Work History Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Berkshire Tile Doctor

Neglected Victorian Quarry Tiled Floor Restored in Pangbourne

We were asked to restore this Original Victorian Quarry tiled floor following a major refurbishment of a Grade 1 listed mansion in Pangbourne, Berkshire. The tiles has seen many years of neglect and as you can see from the photo below it was not given much thought or care by the builders and decorators who had been working on the property.

Cleaning Victorian Quarry Tiles

We set about stripping and cleaning the floor of all the paint and dirt that had been left to accumulate on its surface over the years starting with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked into the Quarry tiles using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This was removed using a wet and dry vacuum and followed by hours of detailed cleaning using Tile Doctor Remove and Go mixed 50/50 with NanoTech Ultra Clean which adds Nano sized abrasive particles to the solution to make a more effective coatings remover. We allowed this to dwell for a short while before agitating it with a rotary machine again fitted with a black scrubbing pad working the solution into the floor, this treatment tackled the stubborn paint and all sorts of other residues. Once we were happy with floor it was given a good rinse down with clean water and then left to dry.

Sealing Quarry Tiles

Once the Quarry Tiles were dry we set about sealing them, a low sheen finish was required so four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go were applied, it’s a water based sealer that will protect the surface going forward. The Main contractor could not believe we managed to get the floor looking pristine and back to its original condition.

Transforming a neglected Victorian Quarry Tiled floor in Berkshire

Neglected Victorian Quarry Tiled Floor Restored in Pangbourne Read More »

Travertine Tiles Replaced and Polished in Ascot

Ascot Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / Dennis Buckland

The owner of this home in Ascot had 75m2 of travertine tiles installed on the ground floor and around 10 tiles were damaged and needed replacement; this can be difficult as like most things tiles are created in batches and it can be tricky to find an exact match. Fortunately we managed to source a very close match and set about installing them.

Cleaning Travertine Tiles and Grout

To get the match as close as possible we then set about giving the whole floor a general clean using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a multi-purpose cleaner, it was equally important to concentrate on the grout of the existing floor which needed to be clean to match the new grout of the new floor. Cleaning the floor also ensures any grit is removed from the tile surface prior to the next step which was to polish the floor using a set of Burnishing pads, this is important as grit could get trapped in the burnishing pads and scratch the floor. We washed the floor down with clean water using a wet vacuum to remove the water from the floor before moving onto the next step.

Polishing and Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles

We polished the floor using a set of 17” Burnishing pads fitted to our weighted polishing machine; the pads are diamond encrusted and you start with the coarser Red pad designed to remove sealers before moving on to the White, Yellow and finally Green polishing pad to achieve a high shine finish.

The last step was to seal the floor which we did using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is colour intensifying sealer that enhancing the natural colours in the Travertine tile as well as providing on-going durable surface protection.

We polished and sealed the entire floor to ensure a consistent look; the customer was certainly happy and left the following comment.

“Overall a good job well done. Thank you.
Mr. Wilkinson, Ascot”

Travertine Tiles Replaced and Polished in Ascot

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Moroccan Leather Limestone WC After Cleaning

Restoring Moroccan Leather Limestone Tiles in Salisbury

Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Newbury Tile Cleaning, Work History / Dennis Buckland

We were asked to sort out these beautiful “Moroccan Leather” Limestone floor tiles in the kitchen and WC of a house in Salisbury which had had been badly installed by the contractor. If you look closely at the photographs you can see grout residue (also known as Grout Haze) had been left on the surface of the tile ruining its appearance.

Removing Grout Haze

The most effective way to remove grout from the tile surface is with an acidic product such as Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up, you have to be careful not to leave it on the surface too long and wash the floor down with water afterwards as acids can eat through natural stone.

Moroccan Leather Limestone Kitchen Before Cleaning

Moroccan Leather Limestone WC Before Cleaning

Cleaning and Sealing Limestone Tiles

Once the grout haze was removed we set about giving the tiles a good clean using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean washing it down again with clean water before giving it a polish using a Green polishing pad to get a high shine finish.

There are a numbers of sealers you can use on Limestone each one can give a different effect, in this case we used two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which really enhances the natural colours in the stone.

Moroccan Leather Limestone Kitchen After Cleaning

The floor was completely transformed and think you will agree now looks amazing

Grout Haze removed from Limestone Tiles restored in Salisbury

Restoring Moroccan Leather Limestone Tiles in Salisbury Read More »

Replacing Damaged Travertine floor tiles and Polish in Ascot

Ascot Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work History / Dennis Buckland

This job involved removing and replacing five damaged Travertine floor tiles which can be tricky if you have under floor heating. The travertine floor was laid in the kitchen of a house in the town of Ascot which is famous for horse racing.

Removing the Damaged Travertine floor tiles

As you can see from the photograph below we set about marking up the damaged tiles and then proceeded to cut along the lines with an angle grinder which was fitted with a dust free extraction system. Once the bulk of the travertine was removed we used a hammer and chisel to carefully chop out the remaining edges, grout and tile adhesive. This left large holes to take the replacement tiles which were still available and were secured in place with tile adhesive and matching grout, we left the floor at this point to allow the adhesive and grout to dry.

Cleaning and Polishing Travertine Tiles

The next step was to strip and polish the entire floor using a set of diamond encrusted Burnishing Pads fitted to a rotary machine. You start with a Red stripper pad with water to remove any sealers, moving onto the White, Yellow and finally Green pad which polishes the floor to a high shine. The last step was to seal the floor using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which brings out the colour in natural stone as well as providing durable stain protection.

The re-polishing and sealing really helped to let the new Travertine tiles blend into the floor, take a look at the finished result in the photograph below and see if you can spot the replaced tiles.

Broken Travertine Tile Replacement in Berkshire

Replacing Damaged Travertine floor tiles and Polish in Ascot Read More »

Travertine Floor before and after Repolishing

Travertine Floor Re-polish in Hook

Travertine Tile Cleaning, Wokingham Tile Cleaning, Work History / Dennis Buckland

Photographs below of a Travertine tiled floor we were asked to re-polish in the kitchen of a house in the village of Hook in Hampshire. The main problem was the floor had been sealed very badly and made worse when the tiler tried to rectify the problem leaving a dull and stained floor.

Stripping and Re-Polishing Travertine

To strip the sealer from the floor and get it back to the original condition we used a set of diamond encrusted Burnishing Pads fitted to a rotary machine. You start with a Red stripper pad with water to remove the sealer, moving onto the White, Yellow and Green pads which polish the floor. Once the surface was restored we applied two coats of Tile Doctor Pro-Seal which is a premium, no-sheen, natural look, water based, penetrating sealer formulated to provide maximum stain protection to the Travertine and the Grout.

The customer was over the moon at the finish and I’m sure the tiler breathed a big sigh of relief as well.