the pores of the stone where its difficult to flush out with regular cleaning. The other problem we see is the use of harsh unsuitable cleaning products which can reduce the life of the sealer.

To resolve I recommended stripping off all the old sealer back to the natural stone, deep cleaning the pores and then re-sealing with a product that would give them the satin finish they had before. Happy with my proposal and quote a date was agreed for the work to start which would take two days, one to strip and clean and the other to seal.

Cleaning a Green Riven Slate Tiled Floor

Work started by stripping off the old sealer with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was brushed over the tile and grout, and then left to soak in for ten minutes. This dwell time gives the product time to start breaking down the old sealer and dirt. The solution was then agitated with a poly brush fitted to a large buffer machine which was run over each tile several times. This process released the remaining sealer and dirt from the stone resulting in lots of soiling which was rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

The tile and grout were then inspected and spot treated with a hand scrubbing brush where needed. This is especially useful to get right into the grout and tight corners where a machine will struggle. This was then followed by more rinsing and extracting to remove the resultant soiling and neutralising the entire floor to remove all trace of cleaning products prior to sealing.

The floor was then left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Green Riven Slate Tiled Floor

The next day I returned to the property and checked several sections of the floor with a damp meter to ensure the Slate had dried off and was ready to be sealed. Sealing a damp floor is never a good idea as it can affect the sealer curing and result in a patchy appearance.

Green Riven Slate Floor During Sealing Chepstow

To seal the floor four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go were applied which is a water-based sealer that has the advantage of not leaving a smell as it dries. This produced the appealing satin finish they were after and brought out the best in the stone as you will see in the photos. The sealer will protect the stone from everyday use and can last up to five years if maintained correctly.

Green Riven Slate Floor After Cleaning Sealing Chepstow

After the job was completed, the Green Slate looked fantastic and my customer was beyond happy. I took time to explain how to clean the floor and recommended they use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This is pH neutral product that is effective yet won’t impact the newly applied sealer.

Green Riven Slate Floor After Cleaning Sealing Chepstow

Professional Cleaning of a Green Black Slate Tiled in South Cumbria

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Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaning Chepstow

Nine Year Old Chinese Slate Floor Renovated in Chepstow

1 Comment / Chepstow Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Work History / Max Iacono

The tiles pictured are Chinese Slate which were laid in the Kitchen of a house in Chepstow around nine years ago. The town of Chepstow is located on the Welsh side of the River Seven and has the River Wye running through it.

Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Chepstow

The floor had not been professionally cleaned and sealed since installation. During this time the old sealer had mostly worn off allowing dirt to get into the pores of the stone leaving it looking dull, uninviting and dirty. The grout lines had also collected dirt and many of the lines had darkened.

I discussed with the client the process to get the floor cleaned and restored and demonstrated the effectiveness of the process on a small test area. They were impressed and were happy to go ahead with my quote, so we scheduled in the work which would take two days.

Cleaning a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

To get the floor clean and remove what was left of the old sealer I first made the floor wet and then added a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed with Tile Doctor Remove and Go to give it extra power. This cleaning cocktail was left to soak into the tiles for ten minutes before being scrubbed in with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine and by hand where necessary. This combination works well on really dirty floors such as this.

The scrubbing action released the years of dirt from the pores of the Slate and it wasn’t long before the cleaning solution turned black. This was then extracted off the floor using a wet vacuum. We then gave the floor a thorough inspection. There were one or two areas that were particularly stubborn, so these areas were retreated using the same process and the grout scrubbed by hand using more Tile Doctor Pro Clean.

The floor was then given another rinse with water and then dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum. This got the floor dry, but it would need to be completely dry before sealing so it was then left to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

I came back the next day to seal the floor first checking the moisture level of the stone by taking readings with a damp meter to ensure it was dry. I chose to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow for the sealer as the colour enhancing formula would be the best product to bring out the natural colours in the Chinese slate. Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer which will provides durable protection as well as allowing the surface to breath. Three coats were applied, allowing each to dry before applying the next one.

Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Chepstow

The client was so happy, so much that she said it looked better than when first laid!

I discussed aftercare with her and recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, it’s pH balanced so it won’t prematurely erode the sealer which can be the problem with stronger products you find in supermarkets. It comes in concentrated form so one bottle lasts a long time.

Professional Restoration of a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Monmouthshire

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Dull Black Slate Tiles Before After Renovation Blackwood

Large Format Slate Kitchen Floor Tiles Renovated in Blackwood

1 Comment / Gilwern Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Work History / Max Iacono

A client of ours recently moved into a relatively new property in the town of Blackwood where the black slate floor looked dull and the grout was stained. Large format slate tiles were installed though the kitchen and adjacent dining and utility room and they were keen to see if the floor could be brought back to life.

Dull Slate Kitchen Floor Tiles Before Renovation in Blackwood

I went over to survey the floor and could see that the old sealer was failing and letting dirt into the pores of the stone which was especially notable in the busier parts of the floor which had seen the most foot traffic. The solution would be to strip the floor of the old sealer, clean up the grout and reseal. I conducted a number of test cleans to work out the best way to how best to strip off the old seal and get back down to the natural stone. However, as it turns out removing the old sealer was proving to be quite a job and I was concerned that this task alone could potentially take days.

Unhappy with the way things were going I consulted the Tile Doctor help line and we deduced that the sealer applied previously was most likely a heavy duty/industrial product. My client had only just moved into the property and didn’t know the history of the floor so couldn’t help pin point what was used before. The way forward was to strip the old sealer off the floor using abrasive pads.

Now I had an efficient strategy for renovating the floor I was able to provide the customer with an accurate quote which was accepted, and we agreed a date to return and complete the floor.

Cleaning a Dull Slate Tiled Floor

To begin the restoration, I pre-wet the floor with water and using a weighted floor buffer ran a coarse 100-grit milling pad several times across each tile. This process strips the dirt and sealer off the stone slowly turning the water into a grey slurry. Once the whole floor had been treated in this way, I rinsed the slurry off the floor and extracted it using a wet vacuum. The next step was to repeat the process using a 200-grit burnishing pad which being finer closes the pores in the stone and refines the surface further.

The next step was to clean up the grout using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong alkaline cleaner. You apply a strong dilution to the grout lines and then scrub it in with a stiff brush. Fortunately, the slate tiles were large format size so there was less grout to deal with than usual. Once that was done the tile and of course grout was rinsed again with more water and then dried again using the wet vacuum.

Dull Slate Kitchen Floor Tiles During Renovation in Blackwood

I have to admit the stripped slate looked pretty awful at this stage in the restoration, but we were now back to the natural stone which was clean and free of all sealers. I left the floor to dry off fully overnight confident in the knowledge that with the application of a fresh sealer it would look a lot different.

Sealing a Slate Tiled Floor

The next day I returned to the property to seal the floor. Before doing so, however, I needed to test the Slate for moisture as you shouldn’t apply a sealer to a damp floor. The results were fine, so I proceeded to apply the sealer which for this installation I used several coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go.

I chose Seal and Go for this floor as it works well on Slate resulting in a deep durable satin finish that the customer wanted. Additionally, being a water-based product, it doesn’t leave a smell as it dries.

Dull Slate Kitchen Floor Tiles After Renovation in Blackwood

Within two days the floor was transformed, the grout looked much cleaner and the stone looked new. My client was very happy with the work and left the following message on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Professional, polite and courteous. Paul went beyond the call of duty to help rejuvenate our slate tiled kitchen and utility room floor. He explained each step of the job and provided advice on aftercare and future maintenance. The results are great and I would gladly recommend the services available.
Andy E, Blackwood

Renovation of a Dull Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Monmouthshire

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Dull Slate Tiles Rejuvenated with Deep Cleaning and Sealing in Ross-on-Wye

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Monmouth Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Work History / Max Iacono

Ross-on-Wye, an area located in South Hertfordshire and close to the Monmouthshire border in Wales, is known as the “birthplace of the British tourist industry” due to the Wye Valley’s picturesque river scenery, landscapes, and castles and abbeys. It is also known for the famous Ross and Monmouth Railway, which opened in 1873 and closed in 1959, and ran through the valley.

I visited an old cottage in the area to assist a customer with restoring a Slate tiled kitchen floor. Slate tiles are particularly popular because of their versatility and durability, and truly they can be an asset to any property if the sealer is maintained correctly. Slate tiles need to be sealed to prevent dirt penetrating the pores of the stone as ingrained dirt is difficult to remove and causes the stone to lose its appearance. In this case the floor had been laid around five years earlier and the sealer had worn off in places and was wearing very thin in others. As you would expect dirt had now become ingrained in the tile and the grout had also become stained in places. Overall this problem had left the floor looking very dull and unappealing, as you can see from the photograph below.

Slate Floor Before Cleaning and Sealing Ross-on-Wye Cottage

Cleaning a Dull Slate Tiled Floor

To begin the restoration, I applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go liberally across the floor to strip away any remaining old sealer that was likely to be ineffectual and not preventing dirt from becoming ingrained in the stone. Next, I applied our strong alkaline cleaner, known as Tile Doctor Pro Clean to tackle that ingrained dirt. This was left to dwell on the floor and then agitated using a 17-inch rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad.

After cleaning the floor, I rinsed the tiles thoroughly with water and used a wet vacuum to clear the area of the resulting slurry. Following this I concentrated on cleaning the grout lines using Pro Clean in combination with a wire brush, before leaving the floor to dry out completely for the next couple of days.

Sealing a Slate Tiled Floor

Later in the week, I returned to the property to seal the floor. Before doing so, however, I needed to test the floor for damp issues, especially since this was an old property and was unlikely to have a damp proof membrane installed. Running these damp tests are very important because excess moisture can cloud the sealer and damage its performance.

Thankfully, there proved to be no issues, and the floor was fine to seal. I did this using eight coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, which is a water based product (so no smell) that provides a durable, satin finish, and is recommended for use on a variety of tiles, including Quarry, Victorian, Sandstone and Terracotta.

Slate Floor Deep Cleaned and Sealed Ross-on-Wye Cottage

As you can see from the photo above, the restoration was transformative and really restored the lustre to this Slate tiled floor. Another satisfied customer!

Restorative Cleaning and Sealing of a Dull Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in the Wye Valley

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Dull Slate Tiled Kitchen Dinning Room brought back to life in Pontypool

1 Comment / Slate Tile Cleaning, Usk Tile Cleaning, Work History / Max Iacono

This Slate tiled floor at this house in the Pontypool was laid over ten years ago in the kitchen/dining room. The floor had ground in dirt into the tiles and grout which the client wanted brought back to life.

Repairing and Cleaning Dirty Slate Tiles

I could see the tiles would need to be deep cleaned so I started the cleaning process with a strong combination of Tile Doctor Remove and Go to strip away the old sealer and Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to get the tiles as clean as possible. The solution was scrubbed into the tile and grout using a rotary machine fitted with a black 17” scrubbing pad. The floor was then rinsed with water and the soiled residue was extracted with a wet vacuum.

This process was repeated until I was satisfied all the sealer and dirt had been removed from the tile and then I concentrated my attention on the grout lines using more Pro-Clean and a stiff wire brush to get them as clean as possible.

With the tile and grout as clean as it was possible to get it, I gave the whole floor a final rinse to neutralise the cleaning products and then extracted as much moisture as possible from the floor with a wet vacuum and left the floor to dry overnight.

Sealing Slate Tiles

When I returned to the property I made sure the floor had dried by checking for any dampness with a damp meter. If you neglect to remove all excess moisture from the surface of the tiles before sealing it will impact the effectiveness of the sealer.

Once satisfied that the floor was completely dry, I proceeded to seal the tiles using Tile Doctor Seal and Go which will protect the floor from staining in the future and adds a nice sheen to the surface. The Slate was quite porous so I found eight coats of sealer were needed to fully seal the floor.

I think you will agree the floor now looks amazing!

Dull Slate Tiled Floor Restored to health in Monmouthshire

Dull Slate Tiled Kitchen Dinning Room brought back to life in Pontypool Read More »

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Monmouthshire Tile Doctor

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