Terracotta Tile Cleaning Archives - South Essex Tile Doctor

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovation Danbury Chelmsford

Filthy Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated in Danbury

The Terracotta tiles in the kitchen of this property in Danbury near Chelmsford were installed by the owners only five years prior. At the time they didn’t like the light colour of the terracotta, so they were sealed with a black pigment added to the sealer in an attempt to darken the floor. Five years later and the sealer had clearly failed, and the tiles and grout were now seriously filthy and impossible to clean.

I wanted to be certain I could remove the dirt and old sealer so whilst at the property surveying the floor I did a cleaning test with Tile Doctor Remove and Go scrubbed into a couple of tiles by hand. The product worked really well and easily cleaned the tiles and grout with excellent results (see picture).

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Danbury Chelmsford

The difference was quite striking and equally impressive so after I worked out a quote, they were more than happy to get me booked in to complete the floor.

Deep Cleaning a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned on the agreed date and immediately set about applying the same process to get the Terracotta tile and grout clean. I used a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go working it into the tiles using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine which also cleaned the grout lines.

The Terracotta was rinsed, and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum. Once done the tiles and grout were inspected and any stubborn areas re-treated using the same process until I was satisfied the Terracotta, and grout was as clean as possible.

The underfloor heating was switched on and used to dry the floor overnight so it would be dry and ready for sealing the next day. This was a helpful addition and avoided the need for me to get the fan dryers out overnight.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen

Terracotta is made from clay and as a result is a very porous material, because of this it took eight coats sealer before it was fully sealed. I applied Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer for this, it contains a colour enhancing formula which really brought out the orange and red colours in the tile.

This sealer is an impregnator that works by soaking into the tile, occupying the pores and ensuring dirt remains on the surface where it is easily cleaned away. It will provide long term protection moving forward and it improves the appearance of the floor without the tiles becoming too shiny.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Sealing Danbury Chelmsford

I think you will agree from the photographs that the floor was completely transformed, and I’m pleased to say the owner was really happy and shocked to see it so different from before.

For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, this is a pH neutral product which will ensure the newly applied sealer retains its integrity. Many household cleaning products are simply too strong and will strip away the sealer with use.

Professional Restoration of a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen in South Essex

Filthy Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated in Danbury Read More »

Sticky Linseed Oil Removed from a Terracotta Kitchen Floor in Brentwood

1 Comment / Brentwood Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning / Matthew Tyler

This is a Terracotta tiled floor at a property in Brentwood that had been recently installed. Unfortunately, the tilers decided to seal the terracotta with a linseed-based sealer that hadn’t gone off and was still tacky to the touch causing it to trap dirt. I suspect they simply put too much down; however, I was surprised they used linseed as this is a very old-fashioned method of sealing terracotta when modern sealers offer far better performance.

Terracotta Floor Before Cleaning Brentwood

The solution I offered was to strip the linseed off the floor, give the tiles a good clean and then re-seal with a modern based sealer designed for the job. Happy with my quote and relieved the problem could be resolved, we agreed a date to complete the work.

Cleaning a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen

To strip off the Linseed Oil I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a powerful alkaline coatings remover. It was left to work breaking down the linseed for about ten minutes and then scrubbed in using a rotary machine fitted with a black 17″ pad. The soiling was then rinsed away with water extracted using a wet vacuum. This process had to be repeated several times before the floor was clear and I used several pads in the process.

The grout was then hand scrubbed using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, these were small terracotta tiles so there was a lot of grouting to cover. Afterwards the soiling was rinsed off and extracted as before using the wet vacuum.

The last step in the cleaning process was to give the floor an acid rinse using a dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up. It was scrubbed in with a deck brush to remove excess grout smears and neutralise the pH level of the floor following the use of alkaline cleaners. Once done it was rinsed away and extracted as before.

Terracotta Floor During Cleaning Brentwood

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen

I left the floor to dry out for a couple of days, before returning to apply a new sealer which for this floor we had chosen Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the tile preventing dirt from becoming lodged there and thereby protecting it from within. Colour Grow as its name suggests includes a colour enhancing formula that improves the lovely orange/red colours so ideal for Terracotta.

Made from clay, Terracotta is a porous material and so does need quite a few coats before its fully sealed. For this floor I needed to apply give coats of Colour Grow, allowing for each coat to dry before applying the next. This is a low sheen sealer which will give the floor a much more hardwearing surface and it really brought out the natural colours in the Terracotta.

Terracotta Floor After Renovation Brentwood

My client was very happy with the difference and left the following 5-star review.

“Matthew was a pleasure to work with and did a fantastic job on a tricky terracotta renovation.”

For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, which is a pH neutral tile cleaner, it’s a gentle yet effective product that won’t impact the sealer.

Terracotta Floor After Renovation Brentwood

Professional Restoration of a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor in Essex

Sticky Linseed Oil Removed from a Terracotta Kitchen Floor in Brentwood Read More »

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Refreshed in Wickford

1 Comment / Basildon Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / TileProf

Sealers really do bring out the best in Terracotta tiles, however the catch is they will wear off over time and if you want to maintain that appearance you have to work out a regular maintenance plan. If you don’t maintain the sealer you will find that the sealer near the most heavily used areas such as doors etc. will wear away first and once that happens dirt will become ingrained in the tile and becomes difficult to clean resulting in a patchy appearance.

The remaining sealer on this Terracotta tiled kitchen floor at a house in the town of Wickford, Essex was no longer effective and had worn completely off in places. The solution was to strip off the old sealer, clean the Terracotta tile and gout and then re-seal with a fresh seal.

Terracotta Kitchen Floor During Cleaning Wickford

Stripping Sealers from Terracotta Tiles

I started by giving the floor a deep clean with Tile Doctor Pro Clean diluted 2 parts water to 1 part cleaner. This is quite a strong dilution designed to allow the removal of the sealer and was left to dwell on the floor for ten minutes before working it into the floor using a scrubbing machine fitted with a black pad. Surprisingly the sealer was proving difficult to shift in certain areas and I had to repeat the process a few times and made sure to give the grout a good scrubbing as well.

I managed to get rid of most of the sealer using this process and for the remaining stubborn areas I used a stronger product called Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a very effective coatings remover that is safe to use on tiles. This did the trick and the floor was now free of sealers and the grout was looking much better too, the resultant slurry was removed using a wet vacuum and I then rinsed the floor several times with water before leaving it to dry for weekend.

Stripping Sealers from Terracotta Tiles

Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that seeps into the pores of the tile to block them and prevent contaminates becoming ingrained in there and it also enhances the natural colours. Once this was dry I followed up with a number of coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is topical sealer that will protect the surface and adds a nice sheen to the floor and is a popular choice for Terracotta and Quarry tiles.

Terracotta Kitchen Floor After Cleaning and Sealing Wickford

I’m not sure my photographs do this post any justice however hopefully you can see that floor was quite transformed, the grout is much cleaner and the colours in the Terracotta have really come to life.

Maintaining Terracotta Tiles in Essex

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Refreshed in Wickford Read More »

Dirty Terracotta Tiled Floor Refreshed in Wickford

1 Comment / Basildon Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / TileProf

Not too long ago, I was contacted by a client in the town of Wickford, which is a fairly small, quiet town in the south of Essex. My client had a Terracotta tiled floor that was in dire need of a complete refresh in the form of a thorough clean and seal.

You might not be aware of this but the word ‘Terracotta’ actually means ‘burned earth’, owing to the stone’s fantastic natural orange-auburn colours. A strong, durable material,it has been in use for residential uses for over two thousand years; the ancient Romans, for example, used Terracotta tiles to decorate their villas and palaces. However, as anyone who has ever owned with a Terracotta tiled floor will know, a major downside to the stone is that it has no natural glaze on the surface, and therefore can pick up ingrained dirt very quickly.

Terracotta Tile Before Cleaning Wickford

Cleaning a Terracotta tiled floor

I began the cleaning process by focusing on the grout lines. Firstly, I mixed a solution of one part Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to two parts clean water. Pro-Clean is a high alkaline cleaner that is suitable for use on most types of natural stone tile. I scrubbed the solution into the grout lines using a stiff grout brush in order to lift out the ingrained dirt and freshen up the grout.

To clean the tiles I applied Tile Doctor Remove & Go, which is a powerful coating remover product designed to break down and strip away any remaining old sealer on the surface. Nonetheless, most of the old sealer on this floor had clearly already worn away, allowing dirt and muck access to the tiles beneath. The product was applied to the tiles and agitated using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine. As you can see from the photographs, the clean made a marked difference to the appearance of the floor, and also helped to remove some linseed oil which had been applied at some point in the past.

Once I was satisfied with the results of the clean, I left the house for a total of four days in order to allow enough time for the floor dry completely. This was important, as any excess moisture can inadvertently affect the performance of the sealer.

Sealing a Terracotta tiled floor

Upon my return, I finished off the job by sealing the floor with multiple coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go. Seal & Go offers durable surface protection, which is especially important for porous stone like Terracotta that can, as I’ve mentioned, become very easily ingrained with dirt. Seal & Go also provided the aesthetically pleasing, low sheen finish that my client had requested.

TIP: If you have ever wondered how to tell if you floor is fully sealed, simply add a few drops of water to the surface; if the water forms a bubble on the surface as in the photograph below, then its sealed.

Tile cleaning and sealing for dirty Terracotta tiled floor restoration in Wickford

Dirty Terracotta Tiled Floor Refreshed in Wickford Read More »

Terracotta Tiled floor Restoration in Chingford

1 Comment / Chigwell Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / TileProf

These photographs are from an old Terracotta tiled floor in Chingford, Essex that had been under carpet for years. The owners had removed carpet which had been glued to the tiles beneath and found this lovely floor which they wanted to restore as an original feature. As you can see it was in a bad state and needed some work on it.

Terracotta Tiles in Chingford Before Cleaning

Remove Grout Haze and Cleaning Terracotta Tiles

We started by giving the floor a deep clean with Tile Doctor Pro Clean which was left to dwell on the floor for ten minutes before working it into the floor using a scrubbing machine fitted with a black pad. I knew this wouldn’t resolve all the problems but it was a good start and would show what was going to be removed easily.

As expected there were a number of stubborn areas including the surface glue especially around the edges which needed to be tackled with a stronger product so the next step was to apply Tile Doctor Remove and Go which as the name suggests is a coatings remover that will remove almost anything and is safe to use on tiles. Hand scrapers were used along the edges of the floor and although the area was relatively small it took a long time to remove all the various contaminants.

Another issue we found was grout haze on the surface of the tile and for that we need to apply Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which was applied to the tile surface and scrubbed in with black scrubbing pads.

Terracotta Tiles in Chingford During Cleaining

Once satisfied the haze was removed we washed the floor down three times with water to remove any residue using a wet vacuum to pick up the slurry and suck any remaining liquids from the floor to allow it to dry quicker..

The floor turned out to be quite acceptable to customer who was happy with the results. They were going to seal the floor themselves once all the decorating had been completed.

Terracotta Tiles in Chingford After Cleaning

Restoring Terracotta tiled floor in Essex

Terracotta Tiled floor Restoration in Chingford Read More »

Saltillo Terracotta Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Abridge

Chigwell Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Work History / TileProf

Pictures below of a job we did cleaning and re-sealing a 25m2 Saltillo Terracotta tiled floor installed in the kitchen of a house on a working farm outside Abridge, Essex. The owner had been applying coats of sealer for the last 10 years or so and over the course of time a bad build-up of layers of sealer had occurred causing and un-even and darkening effect on the tile (see picture below).

Cleaning Saltillo Terracotta Tile

Removing the old sealer to get back to the bare Terracotta surface was incredibly hard work, normally we can get most of the sealer off with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean but in this case something a lot stronger was required so we applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go (which is a coatings remover designed for taking off sealers and other coatings from tile) mixed 50/50 with Nano Tech Ultra-clean which adds tiny abrasive particles to the mix. We applied the resulting solution and let it soak in for 30 minutes before tackling it with scrubbers and a steamer, gradually over the course of three days we managed to remove all of the sealer. We rinsed the Terracotta down with clean water to remove any trace of chemical and neutralise the floor before sealing and then left it to dry out.

Saltillo Terracotta Floor After Cleaning

Sealing Saltillo Terracotta Tile

We left the floor for 10 days to dry out and came back to seal it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer that protects the tile as well bringing out the natural colour in the tile.

I left the floor to cure overnight, and came back the next day to finish sealing with Tile Doctor Seal and Go, Seal and Go is a water based sealer so it doesn’t give off an odour when it’s drying and also offers durable stain protection together with a low sheen finish. In the end the floor actually took seven coats of Seal and Go before it was fully sealed, this naturally took a long time to apply as you have to wait for it to dry before applying the next coat. Needless to say this was a very long job but the difference was remarkable and the owner was very happy with the result.

Difficult Saltillo Terracotta Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Essex

Saltillo Terracotta Tiled Floor Cleaned and Sealed in Abridge Read More »

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