Terracotta Kitchen Floor Tile and Grout Revived in Minehead
This client from Minehead got in touch regarding the Terracotta tiles on their kitchen floor. I was told that the floor hadn’t been professionally cleaned and sealed for over ten years and since that time the grout had discoloured and the tiles had become permanently dirty and difficult to clean.
I had a good idea of what the floor would need but to ensure there were no surprises I arranged an appointment to visit the property and survey the floor. This would also enable me to work out a detailed price for deep cleaning the terracotta tiles and grout and then sealing it. It was clear that the previous sealer had worn off some time ago and now dirt was making its way into the pores of the terracotta and grout leaving it looking permanently dirty. This is quite common with terracotta; being made from clay it is very porous and does need a lot of sealer to prevent that from happening.
Happy with my quote I was given the go ahead to renovate the floor and a date was agreed for the work to start which typically takes two days, one to clean and one to seal.
Cleaning a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen
To clean the floor, I started with an application of neat Tile Doctor Remove & Go. This was left to soak in for ten minutes and then scrubbed into the floor using a coarse Silicone Carbide brush fitted to a rotary machine. These brushes are very effective on tile and stone and do a good job of bringing the ingrained dirt to the surface.
The brush does a good job of cleaning the grout but for the best result I find it necessary to follow up with a stiff grout brush. Once the whole floor had been treated in this manner it was rinsed with water and the soiling extracted using a wet vacuum.
The floor was then treated to an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which was then scrubbed into the floor using a black pad. This process further cleans the tiles, dissolves any efflorescent salts and neutralises the pH level of the floor after the use of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a strong alkaline. The floor was then rinsed again with water and dried with the wet vacuum.
Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen
The next step would be to seal the floor however with Terracotta being so porous I decided to leave the floor for two days to allow it to fully dry out. After checking the floor was dry with a moisture meter work began to seal the floor using Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra.
Sealing the floor prevents dirt from becoming ingrained in tiles, keeping it on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away and Seal and Go Extra adds a nice subtle sheen to the tile improving its appearance and enhancing its colour and features. Six coats were needed to ensure it was fully sealed and provide long lasting protection.
You can see from the photographs on this page how well the floor came out. My client was delighted with the results and said we had transformed their kitchen.
For aftercare cleaning I recommended using Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a sealer safe tile and grout cleaner that won’t impact the sealer increasing its longevity.
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