X-Tra Seal Archives - South Buckinghamshire Tile Doctor

Modern Encaustic Floor Tiles Renovated in Marlow

The pictures below were taken at a property in the old town of Marlow which had modern Encaustic tiles installed in the downstairs WC. Although they may appear on first appearance to be perfectly fine the owner had called us in to deal with the staining around sink area around toilet.

The tiles had only been installed six months earlier and after surveying the floor it was clear to me that the tiler hadn’t applied enough protective sealant following installation. I quoted for deep cleaning the floor with diamond burnishing pads and then re-sealing with a stronger sealer which given the small size of the floor should be completed in a day.

Modern Encaustic WC Floor Tiles Before Renovation Marlow

Deep Cleaning an Encaustic Tiled WC Floor

To remove the original sealer and deep clean the encaustic tiles I started with a 200-grit burnishing pad lubricated with water. The floor was too small for a buffer machine so I used 6-inch pads fitted to a hand buffer. This action cuts back the tiles removing the stains in the process.

After rinsing and extracting the soiling that was generated, I checked the floor to confirm the staining was gone. I could see that the 200-grit pad had done the job and there was no need to apply a coarser 100-grit so I followed up with finer 400 and 800 grit pads. Again, water was used to lubricate the process and the floor was rinsed and extracted after each pad. I went over the floor slowly to ensure each tile had a deep clean and to avoid creating any swirl marks.

Once the 400 & 800 grit pads had been applied, I buffed the tiles with a White rag to remove any excess water and get it ready for the next pad which would enhance the deep blue colours in the floor. Once the floor was dry a very fine 1500-grit pad was applied to compete the burnishing and add a slight shine to the tiles, this also leaves the floor nice and dry and ready for sealing.

Modern Encaustic WC Floor Tiles Before Renovation Marlow

Modern Encaustic WC Floor Tiles After Renovation Marlow

Sealing an Encaustic Tiled WC Floor

To seal the floor, I used an oil-based sealer called Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal, which is rated for internal and external use. I allowed it to soak into the encaustic tiles which would allow the colours to really darken after the use of the burnishing pads.

After about thirty minutes I rubbed off the excess with a White cloth and then proceeded to apply a 3000-grit buffing pad to leave a smooth surface and an even shine all over the floor. I finished off with a further coat of X-Tra Seal and left for 30 minutes and repeated the same process giving a deep colour finish and leaving the floor well protected.

Modern Encaustic WC Floor Tiles After Renovation Marlow

The customer where very happy with the result and recommended us to friends of theirs who had the same tiled floor. Before leaving I spent a few minutes to discuss aftercare cleaning, which for this floor I recommend Neutral Tile Cleaner.

Professional Renovation of Stained Encaustic Tiles in Buckinghamshire

Victorian Porch Tiles Renovated in Chesham

Cracked Victorian Hallway and Porch floor tiles Restored in Chesham

This client from Chesham got in touch due to cracked and chipped Victorian tiles in their hallway. The Victorian floor tiles in both the hall and the outside porch were over 150 years old and many of them needed replacing and relaying, they also wanted the floor to be cleaned and sealed.

Victorian Tiled Porch Floor Before Restoration Chesham

They were keen to spruce up the entrance area to the property and ensure it retained its original appearance in keeping with the age of the property. I visited site to check what needed to be done and gave them a quote for the work which they were happy to accept.

Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway and Porch Floor

Arriving on day one of a four-day job I marked out which tiles would need replacing as the client wanted to only do this kind of job once so any tiles with a chip or crack in had to be replaced. Fortunately, we were able to source a good range of reclamation and reproduction tiles so finding replacements to match is not too difficult. In total 90 tiles need replacing and work began by cutting out the grout lines around the broken tiles then drilling through the middle to stop any other tiles breaking around it and carefully removing them.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor During Restoration Chesham

We were able to remove all the damaged tiles on day one so the morning of day two began with measuring, cutting, and placing in the replacement tiles to be fixed in later that day using a flexible Mapie adhesive. With the repairs out of the way and the replacements now firmly fixed in place we would be able to start the cleaning on day three.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway and Porch Floor

To deep clean the Victorian tiles a high alkaline cleaner called Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was sprayed onto the floor, left to soak in for ten minutes and then scrubbed in with a rotary floor buffer fitted with a Black pad. A wet vacuum was then used to hoover up the slurry.

Next step was to treat the tiles to an acid rinse to neutralise any latent alkaline salts in the floor that might lead to efflorescence later and further clean up the tiles by removing grout hazing. I used Tile Doctors Acid Gel for this and worked it in this time with a coarse 200-grit diamond pad. After another rinse and extraction using the wet vacuum.

To further improve the appearance of the tiles and blend the replacement tiles in with the original I continued the cleaning with finer grades of diamond burnishing pads until satisfied the floor was as good as it could be. Afterwards the floor was given a light mop with Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to remove any dust etc and left it to dry off for a couple of hours. At the end of day 3 it was dry enough to accept a single base coat of Tile Doctors Colour Grow, this is a colour enhancing sealer that will help blend the new and old tiles and give a uniformed look.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway and Porch Floor

Day 4 the final day of the job I arrived and buffed over the floor with a White pad to get rid of any wet patches from putting the sealer down the day before. Then I applied two coats of using Tile Doctors X-Tra Seal onto the floor leaving a good hour in between each coat for the seal to soak into the pores of the tile and create a nice hard layer to protect them. Once both coats had dried, I went over the floor with a 3000-grit pad to give the floor a slight shine.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor After Restoration Chesham

The client was very happy with the finished result and before leaving I took time to recommend the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner for on-going cleaning. It’s a neutral pH cleaner that’s ideal for the regular cleaning of sealed tiles, supermarket cleaning products are generally too strong for this job and will erode the sealer.

Victorian Tiled Porch Floor After Restoration Chesham

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway and Porch in Buckinghamshire

Cracked Victorian Hallway and Porch floor tiles Restored in Chesham Read More »