Colour Grow Archives - Monmouthshire Tile Doctor

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Cleaning Sealing Chepstow

Badly Maintained Victorian Tiled Hallway Renovated in Chepstow

I received a request to quote for the restoration of this Victorian tiled floor in the hallway of a property in Chepstow. As you can see from the photograph below was in a very poor condition.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before Cleaning Chepstow

I visited the property to survey the floor and could see that although it had not been well maintained it was in good physical condition except for a few loose tiles. From experience I knew it would respond well to a deep clean and seal, so I carried out a test clean on a small area to demonstrate its potential. The tiles came up well and my client was satisfied it would be worthwhile to have it restored.

I worked out a quote which was accepted and a date set for the work to start which would take two days.

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway

To get all the dirt out of the pores of the tiles I started with a strong dilution of Tile Doctors Remove and Go. This was sprayed onto the floor and left to soak in for ten minutes before being scrubbed in with a 17” Black pad fitted to a rotary machine.

It’s always difficult to find out the history of a floor but from what I could tell the tiles had been exposed to a variety of contaminants including paint, plaster, cement, and worn in dirt. Luckily, Remove and Go can handle all of these. I had to repeat the process on the stubborn stains and then removed all the slurry and dirt using a wet vacuum.

I then moved onto the loose tiles which needed to have the old adhesive removed from the tile and the base. The original tiles were then cleaned up by hand before new rapid setting adhesive was applied to secure them back into the floor.

Once the loose tiles had set, I moved onto the next step of giving the floor an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel. This product further cleans up the tiles by removing old grout smears and dissolving efflorescent salts in the floor. This is a common issue in properties of this age which do not have a damp proof membrane to stop moisture rising through the tile. This process also neutralises the pH level of the floor after the use of Remove and Go which is a strong alkaline cleaning product. The floor was rinsed again afterwards, and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum before leaving it to dry overnight.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Kitchen

The next day the moisture levels of the tiles were checked with a damp meter to ensure they were dry enough to be sealed. The readings were fine, so I was able to start applying the sealer. In this case two coats of Tile Doctors Colour Grow sealer where applied which is a colour enhancing impregnator that allows for moisture vapour transmission. This is a super durable product which will give great protection to the floor, especially when it is in a high traffic area such as a hallway.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor After Cleaning Sealing Chepstow

Once complete the floor was transformed and my client was extremely happy with the result. To maintain the sealer and to prevent accelerated break down I left the client with a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Ph Neutral Tile Cleaner.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Bathroom in Monmouthshire

Badly Maintained Victorian Tiled Hallway Renovated in Chepstow Read More »

Restoring the Polish on Marble Tiled Steps in Cwmbran

The marble steps shown in the images were installed at a property in Cwmbran roughly ten years ago. Supplied by Mandarin Stone the Marble was beautiful however over time they had lost their polish. Also, the plant pots that had been placed on either side of the steps had scratched the pieces of marble quite deeply in some areas.

I explained to the client what would need to be done to restore the appearance of the steps and the materials required. They had previously been told there was no possible way of removing the scratches caused by the plant pots so they were delighted to have found a solution.

Having agreed my quote a date was set for the work to start.

Cleaning Marble Tiled Steps

To remove the scratches and restore the polish applied a set of Tile Doctor Burnishing Pads, starting with a coarse 50-grit pad attached to a rotary machine. The pads area applied with water and the slurry generated rinsed off and extracted afterwards. The 50-grit was followed by 100, 200, 400, 800, and finishing on 1500 grit, again all applied with water and rinsed off after each pad.

For the corners that the machine could not reach I used a similar set of 6” burnishing pads attached to a hand-held rotary machine. The pads were applied in the same order starting with a 50 grit and finishing on 1500 grit. Again, after each pad the slurry was extracted with a wet vacuum and the steps washed with water.

Once I had reached 1500 grit, the steps were allowed to dry, and I was able to demonstrate that the scratches had been removed and the natural polish restored. They were still worried that I wouldn’t be able to remove the scratches so were delighted to see they were now gone! I then began the final step of polishing the Marble steps by spray burnishing them with a 3000 grit Tile Doctor Burnishing Pad which is the last step in the polishing process.

Sealing Marble Tiled Steps

My client was very fond of the steps when they were wet as the colour was “significantly enhanced“ so I suggested I we use Tile Doctor Colour Grow to create a similar effect. The sealer is fully breathable, with a colour enhancing matt finish which is perfect for exterior use and for slightly darkening natural stones.

Four coats of sealer were applied allowing each coat to dry for thirty minutes before applying the next. When Marble is polished to a high shine every mark becomes obvious so once the final coat was dry the steps were then buffed with a White buffing pad.

Marble Steps After Polishing & Sealing Cwmbran

My clients were extremely happy with the job and asked me to return later to renovate the tiles in both their ensuite bathrooms.