Colour Grow Archives - Suffolk Tile Doctor

Terracotta Tiled Floor Renovation in Woodbridge

This Terracotta tiled floor was in the kitchen of a house in the river side town of Woodbridge. The client had inherited the property and was looking to freshen it up prior to selling. The house had terracotta floors in nearly every room on the ground floor including a cellar, some areas of which were showing signs of damp.

Terracotta Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Woodbridge

After visiting the property, I could see the terracotta clearly hadn’t been sealed for some time as the dirt was well ingrained into the pores of the tile and it would need a deep clean to get it all out. After carrying out a few tests I was able to come up with a renovation plan and produce a quote for the work. Happy to proceed we agreed a date for the work to begin which would take four days.

Terracotta Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Woodbridge

Cleaning a Terracotta Tiled Ground Floor

To get the floor clean I started with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, which was applied to the tiles and left to soak in for ten minutes. The dwell time gives the product time to break down the soiling before scrubbing. The product was then worked into the tile and grout using a Black pad fitted to a rotary floor machine.

The grout was also scrubbed by hand using our wire brushes to get it as clean as it could be. All the soils released from the tile were rinsed away with water and then extracted using a wet vacuum. Most of the floors were quite dirty so after inspecting the floor they were re-treated until we were satisfied. Five litres of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean were used in the process.

The damp areas were treated to an acid wash using a product called Tile Doctor Acid Gel, this neutralises any alkaline efflorescence that may have built up in the floor. The gel was brushed into the floor and then the resultant slurry removed by rinsing and the wet vacuum as before.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Ground Floor

The floors were then left to dry out over a weekend, and we then returned the following week to apply a sealer. Before doing so several moisture readings were taken with a damp meter to make sure the floor was dry. The readings were satisfactory, so the floors were then sealed with Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which is a breathable impregnating sealer. There were several floors to do and with Terracotta being quite porous five litres of sealer were needed for this.

Terracotta Tiled Floor After Cleaning Sealing Woodbridge

The client was happy that we had managed to get the floors looking so good. We left a free bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner for the client to use to maintain their floor. This should keep it looking good and the property now looked much more appealing to a potential purchaser.

Terracotta Tiled Floor After Cleaning Sealing Woodbridge

Professional Restoration of a Terracotta Tiled Ground Floor in Suffolk

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated in Ipswich Suffolk

Dirty Limestone Kitchen Floor Deep Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Ipswich

1 Comment / Ipswich Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing / Bruce Copping

This limestone tiled floor was installed in the kitchen of a house on the outskirts of Ipswich in Suffolk. The protective sealer had broken down over the years with use, and the limestone was now unprotected and had lost its lustre, it was now absorbing dirt giving it a permanently dirty and dull appearance. Natural stone is porous and without the protection of a sealer its appearance will degrade as more dirt becomes ingrained in its pores.

Limestone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Ipswich

I visited site to have a look at the job, I carried out a test on a small sample area, which came up well; the client was happy to proceed with my quote so we arranged a date to complete the work later in the month.

Cleaning a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

To remove the ingrained dirt and improve the limestone I spent a day applying different grades of diamond encrusted floor pads, worked into the tiles with only water to help lubricate the scrubbing action. These pads are called burnishing pads and to up the pores of the stone so the dirt can be released you need to start with a coarse 400-grit pad.

Once the pad has been run over each tile at least three times the floor is rinsed with water and the soil is extracted with a wet vacuum. Before starting with the next pad in the series a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean was run into the grout lines and scrubbed in by hand with a stiff brush before another round of rinsing and extracting.

The burnishing process was then repeated with a finer 800-grit pad and then a 1500-grit pad. The pads remove any remaining sealer and dirt and start building up the polish on the tile. At the end of the first day the floor was given a final rinse and dried with a wet vacuum. The floor was then left to dry off completely overnight.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

Returning on the 2nd day I began by applying a very fine 3000 grit pad to close the pores up and add a nice subtle shine to the limestone. The floor was checked with the damp meter just to check it was dry enough to seal. The client wanted a slightly matt finish but wanted to ensure the natural colours of the floor came through with just a slight sheen. We selected to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow. It was then sealed with 3 coats, applying each coat after the previous one had soaked in and dried. It took 3 litres of sealer to fill up the stone with sealer which will now prevent dirt from becoming ingrained there.

Limestone Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Ipswich

The floor now has a nice, easy to maintain shine and the Colour Grow sealer provided a very durable finish. I recommended to the client to use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, this is pH neutral cleaner so nice and gentle on the floor, it will ensure the integrity of the newly applied sealer is not compromised.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Kitchen in Suffolk

Dirty Limestone Kitchen Floor Deep Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Ipswich Read More »