tewkesbury Archives - Gloucester Tile Doctor

Travertine Tiled Floor Renovation Bishops Cleave

Travertine Tiled Floor Renovated in Bishop’s Cleeve

The client in Bishops Cleave contacted me as she was so frustrated with her Travertine tiled floor she was thinking of having it taken up. The tiles had been laid throughout the Hallway and into the Kitchen many years prior. The appearance of the floor had slowly deteriorated over the years to the extent that she was now having real trouble getting it clean.

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor before polishing Bishops Cleave

I arranged to visit the property in Bishops Cleave which is a small village between Cheltenham and Tewkesbury. The floor was indeed in need of attention, the sealant had clearly broken down and dirt had become ingrained in the pores of the stone. I discussed with the client what could be done to restore the appearance and demonstrated the cleaning process on part of the floor. She was thrilled with the result and about the possibility of getting the floor restored. Better still she would avoid all the disruption of relaying the floor and of course the cost. We agreed a price to carry out the work and I arranged a suitable date to return and complete the work which would take two days.

Renovating a Dirty Travertine Tiled Floor

Returning to the property the first task was to protect the kitchen units and wooden stairs with masking film. I then started cleaning with floor with a coarse 400-grit Diamond burnishing pad fitted to a rotary floor buffer using water to lubricate the abrasive process. The pad is run over each tile a few times and then once the section is completed the floor is rinsed with more water and fine slurry extracted with a wet vacuum.

This process is then repeated with the medium 800-grit pad and fine 1500 grit pads, again rinsing with water and extracting after each pad with the wet vacuum. it’s a slow process but burnishing the floor in this opens the pores in the stone so the dirt can be removed and then closes them up again so restore its appearance.

The grout lines were quite heavily soiled with dirt, so my next task was to scrub them with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. The area was then again rinsed, and the soil extracted leaving the floor to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

Returning the following morning, I then spray burnished the floor with a 3000-grit polishing pad to remove any residue that might have been left behind and to further bring up the polished appearance of the Travertine.

This final pad is applied dry with only a little water, so it leaves the floor nice and dry and ready for sealing. For the sealer I had selected Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is a no-sheen, penetrating sealer which doesn’t change the appearance of the stone leaving a natural finish. It is formulated to provide maximum stain protection, so is particularly good in kitchens. It is also an excellent grout sealer. The sealer was applied and left to dry for an hour then buffed again with the 3000-grit pad. This gave the floor a lovely finish and the natural beauty of the Travertine was at last able to shine through. I was very pleased with this restoration.

Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor after polishing Bishops Cleave

The client was delighted and very pleased the she had contacted Tile Doctor, the floor looked great. She was very happy she had not needed to replace the floor. I suggested to her to maintain the floor she should use Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is a pH balanced product which you dilute. It will ensure the seal is not compromised and will keep the floor in great condition.

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tiled Kitchen in Gloucestershire

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Quarry Tiles From the 1850s Rejuvenated at a Church in Tewkesbury

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

Tewkesbury, the town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, is famous for the Tewkesbury Abbey, a Norman abbey church dating back to the 7th century so it has a lot of history and some very old buildings. Although not one of the oldest buildings in the town I was recently called to a small church in Tewksbury to restore the Quarry tiled entrance way dating back to the 1850s. The tiles had become very heavily ingrained with pigeon droppings, paint, cement, and general dirt over the years – and they were well past due for some professional attention.

Old Quarry Tiled Church Steps Before Cleaning Tewkesbury

Deep Cleaning Dirty Quarry Tiled Steps

My first job was to scrape away all the excess pigeon droppings and paint that could be removed by hand. Once the floor was clear, I was able to cover it with a strong solution of two of our cleaning products: Tile Doctor Remove and Go and Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU. While the cleaners are similarly powerful, they serve slightly different purposes.

Remove and Go is specially designed to strip away any old sealers, synthetic finishes, adhesives, cements, and paints. It also helps to draw old ingrained stains and remove heavy grease build-up. NanoTech HBU on the other hand is a penetrating cleaner designed to work where other cleaners won’t. It does this by utilizing nano-sized particles to reach underneath tough stains, dissolve them, and lift them out. Both products are suitable for use on polished and unpolished natural stone, including Limestone, Marble, Slate, Travertine and, of course, Quarry.

The cleaning solution was left to dwell for 45 minutes and then scrubbed into the tiles using a black pad fitted to a buffing machine. I then repeated this process with the same products to clean the grout lines. When I was happy with the overall cleanliness of the tiles, I spot cleaned some particularly stubborn stains using a steam cleaner in combination with a handheld scraper and some more NanoTech HBU.

Old Quarry Tiled Church Steps During Cleaning Tewkesbury

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Entrance Way

After finishing the cleaning process, I left the tiles to dry for two days. The tiles needed a good amount of time to dry completely because the old tiles don’t have the reasonably modern benefit of a damp-proof membrane.

Upon my return to the church I checked for any damp issues, and when satisfied that there weren’t any to deal with, I proceeded to seal the tiles using four coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is an impregnating sealer that enhances the natural colours in the Quarry tiles and provides the natural look, matte finish that the proprietor of the church had requested.

As you can see from the photo below, the result of the restoration was transformational. Needless to say, the parishioners will be very happy with the rejuvenated entrance way and, thanks to a highly durable sealant, the steps will be protected for the long term.

Church Step Restoration in Gloucestershire

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Dirty Victorian Hallway Tiles Rejuvenated in Tewkesbury

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

Victorian tiles are very hard-wearing and historically a popular choice for heavy traffic areas such as hallways. Still popular today they are nonetheless like most tiles and can become ingrained with dirt over time.

This particular floor, located in a property in the old market town of Tewkesbury is a good example of a floor that was in good physical condition, but heavily ingrained with dirt due to a lack of regular maintenance. At a loss for how to remedy the situation by themselves, the property owner asked me to pay a visit to restore the tiles back to their best possible condition.

Large Victorian Hallway Tewkesbury Before Cleaning

Cleaning a Dirty Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

In this particular scenario, I opted to mix and apply a solution of different cleaning products from our professional range, each serving a different purpose. These products were Tile Doctor Pro Clean, Tile Doctor Remove and Go, and Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU. Remove and Go serves the purpose of stripping away any old sealer on the tiles, while Pro Clean is an alkaline cleaner that reliably removes dirt and staining. NanoTech HBU is a particularly powerful cleaner which utilises nano-sized particles to penetrate deep into the pores of the stone, get underneath difficult stains and lift them out.

I spread this potent solution across the length and width of the tiled hallway and left it to soak for approximately 10 minutes, before using a black scrubbing pad fitted to my buffing machine to give the tiles a deep scrub. Next, I rinsed the soiled solution away and neutralised the chemicals with plain water, before extracting any residue using a wet vacuum. I repeated the cleaning process several times to achieve the best results possible, and I also employed the aid of a steam cleaner to spot clean any particularly stubborn marks.

Sealing a Dirty Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Cleaning the floor took two days in total. At the end of the second day, I gave the floor a thorough and final rinse before leaving it to dry completely overnight. The next day, I returned to the property to seal the floor after checking the floor was dry. Ensuring before sealing that the floor is completely dry is crucial – even the smallest quantity of moisture remaining can potentially cloud the sealer and damage its performance.

My choice of sealer was Tile Doctor Colour Grow, an impregnating sealer that penetrates and fills the pores of the tile to prevent trapped dirt and makes regular cleaning much easier. Colour Grow is a great choice of sealer for Victorian tiles because it really enhances the colourful patterns which are characteristic of this type of tile.
My customer was very impressed with the service and remarked on the huge improvement to the appearance of the floor. You can see this for yourself – just take a look at the before and after photos!

Large Victorian Hallway Tewkesbury After Clean and Seal

Professional Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in Gloucestershire

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