Windsor Archives - Berkshire Tile Doctor

Slate Mosaic Shower Tile Renovation Windsor

Slate Mosaic Tiled Walk-In Shower Renovation in Windsor

The before and after photographs below show the results of a recent shower tile renovation project we carried out at a property in Windsor. The shower cubicle was tiled with small square Slate Mosaic tiles which, over time, had suffered from heavy staining. The grout had become discoloured with built-up soap residue, body oils, and mildew growth, and in places this contamination had spread onto the surface of the tiles themselves, leaving the shower looking tired and unhygienic.

Mosaic Slate Shower Before Restoration Windsor

Cleaning a Mosaic Slate Tiled Shower room

To tackle the problem a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied which is a professional-grade alkaline cleaner designed for dealing with heavy soiling. The solution was applied to the verticals using a paint roller and then left to soak in for five to ten minutes before being scrubbed into both the tile and grout. Applying it this way ensures better contact with the surface enabling it to stick to verticals better.

Maximalising dwell time is important as it helps the solution penetrate deep into the tile and grout line where it can get a head start breaking down the soiling. The tiles were then agitated using a silicone brush attached to a handheld rotary machine, which helped to release ingrained dirt and organic growth without damaging the slate surface.

Mosaic Slate Shower After Cleaning Windsor

During the cleaning process it became clear that the existing silicone sealant was failing, heavily stained and beyond cleaning. The only way to deal with this is to replace it and so it was removed entirely once the cleaning stage was complete. Removing old silicone ensures a cleaner finish and allows new sealant to bond properly later.

The shower was then left to dry overnight, which is an essential step before sealing natural stone.

Sealing a Mosaic Slate Tiled Shower room

The following day I returned to complete the renovation starting with checking the shower dry and ready for sealing. I confirmed this with a damp meter and then started applying the first of what would be two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is an impregnating sealer that penetrates deep into the pores of the slate, enhancing the natural colours in the stone and providing long-lasting protection. This will ensure that moisture, soap residue, and other contaminants run straight off the tile and grout into the drain.

The final step was to apply fresh silicone sealant to all joints, completing the restoration.

As you can see from the photographs, the Slate Mosaic tiles responded extremely well to the cleaning and sealing process. The shower now looks significantly fresher, cleaner, and more vibrant very much like a new installation rather than a well-used one.

Mosaic Slate Shower After Sealing Windsor

For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Aqua-Pro which is a mild yet effective pH neutral tile and grout cleaner designed for everyday use in bathrooms. It’s important to avoid using a strong product for cleaning sealed surfaces as this will breakdown the sealer with use.

Professional Renovation of a Slate Mosaic Tiled Shower in Berkshire

Slate Mosaic Tiled Walk-In Shower Renovation in Windsor Read More »

Limestone Bathroom Tiles Deep Cleaned Sealed Windsor Berkshire

Mouldy Antalya Limestone Wall Tiles in Windsor Bathroom

1 Comment / Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Slough Tile Cleaning / Dennis Buckland

I recently had a call out to an apartment in the town of Windsor on the river Thames, just west of London. The enquiry was to see if I could do anything with Antalya Limestone bathroom tiles that were ingrained with mould.

Mouldy Stained Antalya Limestone Bathroom Wall Tiles Before Cleaning Windsor

Antalya Limestone is a Beige/Cream stone that is quarried in Turkey, its notorious for being a soft stone that is hard to maintain and probably not the best choice for a bathroom. Reluctant to replace the bathroom tiling the landlord was looking for another option as he knew something had to be done before putting it back on the market to find a new tenant.

The homeowner had rented the property out for several years and unfortunately the most recent tenant hadn’t looked after the property particularly well. One of the problems was that the tenant had forgotten to inform the landlord that both bathroom extraction fans hadn’t been working for some time.

The apartment was located in the basement of the apartment complex, the bathrooms had no windows so without an extraction fan to remove moisture bacterial growth thrived. Having surveyed the bathroom tile I provide a quote to completely refresh the bathroom tiling which included deep cleaning and the removal of the ingrained mould.

Cleaning Antalya Limestone Bathroom Tiles

Tile Doctor has a range of products that can be used to clean and remove ingrained soils, old sealers, grout haze and other unwanted contaminations. For bathroom tiles I use Tile Doctor Duo Clean which is designed to remove mould from tile and grout. Before starting work though I carefully removed the glass shower screens and other fittings.

To ensure the product could penetrate deep into the tiles I first had to open the pores of the stone, I did this using a soft 200 grit milling pad fitted to a handheld buffing machine. After saturating the affected areas in Tile Doctor Duo Clean and allowing it to dwell for well over an hour, we could see it starting to work. Though effective it was clear this was going to take some time to completely remove the mould, so I saturated the stone again with Tile Doctor Duo Clean and left it to work overnight. Thankfully the property was empty.

Returning the next morning the results were incredible, about 80% of the mould had been removed but I knew if we repeated the process, we could achieve an even better result. I continued with the same method as before and left it to work overnight again. Happy with results I could continue with the next stage which was closing the pours of the stone by using a set of finer burnishing pads.

The pads I use have a 6-inch diameter and fit a handheld buffer machine, they are applied to the Limestone tiles in sequence and applied with water for lubrication. The sequence runs from coarse 400 to very fine 3000 and you rinse with water to remove the soiling in between each pad.

Sealing an Antalya Limestone Tiled Bathroom Wall

The stone was then left to dry out before returning to seal. The sealant chosen was Tile Doctor Colour Grow which as its name suggests enhances the natural colours in the stone allowing its beauty to stand out. Two generous coats of sealer were applied allowing an hour between coats.

Mouldy Stained Antalya Limestone Bathroom Wall Tiles After Cleaning Windsor

With the tile and grout renovated all that was left to do was to re-fit the shower controls and shower glass after giving both a clean. The client was over the moon with the result, and his concerns over having to invest in a new shower room before letting the property out were gone.

Professional Refresh of a Limestone Tiled Shower in Berkshire

Mouldy Antalya Limestone Wall Tiles in Windsor Bathroom Read More »

Rejuvenating a Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Windsor

1 Comment / Slate Tile Cleaning, Windsor Tile Cleaning, Work History / Dennis Buckland

If you’ve ever rented out a property for a long period of time, you’ll likely to have been concerned, at one point or another, about whether the tenant can be relied on to maintain the condition of carpets, walls and, of course, tiled floors.

This customer, who owns a property in Windsor (home to Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the Royal Family) had encountered this very problem. The property had been rented out to a tenant for the last five years, but the Slate tiled floor in the kitchen, which was itself only 10 years old, had not been maintained correctly.

Consequently, the sealer on the tiles was worn out and no longer capable of protecting the stone against ingrained dirt and stains. There were also lots of efflorescent salts on the floor, predominantly contained in the high trafficked areas of the kitchen. I was contacted to correct the situation and restore the entire floor by providing a deep clean and seal.

Slate Kitchen Floor Before Restoration in Windsor

Cleaning Dirty Slate Kitchen Tiles

To begin the restoration, I mixed a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean and water. Pro Clean is a high alkaline cleaner capable of stripping away any old sealer and eradicating any soils and grease on the floor.

The solution was spread liberally across the entire floor and left to dwell for a short period of time before being agitated and worked into the stone using a scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine.

This process left the stone fresh and clean, but the grout lines were still suffering from efflorescent salts. Efflorescence is the deposit of salts on the surface of porous materials such as natural stone tiles as moisture rises through the floor, causing unsightly stains. These alkali salts were neutralised by acid washing the floor using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up, which is a concentrated phosphoric acid cleaner.

Slate Kitchen Floor After Cleaning in Windsor

After deep cleaning the tiles, I left the floor to dry thoroughly for 24 hours, which is usually the minimum drying period that we would suggest.

Sealing Slate Kitchen Tiles

Returning to the property the next day, I ran some quick damp tests to check for any excess moisture that might have prevented me from sealing the floor. We will always do this as a precaution – especially with older floors that lack a damp proof membrane – because damp issues can damage the performance of the sealer and render it ineffectual.

Thankfully, the floor proved try and I sealed the floor with Tile Doctor Seal and Go, which is an acrylic polymer sealer that provides an aesthetically pleasing low-sheen finish, as well as, of course, strong stain and ingrained dirt protection.

Slate Kitchen Floor After Restoration in Windsor

As you can see from the photos above, the restoration really brought this Slate tiled floor back to life after five years of poor maintenance. The customer was very pleased to have it restored back to its optimum condition – ready for the property to be rented out again!

End of Tenancy Clean and Seal of a Dirty Slated Tiled Kitchen Floor in Berkshire

Rejuvenating a Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Windsor Read More »