Floor Tiles Archives - South Essex Tile Doctor

Basalt Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaning Polishing Sealing Chelmsford

Basalt Tiled Kitchen and Bathroom Floor Renovated in Chelmsford

I thought I would share the following case study which involved the renovation of Black Basalt tiles in the kitchen and bathroom on a property in Chelmsford Essex. The owner had the tiles installed ten years ago and since that time they had lost their appeal and now looked dull and flat.

Basalt Tiled Bathroom Floor Before Cleaning Chelmsford

Basalt Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Chelmsford

Unhappy with the way they looked he decided to call me in to see what could be done to revitalise the tiles improve their appearance.

I called in on the property when I was next in the area to do some measurements and run some tests to work out the best way of proceeding. Basalt isn’t a very popular tile which is surprising as it’s a very hard stone and has a lot in common with Granite. Nevertheless, I was confident that by treating it in the same way as a hard stone I would be able to get the best out of the tiles and restore it to its original condition.

I worked out a renovation process and submitted a quote for the work which was accepted.

Cleaning a Basalt Tiled Kitchen and Bathroom Floor

I returned on the agreed date and set about cleaning the floor using Tile Doctor Remove and Go worked in with a 400 and then 800-grit burnishing pad fitted to a rotary buffer running at a slow 150 RPM.

Tile Doctor Remove and Go is a cleaner and seal remover, I had worked out that the previous sealer had worn off on most of the floor, so it now needed to be completely stripped off and replaced. The 400-grit burnishing pads are great for cleaning hard stone, the coarse pad got right into the basalt tiles lifting the dirt and what remained of the old sealer to the surface where it was rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum. The 800-grit burnishing pad is a polishing pad and adds a slight sheen to the surface.

Basalt Kitchen Floor During Cleaning Chelmsford

Next the tile and grout were treated using a weak dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up, paying extra attention to the cleaning of the grout lines in the process. This is an acidic cleaner which also neutralises the floor following the use of Remove and Go which is alkaline.

After another rinse with water and extraction with the wet vacuum I left a blower in place to dry the floor for a couple of hours and asked the owner to put the under-floor heating on overnight to full.

Sealing a Basalt Tiled Kitchen and Bathroom Floor

The floor had dried by the next day, and I was able to start applying the first of what would be two coats of Tile Doctor Xtra Seal to give the basalt its correct look. X-Tra seal is a modern oil-based sealer that is rated for wet areas and puts colour and structure back into the stone.

Basalt Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Chelmsford

Having two separate areas to seal worked to my advantage as I was able to start sealing the bathroom floor whilst the first coat to the kitchen floor was drying.

Once complete both Basalt floors looked great and my client was very happy with the difference we had managed to achieve. Additionally, the new sealer will ensure dirt remains on the surface of the stone making it easier to clean going forward.

Basalt Tiled Bathroom Floor After Cleaning Chelmsford

On the subject of cleaning, I recommended the use of a PH neutral floor cleaner such as Tile Doctor Stone Soap going forward. This product won’t impact the sealer and contains a patina enhancer which will help the stone keep its polished appearance.

Professional Restoration of a Basalt Tiled Kitchen and Bathroom Floor South Essex

Basalt Tiled Kitchen and Bathroom Floor Renovated in Chelmsford Read More »

Sticky Linseed Oil Removed from a Terracotta Kitchen Floor in Brentwood

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 »