Lewes Tile Cleaning

Lewes Tile Cleaning

Welcome to my Work History archive where you will find examples of the cleaning and renovation of tiles carried out in Lewes.

Porcelain Kitchen Tiles Before and After Grout Colouring in Lewes Kitchen

Cleaning and Grout Colouring of a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor in Lewes

Recently, I was called to a work on a Porcelain tiled floor in the kitchen of a house in the East Sussex market town of Lewes where the grout was looking tired. Lewes has a long history that dates all the way back to the Saxons and has many old buildings as a result; this house of course with its modern kitchen and Porcelain tiles wasn’t one of them however the grout certainly looked old.

Cleaning Porcelain Tile and Grout floor

The floor was in good physical condition and Porcelain tiles being very robust as they are didn’t need much maintenance however the grout was very stained, and the house owner wanted it freshening up.

Porcelain Kitchen Tiles Before Grout Colouring in Lewes Kitchen Porcelain Kitchen Tiles Before Grout Colouring in Lewes Kitchen

My first course of action was to give the whole floor a good clean with a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean scrubbed in with a black pad attached to a floor buffer machine. I paid particular attention to the grout and gave it a good scrub using a narrow brush that was run along the grout lines. The now dirty cleaning solution was rinsed off the floor with water and extracted with a wet vacuum, so I could see the improvement. I could then see the difference the cleaning process had made to the look of the Tile and Grout, but it was clear that some of the staining had gone deep into the grout and no amount of scrubbing would get it looking new again.

Recolouring the Grout

It was clear to me that the only course of action to get back a uniform appearance to the grout would be to recolour it so as an initial step I set about drying the grout.

Once dry I began to recolour the grout using a white Tile Doctor Grout Colourant which was applied using a small brush. I was careful to apply thin, even coats and any excess was removed.

Porcelain Kitchen Tiles During Grout Colouring in Lewes Kitchen Porcelain Kitchen Tiles During Grout Colouring in Lewes Kitchen

The tiles were of the large format type, so it only took a few hours to colour the grout lines so the whole job took less than a day to complete.

Porcelain Kitchen Tiles After Grout Colouring in Lewes Kitchen
Once done I revealed the rejuvenated Kitchen floor to the client who was delighted with the results as it lifted the whole look of the kitchen.

Restoration of Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor in Sussex

Cleaning and Grout Colouring of a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor in Lewes Read More »

Cleaning Dirty Ceramic Tiles in Lewes Mini Market

Cleaning Dirty Ceramic Floor Tiles in Lewes Mini Market

Photographs below from a Mini-Market in Lewes where high foot traffic was taking its toll on the Ceramic tiled floor which was now is need a dramatic deep clean.

Before Cleaning Dirty Ceramic Tiles in Lewes Mini Market

Shop Floor Cleaning

As the shop is open from 6am-11pm I had to work through the night. I started by applying a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to shift the muck, this was left to soak in for a while before being scrubbed into the floor using a buffing machine fitted with a scrubbing pad and stiff brush along the grout lines. The floor was then rinsed with warm water which was then extracted using a wet vacuum. I had to repeat the process in stubborn areas but as you can see from the pictures the result was incredible, just look at the pictures!

Cleaning Dirty Ceramic Tiles in Lewes Mini Market
Ceramic tiles are glazed so do not need sealing and as there is no sealer the floor can now be maintain using a regular floor cleaning product. Hopefully they can keep on top of the cleaning however it is a busy floor with hundreds of people walking on it every day so if they do struggle we are always happy to do a regular maintenance clean for them.

After Cleaning Dirty Ceramic Tiles in Lewes Mini Market
 

Cleaning a tiled supermarket floor in East Sussex

Cleaning Dirty Ceramic Floor Tiles in Lewes Mini Market Read More »

Limestone Tiles After Cleaning and Sealing Iford

Maintaining a Limestone Kitchen floor in Iford

This kitchen and dining area at a house in Iford was installed ten years prior and had not been given a thorough clean since. Dirt had become ingrained into the stone and as you can see from the photos below tiles and grout were now overdue for a deep clean. On the home survey visit I ran a test clean on the grout up with Tile Doctor Pro-clean and the grout cleaned up easily so I was in no doubt this floor was going to look fantastic one complete.

Limestone Tiles Before Cleaning Iford Limestone Tiles Before Cleaning Iford

Deep Cleaning Limestone Tiles

I was booked in and on my return continued with a 4:1 dilution of Pro-clean and warm water leaving it to soak into the tiles for a few moments before agitating with with a deck brush. Then working in small sections at a time I introduced the buffer machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. Straight away the tiles and grout gave up the dirt and after a couple of hours of cleaning and washing down with warm water the tiles were free from any remaining sealer and dirt. Limestone has many natural holes and cracks that trap dirt so before I left for the day I got down on my hands and knees and worked them with a toothbrush.

Limestone Tiles During Cleaning Iford

Sealing Limestone Tiles

I returned two days to seal the floor, two days had been enough to get the floor dry and ensure any moisture in the tile would evaporate. The customer wanted a matt look so on my recommendation we went with Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer which is an impregnating sealer that occupies the pores in the stone and further improved the depth of colour. The floor benefited from three coats which had to dry fully before starting with the next so whilst I was waiting for I jet washed their small driveway.

Limestone Tiles After Cleaning and Sealing Iford

Limestone Tile Refresh in Iford

Maintaining a Limestone Kitchen floor in Iford Read More »

Mexican Terracotta floor tiles in Lewes, East Sussex

Mexican Terracotta is a lot more porous than typical Spanish or Italian clays, because of this it’s more prone to trapping dirt and needs to be sealed to protect it. These Mexican Terracotta floor tiles installed in a house in Lewes, East Sussex were no different and were proving difficult to keep clean; apologies in advance for the photographs, on refection they are not my best.

Terracota Tiles Before Cleaning

Cleaning Mexican Terracotta Tiles

The dirt was quite engrained and so a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed one part Pro-Clean to ten parts water was applied to the terracotta tile and grout and left to soak in. The solution was then agitated using a floor buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. It’s important to make sure you use the right concentration of floor cleaning product, too little and if won’t be effective and too much will mean your having to wash the floor down more as if you leave any on the floor tile it can upset the sealer. It’s recommended therefore to do a small test before cleaning the entire floor. Once we were happy with the condition of the tiles we used stiff hand held brushes on the grout to give that also a scrub before removing the all the solution with a wet vacuum, rinsing the floor down and then left it dry overnight.

Sealing Mexican Terracotta floor tiles

Once cleaned and fully dried we came back and applied nine coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a durable low sheen sealer that will protect the grout and tile from staining. We advised the customer that due to its softer clay further top up coats may be necessary. We left what was remaining of the Seal and Go for this purpose and advised them that if the seal faded slightly then this was then the best time to apply a further coat.

Terracotta Tiles After Cleaning
 

Cleaning and Sealing Mexican Terracotta floor tiles in Lewes

Mexican Terracotta floor tiles in Lewes, East Sussex Read More »

=================================

East Sussex Tile Doctor

================================= Read More »

Scroll to Top