Paint Removal Archives - South East Wales Tile Doctor

Travertine Floor Cleaning Sealing Cardiff

Deep Cleaning and Sealing Badly Soiled Travertine Flooring in Cardiff

This property in Cardiff had a Travertine tiled floor installed throughout the ground floor and as you can see from the photos was overdue a professional clean and seal. Looking for help they contacted Tile Doctor for advice and I offered to pop over and survey the floor for them and provide a quote for its renovation. This is a free service we provide to residential customers and there is no obligation to proceed with any recommendation put forward.

I went over to the house to check the floor and test the floor to see which products and methods would work best. I discovered that the property had recently been refurbished which include plastering and decorating all or which had added to the staining and ingrained dirt trod into the Travertine by workmen.

Travertine Floor Before Cleaning Cardiff

The test clean worked well and satisfactorily showed what could be achieved. I was asked to work out a quote which I emailed over later that day and was accepted.

Cleaning a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Diner Floor

The first job was to carefully remove large lumps of plaster droppings and paint spatters with a sharp blade. It’s a slow job that has to be done by hand but really is the most effective way. Then working in 4sqm sections at a section the floor was sprayed with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean combined 50/50 with Nanotech HBU for extra cleaning power. This was then left to soak into the Travertine and grout for ten minutes to give it time to break down the soiling.

The floor was then scrubbed focusing initially on the grout using a stiff bristle brush and then the Travertine using a handheld black pad cut from a larger 17inch pad. The floor was rinsed and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum.

Travertine Floor During Cleaning Cardiff

The floor was then inspected and the process repeated where needed until the tiles were clean and free of contaminates. The floor was then dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum and then left to dry out overnight

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Diner Floor

Returning the following morning, I used the damp meter to test that the floor was dry, the floor was then ready for me to apply the sealer. The choice of sealer for this floor was Tile Doctor Pro-Seal which provides a natural appearance with hard wearing protection to ensure the stone kept its light appearance and colouring.

Travertine Floor After Cleaning Sealing Cardiff

Once complete the Travertine looked so much lighter and cleaner, the dirt was gone and was the staining from paint and plastering. The customers were delighted with the results and recommended me to their family and friends.

Travertine Floor After Cleaning Cardiff

For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is pH neutral and won’t impact the sealer which can be the issue with many Tile Cleaning products you find in supermarkets.

Professional Renovation of Travertine Tiled Flooring in South Wales

Deep Cleaning and Sealing Badly Soiled Travertine Flooring in Cardiff Read More »

Red Quarry Tiled Floor Restoration in Penarth

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Penarth Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning / Julian Iancono

This client from Penarth contacted Tile Doctor to see if their 100-year-old Quarry tiled floor which had broken and missing tiles could be salvaged. The property dated back to 1890 and had experienced many years of wear and tear and it certainly showed. One of the biggest problems however would be to renovate the area in front of the old fireplace where a hearth was once situated.

Quarry Tiled Floor During Restoration Penarth

It was clear the area in front of the fireplace would need to be rebuilt using matching replacement quarry tiles more of which would be needed for the other repairs that needed doing. Once that was done the floor would then need a deep clean and a fresh sealer applied to give the whole floor a consistent appearance.

I worked out a comprehensive quote which included the repairs and renovation work. This was accepted by the client and a date set for the work to start.

Cleaning and Repairing a Quarry Tiled Room

Work started with the tile repairs which involved breaking out the damaged tiles and those in front of the old fireplace and then cleaning up the floor ready for the replacement tiles to be installed.

Quarry Tiled Floor During Restoration Penarth

Quarry tiles are still very popular, so it wasn’t a problem finding matching replacements which I had manage to source before work commenced. The replacements were then laid in-line with the existing tiles using rapid set adhesive and grouted in.

Once the tiles had set, I was able to start the cleaning process which started with scraping off as much cement, paint, and plaster residue off the floor as possible. This was then followed up with a deep clean of the tile and grout using a mixture of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean combined 50:50 with with Tile Doctor Nanotech HBU Cleaner.

After leaving these products to soak in for ten minutes I worked by hand scrubbing in 1m2 sections at a time, cleaning and rinsing with water and vacuuming up the waste with a wet vacuum as I progressed. Doing it this way ensures maximum attention to detail and ensures the floor is as clean as possible.

Once done, the floor was given an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which was brushed onto the floor and extracted with the wet vacuum as before. Old floors like this don’t have a damp proof membrane and are susceptible to efflorescence, giving the floor an acid rinse like this counters salts and helps further clean the tiles.

After another rinse and extraction with the wet vacuum the floor was left overnight to dry.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Floor in Penarth

The next morning the floor was tested for moisture with a damp meter and the readings confirmed it had dried sufficiently to accept a sealer. I don’t recommend sealing a damp floor as it impacts the sealers’ ability to cure and leads to a patchy finish.

Sealing started with the application of a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a very durable and breathable sealer which being an impregnator provides an excellent base. The customer wanted a shiny finish so this was followed up with a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go. This product further protects the floor and adds a subtle shine which together with the Colour Grow really brought out the colours in the Quarry tiles. As you can see the red colour of the floor looks vibrant and stunning after the two different sealers were applied.

Quarry Tiled Floor After Restoration Penarth

My client was delighted with the result and offered to recommended Tile Doctor to their family and friends which was nice. For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a gentle but effective tile cleaner that’s ideal for cleaning sealed floors.

Quarry Tiled Floor After Restoration Penarth

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Floor in South Wales

Red Quarry Tiled Floor Restoration in Penarth Read More »

Restoring a Multi Coloured Slate Kitchen Floor in Penarth

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Penarth Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning / Julian Iancono

Tile Doctor was contacted by a homeowner in Penarth to see if anything could be done to salvage this multi-coloured Slate floor which had been revealed during a kitchen refurb. As the local Tile Doctor covering Cardiff and the surrounding areas, I was asked to get in touch.

I went over to the property to survey the floor, work out what needed to be done and put a quote together for its restoration. The slate was multi-coloured and didn’t look that old, however, it had been laid around the previous kitchen units and once they had been removed it left quite a few gaps in the flooring.

Slate Kitchen Floor Before Restoration Penarth

I managed to track down similar tiles from a specialist slate supplier and once I had all the prices, I was able to provide a quote for fully restoring the floor. Naturally the owner was keen to progress the work as soon as possible and it wasn’t long before the quote was accepted, and a date arranged for my return visit.

Cleaning and Repairing a Multi Coloured Slate Kitchen Floor

Work started with the repairs; the replacement tiles were bigger than the tiles laid on the floor, so they had to be trimmed by 10mm from two edges to make them fit correctly. Once cut they were fixed into place with quick setting adhesive and then grouted in.

Slate Kitchen Floor Before Restoration Penarth

My attention then turned to addressing the plaster and paint splatters which stained the floor from the previous decorating work. This proved more difficult than expected, but I persisted and managed to remove the debris with a sharp bladed tool taking care not to scratch the slate.

Once most of the plaster was removed, I set about with the next stage of restoration work, deep cleaning the floor. The products I used were Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed 50:50 with Tile Doctor Nanotech HBU cleaner, I’ve used this combination before as it results in a very powerful tile cleaner.

The solution was applied to the floor 1m2 at a time and scrubbed with a handheld brush, working it into the tiles and the grout lines also. I rinsed off the soiling with clean water and vacuumed off the waste as I worked.

Once completely clean, the floor was left to dry overnight ready for sealing the next day.

Sealing a Multi Coloured Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

The desired finish was matt, so I applied Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing impregnator sealer. It works by soaking into the stone, occupying its pores, and thereby ensuring dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away.

Slate Kitchen Floor After Restoration Penarth

As well as adding durable protection the new sealer truly brought out the natural colours of the stone. Needless to say, the clients were delighted with the finish on their newly renovated stone floor and were relieved it could be salvaged as they considering having it replaced.

Slate Kitchen Floor After Restoration Penarth

Before leaving I took time to discuss aftercare cleaning and recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This product is a mild yet effective tile cleaner that is safe to use on sealed floors, this is important as many of the cleaning products you find in supermarkets are simply too strong and will erode the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Multi Coloured Slate Tiled Kitchen in South Wales

Restoring a Multi Coloured Slate Kitchen Floor in Penarth Read More »