Fakenham Tile Cleaning

Fakenham Tile Cleaning

Welcome to my Work History archive where you will find examples of the cleaning and renovation of tiles carried out in Fakenham.

Terracotta Tiled Floor Renovation Ostrich Inn South Creake Fakenham

Terracotta Pamment Floor Deep Cleaned and Sealed at South Creake Fakenham

This Norfolk Pamment tiled floor at the Ostrich Inn, South Creake near Fakenham is a good example of a floor badly contaminated as the result of extensive renovation works. Terracotta pamment clay is a very porous material and will easily absorb fluids and dirt if left unsealed and therefore unprotected.

Terracotta Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Ostrich Inn South Creake Fakenham

The solution is a topical or surface-finish sealer that will prevent dirt from becoming ingrained in the pores of the tile. The sealer does wear off over time however and once that happens, the tiles become very difficult to keep clean. The same thing happens with the sand and cement pointing lines so it’s very important to maintain the sealer on both the tile and pointing especially in a kitchen environment where spills and therefore staining is more likely to occur.

Terracotta Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Ostrich Inn South Creake Fakenham

I visited the property to survey the pamment floor and I could see the whole area, including the pointing, needed a complete strip and deep-clean followed by the application of a fresh combination sealer/acrylic finish. Due to its size and the logistics of furniture moving I could see the work would need to be done in two halves. I explained the process and conducted a small demonstration so they could see the results. Happy to proceed with my renovation plan we scheduled a date for the work to be done a few weeks later.

Stripping & Deep Cleaning a Terracotta Pamment Floor Near Fakenham

Cleaning started by spraying the Pamments with a strong 3:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed with a little Tile Doctor HBU Remover to increase its cleaning power. After spraying the mixture onto the tiles and pointing it was left to soak in for around ten minutes, more solution being added periodically to prevent it drying out.

The floor was then scrubbed using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This process took some time and in all, five litres of Pro-Clean was consumed in the cleaning process. This was really needed to remove the many years of dirt and building work contaminants which had built up on the floor. A wet vacuum was then used to remove the chemicals and resulting slurry.

Pro-Clean is a strong alkaline product so to rebalance the pH level of the floor it was then given a thorough rinse with a solution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up. I like to do this as I don’t want anything affecting the curing of the new sealer later.

Sealing a Terracotta Pamment Floor near Fakenham

The floor was left to dry out overnight and a digital moisture meter was used the following morning to check it was dry. The results were fine and so I proceeded to apply the first of what would be five coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go which is a water-based acrylic sealer that adds a subtle sheen finish.

Terracotta Tiled Floor After Renovation Ostrich Inn South Creake Fakenham

As it was a fairly large floor area it took five litres of the sealer to treat the whole floor and in total, we spent four days at the property. Satisfyingly, the clients were absolutely staggered and delighted with the results we had achieved with a floor they thought was beyond rescue.

Terracotta Tiled Floor After Renovation Ostrich Inn South Creake Fakenham

For maintenance cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner which is a pH neutral tile cleaning product which can be used daily if required. It’s a highly effective cleaning product with a pleasant fragrance and it won’t strip the tiles of the newly applied sealer like most strong household cleaners do. It’s also very concentrated so a small amount goes a long way and a small bottle should last a fair while.

 

Renovating Terracotta Pamment Floor Tiles in Norfolk

Terracotta Pamment Floor Deep Cleaned and Sealed at South Creake Fakenham Read More »

Limestone Tiled Floor Renovation Hindolveston

Finishing a Large Mottled Brown Limestone Tiled Floor in Hindolveston

Now here’s a problem we regularly come across with natural stone floors such as this Mottled Brown Limestone floor installed at a house in Hindolveston; it should have a deep rich shine but without regular maintenance the polish wears off and it becomes dull and uninviting.

Hindolveston is a small village near the North Norfolk coast east of Fakenham. There are several large old houses in the area, and we had been invited by the owner of one of them to advise on the renovation of their recently laid and hugely expensive Brown Limestone floor. Measuring approximately 110 square metres the Limestone tiles had been installed throughout the lounge, dining area and spacious kitchen which featured an enormous AGA range.

Limestone Tiled Floor Before Renovation in Hindolveston

The floor tiles themselves had been very well laid but had an odd milky film across the surface which completely masked the beautiful deep brown mottled nature of the stone. A builder had put down some protective coverings during renovations which became damp and had left a distinct pattern in the film when they were removed. After carrying out appropriate testing to determine what this was, we found that the grout haze had not been completely removed before the floor was sealed and allowed to cure across the whole surface. This combination resulted in the milky film which was impervious to all the cleaning and stripping chemicals the builder had tried.

Removing Grout Haze and Cleaning a Brown Limestone Floor

Our solution to the problem was to burnish and re-polish the stone with a 4-piece set of Tile Doctor Burnishing Pads which with the addition of a coarser grade 200-grit pad when we found the thick film to be extremely tenacious.

The pads were applied with a 17″ rotary floor machine in sequence from 400-grit to 1500-grit. No chemicals are needed for this only water to lubricate, rinsing and extracting after each pad. We make use of a Ninja high-pressure cleaning machine to rinse and extra the soil released from the floor; it runs at 400psi so its very effective.

The pads struggle to reach into the internal corners so the last step of the cleaning process was to treat them by hand using Tile Doctor burnishing blocks. The whole floor was then left to dry off thoroughly overnight with assistance from our large capacity dehumidifier.

Sealing Brown Limestone Floor Tiling

On our return, we checked across the whole floor with a moisture meter to ensure that there was no significant moisture left in the tiles which would adversely affect the performance of the sealer before it had time to cure fully.

Satisfied that this was the case, we vacuumed the floor to remove any dust and grit before spray burnishing the surface with the last of the four burnishing pads which is a very fine 3000-grit diamond pad. Again, this is applied using the rotary floor machine and run over the Limestone floor to produce a deep shine, much to the delight of the client.

Finally, the tiles were sealed using Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which is a no-sheen penetrating sealer which provides excellent fluid resistance without altering the appearance of the stone itself. One last vacuuming and the job was done!

Limestone Tiled Floor After Renovation in Hindolveston

A very relieved and happy client who then promptly booked us in to renovate the limestone and encaustic tiled floors in all her bathrooms.

 

Large Mottled Brown Limestone Floor Professionally Renovated in Norfolk

Finishing a Large Mottled Brown Limestone Tiled Floor in Hindolveston Read More »

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Norfolk Tile Doctor

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