Tiled Archives - Gloucester Tile Doctor

Old Flagstone Floor before and after Renovation in Minchinhampton

Old Flagstone Tiles Restored to New in Minchinhampton

Minchinhampton is an ancient market town located on a hilltop in the Cotswolds area of Gloucestershire, famous for being one of the UK’s areas of outstanding beauty. The town has a long history and many of the residents live in some truly picturesque and characterful cottages that date back to the 18th century and beyond.

I was recently contacted by a property owner in the village. She had just uncovered an original Flagstone tiled floor in her cottage, which dates to 1765. The floor had previously been covered by a wooden floor and the property owner was keen to see if I could restore it. We’ve had some fantastic success with restoring similar floors in the past, so I was more than happy to see what could be done.

I visited the property initially to conduct a test clean and check that I would be able to remove the copious wood adhesive left on the floor after the covering had been lifted. This test clean was successful, and the customer booked me in for complete the full restoration straight away.

Old Flagstone Floor Before Restoration at Minchinhampton Cottage

Cleaning a Dirty Flagstone Tiled Floor

My first action in the process of restoring the floor was to mix a strong solution of two products – Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU and Tile Doctor Remove and Go. Remove and Go is designed to strip away any old sealer on the floor and dissolve any adhesive and paint stains, while NanoTech HBU is a potent cleaner which uses nano-sized particles to penetrate deep into the stone and eliminate ingrained dirt.

This solution was applied across the floor and left to dwell for 40 minutes. Then, using a poly-brush fitted to a floor buffing machine, I cleaned the floor and in doing so removed 85 percent of the ingrained dirt. To tackle the rest of the ingrained dirt, I spot cleaned the stubborn area using Tile Doctor Acid Gel in combination with a handheld steamer. Acid Gel is a concentrated mix of phosphoric and hydrochloric acids.

I also used a handheld buffing machine fitted with a Coarse 100 grit diamond encrusted pad to grind away any outstanding dirt and level off the surface of the tiles. When I was satisfied with the results of the cleaning process, my next operation was to replace all the missing grout on the floor. I did this using a Limestone grout, which was a good colour match for the Flagstone.

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Floor

With the first day of work complete, I left the floor to dry out for the next three days. With the floor being particularly old, it was important to give it a long period to dry to help avoid any damp issues.

Upon returning to the property, I ran some quick damp tests to check the floor could be sealed. When satisfied that there was no excess moisture to deal with, I proceeded to seal the floor with three coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, leaving 30 minutes to dry between coats. This will give the floor robust protection against ingrained dirt along with the high-quality satin finish the customer had requested.

Seeing the result, the customer was really pleased with her floor. She had previously thought there was nothing that could be done to restore these old Flagstones, but with the right combination of products and cleaning methods I was able to achieve a fantastic restoration. Another satisfied customer.

Professional Tile Cleaning and Sealing for an Old Flagstone Tiled Floor Restoration in Minchinhampton

Old Flagstone Tiles Restored to New in Minchinhampton Read More »

Rejuvenating Salvaged Flagstone Tiles at a Property in Ledbury

1 Comment / Flagstone Tile Cleaning, Tewkesbury Tile Cleaning, Work History / Malcolm Crowther

Here we have an interesting situation in which an old Flagstone tiled floor had been salvaged from a cottage approximately 30 years ago and subsequently reinstalled at a house in Ledbury, a small market town which lies to the west of the Malvern hills in the North of Gloucestershire. Since being reinstalled, the Flagstone tiles had been barely touched in terms of maintenance for three decades and so the stone and grout were naturally in need of a deep clean and seal!

Salvaged Flagstone Floor Before Restoration in Ledbury

The property owner had heard about the natural stone tile restoration services Tile Doctor provides and so booked me in to see what could be done to improve the condition of his floor.

Cleaning a Dirty Flagstone Tiled Floor

My first job in the cleaning process was to distribute a mixed solution of two cleaning products across the floor. These products were Tile Doctor Remove and Go, which is a multi-purpose stripper designed to remove old coatings and sealers, as well as any adhesive and paint stains, and Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU, a powerful cleaner which utilises nano-sized particles to penetrate difficult-to-reach areas of the stone to eliminate deep lying dirt and stains.

This potent cleaning solution was left to dwell on the surface of the floor for 45 minutes before being worked deep into the stone with a poly brush fitted to a buffing machine. The resultant cleaning slurry was then hoovered up with wet-and-dry vacuum. Next, the floor was rinsed and cleaned with just clean water and the slurry was once again hoovered up.

Salvaged Flagstone Floor During Cleaning in Ledbury

This left the tiles clean and fresh, so I turned my attention to cleaning the grout lines in detail, which also involved spot cleaning any stubborn grout smears with Remove and Go and Tile Doctor Acid Gel, which is a blend of Phosphoric and Hydrochloric acids in gel form designed to remove stains of this kind.

When satisfied with the result of the cleaning process, I rinsed the floor for a final time with fresh water, hoovered up as much moisture as possible with a wet vacuum and left the stone to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Floor

On arrival at the property the following day, I checked the floor for dampness with my damp meter. The test proved that no excess moisture was present, so I proceeded to give the Flagstone a fresh seal.

With regards to sealer choice, the customer had requested a natural-looking matte finish to match in with the rustic characteristics of the Flagstone, so I used Tile Doctor Colour Grow – which provides exactly that. Colour Grow is a durable impregnating sealer that also enhances the natural shades in the stone to really bring the whole floor back to life. Roughly an hour was left between the application of each coating of sealer to allow the floor dry before applying the next.

The result was a noticeable improvement in the condition and appearance of the Flagstone – and the customer couldn’t have been happier. It’s always satisfying to breathe some new life into old natural stone tiles.

Professional Restoration of a Reclaimed Flagstone Tiled Floor in Gloucestershire

Rejuvenating Salvaged Flagstone Tiles at a Property in Ledbury Read More »

Restoring the Appearance of Travertine Kitchen Tiles in Greet

1 Comment / Travertine Tile Cleaning, Winchcombe Tile Cleaning, Work History / Malcolm Crowther

Details below of an unusual Travertine tiled kitchen floor in Greet, Gloucestershire where we were asked to restore the appearance of the tiles and leave a natural as opposed to shiny finish. Greet is a lovely little village at the edge of the Cotsworlds and famous for being a short walk to Winchcombe station on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway which is run by volunteers and often has steam trains running on its line.

Travertine Kitchen Floor in Greet Before Cleaning

Burnishing a Travertine Tiled Floor

Travertine responds well to burnishing which is an abrasive cleaning method as opposed to chemical. Basically, it involves the application of several different grades of diamond encrusted pad to the stone lubricated with a small amount of water. You run the pad over each tile and then give the floor a quick rinse before moving on to the next pad, I started with the first of the four burnishing pads which is a coarse 400 grit pad that designed to grind away the dirt and old sealer on the surface of the floor.

After applying the first pad, I moved my way through the medium 800 and fine 1500 grit pads to gradually restore the appearance of the Travertine. Normally I would of also applied the fourth pad in the series but if you recall the customer did not wanted a polished appearance so I stopped after the 1500 grit pad.

Travertine Kitchen Floor in Greet During Cleaning

The pads work well on tile but struggle to reach recessed grout so to clean that I applied a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and scrubbed it into the grout lines manually using a stiff grout brush. Once I was happy with the appearance of the grout the soiled cleaning solution was rinsed away with water and extracted using a wet vacuum leaving the floor to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Floor

The next day I returned to finish the floor and first task was to run a Tan buffing pad over the floor to ensure the floor was clean and any residue from the diamond pad burnishing had been removed.

Travertine Kitchen Floor in Greet After Cleaning Before Sealing

Once I was happy with the tiles I proceeded to apply two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that protects from within by occupying the pores in the stone so dirt can penetrate and lifts the natural colours in the stone in the process.
I should mention that normally only one coat of Colour Grow is usually required to seal Travertine however on this occasion the stone was quite porous.

The colours in the Travertine were so much more vibrant after the job was completed and the customer was happy with the result, although personally I would have preferred to have applied the fourth pad to build up the shine however I delivered what the customer had asked for so I was happy with that.

Professional Travertine Floor Polishing and Sealing in Gloucestershire

Restoring the Appearance of Travertine Kitchen Tiles in Greet Read More »