Taunton

This client from Taunton had an expensive porcelain tiled floor installed in the hallway and WC, however after a month or two the tiles were literally turning brown and had become very difficult to keen clean. Unsure what the cause could be and having had little help from the supplier we were asked to come round and rectify the situation.

I popped into survey the floor and quickly diagnosed that the tiles were of the micro-porous type and should have been sealed to keep the dirt out of the floor. Hallways see a lot of foot traffic and without a sealer the tiles had quickly become ingrained with dirt. I carried out a test clean by hand on a small part of the floor, and they came up a brilliant white. This small section really stood out against the rest of the floor and illustrated perfectly how much dirt had been absorbed into the tile in such a short period.

Relieved to have found the solution I was asked to quote for cleaning and sealing the whole floor. The quote was accepted and a date set for the work to start.

Deep Cleaning a Micro-Porous Porcelain Tiled Hallway

The floor cleaning work started with a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean left to soak in for ten minutes and then scrubbed in using a black pad. This made an impact however it quickly became apparent that more work was needed. For maximum impact I decided it had to be done by hand using more Pro-Clean and smaller six-inch black pads fitted to a hand buffer which we found gives a more thorough clean. During this process a wet vacuum was used to remove the soiling from the floor.

Once the tiles were clean attention turned to the grout lines which were scrubbed using more Pro-Clean and a stiff brush until it was as clean as possible. Once complete, the floor was looking better and given a rinse with water which was then extracted with the wet vacuum.

Next the floor was given and acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up, this further cleans the tiles, removes grout smears and neutralises the floor after the use of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong alkaline. Afterwards the floor was rinsed and extracted again followed by final water rinse and dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum.

Sealing a Micro-Porus Porcelain Tiled Hallway Floor

Once the floor was dry it was sealed using a single coat of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which was applied using a cotton cloth. Ultra-Seal is a premium impregnating sealer that doesn’t alter the appearance of the tile, it soaks into the tile occupying the pores and thereby preventing dirt from residing there. The sealer will ensure dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away using Neutral Tile Cleaner. It’s important to use a PH neutral cleaning product on a sealed floor as stronger products can reduce the life of the sealer.

Once complete the floor looked so much cleaner and whiter much to the relief of our client who left the following feedback:

Lucas was very professional, and they both worked really hard and did an amazing job on the tiles. We were so pleased at how the tiles came up. It exceeded our expectations. I would thoroughly recommend them. You will not be disappointed.

For aftercare cleaning I left the client with a complementary bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner.

 

Professional Restoration of a Porcelain Tiled Hallway in Somerset