grout haze removal Archives - Bedfordshire Tile Doctor

Grout Haze Removed from Modern Encaustic Floor Tiles in Ampthill

Last year I was asked to look at cleaning a modern Encaustic tiled floor at a property in Ampthill with a striking design. Many people are drawn to the luxury look of encaustic tiling which are often featured in high end magazines so I thought it would be worth sharing.

It’s absolutely a beautiful type of flooring, however, as our client from Ampthill realised, the tiles must be installed by a professional who understands their makeup. Unlike ceramics they are made from cement and are porous and need to be sealed. In this case the floor had only recently been laid and the tiler had not managed remove all the grout haze before sealing. Consequently, the rough haze attracted dirt making the floor look less than desirable.

Encaustic Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Ampthill

Encaustic Tiled Floor Before Restoration Ampthill

Cleaning and Renovating an Encaustic Tiled Hallway

To remove the Grout Haze, it was first necessary to remove the sealer which was done using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go. This is a powerful stripper that is safe to use on tile and stone. The solution was sprayed onto the tiles and and then left to dwell for about ten minutes before being scrubbed into the floor with a coarse 200-grit diamond pad. This effectively cleaned the floor removing the sealer and the grout haze.

The next step was to rinse away the soiling from the cleaning and give the tiles a deep clean for which I used a high-pressure truck mounted spinner tool. The tool applies water at high pressure to the floor whilst simultaneously extracting the waste back to a tank on the vehicle leaving it clean and almost dry.

Sealing an Encaustic Tiled Hallway

Once the tiles were completely dry, they were then sealed with Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which is a fully breathable impregnating sealer, it provides water and stain repellence and adds robust protection and enhances the overall beauty.

Encaustic Tiled Floor After Cleaning Ampthill

For aftercare cleaning of any sealed floor, I recommend the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a mild yet effective tile and grout cleaner. This is a pH neutral product which ensures the newly applied sealer isn’t stripped off which can be the problem with the stronger floor cleaning products you often find in supermarkets.

Professional Cleaning of a Modern Encaustic Tiled Hallway in Bedfordshire

Newly Laid Quarry Tiled Terrace Treated for Grout Haze in Dunstable

1 Comment / Dunstable Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning, Work History / Mike Conlon

This customer had a fantastic rough heather set Quarry tiled terrace laid on the exterior of their property in Dunstable. While from a distance the tiles appeared to be in quite good condition, there was one very obvious problem. The customer, following the advice of the retailer – but against best practice and the advice of the installers – opted to use a polymer-based white grout. To worsen the problem, the tiles were also not sealed before grouting, resulting in a blotchy white appearance once dried.

Removing Grout Haze from Quarry Tiles Dunstable

This was a big problem, and needless to say the customer was eager to set the situation right. The customer contacted me and I travelled to the property to see what could be done. Although it was virtually impossible to remove the problem entirely, I was able to eliminate most of it and significantly improve the condition of the tiles. Here’s how I did it:

Cleaning Badly Stained Quarry Tiles

Removing the blotchy white stains required the use of a number of different cleaning products, combined with lots of rinsing with clean water.

My initial attempts involved firstly the application of Tile Doctor Remove and Go, before scrubbing it into the tiles. Remove and Go is a multi-purpose product that is often used to break down old sealers, adhesives and synthetic finishes, however, in this case it served to draw out the ingrained white stains.

I followed this up with an application of Tile Doctor Acid Gel, which is a blend of Phosphoric and Hydrochloric acids in gel form used to treat grout smears and efflorescence. It is not recommended for use on acid sensitive stone such as Limestone and Marble as it can cause etching, but here it helped make some good progress with cleaning the Quarry tiles.

Even after a long period of cleaning, some of the particularly ingrained polymer refused to budge. My best option was to use Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU, which utilises nano-sized cleaning particles to penetrate deep into the stone to eliminate stubborn marks. The product was brushed into the Quarry tiles in combination with a steamer, achieving some good results. We then brought in a spinning tool fitted to our truck-mounted cleaning machine to thoroughly rinse the tiles, leaving them much improved.

We used air movers to dry the terrace off quickly in order to see the final
result, which the customer was very pleased with, especially considering the extent of the staining. We then advised the client to wait until June or July to give the terrace another clean, along with a fresh seal using Tile Doctor Colour Grow, a colour enhancing, impregnating sealer which will improve the appearance even further.

Dealing with Grout Haze on a Quarry Tiled Terrace in Bedfordshire

Newly Laid Quarry Tiled Terrace Treated for Grout Haze in Dunstable Read More »