Neath Tile Cleaning Archives - Swansea Tile Doctor

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Restoration Neath

Terrazzo Floor Discovered under Hallway Carpet Restored in Neath

A family in Neath, just outside Swansea, got in touch about a Terrazzo floor that they discovered when pulling up old carpet in the hallway. Having discussed the floor on the phone I arranged to the property to better understand its condition and provide a quote for its restoration.

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Before Renovation Neath

It was a beautifully large hallway, but having spent many years under carpet it was now in a very poor state. There was a lot of damage from nails from gripper rods and door strips being hammered in to the floor to secure the carpet. There were also multiple large cracks, missing stones and areas that had risen.

At some point in the past central heating pipes had been run across one section and then back filled with concrete. Multiple doorways had been all-but-destroyed by door strips and going into the other rooms entire quarry tiles were missing and smashed.

The family had taken on this charming house with the intention to maintain as many of the original features as possible, and upon discovering the floor hoped that it could be salvaged. Having discussed the work that was needed at length I worked out a quote for fully restoring the floor. Happy with the costs involved and keen to get it restored the quote was accepted.

Restoring a Terrazzo Floor in Neath

Work started with the repair work including the careful removal of concrete backfill using hand tools and a grinder. The rubble from this was cleared away and then the detailed repair work began using resin, tints and various stones to replicate the damaged and missing areas.

Terrazzo floors are made from stone chippings and in this floor, there was a lot of Marble content. Because of this we find the best way to renovate Terrazzo is to treat them like polished stone and hone them using a set of diamond burnishing pads. The pads come in a set from 400 to 3000 grit and are applied to the floor using a rotary floor buffer.

The first pad which is a coarse 400-grit that cuts through the grime and dirt. In this case I run it over the floor in combination with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which also adds lubrication. The process generates a lot of slurry which is rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum. The whole process was then repeated using an 800 and 1500-grit pad, only water was used with these pads and the floor was rinsed and extracted as before after each pad.

Terrazzo Hallway Floor During Cleaning Neath

Terrazzo Hallway Floor During Burnishing Neath

To further enhance the appearance of the floor and add a lovely durable shine, Tile Doctor Shine Powder was then ground into the floor using a White buffing pad

Sealing a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway

After allowing it to dry properly, the floor was sealed with multiple coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer. This is a colour enhancing impregnating sealer that soaks into the Terrazzo, occupying the pores and preventing dirt from residing there. This protection will ensure dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away.

Terrazzo Hallway Floor After Renovation Neath

The floor responded very well to the treatments and the couple were delighted with their stunning floor. The work had transformed the hallway and given the Terrazzo a new lease of life that has enhanced their spectacular house.

Terrazzo Hallway Floor After Renovation Neath

For aftercare on a floor like this I recommended using Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is a gentle yet effective neutral pH tile cleaner that contains a patina enhancer.

Professional Restoration of a Terrazzo Tiled Hallway in South Wales

Terrazzo Floor Discovered under Hallway Carpet Restored in Neath Read More »

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before After Renovation Neath

Victorian Tiles Hallway restoration in Neath

1 Comment / Neath Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Adrian Iacono

This enquiry from Neath came from an elderly gentleman who was moving into a care home in the near future and wanted his Victorian tiled hallway renovated before the property went on the market. He mentioned he didn’t think it was that dirty however it could do with a clean and reseal.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Clean and Seal in Neath

We arranged to call in one morning and take a look at the tiles and whilst there we completed a test clean so we could provide an accurate price for renovating the floor. For the clean I applied Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, the purpose of this was to see whether and how fast the dirt would shift and also to get an idea of the condition of the floor beneath the layer of dirt.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Test Clean in Neath

The test clean went well and the owner was happy to accept our price and suggested that as we had already made a start we might as well continue. Fortunately, there were two of us that day and I only had a couple of other quotes in the area, so I was able to crack on. I should mention this work was done at the beginning of 2020 before the COVID-19 lockdown.

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

All sorts of detritus gets walked into hallways so we began by using a hand held scraper to take off anything that sat upon/above the floors surface. This also makes the cleaning process that little bit easier for us. The earlier test clean had enabled us to establish which cleaning methods and products would work best on the floor so it was just a question of putting the plan into action.

The process involved applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to the floor, leaving it to soak in for ten minutes and then working it with a coarse 400-grit diamond pad fitted to a rotary buffer. More water was applied for lubrication where required and the soil produced afterwards was rinsed off and extracted with a wet vacuum. The pad is encrusted with industrial diamonds and cuts into the tile and removes a very thin layer leaving the tile very clean.

After extracting the soil, the floor was inspected, and we noticed that there were a few tiles throughout the floor that needed more work. To deal with these we used hand-held diamond blocks of varying grits to remove the ingrained dirt and bring the tiles back to life.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The client was over the moon with the results of the cleaning and we scheduled a date of the following week to come back and seal the tiles. We also discussed sealers and he had asked if we could leave the floor with a shiny finish. With that in mind we recommended Tile Doctors Seal and Go which works really well on Victorian tiles. It is also water based and so doesn’t produce a smell as it dries.

On our return the floor was given a quick wipe down and once dry sealed with four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which will add protection and make them easy to keep clean.