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 South Essex

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 Tiled Floor Cleaning in an Islington Phone Shop

Shop floors see a lot of foot traffic and this Slate Tiled floor installed in a mobile phone retail outlet Chapel Market, Islington was certainly no different resulting in the floor becoming dull and tired over time. Were happy to cover Residential and Commercial property however in this case we had to wait until the store had closed for the evening before we could get to work.

Cleaning the Slate Tiled Floor

The first step was to clear the floor of any moveable displays and anything we couldn’t move was covered in a plastic sheet to protect it from splashing. We then set about cleaning the slate tiled floor by applying Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted one part Pro-Clean to four parts water, this was left to dwell on the floor for a short while before working it into the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. We used a grout brush to clean out the grout lines and then removed the soiled cleaning solution with a wet vacuum to see how it looked.

Slate Floor London Phone Shop Before

A quick inspection revealed more work was required, there were a few areas of ground in dirt and a stronger dilution of Pro-Clean was applied to clean these up, a number of these areas were proving stubborn so we mixed the Pro-Clean with NanoTech Ultra Clean which adds tiny abrasive particles to the cleaning agent which makes for a very effective cleaner.

The wet vacuum was brought in again to remove the soiled cleaning solution and we inspected the floor again. We were happy with the results so we rinsed the slate tile and grout down with clean water a number of tiles to wash away any remaining cleaning agents and neutralise the floor before sealing. A number of fan blowers were then switched on to help the floor dry and we took a break.

Sealing Slate Tiled Floor

Once the floor was dry we proceeded to seal it with Tile Doctor Seal and Go which provides good stain protection with a low sheen finish, slate is quite porous and it took five coats before it was fully sealed.

We managed to complete the job in a single evening and the shop manager was very pleased with the results.

Slate Floor London Phone Shop After

 
 

Cleaning and Sealing a Slate Tiled Floor in a London shop

Slate Tiled Floor Cleaning in an Islington Phone Shop Read More »

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South Essex Tile Doctor

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