Category Archives: greater manchester

Chequered Marble Tiled Porch Renovation in Oldham

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Our client contacted us after they moved into a house built circa early 1900 with many Victorian era features. One of them was lovely tiled floor in their porch which consisted of a chequered pattern of Black and White Marble tiles. The white tiles were especially grubby and in need of a deep clean. Being a fan of period features they were keen to see if the tiles could be renovated back to their former glory.

The property was in Oldham, which is approximately 7 miles to the north east of Manchester near to Rochdale and well known for its history in the textile industry. We conducted a test on the tiles which worked well, and we were confident the whole floor could be significantly improved. The client was satisfied, we agreed a price and the job was booked in.

Marble Tiled Victorian Porch Before Restoration Oldham Marble Tiled Victorian Porch Before Restoration Oldham

Cleaning/Repairing a Marble Tiled Hallway Floor

Initially, to clean the floor we used Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was applied to the floor and left to soak into the tile and soften the dirt. This was followed up by scrubbing the product into the floor with a coarse black pad fitted to a rotary machine. The machine scrubbing really gets into the dirty areas and the grout lines. During the work we discovered that two of the tiles were loose, so they had to be removed, cleaned up and then re-secured using a flexible tile adhesive.

Being Tile Doctors, we are trained in all thing tile and so unlike regular cleaning businesses we are happy to carry out repairs along side the cleaning process. It also means we have a deeper understanding of the materials we are working with which enables us to complete the job to the highest standard.

Marble Tiled Victorian Porch During Restoration Oldham Marble Tiled Victorian Porch During Restoration Oldham

We left site for a short while and then returned to carry out the sealing process which would protect them from dirt and stains going forward. It was a relatively small area and so it wasn’t long before the tiles were dry, and the new adhesive had set.

Sealing a Marble Tiled Hallway Floor

The floor was sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which is an impregnating breathable sealer that will cope will with the damp environment and the elements that the floor would be subjected to in an external location. This product also enhances the black and white contrast in the tiles improving the overall look of the floor.

Marble Tiled Victorian Porch After Restoration Oldham

I think you will agree the pictures speak for themselves. It is lovely when you can get an old floor back to looking how it was when it was laid originally. The customer was astonished with the result and left the comment below.

Kamila from STOCKPORT was excellent. Did a wonderful job of refurbishing the Victorian tiles in our porch, was quick efficient and very accommodating to our timetables
Yvonne L, Oldham

Marble Tiled Victorian Porch After Restoration Oldham Marble Tiled Victorian Porch After Restoration Oldham

 

Professional Cleaning of a Marble Tiled Porch in Greater Manchester

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Flagstone Kitchen Floor Resurfaced in Broadbottom

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The new owners of this lovely terraced house in the village of Broadbottom that was built circa 1900, inherited with it a lovely old flagstone floor in the Kitchen which was now in a rather bad state with ingrained dirt and stains.

Old Flagstone Floor Before Cleaning Broadbottom

I suspected that the White staining was due to alkaline salts, a problem more commonly known as efflorescence. However, I took a moisture reading of the floor with a damp meter and the readings were normal, so it may have been a historic damp problem that cause it. We are always wary of efflorescence issues when it comes to older properties as damp proof membranes which resolve this problem are a relatively modern invention.

Old Flagstone Floor Before Cleaning Broadbottom

After explaining the process, I worked out a quote which was accepted and booked a date in the diary for the work to commence, which would take place over two days.

Cleaning and Grouting a Flagstone Kitchen Floor

First the floor was in a terrible state and needed to be resurfaced if it was going to live up to its potential. To do this I used a 100 followed by a 200-grit coarse Diamond milling pads to grind off the top layer of ground in dirt, resurface the stone and reveal the beautiful stone beneath. These abrasive pads are run over the floor with a weighted floor buffer running on a nice slow speed and lubricated with water. The floor is rinsed with more water after each pad and then the soil extracted using a wet vacuum.

As the floor had quite a few areas where the grout had cracked and crumbled, I decided to rake this out and replaced it with a flexible grout using a colour sympathetic to the original. This and the milling made an immediate improvement to the overall appearance of the floor. The floor was then left to dry off overnight and I came back the next day to apply a sealer.

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

The next day I checked the floors moisture level before sealing, all was well, so I applied a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is an impregnating sealer that has a matt finish. Tile Doctor Colour Grow is also fully breathable so should cope well with any damp issues and allow moisture to rise through the stone and evaporate. This is important as otherwise moisture could become trapped under the floor where it could eventually cause problems in the walls.

Old Flagstone Floor After Sealing Broadbottom Old Flagstone Floor After Sealing Broadbottom

The customers were delighted with the outcome, the colour of the stone had really improved also Milling the surface of the floor makes it smoother so it would now be much easier for them to keep clean in future.

Old Flagstone Floor After Sealing Broadbottom

For aftercare I left them with a bottle of concentrated Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which once diluted is a pH neutral product that will not erode the newly applied sealer. Many household cleaners are too strong for sealed floor and will prematurely erode the sealer over time.

 

Professional Restoration of a Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor in Greater Manchester

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Marble Bath Surround Polished in Bowden

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Although most of the work we do involves floor cleaning you should know we also cover stone worktops in Kitchens and countertops in bathrooms. An example being this opulent bathroom with Marble countertops that surrounded the sink and bath.

The bathroom was installed at a house in the up-market area of Bowden which together with the villages of Hale and Hale Barns are regarded as being the wealthiest parts of Greater Manchester. The customer had got in touch to ask if we could restore the appearance of the Marble surrounds which had become dirty and etched through general use.

Marble Bath Surround Before Polishing Bowden Marble Bath Surround Before Polishing Bowden

Restoring the Appearance of Marble Countertops

My first job was to protect the wood panelling and lush red carpet that surrounds the bath, once all was protected we started to use a set of tile doctor six-inch burnishing pads to clean the Marble and restore the polish.

Marble Bath Surround Before Polishing Bowden

The Burnishing pads come in a set of four and are applied to the stone with a little water in sequence from the coarse 400 grit pad which removes etching and then through the medium 800-grit, fine 1500-grit and finally the very fine 3000-grit pad which restore shine to the Marble. I use a hand-held buffing machine to do this and carefully rinse in-between each pad to remove the small amount of slurry which is generated.

The last 3000-grit pad is applied with just a spay of water using what we call a spray burnish technique, this also has the benefit of leaving the stone dry which is exactly how we need it for the next step in the restoration process which is applying a sealer.

Sealing Marble Countertops

To finish off the restoration, I proceeded to seal the Marble tops with Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone protecting it from within. I should add, Ultra Seal is a natural look sealer that doesn’t change the colour of the stone.

The sealer is applied with a soft cloth, left for five minutes and then the excess is polished off with a soft cloth. We also replaced the silicone sealant around the bath and wash basins and once we were finished the bathroom looked newly installed.

Marble Bath Surround After Polishing Bowden Marble Bath Surround After Polishing Bowden

The customer was over the moon that we brought life back to her impressive bathroom.
 
 

Professional Marble Vestibule Polishing in Cheshire

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Mouldy Ceramic Tiled Bathroom Restored in Eccles

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An elderly couple from the Greater Manchester town of Eccles were in touch recently regarding their Ceramic Tiled Bathroom, they had a big problem with mould build-up due to a broken extractor fan and wanted it removing. Mould grows in humid conditions and with the extractor fan out of action it soon started to spread. If you have been reading my blog, you will have seen some of the bathroom transformations we have completed over the years, so I was confident we could resolve the problem for them and paid them a visit to take a look.

Mouldy Bathroom Before Restoration in Eccles

You can see from the photographs that the tiles were in good physical condition, but the grout and silicone mastic sealant was stained with shampoo dyes and mould spots, the worst part however was the ceiling which was covered in mould growth. I ran a test clean on the bathroom wall grout and ceiling which went very well so we quickly agreed on a date to clean the whole bathroom.

Mouldy Bathroom Before Restoration in Eccles

Cleaning a Ceramic Shower Cubicle

They say you should always start at the top and work down so my first task was to treat the mouldy bathroom ceiling with Tile Doctor Duo Clean which although marketed for use on grout it worked just as well on paint to remove the mould. When done with ceiling I moved on to the wall tiles spraying on Duo Clean, letting it soak in for ten minutes, working it in to the grout with a stiff brush and then rinsing off with water.

With four walls of tile and grout and a ceiling to clean the overall cleaning process took two days to complete and at the end of the second day I turned my attention to the silicone sealant. Taking care not to scratch the bathtub I carefully stripped out the silicone in-between the tile and bath with a sharp knife. Duo Clean works on silicone as well but you do need to catch it early so often the easiest thing to do is to replace it rather than clean it. I replaced the silicone with a good quality mould and bacteria resistant silicone.

When I returned on the next day I carried on with the Top/Down approach by turning my attention back to the ceiling which I painted with a white moisture resistant emulsion paint.

Mouldy Bathroom After Restoration in Eccles Mouldy Bathroom After Restoration in Eccles

With the ceiling freshly painted I then took another look at the grout which although clean was not a perfect white anymore and looked dull and uninviting. We do find this can happen with grout, especially if it isn’t the subject of a regular cleaning regime. There is a remedy though and what we find works well in these cases is to recolour the grout with an epoxy-based Grout Colourant which not only rejuvenates the grout it also protects it for years to come.

Grout Colouring Bathroom Wall Tiles

There are ten colours to choose from in the Tile Doctor range of Grout Colourant however in this case I felt the best outcome would be to use a White colourant to match the tiles and restore the original look of the bathroom.

The colourant is easily applied directly to the grout and in this case, I applied two coats with the aid of a small brush making sure to remove any excess that comes into contact with the tile. After applying the colourant, the bathroom transformation was complete, and it looked like a new installation.

Mouldy Bathroom After Restoration in Eccles

It was a lot of work however I was really happy with the outcome and so were the clients who even left me a nice tip. The last thing to sort out is the extractor fan, however they will need a different tradesman for that job.

Bathroom Tile Renovation in Greater Manchester
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