Terrazzo Floor Cleaning Archives - South East Wales Tile Doctor

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Restoration Cardiff

Terrazzo floor restoration in Cardiff

The owner of this property is an architect living close to myself in the centre of Cardiff. He approached Tile Doctor late last year about the restoration of a Terrazzo hallway floor. He recently purchased the property which was built around 1910 with an aim to restore the whole house back to its original condition and he wanted to preserve as many original features as possible.

Terrazzo Floor Before Restoration Cardiff

I went over to the property to survey the floor and carried out a cleaning test on a small part of the flooring to show him the potential result I could achieve. Whilst I was there, I measured up the Terrazzo which extended throughout the downstairs hallway and through to a matching section at the front of the property.

Happy with the result of the test clean I worked out a quote for restoring the whole floor, which was accepted, and a date set for the new year. The floor was one of many projects being caried out at the property which was unhabitable at the time so it would be just a question of picking up the keys and letting myself in.

Cleaning and Repairing a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway

My first task was to remove as much plaster and paint from the floor as possible with a sharp bladed scraper. Then I started scrubbing the floor with a very coarse 50-grit pad fitted to a rotary machine. The pad is applied with water for lubrication and run over each part of the floor several times. The floor is rinsed and extracted with a wet vacuum and the whole process repeated with a finer 100-grit pad and then a 200-grit pad.

Moving up the grits the next stage was to scrub the floor to remove staining with a 400-grit burnishing pad using a strong 50:50 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. The pad was applied as before, rinsing and extracting once done and then moving up to the 800 and then 1500 grit pad.

Terrazzo Floor During Restoration Cardiff

As the floor became cleaner the cracks and damage to the terrazzo became clearly visible and so I started on repairing the cracks with a colour matched filler designed for this type of work. This was left to dry hard and sanded lightly until level with the floor.

The floor was then left to dry overnight, and I returned the next day to apply the last burnishing pad which was a very fine 3000-grit polishing pad to achieve the desired shine, also to polish out any light marks.

Terrazzo Floor During Restoration Cardiff

Sealing a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway in Cardiff

The sealer we selected was Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnator that soaks into the Terrazzo occupying the pores and preventing dirt from residing there. The sealer achieves a durable hardwearing finish and enhances the natural colours in the stone chippings it also ensures the dirt will remain on the surface where its easily cleaned away.

Terrazzo Floor After Restoration Cardiff

Once done I returned the keys, and the architect contacted me later to congratulate me on the restoration of the finished floor. For after care cleaning of polished Terrazzo I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is a mild but effective floor cleaning solution that helps maintain the patina.

Professional Restoration of a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway in South Wales

Terrazzo floor restoration in Cardiff Read More »

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Renovation Bishop of Wales Residence Cardiff

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Renovation in Cardiff for the Archbishop of Wales

After undertaking restoration work for Catholic churches in the areas of Wales and England over the past years, I was recommended to the team who maintain the personal residence of the Archbishop of Wales in Cardiff. They had decided to restore the Terrazzo flooring at the property and I was invited over to quote for doing the work.

The flooring had seen many years of wear and tear due to the nature of the building and the amount of footfall relating to meetings and staff. They were delighted to have found us and I was more than happy to get involved and be able to reassure them that I was confident the floor could indeed be restored to its former glory.

Terrazzo Floor Before Renovation Bishop of Wales Residence Cardiff

I attended a meeting at the property with the church architect to discuss the work needed and talk about the history of the property. It turns out the floor had been covered in carpet and this had been giving people at the property an allergic reaction due to dust accumulating in its thick pile. After removal of the carpet, they discovered the original Terrazzo floor underneath and decided it would be best to have that renovated.

The Terrazzo suffered from numerous issues including adhesive staining and the imprinted pattern of the carpet underlay, fortunately however there were no cracks which can be an issue with Terrazzo floors of this age. Having surveyed the floor I explained the method of work needed to the architect, and we then agreed the price and arranged to carry out the work on a time schedule that suited.

Cleaning and Repairing a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway Floor

To start the restoration process, I began by scraping as much of the remaining adhesive and other contaminates off the surface of the floor with a handheld scraper attached with a 6-inch razor blade. Then I was able to run over the Terrazzo with a coarse 50-Grit diamond pad fitted to a rotary floor machine, this was followed by a 100-grit then 200-Grit pad to remove more ingrained residues. Water is used to lubricate this process and the slurry generated is rinsed off after the application of each pad and extracted with a wet vacuum.

The next stage was to polish the Terrazzo using a set of less aggressive burnishing pads, starting with a Tile Doctor 400-grit pad then a 800, 1500 pad again using water to lubricate the process, rinsing with water between pads and vacuuming the waste as I worked.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The Terrazzo was left to dry out overnight and the following morning the floor was tested for moisture with a damp meter. I do this to avoid applying sealer to a damp floor which can lead to an uneven finish. In this case the readings were fine so I was able to move on to apply the sealer.

The sealer used was Tile Doctor Colour Grow which contains a colour enhancing ingredient that lifts the colours in the stone whilst providing a durable hard wearing sealed finish. Additionally, this product is fully breathable which is an important consideration when sealing old floors like this that won’t have a damp proof membrane.

Terrazzo Floor After Renovation Bishop of Wales Residence Cardiff

Once completed the entrance hall looked a lot more welcoming for visitors, more importantly the Archbishop and the Architect were delighted with the result as they were initially unsure if it could be restored.

For aftercare cleaning going forward I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a mild but effective pH neutral cleaner that is safe to use on sealed floors and has a nice fresh smell.

Professional Restoration of a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway in South Wales

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Renovation in Cardiff for the Archbishop of Wales Read More »

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Renovation Barry South Wales

Grubby Terrazzo Hallway Floor Renovated in Barry South Wales

1 Comment / Barry Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning / Julian Iancono

The customer from Barry in South Wales contacted Tiled Doctor to see if anything could be done to revive their Terrazzo hallway floor which was in need of renovation. I contacted them and arranged a mutual time for me to pop over a survey the floor.

Terrazzo is notoriously vulnerable to movement in the subfloor as it’s made from thousands of pieces of crushed stone including marble and laid as single slab so its not just as simple as replacing a tile should any cracks form. I’m pleased to say there was no evidence of any cracks, just signs of wear and tear due to the age of the floor and general maintenance issues.

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Before Renovation Barry

The customer was about to put their house on the market and the Estate Agent had advised them it would be best if they were to sort the floor out first. Naturally first impression count and the hallway would be the first thing any prospective purchases would see when entering the house. Ideally once deep cleaned and polished the Terrazzo floor would add some wow factor to the property and help turn those prospective purchases into buyers.

Deep Cleaning a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway Floor

To renovate the Terrazzo, no chemical products would be needed for the cleaning, just a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads starting with a coarse 400-grit pad. The pads fit to a rotary floor buffing machine which is weighted to improve contact with the floor. The coarse pad breaks out the deepest stains, removing dirt and old sealers and each pad is passed over each tile four times. Water is used to lubricate the process and it isn’t long before this turns into a dark slurry. After each pad the floor is rinsed with a little more water and the slurry extracted with a wet vacuum.

Terrazzo Hallway Floor During Renovation Barry

This process was repeated with the 800 and 1500-grit pads again rinsing and extracting in-between. After a final rinse the last pad in the sequence which is a 3000-grit pad is applied dry with only a little water sprayed onto to the floor. This last pad is a polishing pad that adds a subtle satin shine to the Terrazzo.

Sealing a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway Floor

Due to the fact the cleaning process involved minimal amounts of water and the last pad is applied dry the Terrazzo was dry in no time and therefore ready for sealing. For sealing I had selected Tile Doctor Colour Grow which not only seals the floor but enhances the colours of the stone segments to achieve a beautiful result.

Terrazzo Hallway Floor After Renovation Barry

Once done the floor looked cleaner, lighter and all the little characterful motifs really stood out. The customer contacted me a week later to say that the estate agent was delighted with the decision to go ahead with the floor restoration as it had certainly transformed the floor.

Professional Restoration of a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway in South Wales

Grubby Terrazzo Hallway Floor Renovated in Barry South Wales Read More »

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Restored in Cardiff

Restoration of a 1930s Terrazzo Hallway Floor in Cardiff

1 Comment / Cardiff Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Julian Iancono

Tile Doctor were appointed to restore a 1930’s Terrazzo hallway floor in Cardiff which was deeply ingrained with dirt after being covered with carpet for many years. Rather than coving the floor with carpet again the owner had decided it was time to have it restored having had our services recommended by a previous client.

After surveying the floor, I could see the carpet had been down so long you could see its pattern in the Terrazzo. I could see there was a large amount of ingrained dirt in the floor that would need to be flushed out which meant several cleans would probably be required. There were numerous cracks in the floor and in one area near a wall the Terrazzo had broken up and turned to rubble.

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Before Restoration Cardiff

Unfortunately, there was little that could be done to repair this, so we agreed to back fill it with cement and the owner planned to cover it with a timber boxing and then paint.

Cleaning and Repairing a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway Floor

To get the Terrazzo looking its best I planned to remove the dirt and restore the surface by burnishing the floor with a six-stage diamond polishing process. This would involve applying Tile Doctor burnishing pads of differing grits ranging from very coarse to very fine, rinsing between each pad to extract the soiling.

To start I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and left it to dwell and soak into Terrazzo for a short time so it could get to work digesting and breaking down the dirt. The first pad was then applied which was a very coarse 100-grit pad using the Pro-Clean for lubrication. The combination of the two lifted out the dirt from the heavily soiled pores of the Terrazzo where it could be extracted from the surface with a wet vacuum.

Terrazzo Hallway Floor During Restoration Cardiff

This process was repeated working through each of the six different burnishing pads, rinsing the floor along the way and extracting the soil after each pad. It was an arduous task, but it was rewarding to see the floor slowly come back to life.

With the floor clean the next stage was to make repairs to the various cracks. Terrazzo is poured onto the floor in one go and then polished to leave a unique and hardwearing surface, so you can’t simply replace a tile or cut out a section. What you can do however is to fill the crack with a resin or flexible grout colour matched to the unique colours in the floor. Once the whole floor had been sealed the crack should be difficult to spot.

Sealing a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway Floor

The next step would be to seal and protect the floor however it needed to be fully dry first, so it was left to dry for twenty-four hours and when I returned this was confirmed by taking several moisture readings with a damp meter.

The sealer of choice for this floor was Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a fully breathable impregnating sealer which also enhances the colour of the stone chippings in the Terrazzo. This sealer is an impregnator that works by soaking into the pores of the floor rather than sittings on the surface, thus protecting it from ingrained dirt. Hallways are by their very nature a high traffic area so this should provide adequate protection and keep the floor in good condition for a long period of time.

Terrazzo Hallway Floor After Restoration Cardiff

Colour Grow is however a matt finish and my client had requested a very high sheen finish. So, after leaving the sealer to dry for 24 hours I returned to apply a further product called Tile Doctor Shine Powder which is a crystalline powder that is worked into the floor using a white buffer pad running at slow speed.

The client was delighted with the newly restored floor, as you can see from the pictures it looked so much fresher and of course free of dirt, not bad for a 90-year-old floor. For the aftercare of polished Terrazzo, I recommend Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is compatible with the sealer and will help maintain the patina.

Professional Restoration of a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway in Southeast Wales

Restoration of a 1930s Terrazzo Hallway Floor in Cardiff Read More »

Terrazzo Church Floor Restoration Cardiff

Chancel Terrazzo Floor Restoration at a Cardiff City Church

1 Comment / Cardiff Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Julian Iancono

During last summer I was asked to restore a Terrazzo floor in the chancel of a Catholic Church in the centre of Cardiff city centre. Our client was actually the architect in charge of the restoration, and he wanted to see if the Terrazzo floor that was laid around 1900 could be restored.

Terrazzo Church Floor During Restoration Vale of Glamorgan

The architect was coordinating different trades with a plan to restore the church interior back to its near original state and I’m proud to say that Tile Doctor was the architect’s choice of contractor to carry out the work. We talked though what needed to be done, how we would gain access, and agreed a plan of work, as well as the price for the job.

Deep Cleaning a Terrazzo Tiled Chancel Floor

The altar at the back of the church had been taken away for renovation which was just as well as the carpet ran underneath. With this section of the church to ourselves the first job was to remove the black rubber carpet underlay glued to the surface of the Terrazzo. To remove the bulk, it had to be scraped off using sharp blades and a great deal of effort. This was a messy process that could only be completed manually.

Once the underlying Terrazzo floor was visible, I was able to work out what products and processes would be the best option for the restoration. With the bulk of the rubber out of the way I decided to try burnishing the floor with Tile Doctor Diamond Floor Pads starting with a very abrasive grade lubricated with water.

To keep the mess to a minimum the waste was vacuumed up as we went, and this made it possible to crack on across the whole area. At this first stage we also burnished around the perimeter and awkward to reach areas with a handheld polisher to ensure nothing was missed and to blend the areas.

One finished with the coarse pad the floor was given a full rinse with water and the remaining soil removed with the wet vacuum. Once done finer grit burnishing pads were applied using the same process to bring up the polish on the Terrazzo. After the wet work was completed, the floor was left to dry out for a minimum of 24 hours.

Sealing a Terrazzo Tiled Church Floor

On our return a few days later, the fourth and final polishing pad was used to create a shine and smooth the surface. The church council had requested a deep shine appearance to the Terrazzo so to finish the floor in two stages starting with the application of a sealer. For this floor I chose to apply two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, a colour enhancing impregnating sealer which provides hard wearing surface protection whilst improving the colour contrast.

The final stage was to grind Tile Doctor High Shine Powder into the floor completing two sqm at a time and rinsing with clean water as we worked. This is a crystallising powder that provides a very high shine and provides a tough durable finish that works well on many floor types and was perfect for this terrazzo floor.

Terrazzo Church Floor After Restoration Vale of Glamorgan

Once the final polishing had been completed, we buffed the floor with a soft White Buffing Pad. The church members and architect were delighted with the finished result and contacted Tile Doctor to relay their thanks. This was a lovely project to complete, it is always nice to work within the community as well as for retail clients.

Professional Restoration of a Terrazzo Church Floor in South Wales

Chancel Terrazzo Floor Restoration at a Cardiff City Church Read More »

Victorian Terrazzo Kitchen Floor Before and After Restoration Penarth

Renovating an 1890’s Terrazzo Floor at a Church Vestry in Penarth

1 Comment / Penarth Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Julian Iancono

Detailed below is a fine example of what can be achieved restoring old Terrazzo flooring. The work took place earlier this year in the Kitchen of a Church Vestry in Penarth where the floor dated back to the Victorian 1890’s. Penarth is the wealthiest seaside resort in the Cardiff area and the second largest town in the Vale of Glamorgan, next only to the nearby Barry.

Terrazzo Tiled Floor During Cleaning Church Vestry Penarth

During the Victorian era Penarth was a popular holiday destination, known nationally as “The Garden by the Sea” and was often packed by visitors from the Midlands and the West Country. Along with the day trippers from the South Wales valleys, mostly arriving by train. Today, the town, with its traditional seafront, continues to be a regular summer holiday venue but with fewer visitors.

The client wanted a deep clean and shine finish, the floor had never been cleaned properly and as you can imagine it had a lot of footfall over the years and it really needed doing professionally. I visited to look first and carried out a small test clean to see how it would come up. Satisfied with this they were happy to accept my quote and we booked to return the following month.

Cleaning a Terrazzo Tiled Vestry Floor

With the aid of a rotary floor buffer I started the cleaning process with the application of a coarse 50-grit pad. The pad was run over the floor using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean for lubrication. Pro-Clean is a concentrated, multi-purpose alkaline cleaner, which strips and degreases the floor. It is first left to dwell for 10 minutes or so and then agitated with the machine. Applied with the pad it cuts through old sealers, coatings, and of course ingrained dirt.

This process generates a lot of soil which is rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum. This was then followed by repeating the process with a 100 and then 200-grit pad. The area was given a thorough rinse with water and then dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum.

Some repairs were then carried out at the edges of the Terrazzo floor which involved sympathetically filling with cement. Once this had hardened the floor was treated to a burnish using finer grits of Tile Doctor burnishing pads ranging from 400, 800 and 1500 grits rinsing and extracting with water after each one.

After a final rinse, the floor was dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum and then left to dry off fully overnight, we would return the following day to carry out the sealing.

Sealing a Terrazzo Tiled Vestry Floor

The next day I was concerned the floor might not be dry enough after using so much water to clean it previously so before applying the sealer I checked the moisture levels with a damp meter. The readings were within tolerance however my next step was to give the Terrazzo a further polish with a 3000-git pad which is applied dry so would further dry the floor and bring up the surface appearance.

The last task was to seal the floor and for this we selected to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow, this is a colour intensifying impregnating sealer which soaks into the pores of the stone and provide durable stain protection. This product will cope well with the needs of a kitchen and is fully breathable which is important when choosing a sealer for old floors which do not have a damp proof membrane installed.

Two coats of colour grow were applied to the Terrazzo, allowing about thirty minutes drying time before applying the next. After the second coat had dried the floor was treated to an application of Tile Doctor Shine Powder which is buffed into the floor using the rotary machine to achieve a super durable and deep lustre to the floor.

Terrazzo Tiled Floor After Cleaning Church Vestry Penarth

The Terrazzo responded very well to the treatment and the sealers applied will ensure it keeps its appearance for many years to come.

Professional Restoration of a Terrazzo Tiled Vestry Floor in South East Wales

Renovating an 1890’s Terrazzo Floor at a Church Vestry in Penarth Read More »

Terrazzo Tiled Floor Before and After Restoration Cardiff University

Terrazzo floor Restoration Project at Cardiff University

1 Comment / Cardiff Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Work History / Julian Iancono

Last summer I was asked to carry out a survey at one of the Cardiff University buildings where they were looking at having a large Terrazzo floor restored. The University was on its summer recess so with no students around it was an ideal time for major works to be carried out.

At some point in the past the whole floor had been covered in a layer of self-levelling compound ranging from 2mm – 10mm thickness, so it could be covered with square carpet tiles which had then been secured with adhesive. You can still see the outlines of the tiles in the pictures below. It’s hard to appreciate from the photo that underneath there’s a beautiful Terrazzo floor waiting to be rediscovered.

Terrazzo Floor Before Restoration Cardiff University

The University had removed the carpet tiles but were unsure of how to remove the screed without damaging the Terrazzo underneath and so asked me to quote for restoring the whole floor. I carried out a test clean on the floor first to show the architect’s and university staff an example of what could be achieved.

Terrazzo Floor Demonstration Clean Cardiff University

The method I used for the test sample was to use a process called milling with a 50 grit Milling Pad, which I used to grind off the levelling compound until the stone became visible underneath. The test clean took me a good hour to complete but the results I achieved proved very satisfying both to myself and the clients and I was awarded with the contract.

Cleaning and Restoring a Terrazzo Tiled Floor

On commencement of the work I realised after 4 hours of milling that this method although effective was very time consuming and extremely messy! So, I tried using a long handheld sharp scraper which turned out to be a lot faster and cleaner in removing the cemented compound. In the end it took four days for two men and a great deal of hand ache to remove the screed for the floor.

Terrazzo Floor During Restoration Cardiff University

After removing the compound, I started milling the floor with a Tile Doctor Milling Pads, first the 50 segment & then a 200-segment pad to cut deep in to the floor to remove the stains in the Terrazzo and scratches from using the scraper.

This was followed by burnishing the stone with a set of four Tile Doctor Burnishing Pads. This involves the application of four pads in sequence from a coarse 400 grit through to a very fine 3000 grit to refine the surface of the Terrazzo and improve the lustre of the floor with each grade of pad.

Sealing a Terrazzo Tiled Floor

The architect had specified a hardwearing finish as this was a very busy entrance way for students entering the buildings. So, after finishing the burnishing of the floor with a very fine 3000 grit pad I sealed the floor with three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which seeps into the pores of the Terrazzo protecting it from within enhancing the colours of the chippings in the process whilst providing maximum protection. Finally, we polished the floor after sealing with another application of the 3000 pad and a polishing cloth to shine the floor further.

Terrazzo Floor After Restoration Cardiff University

It was a large floor, so I managed the project in sections, and this enabled me to start on the cleaning of a new section whilst the floor was drying in the previous section. As you can see from the pictures the floor was transformed and looked great. Needless to say the University were very happy with the result.

Professional Restoration of a Terrazzo Tiled Floor in South Wales

Terrazzo floor Restoration Project at Cardiff University Read More »

Dirty Terrazzo Floor Deep Cleaned, Burnished and Sealed in Bridgend

1 Comment / Cowbridge Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Work History / Julian Iancono

Terrazzo is a quite a bit different from the natural stone floors we most commonly work with. It’s a type of flooring material that was made popular by Venetian builders in Italy in the 1920s, but is ultimately descended from styles of design that date back hundreds of years. A typical Terrazzo floor consists of chips of marble or granite set in concrete and polished to result in a smooth surface.

This Terrazzo floor, installed in the hallway of a property in Bridgend, South Wales, was in relatively good physical condition, but it had clearly lost its shine due to the build-up of dirt and muck over the years. In fact, it was first installed in around 1940! The owner was keen to have it rejuvenated to its best possible condition, so they asked me to come in to see what I could do.

Old terrazzo hallway floor before polishing Bridgend

Cleaning and Burnishing a Dirty Terrazzo Tiled Floor

My first course of action was to apply Tile Doctor Pro Clean liberally across the floor and leave it to dwell for a short period. This is a high alkaline cleaner that is designed to deal with light to moderate soil build-up, and to strip away any old sealer remaining on the floor. I scrubbed the product in using a black pad fitted to a rotary machine and vacuumed up the resulting cleaning with a wet-vac machine.

Next, to restore the shine to the floor, I undertook a process known as burnishing, which involves the application of diamond encrusted polishing pads. We will typically start with a Coarse grit pad to level off any uneven areas of the floor and grind down any particularly stubborn marks and stains. Then, we gradually refine the polish on the floor using Medium and Fine grit pads. A small amount of water is used as lubrication with each pad.

After I had finished applying the first three pads in our four-pad system, I gave the floor a thorough rinse and left it to dry overnight.

Sealing a Terrazzo Tiled Floor

I returned to the property the next day and immediately ran some damp tests to check for excess moisture issues, which one might expect with an old floor like this one. Thankfully, the floor proved dry – and I could finish the burnishing process with the fourth and final Very Fine diamond encrusted burnishing pad, which achieved a beautiful shine finish.

Finally, I sealed the floor with three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, an impregnating sealer which provides robust protection and enhances the coloured patterns in the Terrazzo.

Old terrazzo hallway floor after polishing Bridgend

As you can see from the photos above, the floor is looking so much more colourful and bright after a deep clean, polish and a fresh seal. The customer was over the moon!

Professional Restoration of a Dirty Terrazzo Tiled Floor in Bridgend

Dirty Terrazzo Floor Deep Cleaned, Burnished and Sealed in Bridgend Read More »

St Marys Church Bath Before and After Fire Restoration

Terrazzo and Quarry Tiles Restored at a Fire Damaged Church in Bath

1 Comment / Chepstow Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Work History / Julian Iancono

Back in June, I had the absolute pleasure of undertaking a large scale tiled floor restoration at St. Mary’s Church in Bath. An architect who does a lot of commissions in Bath and the surrounding areas got in touch with me as they needed to restore the very weathered and worn Church flooring, which dates back to 1840.

The Church itself had suffered a lot from fire damage and the Terrazzo flooring had lost any shine due to both exposure to the smoke and, of course, a lot of wear and tear over the course of 176 years. There were also a number of missing tiles that needed to be replaced.

St Marys Church Bath Before Fire Restoration

In addition, some old carpet which was beyond repair had been pulled up to reveal some fantastic red Quarry tiles that the architect hoped could also be restored. They had discovered that some of the tiles had been removed in front of the Altar (an area of around 2.5 square metres) and cemented over due to the Altar being moved back a metre.

Fully restoring both large areas of tiled flooring would take time however with numerous contractors and trades also working in the building at the same time I completed the work in stages over a period of two months.

Cleaning and Sealing Terrazzo Tiles

To begin, I took moisture readings over all areas due to be worked on. In some places, the levels of moisture were high for two reasons: first, a significant amount of water had been used to quell the fire, and second the red Quarry tiles had been laid with no damp proof membrane due to the age of the building.

Next, I liaised with the architect to decide what tile and pattern would be best to replace the cement area in order to compliment the surrounding red tiles. We decided on a similar shape and colour from original style. I then removed the cement, re-cemented and tiled the area accordingly. Following this, I removed the badly damaged Terrazzo tiles and replaced them with spare replica tiles that the architect had leftover from previous projects.

My method for restoring the Terrazzo tiles was to use the Tile Doctor four pad burnishing system, applying each diamond encrusted pad in turn – from Coarse to Very Fine – to clean and polish the stone. I then sealed the tiles with an impregnating sealer known as Tile Doctor Colour Grow which enhances the natural colours in the stone. Finally, I went over the tiles again with the Very Fine burnishing pad to refine the shine. Needless to say, I checked for moisture before sealing, and thankfully the floor proved dry.

St Marys Church Bath During Fire Restoration

Cleaning and Sealing Red Quarry Tiles

In some areas, the red Quarry tiles had glue on them from the carpet being stuck down for many years. I manually scraped off the large, tough glue residues, and once this had been done, I used Tile Doctor Remove and Go combined with Tile Doctor Pro Clean to soften and break down any particularly stubborn glue deposits. After rinsing the floor, I went over it again with the Coarse grit burnishing pad to give the surface a really good clean. The remaining Quarry tiles were cleaned by using the same Coarse grit pad. using water to lubricate the process and rinsing periodically as I worked.

Having cleaned the tiles, I left the Church for a week to allow the builders and other trades to finish their work. Upon my return, I ran some damp tests to and found the readings were sky high, meaning sealing was not an option at this time. I discussed this issue with the architect and we decided to carry on with the completion in a month, leaving the floor enough time to dry out and for any other building work to be completed. By that time, the heating system would have also been installed and would work to help the floor to dry out quicker.

A month passed, and I returned to seal the Quarry tiles. However, before doing so I noticed efflorescence in some areas and neutralised it using Tile Doctor Acid Gel. I then left the floor a further two days to dry, by which time the Acid Gel had successfully removed all traces of efflorescence. To my satisfaction, the moisture readings I took upon my return were low, meaning the tiles were ready to be sealed.

St Marys Church Bath After Fire Restoration

To seal the tiles, I applied several costs of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, an impregnating sealer which helps protects with no damp proof membrane, follows by a few coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, a sealer which prices a nice satin shine finish. This really enhanced the old fire red pigment in the tiles.

While it was a long and difficult process to fully restore both sets of tiles, the outcome was very much worth the wait. Looking at the before and after photographs, it’s easy to see why the architect, priest and the parishioners were absolutely delighted with the results. I’m also really pleased to have contributed to the restoration and continued conservation of this wonderful building.

Fire Damaged 176-Year Old Terrazzo and Quarry Tiled Floors Retorted at Bath Church

Terrazzo and Quarry Tiles Restored at a Fire Damaged Church in Bath Read More »

Deep Cleaning a Terrazzo Hallway near Caerphilly Castle

1 Comment / Caerphilly Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Work History / Julian Iancono

I previously restored an Quarry Tiled floor for the owner of this residence near Caerphilly Castle and was asked back to deep clean their Terrazzo hallway floor which was far from looking its best.

Terrazzo Hallway before deep cleaning near Caerphilly Castle

Restoring a Terrazzo Floor

Terrazzo is a very hard surface and needs to be burnished to get the best results so after scrubbing the floor with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a black scrubbing pad to remove what felt like 100 plus years of black dirt I set about burnishing the floor with a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads and a little water. The set comprises of four different grades of diamond pads ranging from coarse to smooth that produce a shiny clean surface. The floor is rinsed between pads to remove any slurry from the process and given another rinse at the end.

Sealing a Terrazzo Floor

The hard Terrazzo soon dried and I was able to seal the floor with the application of three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing impregnating sealer which will prevent staining and make it easier to clean in future. Once the last coat was dry I and gave the floor a further polish with the 4th stage green pad to give a true deep shine.

I think you will agree that what was once an old and tired terrazzo hallway floor now looks much better following its facelift, something that was only made possible due the quality of installation when first laid.

Quarry Tiled floor restored in South Wales

Deep Cleaning a Terrazzo Hallway near Caerphilly Castle Read More »

Quarry and Terrazzo floors restored near Caerphilly Castle

1 Comment / Caerphilly Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Work History / Julian Iancono

The owner of this residence near Caerphilly Castle had discovered a 150x150mm red Quarry tiled floor in the kitchen which dated back to before 1900 and had unfortunately been tiled over by a previous owner. Keen on restoring such an original feature the owner set about removing the tiles on top using a chisel and scraping off the adhesive, it was at this point we got the call to assist.

Quarry Tiled Floor Before Restoration near Caerphilly Castle

Restoring a Quarry Tiled Floor

Before proceeding my first job is to always check the moisture levels, many of these old floors have no damp proof membrane so without taking a base reading it’s tricky to know if the floor has thoroughly dried later. The kitchen was being replaced and the old kitchen had been removed so I was able to work on the restoration before the new one had been installed making the task easier.

To clean the floor I realised I would need a strong cleaning solution to get these old Quarry tiles clean so I diluted Tile Doctor Pro-Clean 50:50 with Heavy Build-up Remover or Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU as we like to call it. This was applied to a wet floor and scrubbed in using a scrubbing machine fitted with a coarse back pad running on slow speed. I rinsed the floor every so often so I could see the difference and discovered my choice of cleaning product has proved to be effective and fast. Before long I was happy to rinse away the now soiled cleaning solution satisfied that I could not improve the tiles any further with more cleaning.

Quarry Tiled Floor During Restoration near Caerphilly Castle

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Floor

I left the floor to dry for 24h hours before returning to seal the tiles. On my return I checked the moisture levels and there were some high readings so using a heat gun I applied some gentle heat to the tiles allowing them to cool before checking again. This did the trick and the second reading was much better so I proceeded to seal the tiles using Tile Doctor Seal and Go which I find works well on quarry tiles. The quarry tiles were quite worn and very porous and as result needed at nine coats of sealer before they were fully sealed. I do find multiple of coats of sealer works well on floors of this condition as it helped to hide the imperfections and marks caused by the chisel and scrapper.

The owners were delighted with the results and asked me to come back and restore their terrazzo hallway floor which will be subject to another post.

Quarry Tiled floor restored in South Wales

Quarry and Terrazzo floors restored near Caerphilly Castle Read More »

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South East Wales Tile Doctor

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