Slate Tile Cleaning

Welcome to my Work History archive where you will find detailed examples of the cleaning and renovation of Slate flooring carried out in Norfolk

Cleaning and Renovating Slate Floors

Slate is a very popular floor and wall tile due to its low porosity; there are many varieties and textures of Slate available as such Tile Doctor has spent many years researching the best cleaning and sealing methods and products. The semi-riven tile is particularly easier to maintain compared to the rough textured Slate commonly available due to its cheaper quarrying cost.

Porosity however small, is the main issue when maintaining Stone floors as dirt can easily become trapped in the pores and once that happens it becomes very difficult to clean. The solution is to prevent the ingress of dirt in the stone by applying a sealer such as Tile Doctor Seal and Go which works very well on Slate. However sealers do wear down with use and the application of unsuitable cleaning products, and so unless regularly maintained the floor will need to be stripped, deep cleaned and then resealed again every three to five years.

Below you will find detailed examples of work we have carried out in the past, it should give you some idea of what’s involved and what can be achieved with the right techniques and products.


Slate Shower Cubicle Renovation Attleborough

Removing Grout Haze from a Black Slate Shower Cubicle in Attleborough

This customer from Attleborough had a new shower installed with the walls clad in beautiful Black Slate tiles. Unfortunately, the installation of the tiles didn’t go according to plan and the Slate became stained with white crusty patches. The staining was completely resistant to any type of cleaning or limescale removal product leaving what was meant to be a very opulent shower cubicle looking very un-inviting.

Despite numerous consultations with the contractor, they were unable to resolve the problem or offer any solution that would renovate the stone and make it look as originally intended. Desperate for a solution she searched the internet, discovered Tile Doctor and I was asked to take a look and see what could be done. Attleborough is only about ten miles from my base in Norwich so its wasn’t long before I was able to pop round.

Slate Shower Cubicle Before Renovation Attleborough

After inspecting the installation, I ascertained that the problem here was two-fold. The primary problem was the installer and left a thin coating of grout on the surface of the Slate tiles. This is a common problem known in the trade as “grout haze” or “grout smears” and is usually removed afterwards by giving the tiles a good wipe down with a sponge. Clearly this wasn’t done sufficiently on this occasion. The second problem was the grout haze had provided the perfect moisture trap for the typical Norfolk hard water. Over a relatively short space of time, this trapped water had left hard limescale deposits which became firmly attached to the grout haze which, in turn, was firmly attached to the tile surfaces.

I mentioned earlier that my client had found that no amount of chemical cleaning could shift it. However, Tile Doctor products are designed for professional use and are far more powerful than those available in supermarkets and DIY stores. I also had available professional stripping and repolishing pads that can re-surface the stone so between the two I was confident of getting a good result and dramatically improving the condition of the shower cubicle walls.

Removing White Stains from a Black Slate Tiled Bathroom

The first job was to apply a liberal coat of Tile Doctor Acid Gel, which owing to its thick consistency, is the perfect choice for dissolving calcium-based contaminants on vertical surfaces. This coat was allowed to dwell on the tiles and in the grout lines for around thirty minutes with periodic agitation using a firm bristled grout and scrubbing brush. The solution was then rinsed off with clean water.

The process removed a considerable amount of the limescale but there was still a fair amount visible on the tiles particularly around the tap fittings. A further coat of Acid Gel was applied and again allowed to dwell for another thirty minutes before scrubbing vigorously using a black stripping pad fitted to a handheld Rotex random orbit polisher. After rinsing once again we found that all the limescale deposits and grout haze had been removed successfully.

The whole area was then dried off using a hot air gun and at this point the Slate had become pale and dry-looking after all the aggressive cleaning. Black slate is a type of oil stone which can often have its oil content stripped out by both chemical and physical cleaning.

Sealing Black Slate Bathroom Tiles

I had anticipated this issue however and the solution was to replace the lost oil in the stone using Tile Doctor Stone Oil which is a resin-based pre-polish sealer. It’s formulated to restore the slate’s attractive deep Black colour, improve the surface texture and seal against water absorption. I allowed the oil to soak in for a few minutes and then wiped off all excess product remaining on the surface before leaving it alone to cure for a couple of hours.

Once the oil had cured, the water resistance was then further enhanced by the application of a coat of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which is a penetrating sealer designed for both interior and exterior applications. Finally, once the topcoat of Ultra-seal had dried, with some assistance from an industrial fan, the surface was buffed to a rich sheen using the Rotex polisher and a white nylon pad.

Slate Shower Cubicle After Renovation Attleborough

The client was very impressed by the finished result and hadn’t realised that her slate tiles actually had some flame-like pattern variation in their surface which had always been hidden before by the grout haze and limescale deposits.

For the aftercare of shower tiles, especially stone I recommend regularly spraying on a product called Tile Doctor Aqua-Pro which is a mild cleaner designed for use where the tiling has been sealed. A lot of tile cleaning products you find are simply too strong for use on sealed surfaces and can erode the sealer over time.

 

Professional Slate Tile Restoration in a South London Wet Bathroom

Removing Grout Haze from a Black Slate Shower Cubicle in Attleborough Read More »

Riven Chinese Slate Floor Before After Cleaning Shipdham

Renovating a Water Damaged Riven Chinese Slate Floor in Shipdham

Slow leaking underfloor pipes are guaranteed to wreck the look of an expensive tiled floor and this is exactly what had happened at our client’s house in the village of Shipdham. The problem occurred in the Kitchen and due to the slow nature of the leak it was some time before the problem was diagnosed and repaired. This resulted in a huge damp problem affecting the riven Chinese Slate tiled floor, damaging the sealer and resulting in white efflorescence salts being regularly deposited across the whole area.

The old kitchen units had been removed and the floor partially excavated to access and repair the leaking pipework, after which a new section of slate tiles had been re-laid. The new and the old sections were noticeable, and part of my job would be to clean the old tiles to a standard where they would blend in with the new.

Riven Chinese Slate Floor Before Cleaning Shipdham

Cleaning a Riven Chinese Slate Floor in Shipdham

The first job was to deep-clean the floor using a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed with a small quantity of Tile Doctor Remove and Go, which would help to dissolve the damaged sealer. This poured onto the floor and left to soak in for ten minutes before being scrubbed into the slate with our rotary machine fitted with a brush attachment. This brush scrubs right into the uneven surface of the tiles and makes light work of what can be quite a physical job. This process releases a lot dirt and old sealer from the tile which is effectively removed using another machine that gives the floor a power rinse at the same time.

The grout lines and parts of the riven surface which were still soiled were cleaned by hand using angle head brushes and Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel, which is a concentrated version of Pro-Clean in gel form which makes it a lot easier to contain in a small area. Having satisfied ourselves that the floor was finally clean, we left it to dry thoroughly overnight with assistance from our dehumidifier.

Sealing Riven Chinese Slate Tiles in a Shipdham Kitchen

On our return the following day, we damp tested the floor and found that the moisture content was a little higher than we would have liked and this would certainly cause a problem with the standard Tile Doctor acrylic sealer which is water based. In our experience water-based sealers are often only successfully applied if the conditions are ideal and the moisture content of the stone is very low. We chose, therefore, to use a slightly different product in the form of Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra which is microporous and has a higher acrylic solids content than the standard product, making it ideal in situations where dampness in the tile is an issue but the client wants a sheen finish to make daily maintenance easier.

Six coats of Seal and Go Extra were applied in total, the result had the sheen finish the client wanted and the sealer enhanced the different colours in the slate in the process. The sealer will provide excellent on-going protection and being a fully breathable sealer, it will not be impacted by any damp issues as the floor dries out completely over time.

Riven Chinese Slate Floor After Cleaning Shipdham
With the work completed it the whole floor looked great and it was difficult to spot the repair, our client was certainly happy with the result and made the following comment:

Fantastic service and outstanding results. Our slate floor looks amazing. Very happy
Clair R, Shipdham

Deep Cleaning and Sealing an Old Slate Tiled Floor in Norfolk

Renovating a Water Damaged Riven Chinese Slate Floor in Shipdham Read More »

Slate Tiled Floor in Wreningham During and After Sealing

Renovating Reclaimed Slate Floor Tiles in Wreningham

When the old Rowntree Mackintosh sweet factory at Chapelfield in Norwich was closed down and eventually demolished, our client acquired a quantity of the beautiful green/black slate flooring tiles which had formed part of the reception area of the plant. They had laid these tiles edge to edge with no grouting in their large kitchen/dining room extension at their home in the village of Wreningham and the result was perhaps one of the most impressive examples of high-quality slate flooring we have ever seen in any location.

The Slate floor tiles had been protected against oil and fluid spillages with the application of a penetrating sealer after installation at the property but, over the ensuing years, there had been some inevitable degradation of the sealer and the entire area was now in need of a thorough deep-clean and reseal in order to remove the coating of general grime, bring out the strikingly deep colour and restore the stain resistance.

Cleaning a Slate tiled floor

As there was no topical finish to remove, we proceeded to deep-clean the surface of the tiles using Tile Doctor Pro Clean at a less powerful mix ratio of 1-part water to 5-parts cleaner. This solution was applied to the tiles and left to soak in for ten minutes before being worked in using a black scrubbing pad fitted to our rotary machine.

The resulting muddy slurry was then power rinsed off the floor with water and then extracted with our Ninja machine which has a very powerful vacuum. The high pH product was so effective, no further cleaning was necessary.

The whole area was then dried thoroughly using two large industrial fans which dramatically reduced the drying time, enabling us to move onto sealing later that afternoon. We don’t normally recommend cleaning and sealing in the same day as the floor has to be dry before sealing however in this case we were able to progress through the cleaning process much quicker than anticipated.

Slate Tiled Floor in Wreningham During Sealing

Sealing a Slate Tiled Floor

Before sealing the floor was spot tested in different places using a moisture meter. All was well, so a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow was applied to the Slate tiles. Colour Grow is a penetrating sealer that seeps into the pores of the stone protecting it from with and as its name suggests also intensified the natural black/green colours of the slate in the process.

Once the first coat was dried I followed up with three coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go, which further enriched the colour and provided a pleasing mid-sheen finish to the floor surface.

Slate Tiled Floor in Wreningham During Sealing
The whole process really put the life back in the stone floor and the tiles which were once dull now look vibrant and colourful.

Deep Cleaning and Sealing an Old Slate Tiled Floor in Norfolk

Renovating Reclaimed Slate Floor Tiles in Wreningham Read More »

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Norfolk Tile Doctor

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