Swansea Archives - Swansea Tile Doctor

Quarry Tile Hallway Floor Restoration Uplands Swansea

120-Year-Old Black and Red Quarry Tiled Floor Restored in Uplands Swansea

Earlier this year I was contacted by a couple in the trendy Uplands suburb of Swansea about the Quarry tiled floors they had discovered at their home. The tiles had been covered with Lino and were now in a terrible state. They wanted to make the original floor a beautiful feature of their house, but at that moment it was covered in old glues, resins and cement. They had tried to get them clean but after trying their best to get everything off they had decided to call in the experts.

Quarry Tile Floor Before Restoration Uplands Swansea

I paid a visit to the property to survey the tiles and completed several cleaning tests to understand which products and methods would be most effective and to demonstrate the potential results that could be achieved. The black and red quarry floor was about one hundred twenty years old and had seen much better days. This wasn’t just a clean and seal, but it would need multiple chemical treatments and mechanical cleaning to get the floor looking marvellous again.

Quarry Tile Floor Before Restoration Uplands Swansea

Later that day I worked out a detailed quote for the client and emailed it across. Encouraged by with the results of the test I was asked to go ahead and a date scheduled.

Restoring a Black and Red Quarry Tiled Floor

The first job was to resolve surface issues so the floor could be mechanically cleaned. This included removing several extensive areas of self-levelling cement and nails that were embedded into the tiles that had to be ground back below the surface. A fair bit of manual work was needed with scrapers, scrubbing brushes and a handheld polishing machine to deal with the most problematic areas.

Once done a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove & Go was mopped onto the floor and left to soak in. This gives the product time to breakdown the dirt and contaminates such as adhesives. After about ten minutes this solution was worked into the floor using a professional floor machine fitted with a 200-grit abrasive diamond pad. This process generates a lot of slurry as the dirt is pulled out of the tile and into the solution. This slurry is then extracted using a wet vacuum.

Next step was to give the floor an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel, this is applied in a similar fashion and being acidic it works well on cement and other mineral based contaminates that had build up in the tiles. The gel was worked in with a finer 400-grit diamond pad which further improves the floor and removes any patterns left by the vinyl tiles that had been applied previously.

The edges were particularly tricky and had to be done by hand to ensure the best result. This process required a lot of cleaning products and water to get the floor clean and although the weather was warm and the floor had been dried many times with a wet vacuum the floor was left for several days to give it plenty of drying time before sealing.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor

It’s important to ensure the floor it dry before applying a sealer otherwise the result can be patchy. The first task before sealing was to check the floor was dry by taking several moisture readings around the floor.

The results confirmed the floor was dry so the floor was sealed using a combination of Tile Doctor Colour Grow and X-Tra seal. Both these sealers bring different benefits to the tiles and work well together to enhance the colours, depth and increased richness to the tiles. Bother products are impregnators which work by soaking into the tile occupying the pores and thereby preventing dirt from residing their resulting in hard wearing protection.

Quarry Tile Floor After Restoration Uplands Swansea

Although it wasn’t requested or included in the quote, I felt it would be a shame not to clean and seal the stone in the fireplace hearth whilst I was there. This had to be done by hand due to its small size but it was worth doing as it really helped to finish off the appearance of the room.

Stone Fireplace Hearth Before Cleaning Uplands Swansea

Stone Fireplace Hearth After Cleaning Sealing Uplands Swansea

The clients were extremely happy and constantly sharing their appreciation, even with a lovely card and gifts. They loved how their floor had been transformed and their joy and emotion was a delight to experience.

Quarry Tile Floor After Restoration Uplands Swansea

Before leaving we discussed aftercare and I recommend Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to maintain the tiles going forward. This is a pH neutral product that is safe to use on sealed surfaces and won’t prematurely erode the sealer like many stronger tile cleaners you will find in supermarkets.

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Floor in Swansea

120-Year-Old Black and Red Quarry Tiled Floor Restored in Uplands Swansea Read More »

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Restoration Pontarddulais Swansea

Cracked and Stained Terrazzo Floor Fully Restored in Pontarddulais

The photographs below are of Terrazzo floor at a property in Pontarddulais, just outside Swansea. They had discovered the floor while preparing the property for sale, and instead of just covering the Terrazzo back up with a new carpet they decided to restore it to give add some wow factor as you opened the door.

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Before Restoration Pontarddulais Swansea

I went over to survey the floor and create a quote for its restoration. The floor was in a bad state with ingrained dirt and cracks. There was a lot of damage from nails being hammered into secure the old carpet as well as multiple large cracks, missing stones, and areas that had risen. There were also areas that had been previously repaired with concrete and multiple stains to deal with.

Cracked Terrazzo Hallway Floor Before Restoration Pontarddulais Swansea

I made multiple notes and later that day I sent over a detailed quotation that included all the products needed to complete the project. It wasn’t long before the reply came back confirming they would like to go ahead.

Cracked Terrazzo Floor Before Restoration Pontarddulais Swansea

Restoring a Terrazzo Floor in Pontarddulais

Being careful to work around their children and pets, work started with hand tools to grind off the concrete and work around all the edges and corners. There was a lot of damage, areas had to be filled, parts of the doorways were also repaired and there was a very large crack that had created a high raised section. This was ground down as much as possible and then using resin and tints was carefully filled many times to give the impression of marble pieces to fill the large gap.

The repair work took several days to complete using resin, tints and various stones to rebuild the damage to match the existing area.

This was followed with more grinding and cleaning with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and Remove & Go. These products are scrubbed into the floor to loosen deeply ingrained dirt, bringing it to the surface where it can be extracted with a wet vacuum

The next step was to mechanically polish and hone the Terrazzo using a series of Tile Doctor Burnishing pads from a coarse 400-grit though to a very fine 3500-grit. The pads are applied with water to capture the soiling generated and then the floor is rinsed and extracted after each pad. This process adds a deep shine and brilliance to the stone leaving a consistent polished sheen finish that blended the floor together reduced the visibility of the repairs.

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.

Cracked Terrazzo Floor After Restoration Pontarddulais Swansea

The floor was completely transformed by the work and the family were extremely happy with the beautifully repaired and restored floor. It had been given a completely new lease of life and added value to their house.

Beautiful Terrazzo Floor After Restoration Pontarddulais Swansea

Cracked Terrazzo Floor After Restoration Pontarddulais Swansea

For the aftercare of polished stone flooring, I recommended 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

Cracked and Stained Terrazzo Floor Fully Restored in Pontarddulais Read More »

Classic Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Restoration Ammanford Swansea

Restoration of a Classic 1900’s Victorian Tiled Floor in Ammanford

1 Comment / Morriston Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning / Warren Philbey

A lady in Ammanford, just outside Swansea requested a visit to discuss the Victorian tiled floor she had discovered when lifting an old carpet in the hallway. Dating back to the 1900’s the tiles were in a poor state however she thought that it would be a real to leave them like that and it would be worth investigating their restoration. After all it would be a real shame not to make them a beautiful feature of the house.

Classic Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before Cleaning Ammanford Swansea

We visited the property first to survey the floor and produce an accurate quote for its restoration. The floor was indeed very dirty and had several issues including carpet adhesive and plater that would need removing. Fortunately, it was in good physical condition and no tiles needed to be replaced and having restored floors in a worse state I was confident I could get it looking marvellous again. After discussing the steps and products needed to restore the floor a detailed quote was sent over for approval. She happily accepted the proposal, and a date was scheduled to complete the work.

Classic Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before Cleaning Ammanford Swansea

Renovating an Original Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Work began with a handheld scraper to carefully remove large deposits of paint, plaster and adhesive before giving the floor a more intensive clean with a rotary machine. I used a coarse 200-grit pad with the rotary to work in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove & Go which as its name suggests is a specialist remover that breaks down old coatings.

Classic Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor During Cleaning Ammanford Swansea

The abrasive pad cuts into the surface of the tile removing the contaminates and dirt in the process. The floor was rinsed and the soiled cleaning solution extracted with a wet vacuum as the work progressed. Several passes were needed and this was followed with a finer 400-grit diamond burnishing pad applied with more water for lubrication.

After doing this the floor was inspected again, and handheld diamond blocks applied to spot clean stubborn staining and bring the whole floor back to a clean consistent appearance.

After a final rinse and extraction of the floor I was happy the floor was as clean as it could be and was left to dry off for several days to give it sufficient time to dry out completely and ready for the next step of sealing.

Classic Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor After Cleaning Ammanford Swansea

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

On my return the floor was tested for moisture with a damp meter to make sure it was ready to accept a sealer; applying sealer to a damp floor can lead to cloudy finish so best avoided.

The sealer chosen for this floor was Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating matt sealer that improves colour. Being an impregnator the sealer soaks into the tile occupying the pores and ensuring dirt remains on the surface where is can be easily cleaned away with neutral tile cleaner. This sealer is also fully breathable so will allow for moisture to rise thorough the tile; this is an important requirement for old floors which don’t have a damp proof membrane.

Classic Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor After Cleaning Ammanford Swansea

The client was so very happy and kept just staring with obvious emotion at how the floor had been transformed. That’s the most rewarding part of this work, seeing how happy a client is once something that looked destroyed can be turned into something they love. Copied below is a testimonial they left for me on the Tile Doctor web site.

Warren was very professional very knowledgeable and helpful, he discussed and talked me through the whole process step by step. I would highly recommend him to anyone  By Llian M, Ammanford

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Carmarthenshire

Restoration of a Classic 1900’s Victorian Tiled Floor in Ammanford Read More »

Terrazzo Hallway Floor Restoration Neath

Terrazzo Floor Discovered under Hallway Carpet Restored in Neath

1 Comment / Neath Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning / Adrian Iacono

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

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 »

Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Restoration Morriston Swansea

Quarry Tiled Floor Fully Rebuilt and Restored in Morriston Swansea

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Morriston Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning / Adrian Iacono

This customer from the Morriston suburb Swansea contacted us about their Quarry tiled floor which needed a deep clean and seal; also, they had a section of flooring which had been back filled with cement that they wanted digging out and retiled with matching tiles. I suspect an old heavy range cooker once occupied this space and the floor had been concreted to cope with the weight.

Quarry Tiled Floor Before Renovation Morriston Swansea

I’m an experienced tiler so was more than happy to remove the old concrete and replace with Quarry tiles however it can be an issue finding suitable tiles that were a close match to the rest of the floor. I worked out a quote for doing the work which was accepted and a date set of the work to start.

Repairing a Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor

We began the first day by carefully digging out all of the cement that had been backfilled into the floor. The rubble was removed and the section levelled by pouring in a quick setting self-levelling latex compound.

Quarry Tiled Floor During Renovation Morriston Swansea

Whilst this was drying, I worked out a tiling plan using the quarry tiles I had managed to source that were a close match to the original. I knew that once the floor was cleaned and then sealed, they would blend in well. Once the latex was dry the floor was rebuilt using the new tiles and then grouted in. My customer was thrilled to see the transformation that was happening.

Deep Cleaning a Quarry Tile and Grout

The next day with the replacement tiles set work began on deep cleaning both sections of flooring using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was allowed to soak into the tile and grout for a while so it could break down and loosen the dirt, existing sealer, and stains.

Whilst applying the Pro-Clean I noticed there were paint spots specifically next to the skirting boards so to ensure they would also get treated Tile Doctor Remove & Go was applied, again leaving for 15 minutes. The products were then agitated into the Quarry tiles using a stiff brush and water making sure to scrub along the grout lines to clean them up as well. This action lifted the soils out of the tile to the surface where they were extracted using a wet vacuum.

After this step a coarse 400-grit burnishing pad fitted to a rotary floor buffer was run over the tiles using water for lubrication. These pads are made from industrial diamonds and grind away at the clay tile to release more dirt and soiling. Once done the floor was rinsed with water and vacuumed again to remove as much moisture as possible.

Last step was to inspect the floor and spot treat any sections where the machine may have struggled to clean and needed further work. Once satisfied with the results the floor was left to dry off overnight so it would be ready for sealing the following day.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor

The following day we arrived and conducted a moisture test on the floor which concluded the floor was dry enough to be sealed. The customer wanted a matt finish sealer that also enhanced the colours of the tiles so Tile Doctor Colour Grow was selected.

Three coats of Colour Grow were applied allowing each coat to dry for thirty minutes before proceeding with the next. The floor was the dry buffed using a White pad to remove any residue off the surface of the Quarry tile. The customer was delighted with the outcome and so were we.

Quarry Tiled Floor After Renovation Morriston Swansea

The deep clean and new sealer really helped blend in the replacement tiles with the original and once complete my customer was very happy with the transformation. Before leaving we discussed aftercare and recommend Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to maintain the tiles going forward. This is a pH neutral product that is safe to use on sealed surfaces and won’t prematurely erode the sealer like many stronger tile cleaners you will find in supermarkets.

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Floor in Swansea

Quarry Tiled Floor Fully Rebuilt and Restored in Morriston Swansea 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.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Cleaning Sealing in Neath

Once complete the floor looked great and very welcoming, just what you need when selling a property as initial impressions always count.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Swansea

Victorian Tiles Hallway restoration in Neath Read More »

Victorian Hallway Floor Before and After Renovation Glynneath

Renovation of Victorian floor in Glynneath

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

The photographs below are of a Victorian Tiled floor taken earlier this year at a property in the small welsh town of Glynneath. The lady who lived there was selling her house house and wanted her Victorian hallway floor restored so she could achieve the best price. She mentioned it was severely dirty and was unsure if we would be able to help, however we have seen a lot worse and politely reassured her we were certain we could.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before Renovation Glynneath

We visited the property first to survey the floor and produce an accurate quote for its renovation. The floor was indeed very dirty, there were paint splatters and plaster stains throughout from decorating. Fortunately, it was in good physical condition and no tiles needed to be replaced. We discussed with her the process we would use for cleaning and gave her a quote. She was happy to accept this, and we arranged a time to complete the work for her.

Renovating a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

We began by taping up the surrounding woodwork to protect it from splashing during the cleaning. Then using a handheld scraper, we carefully removed the paint and plaster from the floors surface to make the cleaning process that little bit easier for us. This was followed with the application of a 400-grit diamond burnishing pad fitted to a rotary machine lubricated with water. The abrasive pad cuts into the surface of the tile removing the contaminates and dirt in the process.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor During Renovation Glynneath

After vacuuming up the slurry with a wet vacuum it became clear more work would be needed under the stairs where our buffing machine struggled to reach. To tackle this handheld diamond burnishing blocks were used, again lubricated with a little water.

After doing this the floor was inspected again and I decided to repeat the whole cleaning process one more time with extra focus on the yellow border tiles, that were still heavily soiled. I found the handheld diamond blocks were ideal for spot cleaning the ingrained dirt and bring them back to life. After a final rinse and extraction of the floor I was happy the floor was as clean as it could be and was left to dry off overnight so it would be ready for sealing the next day.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

On day two the floor was tested for moisture with a damp meter to make sure it was dry and therefore ready to accept a sealer. All was well and having previously discussed sealers with the client we opted to apply Tile Doctor Colour Grow. There were two reasons for this, primarily she wanted all the colours in the floor to stand out and secondly we wanted to ensure the floor would allow any moisture to rise thorough the tile which is an important requirement for these old floors which don’t have a damp proof membrane. Tile Doctor Colour Grow is fully breathable and as its name suggests it enhances the colour so clearly is an ideal choice for the floor. Four Coats were applied and as you can see from the pictures the floor now looks amazing.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor After Renovation Glynneath

Although the floor looked fantastic the sale of the property had to go on hold due to the Covid-19 epidemic. This also impacted the work we do however since then Tile Doctor have implemented several measure to ensure we can continue to work safely in people’s homes, so if you need any work doing, do get in touch to discuss how we can safely move your project forward.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Swansea

Renovation of Victorian floor in Glynneath Read More »

Victorian Tiled Floor Before and After Renovation Llanelli

Diamond Pattern Victorian Hallway Floor Renovated in Llanelli

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

This job was carried out in a terraced property in Llanelli which had a Victorian Tiled Hallway laid in a diamond pattern that looking worse for wear and in need of some attention. The clients were a young couple who had moved in two years previously and had only recently decided they wanted the floor renovated. This was earlier in the year, so I was able to pop over to the property and take a detailed look at the floor before recommending a course of action to renovate the tiles.

Victorian Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Llanelli

Upon arrival the first thing we noticed was that the border had been laid with an inconsistent pattern, non- matching tiles had been patched in essentially filling voids as you can see in the images. The floor wasn’t terribly dirty however it wasn’t very clean either.

I discussed with the client replacing the non-matching tiles, so the floor pattern was uniform however they decided against it and were happy to just to have it cleaned and sealed. We can usually source either reclaimed original tiles or some great reproduction ones, so most floors can be restored if needed. I worked out a quote for the work and they were happy to go ahead.

If you have never been you should know that Llanelli is the largest town in the county of Carmarthenshire and famous for Rugby and the production of Tin. It is located on the Loughor Estuary, some 10 miles from Swansea and 12 miles from Carmarthen.

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

With no tiling to do the first job was to protect the woodwork such as skirting and staircase with tape. Once done the process of cleaning began with the application of a 400-grit burnishing pad fitted to a buffing machine. The process is lubricated with water and the pad run over the whole floor two to three times to remove dirt and refine the appearance of the tile. Even after the first application of the pad we could see a massive improvement to the appearance of the tiles. To get right into the edges of the tiled floor we use a 400-grit handheld diamond block, this proved especially useful under the stairs where our buffer machine could not reach.

During this process, the water turns into a fine slurry which is rinsed off with more water and extracted with a wet vacuum. On this occasion the floor was not dirty enough to require any chemicals, the use of water and the machine was enough to get the floor cleaned up.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

This job was very straight forward, and we did not run into any problems at all. After allowing the floor to dry out for 24 hours we returned to seal the tiles checking first that the floor was sufficiently dry first using a damp meter. Fortunately, the burnishing method uses a lot less water than a chemical clean, so I was able to get straight on with sealing.

The client wanted a satin sheen finish, so I applied four coats of Tile Doctors Seal and Go which works well on Victorian tiles. The sealer really put the life back into the tiles and will protect them from staining going forward. It will also make the floor much easier to maintain and keep it looking good for much longer.

Victorian Tiled Floor After Cleaning Llanelli

I’m pleased to say the owners were very happy with the floor and recommended us to one of their friends who we also did some work for. For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This is an everyday tile cleaning product that is sealer friendly and not prematurely reduce the life of the sealer which can happen with many household cleaning products which are simply too strong.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Carmarthenshire

Diamond Pattern Victorian Hallway Floor Renovated in Llanelli Read More »

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before and After Restoration Bridgend

Neglected Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored and Extended in Bridgend

1 Comment / Bridgend Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Adrian Iacono

This client had recently moved into an older property in Bridgend and having pulled up the previous hallway covering had found a heavily soiled Victorian tiled floor underneath. However, for some reason we never discovered the answer to it only ran from the porch to the foot of the stairs which I guess explains why it had been covered up and neglected.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before Extending in Bridgend

The client asked if we would be able to restore the existing Victorian floor and if would be possible to extend the tiling throughout the hall continuing the original pattern. Cleaning the original floor and completing the tiling work didn’t present a problem however it can be tricky finding tiles to match the pattern of the original floor. Unsure if it could be done, I offered to do some research and get back to him once I had found a workable solution.

Fortunately, there are still a few suppliers that produce tiles and after speaking with other members of the Tile Doctor network I was able to source matching tiles. The owner was still keen to proceed and so I agreed a price, placed an order for the tiles and scheduled a date to start the work.

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Before starting the tiling work, I applied a latex levelling compound to bring the height of the floor we were going to lay up, level and flush with the existing Victorian floor. After allowing the latex to dry and now having an equally level surface, we were ready to begin laying.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor During Extention in Bridgend

Laying a tiled floor to match an existing pattern is a tricky process as your constantly having to check the geometry of the pattern as well as keeping everything in line with our levels. Another issue we ran into with this job was the new tiles that we had ordered, all differed in width from the originals which made it a very long strenuous process having to cut them to fit.

Once the floor was laid and had dried out it was time to turn our attention to the original floor which needed several deep cleans. For this we used Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was worked in with a black scrubbing pad to release all the ingrained dirt from the tile. The dirt was then rinsed off and extracted with a wet vacuum.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The job took eight days in total and ended with the application of five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go sealer. Each coat is left to dry before applying the next. This seal gives the floor protection and a lovely finish. This final step of sealing really brought both floors together and left the subtle sheen finish the client requested.

For aftercare I left the client a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, which we recommend for cleaning sealed tiled floors. Neutral clean has a pH neutral formula which won’t harm the sealer like stronger cleaners which can prematurely strip a sealer off the floor.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor After Extention in Bridgend

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Swansea

Neglected Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored and Extended in Bridgend Read More »

Uneven Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor Before After Milling Gower Peninsula

Levelling an Uneven Travertine Kitchen Floor in the Gower Peninsula

1 Comment / Swansea Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / Adrian Iacono

Our client who lives in the beautiful Gower Peninsula was desperate to see if we could solve the problem of their poorly laid Travertine floor which had not been put down level. They didn’t want to remove all the tiles and have the floor re-laid, which would have been very messy, time consuming and most of all expensive so they contacted us looking for an alternative.

Travertine Floor with Lippage Issues Before Milling in Gower Swansea

The floor had been laid some time ago so there was no way of going back to the original installers to correct the problem. Fortunately for the customer Tile Doctor has developed a method we call Milling which can grind the stone level and remove the lippage between tiles. I explained to them how we could carry out the job which involves the use of a series of coarse diamond encrusted pads to resurface the Travertine. Happy with our suggestion and the accompanying quote, we were commissioned to resolve the problem with the floor which was a trip hazard and scheduled our return for the following month.

Milling an Uneven Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

The first job was to identify the Travertine tiles which suffered the most lippage with sticky Post-it Notes and apply protective tape to the skirting and woodwork. Milling can generate dust, so we also fitted a dust sheet between the kitchen and the adjoining areas

We then made a start with the application of a very coarse 50-grit DRB (Diamond Router Bit) pad fitted to a weighted floor machine. The pad is applied with water to lubricate the process and minimise dust and run over the problem tiles. This pad removes the lippage and also mills the tile and surrounding tiles leaving them flat with one another.

The floor was then rinsed with water and the slurry extracted with a commercial wet vacuum before repeating the process with 100 & 200 grit DRB pads in sequence. These finer pads gradually remove the abrasive scratches from the tiles caused by the milling.

After rinsing and extracting between each pad the work continued with a 200, 400, 800 and finally a 1500-grit burnishing pads using the same method as before until the surface was restored and left with a semi sheen lustre finish.

By the end of the day the surface of the floor was vastly improved, the lippage was gone, and the Travertine looked much cleaner and brighter. The floor was a little damp from the rinsing and was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

The next day the floor was checked for moisture using a damp meter and the readings came back fine giving us the green light to finish the floor with the application of a sealer.

Tile Doctor Ultra Seal was chosen to seal the floor, it’s an impregnating sealer which works by seeping into the pores of the stone preventing dirt becoming ingrained there and providing long lasting protection. Additionally, Ultra Seal is recommended for food preparation areas such as Kitchens and it doesn’t affect the look of the stone once it dries leaving a no-sheen, natural look

Travertine Floor with Lippage Issues After Milling in Gower Swansea

Hopefully you can appreciate the improvement in the floor which was now level with no trip hazards and protected with a sealer so it will keep its looks for a look for many years to come and be much easier to keep clean.

My client was very happy with the results and left the following feedback:

“Adrian did a superb job on a badly laid travertine tiled floor, levelling and polishing it to perfection. We’d thoroughly recommend Adrian and will be calling him back soon to renovate our other tiled floors.”

For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap Cleaner which will help them maintain the floor and won’t prematurely erode the newly applied sealer.

Professional Levelling of a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor in Swansea

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