st albans | Tile Cleaners

The owners of this property in Harpenden asked us to come and clean and reseal their Edwardian Tiled hallway floor and return it to its’ former glory whilst carrying out a few minor repairs to missing, broken and cracked tiles around the edge.

On visiting the property at this popular commuter town within the St Albans district, it was clear the floor was looking a little neglected and in need of some care and attention. They were keen to retain this feature of their Edwardian property. We discussed what could be done to restore the floor and the client was given a quote and a timescale for the work. They were happy to go ahead.

Edwardian Hallway Before Rebuild Harpenden

Cleaning and Repairing an Edwardian Tiled Hallway Floor

The first step was to give the floor a deep clean with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. This product is designed for use on Tile, Stone and Grout and when used in a strong dilution can strip away any old sealers without harming the tile itself. The product is left to dwell on the tiles for short time and then scrubbed in using a rotary brush. We then rinsed with water to remove the slurry produced and using a wet vacuum we removed the residue.

Once this was finished and with the floor looking cleaner the next step was to tackle the cracks in a few of the tiles under the stairs. This is when we discovered that the floor had become loose. When removing some of the broken tiles adjacent to the skirting we discovered a whole section of floor, about 1/3 of sqm had become loose and dropped slightly.

Edwardian Hallway During Rebuild Harpenden

The client was concerned with this setback and wasn’t sure what we would be able to do. However, the need not have worried, we have come across this situation before! To tackle the problem, we carefully excavated the area and re built the sub floor below the tiles in concrete. We then levelled the floor in preparation for tiling. Luckily, we were able to salvage the existing tiles and they were individually cleaned using a diamond wet cutter before being re-laid into the original pattern.

Sealing an Edwardian Tiled Hallway Floor

With the original tiles laid back down clean and the flooring rebuilt under the stairs we re-grouted the floor before we were ready to apply a protective sealer. Before doing that however the floor needed to be dry, so we left it to dry off fully overnight.

Returning the following morning, we checked with a moisture meter that the floor was dry, which it was. Firstly, we applied a primer seal using Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer to protect the tiles and enhance their colour. Once the first coat of sealer was dry it was followed by five coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go which adds further protection and leaves a glorious sheen.

Edwardian Hallway After Rebuild Harpenden

The floor looks amazing and the client was over the moon with the end result. It far exceeded their expectations particularly after finding an area of the floor had collapsed.

Restoration of an Edwardian Tiled Hallway in Hertfordshire

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Cleaning a Ceramic Bathroom Tile and Grout

On arrival I inspected the tiles around the bath and could see they were going to be problematic, the silicone sealant was starting to perish, and I was concerned that the bottom row may be not be watertight. I like to do a job right the first time round so I decided the best thing to do would be to remove the row around the bathroom edge, clean them up and refit them with fresh adhesive, grout and reseal with silicone.

With that in mind my first job was to give the ceramic tile and grout a deep clean by spaying on Tile Doctor Aqua-Pro and then scrubbing it in with polypropylene brushes and pads. This product is designed for the regular cleaning of bathroom tiles as is Tile Doctor Duo-Clean which is a stronger product that can tackle mould as well. The tile and grout were then given a high-pressure steam clean using a special machine we usually use on floor tiles and then let to dry off over lunch.

Ensuring a Tight Bath Seal

After lunch the old silicone was stripped off between the bathtub and wall tile and this was followed by the careful removal of the bottom row of ceramic tiles. This is done by removing the grout first with an oscillating hand tool and then carefully prising the tiles off the wall without damaging them.

The old adhesive was then scrapped off the exposed area to prepare the wall for re-tiling and the tiles were re-installed with fresh. Once the adhesive and gone off the tiles were re-grouted and the grout left to dry before applying a fresh silicone sealant between the tile and bathtub. During the various drying phases, the ceramic bathroom tiles were buffed using a soft white buffing pad to give them an as new appearance.