Tiles

Terracotta Tiles Damaged by Bleach before after cleaning and sealing Crewkerne

Cleaning and Resealing Terracotta Kitchen Tiles in Crewkerne

This is an unusual job we did in the old town of Crewkerne which is on the southern edge of Somerset near Dorset. We were asked to restore a Terracotta tiled kitchen floor where the seal on the terracotta tiles had been damaged when the floor had been cleaned with bleach leaving horrible smears all over the floor.

Terracotta Tiles Damaged by Bleach before cleaning Crewkerne
Bleach is a very strong product with a high pH that can easily damage the sealer on a floor and unfortunately there is no easy way of restoring the damaged sealer so the whole floor would need to have the remaining sealer stripped off so the floor could be resealed.

Terracotta Tiles Damaged by Bleach before cleaning Crewkerne

Stripping Sealer from a Terracotta Tiled Floor

To remove the existing sealer the Terracotta tiles were covered in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean before scrubbing the product into the tiles with the aid of a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. Pro-Clean is a powerful alkaline cleaner designed for use on all types of natural stone. In concentrated form, it breaks down old sealers as well as removing dirt, while the rotary machine helps the product to penetrate deep into the pores of the stone to eradicate ingrained dirt and stains.

The now soiled cleaning solution was then extracted from the floor using a wet vacuum and the then the floor rinsed with water. Water will pool on a sealed surface to I was able to spot where more work was required and re-treated those areas until I was happy the floor was clean and all the sealer had been removed. I then gave the floor a final rinse and then dried as much as possible using the wet vacuum and then then left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Floor

The next day, I returned to the property to find the tiles dry, and ready to be sealed so I started by the application of two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which enhanced then natural reddish colours in the tile. Colour Grow is also an impregnating sealer that occupies the pores of the Terracotta preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there.

To add the Satin finish my client had requested I topped off the floor with five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, a water based sealer that words really well on Terracotta. Sealing the Terracotta took some time as you need to let the first coat dry before applying the next.

Terracotta Tiles Damaged by Bleach after cleaning and sealing Crewkerne
The floor is now fully sealed and looking like new, additionally I have advised the client to clean the floor going forward using a pH neutral tile cleaning product such as Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which should avoid the problem happening again.

Terracotta Tiles Damaged by Bleach after cleaning and sealing Crewkerne
My customer was really happy with the result and left the following comment on the Tile Doctor Feedback system.

“We were amazed at how hard David worked. The floor is greatly improved.
Caroline P., Crewkerne”

Restoring Bleach Damaged Sealed Terracotta Kitchen Tiles in Somerset

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Sandstone tiled floor before after cleaning in Taunton Somerset

Unsealed and Dirty Sandstone tiled floor Cleaned and Sealed in Taunton

The photographs below are of a very dirty Sandstone tiled floor which was installed throughout the ground floor of a property in the village of Taunton which lies in one of the most picturesque areas of Somerset if not the entire UK.

It appears the tiles had never been sealed following installation and as a result dirt had over the years become ingrained into the pores of the Sandstone making it increasingly difficult to clean eventually causing it to lose all colour.

Sandstone tiled floo -before cleaning in Taunton Somerset
Sandstone tiled floo -before cleaning in Taunton Somerset

Deep Cleaning Sandstone Tiles

There was no sealer to remove so it was simply a question of giving the tiles a good scrub with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, which being an alkaline product is safe to use on natural stone. We diluted the Pro-Clean with water at varying strengths during the course of the cleaning, left it to dwell and soak into the pores of the stone and then scrubbed it in with hand brushes and also with the assistance of a floor scrubbing machine. This process released the dirt from within the pores of the stone and we were able to rinse it away with more water which was extracted using a wet vacuum.

For the stubborn areas we used a product called Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a powerful stripper usually used for removing sealers from stone floors however we applied this in the same way as the Pro-Clean and between the application of the two products we managed to get the entire ground floor clean over the course of two days making sure to give the floor a good rinse at the end to remove any trace of cleaning product.

Sealing a Sandstone floor

We left the floor to dry for two days before returning to apply a sealer, it’s important that the floor is dry before sealing as applying a sealer to a damp floor will can have undesirable results. We discussed sealing options and for this floor opted for Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone protecting it from within and also enhancing the natural colours. The difference was amazing and the owners were delighted with the results.

Sandstone-tiled-floor-after-cleaning-in-Taunton-Somerset

The floor was really transformed and the difference was amazing, we were very happy with what we had been able to achieve and the owners were delighted with the results as you can imagine.

Restoring the Appearance of a Sandstone tiled floor in Somerset

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