Quarry Tile Sealing Archives - Bedfordshire Tile Doctor

Victorian Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Restoration Elstow

Efflorescence-Stained Quarry Tiled Floor Restored at a Listed Building in Elstow

I was contacted by a homeowner in Elstow who after seeing a similar Quarry tiled kitchen floor on my website was keen for me to restore theirs. The property was Victorian and formed part of a listed building in a prominent Bedfordshire estate.

I paid a visit to the property to survey the old Quarry tiles and work out a plan for its restoration. The floor had obviously been covered in Vinyl at some stage as there was a residue of resin glue all over it as well as signs of efflorescence.

Victorian Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Elstow

Old properties don’t have a damp proof membrane installed under the floor so putting a waterproof barrier such as Vinyl over the floor is not a good idea. These old floors were designed to breathe and allow any moisture building up under the floor to evaporate, preventing that can result in damp reaching out to the walls. In this case it had resulted in efflorescence as White salts were deposited on the surface of the Quarry tile as the floor dried out.

Victorian Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Elstow

I worked out a quote to deep clean the floor, remove the efflorescence and then seal it to protect it going forward. This is turn was then presented to the Local Planning Authority who had insisted on reviewing and approving all the products and methods being used to restore the floor due to it being a listed building.

After going through the hoops with the planning department and providing lots of information the project was finally approved and I was given the go ahead.

Cleaning and Removing Efflorescence from Victorian Quarry Tiles

To remove the remnants of glue the floor was sprayed with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a strong alkaline coatings remover. This was left to soak into the tile and breakdown the adhesive for around fifteen minutes. Then the floor was scrubbed with an abrasive Black pad fitted to a heavy-duty rotary floor machine. This process released the old glue and dirt from the tiles turning the solution into a dark slurry. The soiling was then removed using a high-powered extraction machine that is fitted into our van.

Victorian Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor During Restoration Elstow

The next step was to deal with the efflorescence staining by giving the floor an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel. The acidic formula literally dissolves the alkaline salts allowing them to be rinsed off the floor and extracted as before, it also neutralises the pH level of the tiles following the use of Remove and Go earlier. Also being a gel product less water is used in the process allowing for a quicker drying time.

Victorian Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor During During Acid Wash Elstow

The floor was then left to dry out overnight with the assistance of a couple of floor fans.

Sealing Victorian Kitchen Quarry Tiles

I returned the next day to apply a sealer that will enhance the appearance of the floor and protect it. First however I wanted to be certain the floor was dry as applying sealer to a damp floor can result in patchiness. To do this I took several moisture readings with a damp meter.

As I mentioned earlier, old floors like this one need to allow moisture to pass through the tile and evaporate at the surface, as I result you need to use a fully breathable sealer that will allow for that. In this case we chose to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is fully breathable and contains a colour enhancer that brought out the orange and red colours in the Quarry tiles.

Victorian Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor After Restoration Elstow

Last step was to run a 3000-grit polishing pad over the floor to even out the sealer application and provide a balance look which exceeded everyone’s expectations. Finally, I took time to discuss maintenance cleaning which for a sealed floor like this I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a gentle but effective floor cleaner.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Quarry Tiled Floor in Bedfordshire

Efflorescence-Stained Quarry Tiled Floor Restored at a Listed Building in Elstow Read More »

Old Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Restored at Grade II Listed Building in Bedford

1 Comment / Bedford Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Quarry Tile Cleaning / Mike Conlon

The owner of this property in Bedford was convinced little could be done to restore the appearance of these Kitchen Quarry tiles at the best thing to do would be to cover them up, however as the building was Grade II listed thought it would be best to get a professional opinion first and I was asked to take a look.

Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Bedford Before Cleaning

I went over to survey the floor and could see that over the years pits had developed in the surface of the tile which had trapped dirt resulting in black staining. In my analysis I thought we could certainly improve their appearance but hesitated at promising the world as even I had not seen a quarry tile this badly damaged. However the client was happy with the quotation and the request was `Do what you can!`

Cleaning Grubby 200-Year-Old Kitchen Quarry Tiles

I could see this floor was going to be a challenge so after protecting all the skirting boards, kitchen units and appliances I set about soaking the tiles in a strong cocktail of Tile Doctor Remove and Go with Nanotech HBU, HBU stands for Heavy Build-Up so quite appropriate I thought.

The next step was to run over the tiles with a set of burnishing pads of different grades which are encrusted with industrial diamonds. It took more than one attempt at this process but the abrasive pads had the desired effect and eventually revealed the beautiful quarry flooring below. The pads are effective on the tiles but the grout sits a little lower and so to reach these a stiff brush was scrubbed into the grout by hand where needed.

To remove the dirt that was released from the cleaning process and further clean the tiles I used an extraction tool that’s powered from a large compressor that sits in my van. This forces hot water under pressure onto the tiled floor whilst simultaneously extracting the dirty water back to a separate tank using a vacuum. It’s an amazing tool that is very effective however you do need to have the van parked close the house due to a limitation on the hose lengths.

With the tiles now clean and rinsed with water the floor was dried as much as possible with a wet vacuum and left to dry for a couple of days.

Sealing 200-Year-Old Kitchen Quarry Tiles

On my return I first tested the floor with a damp meter to ensure it was dry; all was well so I able to move onto applying a sealer that would further enhance the appearance of the Quarry tiles and add protection.

Given the age of this floor I decided to use a modern fully breathable product and selected Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which work by occupying the pores of the tile, improving colour, and preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there.

Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Bedford After Renovation

The client was in fact over the moon with the results and given the floor was 200 years old I even impressed myself. For me, even after having done this work for over 30 years it still provided a sense of achievement, a perfect combination of experience coupled with modern chemicals, machinery and working methods.

Professional Restoration of an Old Quarry Tiled Floor in Bedfordshire

Old Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor Restored at Grade II Listed Building in Bedford Read More »