Porcelain Tile Cleaning

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

Cleaning and Polishing Porcelain tiles

Harder than ceramic tiles modern production methods have allowed a growth in the availability and design of Porcelain tiles which are known for their durability and water resistance making them a popular option for floors. Like Ceramic, Porcelain tiles are generally very easy to clean and need little maintenance however some are micro porous and do require sealing, you will need to ask you supplier which type you have installed as it can be very difficult to tell.

If your Porcelain tiles are of the micro porous variety then they will need to be sealed to avoid a build-up of dirt in the pores of the tile. For this we recommend Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which works by impregnating the pores to ensure dirt can’t become ingrained there without changing the appearance of the tile itself.

Apart from sealing the biggest issues with this type of tile are usually grout related. Either the adjacent grout discolours over time or the tiler has been unable to remove excess grout from the surface of the tile, an issue known as Grout Haze or Grout Smears. Modern grouts can be particularly susceptible to the grout haze issue due to shorter working times and polymers in the grout which make it difficult to remove once dry. If this sounds familiar do contact us so we can advise you on how best to remove it.

Below you will find detailed examples of work we have carried out in the past, it should give you some idea of what’s involved and what can be achieved with the right techniques and products.

Cleaning and Grout Re-colouring for Porcelain Kitchen Tiles in Studham

Cleaning and Grout Re-colouring for Porcelain Kitchen Tiles in Studham

1 Comment / Dunstable Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Work History /

This customer called us as she was deeply concerned by several problems with the grout between her large format white Porcelain kitchen tiles. The grout was not only very soiled, but had also cracked and dislodged in places because of her underfloor heating. The constant heating and cooling of the floor had caused the grout to expand and contract – and because it was not the flexible variety, it had cracked quite easily.

The tiles themselves were not proving too difficult to keep clean as Porcelain is naturally quite durable. However, every time the customer had cleaned the floor, the grout never really improved in condition. In fact, it was getting worse over time.

Porcelain Floor Tile Grout Before cleaning and recolouring Studham Porcelain Floor Tile Grout Before cleaning and recolouring Studham

A quote was given to restore the grout and the work was booked in the following month. The property was in Studham on the edge of the Chiltern Hills in Bedfordshire.

Cleaning and Re-Grouting for Porcelain Kitchen Tiles

The first thing we did was to protect the kitchen units with a plastic wrap and remove the plinths under the kitchen units to prevent them from exposure to any cleaning products. The tiles were vacuumed to remove any loose debris and dirt, before being washed using a mild solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, which is an alkaline-based cleaner that’s safe to use on tile and grout. As aforementioned, the Porcelain tiles were in good condition to begin with, so the cleaning process was not too intensive.

We also scrubbed the Pro-Clean into all the grout lines to remove as much staining as possible, as well as to prepare them for recolouring. Next, the area was rinsed with water to remove any trace of cleaning product and the resulting slurry was extracted using a wet vacuum.

The floor was then dried quickly using fans so that we could assess how well the grout had responded to cleaning. Following this, any loose grout was dug out and replaced with fresh grout.

Grout Re-Colouring for Porcelain Kitchen Tiles

Once the grout was fully dry, we started the process of re-colouring it. This was done using our own Tile Doctor Grout Colourant, which seals and rejuvenates grout joints, protecting them from everyday staining and ingrained dirt.

Porcelain Floor Tile Grout During cleaning and recolouring Studham
There are 10 different colours of Grout Colourant available in our range, including Charcoal Grey, Black, Cappuccino, Limestone, and White – the latter being the colour the customer opted for this time. The product is applied by hand using a small brush. You allow it to dry partly and then any excess is wiped off the tiles, as once set it is extremely hard and durable.

Porcelain Floor Tile Grout Before cleaning and recolouring Studham Porcelain Floor Tile Grout After cleaning and recolouring Studham

The pictures above show the difference our grout re-colouring service can make. The customer commented that the work made the floor look newly installed, as she felt it had never looked truly clean before. Another satisfied customer and with the colourant protecting the grout it should stay that way for some time.

Porcelain Floor Tile Grout After cleaning and recolouring Studham
 

Tile and Grout Renovation of a Porcelain Tiled Kitchen Floor in Bedfordshire

Cleaning and Grout Re-colouring for Porcelain Kitchen Tiles in Studham Read More »

Grout Before After Colouring Luton

Cleaning Badly Stained Floor Grout in Luton

1 Comment / Luton Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Work History /

The grout lines on this Porcelain floor in a Luton Kitchen was excessively stained and even with the application of the heavy duty cleaning products we have at our disposal it was very unlikely that it could be restored to its former standard. The best option therefore was to colour the grout using a Tile Doctor Grout Colouring kit.

Grout Before Colouring Luton

Choosing a Grout Colour

The customer wasn’t completely sure which colour would suit best so I was able to test the effect of various colours within the Tile Doctor range by applying a small amount to the grout colourant in different colours to the floor and then wiping it off before it had chance to harden. This helped and the sandstone colourant was decided upon, the range includes a number of popular colours so it can be a tricky decision; I’ve included a table of the range below so you can see for yourself.

Black Cappuccino Charcoal Grey Chocolate Ivory
Light Grey Limestone Natural Grey Sandstone White
(Colors are displayed as accurately as possible. Some colors below may not represent exact grout colors. They may appear differently on computer monitors with different resolutions).

Colouring Grout

Before applying the colourant the grout needs to be clean and free of any debris; you can a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean for this Tile Doctor however do sell a special Pre-Treater product that is recommended for this, its mildly acidic which etches the grout to provide a better bond. The Pre-Treater is safe to use on Porcelain tiles but for natural stone such as Marble or Travertine I would go with Pro-Clean.

Once the floor was dry I started with the application of the white colourant using a tooth brush to paint it onto the grout, pressing down firmly to make sure it is keyed into the original grout. Once the whole floor had been covered and all the grout lines coloured, we let it dry for several hours returning to clean up the tiles. Once all the excess colourant had been removed we used a polishing pad to buff the floor back to a polishes state.

Grout After Colouring Luton
Apologies for the photographs which are not my best but I think you can see the improvement.

Refreshing a Porcelain floor in Bedfordshire

Cleaning Badly Stained Floor Grout in Luton Read More »

Porcelain Tile Cleaning Luton

Cleaning Porcelain Tiles at Luton Flats

1 Comment / Luton Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Work History /

These Porcelain floor tiles had been laid in the hallway of a block of flats in Luton and had seen a fair amount of foot traffic resulting in the usual build-up of dirt and grime making it well overdue for a deep clean.

Cleaning Ceramic Floor Tiles

To clean Porcelain tiles I would normally just apply Tile Doctor Pro-Clean however given the amount of dirt in the tile we needed all the help we could get so the Pro-Clean was mixed 50/50 with NanoTech Ultra Clean which results in the creation of a powerful tile cleaner that contains Nano sized abrasive particles that can penetrate deep into the dirt. The cleaning solution was left to dwell on the surface of the tile for twenty minutes before scrubbing the floor with rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. You could see the dirt coming out of the floor at this point so once the whole floor was scrubbed I switched to a Rotovac machine which applies and removes water at high pressure to remove the soil and rinse the floor at the same time.

Porcelain Tile Cleaning Luton
You can see from the photograph above which was taken with the Rotovac machine in use the difference in the tiled floor.

Porcelain Tile Cleaning in Luton

Cleaning Porcelain Tiles at Luton Flats Read More »

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

Ampthill Tile Cleaning, Bedford Tile Cleaning, Biggleswade Tile Cleaning, Ceramic Tile Cleaning, Cranfield Tile Cleaning, Dunstable Tile Cleaning, Encaustic Cement Tile Cleaning, Fireplace Cleaning, Flagstone Tile Cleaning, Flitwick Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Houghton Regis Tile Cleaning, Kempston Tile Cleaning, Leighton Buzzard Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Luton Tile Cleaning, Marble Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Sandstone Tile Cleaning, Sandy Tile Cleaning, Shefford Tile Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, Stotfold Tile Cleaning, Terracotta Tile Cleaning, Terrazzo Floor Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Vinyl Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History /

Bedfordshire Tile Doctor

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

╳
Scroll to Top