tile sealing

Polished Marble Floor–Elmswell Before After Cleaning

Cleaning, Polishing and Sealing a Marble floor and Wall Tiles in Elmswell

Not too long ago I was called down to a house in the small village of Elmswell, Suffolk. I was asked to take a look at a Marble floor and wall tiles which had become dull and lifeless over time, especially in high traffic areas and now need to be burnished to bring the polish back. In addition, my client was unhappy with the beige colour of the grout lines, requesting that I change the colour to white following the clean and polish.

Polished Marble Floor Elmswell Before Cleaning Polished Marble Floor Elmswell Before Cleaning

Cleaning and Polishing a Marble tiles

To get the floor clean and bring back the polish I used a set of four diamond encrusted burnishing pads which have different levels of grit, applied to the Marble tiles with a small amount of water. I started with a Coarse pad, before moving on to a Medium pad, a Fine pad, and finally a Very Fine pad to achieve the desired polished look. The floor was given a thorough rinse between each pad in order to remove any excess residue that had resulted from the burnishing process.

Once I had finished the floors I moved onto the Marble wall tiles in the bathroom where the same process was repeated, for wall tiles however you need to use the smaller six inch burnishing pads fitted to a hand held buffer.

Sealing Marble Floor Tiles

I left the floor to dry for a few days before returning to seal it for which I used Tile Doctor Shine Powder. This is a crystallising powder that offers a very high shine and tough durable finish. It it ground directly into the tiles, and can be used to seal all natural stone, including Marble, Granite, Limestone, Slate and Travertine, for both interior and exterior floors.

Changing the Grout Colour

My final task was to change the colour of the grout, as per my client’s request. I did this using a couple of tubes of Tile Doctor Grout Colourant in white. The colourant is painted onto the grout with any excess wiped off the tile before it gets chance to harden. It’s an epoxy product that looks completely natural and additionally provides excellent stain protection for the future.

Polished Marble Floor Elmswell After Cleaning Polished Marble Floor Elmswell After Cleaning

My client was very pleased with the results of my work and took the time to leave the following comment on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

“I cannot praise the standard of Bruce Copping’s work enough. He completely transformed the marble floors and shower room walls in my home and made them look brand new. His attention to detail was excellent, plus no mess, just a perfect finish and valuable advice on maintaining the walls and floors. I’m so relieved I was able to find Tile Doctor online; I’d almost given up hope of finding someone to sort out the problems with my marble, but Bruce Copping was superb. I’m absolutely delighted with the results and have no hesitation in recommending him.”

Marble Tiles Refurbished in Suffolk

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Pamment Tiled floor Ipswitch Before After Cleaning

Cleaning and Sealing a Pamment Tiled Floor in Ipswich

I was contacted by a client living in Ipswich, the county town of Suffolk, who had a dirty Pamment tiled floor that needed some attention. The sealer had pretty much worn off the surface of the tiles which had allowed dirt to become ingrained in the pores of the stone, making it difficult to clean for the homeowner.

Pamment Tiled floor Ipswich Before Cleaning Pamment Tiled floor Ipswich Before Cleaning

Pamment tiles are very popular in Suffolk homes; they are made locally from clay and, like Terracotta, are porous and therefore need to be sealed. Pamments are quite versatile, and can be used for internal floors and external surfaces like patios.

Cleaning a Pamment tiled floor

To remove the remaining sealer and clean the tiles I decided to apply Tile Doctor Remove & Go, which was diluted with water to form a medium strength solution. I applied a layer of this solution to the floor, leaving it to soak into the pores of the stone for approximately ten minutes. I then worked the solution into the tiles using a scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine. Remove & Go is versatile cleaner, suitable and safe to use on many natural stone floors, ceramic tiles, grout and more.

I rinsed the solution off the floor with water once it had worked its magic, and extracted the resulting soiled residue with a wet-vac machine. In order to tackle the particular stubborn stains, I repeated this process until I was satisfied that the floor had been cleaned to the highest standard possible.

Pamment Tiled floor Ipswich During Cleaning

The floor was then left to dry overnight before returning the next day to complete the seal. It is imperative that a tiled floor is given at least 24 hours to dry completely. This is because any excess moisture left on the floor can potentially damage the performance of the sealer. However, in this case I installed a dehumidifier to speed up the drying process.

Sealing a Pamment tiled floor

To seal the Pamment tiles I used a total of six layers of Tile Doctor Seal & Go, which provided a robust, durable surface seal along with an aesthetically pleasing, low-sheen finish (as you can see from the photos). Seal & Go is the go-to sealer for internal, unsealed porous surfaces such as Terracotta, Sandstone, Slate, and more.

Pamment Tiled floor Ipswich After Cleaning Pamment Tiled floor Ipswich After Cleaning

 
 

Refreshing Pamment floor tiles floor in Suffolk

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Limestone patio before after renovation in Ipswich

Restoring a Poorly Sealed Limestone Patio in Ipswich, Suffolk

This Limestone patio had been poorly sealed, resulting in a lack of protection from weather and the general wear and tear of nature. As such, the patio was in need of a thorough clean, and any remaining sealer stripped off and replaced. In addition, the pointing between the Limestone tiles was crumbling, and in places the stone was marked by oil spots. The patio was installed at a house in Ipswich, Suffolk which incidentally is considered to be one of, if not the oldest town in England. I knew the Limestone tiles would be difficult to clean, especially after being exposed to dirt and wear for so long so I figured this would take some time to resolve.

Limestone patio before renovation in Ipswich Limestone patio before renovation in Ipswich

Removing tough stains and dirt from a Limestone patio

My first step was to give the patio an initial rinse with clean water in order to remove any loose debris. Following this, I mixed up an equal cleaning solution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean and NanoTech HBU. Pro-Clean is a versatile, high alkaline cleaner which can be used on a variety of natural stone floors, whilst NanoTech HBU (formerly known as Ultra Clean) is specifically designed to tackle the heavy build-up of dirt and stains. It does this by using nano-sized particles to penetrate beneath tough stains to dissolve and lift them out.

As you can see from the photographs, the combination of the two cleaning products was highly effective. After completing the cleaning, I left the house for two days to allow plentiful time for the patio to dry completely, and therefore ready to be sealed.

Sealing a Limestone Patio with Stone Oil

Fortunately the weather held and I was able to call in as planned and applied Tile Doctor Stone Oil, an easy-to-apply product that adds colour to the stone. I left the floor for a further two days and then returned again to protect the Limestone using a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal.

After cleaning and sealing the patio, my final task was to deal with the pointing issue. I replaced any missing pointing and fixed the loose pieces, before colouring the grout using a dark colourant to provide uniformity. This was difficult, but highly rewarding work, as the patio now looks bold and inviting.

Limestone patio after renovation in Ipswich

My customer was certainly pleased with my work, and left the following comment on the Tile Doctor feedback system:

“I couldn’t have been more pleased with the service I received from Bruce Copping. He communicated well, was reliable and managed to breathe life back into my very unattractive limestone garden patio that had been excruciating badly sealed by my original contractors…The whole area, which is around 30ft square, now looks fantastic.”

Limestone patio after renovation in Ipswich

 
 

New life breathed into Limestone Patio in Suffolk

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