Vale of Glamorgan Archives - South East Wales Tile Doctor

Restoring the Appearance of Bleach Damaged Stone Tiling in Cowbridge

Last year we were approached by a customer in the market town of Cowbridge looking for a professional bathroom restorer to renovate their stone tiled bathroom. Apparently, their cleaner had etched the tiles using neat bleach unaware of the damage a strong product like that could have on natural stone.

Stone Bathroom Tiling Before Cleaning Cowbridge

I arranged to call in on the customer the next time I was in the area to discuss the work and take a close look at the tiling. Three different types of stone had been used in the bathroom with Limestone wall tiles in the shower, Black Marble mosaics formed the shower tray and bath panelling, and the floor had been laid with Black Slate.

Having discussed the bathroom at length with the customer it was clear that their main concerns were that the stone had lost its shine, the grout had discoloured, and a lot of the silicone was stained and needed replacing. I worked out a comprehensive plan to revive the bathroom and created a detailed quotation to do the work that listed all the necessary work. My customer was happy with the quote, and I got the go ahead to book the work in.

Black Marble Mosaic and Limestone Shower Tiling Before Cleaning Cowbridge

Black Slate Bathroom Floor Tiling Before Cleaning Cowbridge

Renovating a Stone Bathroom Tiles

Before starting the cleaning, I spent some time protecting the fragile surfaces that didn’t need attention with protective sheeting.

Stone Bathroom Tiling Before Cleaning Cowbridge

Next the shower Tile and grout was scrubbed with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a Black pad that I had cut down so it could be used by hand. The shower walls were then rinsed with water using the shower head which is one of the convenient advantages of working in a shower.

Focus then shifted to the Black Mosaic tiles on the floor of the shower using more Pro-Clean this time mixed with Nanotech HBU for extra cleaning power. This was scrubbed into the grout joints with a brush and a Black pad for the tile surface. I used the same process on the Marble mosaic bath panel. Once done the tiles were rinsed with water.

The next step was to cut out the silicone sealant around the permitter of the shower tiling and spray the area with Tile Doctor Duo Clean which kills mould. Once dry the silicone was replaced with a new anti-mould silicone.

Black Marble Mosaic and Limestone Shower Tiling After Renovation Cowbridge

The shower enclosure tiles were then sealed with Tile Doctor Pro-Seal a durable sealer that doesn’t alter the appearance of the stone. The customer liked the light appearance of the Limestone and wanted to keep it that way.

Limestone Shower Wall Tiling After Renovation Cowbridge

Refreshing Black Slate Bathroom Flooring

The last area to focus on were the Black Slate tiles on the bathroom floor which were also in a similar worn condition. The old sealer had clearly broken down on these and was now letting dirt become ingrained in the stone reducing the vibrant appearance of the Black Slate. I tread this by removing what was left of the original sealer with an application of Remove and Go mixed with Nanotech HBU and Pro-Clean. I left this cleaning cocktail to dwell for about half an hour before scrubbing with a coarse black pad and scrubbing brush.

The floor was then rinsed with water to remove the soiling and now looked much improved. Once dry it was sealed with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that contains a colour enhancer and provides a durable finish especially in bathrooms. This worked out very well on the Slate helped to add depth to the stone as well as bringing out more of the features in the stone.

Black Slate Bathroom Floor Tiling After Renovation Cowbridge

The customers were delighted with the result and I’m please to say the service, in fact they have since recommended Tile Doctor to their friends, colleagues and family.

Marble Tiled Shower Cubicle Professionally Refinished in South Wales

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 »