Restoring the Appearance of Marble – Tiling Tips – Tips and Information About Tiling

19th Century Marble Entrance Hall Renovated in Tattenhall Cheshire

2nd June 2021 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Black and White, Entrance Hall, Floor Tiles, Grade II, Listed Building, marble floor, Scratched Marble, Stained Marble, Tattenhall, west cheshire

This Black and White Marble tiled hallway floor at a Grade II listed property in the village of Tattenhall has quite a history. The building was constructed in 1865 and at one time it has been the home to the high sheriff of Cheshire, and the family home of Edith Wignall the daughter of Sir Henry Tate the founder of the sugar company Tate and Lyle. In more recent years the property had been used as a council building and even a nursing home for the elderly. After a long history of decline it has now been restored to a lavish family mansion however the marble floor had suffered over the years and still need attention. The current owner had been in touch as they wanted it restoring and basically brought back to life. As it turns out I had already planned to go to Tattenhall the following week to work on another listed building which was formerly the village bank. After discussing the Marble floor over the phone, I agreed a date and time to pop over from the bank and inspect the floor in detail. I can provide a rough quote from photographs, which has been especially useful recently, but it’s far better for all concerned if I’m able to properly survey the floor first. The Marble floor consisted of Black and White Mable tiles laid in a diamond pattern, it wasn’t a very large

Water Damaged Marble Floor Renovated near Wellingborough

19th May 2021 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Earls Barton, executive property, marble cleaning, marble flooring, northampton, Stone Polishing, Water Damage, Water Stains, Wellingborough

I was asked to look at a Polished Marble floor that had been installed in the hallway of an executive property in the Northamptonshire village of Earls Barton and had suffered severe water damage from a burst pipe. Water had penetrated through the ceiling and as the occupants were away at the time two inches of water had flooded the ground floor where it sat for several weeks causing extensive damage and efflorescence to appear in patches all over the floor. The homeowner was extremely worried as this was a very expensive and large Marble floor which was a key feature of the property and didn’t want the disruption of having the tiles lifted and replaced. As you can see from the pictures, there were white etching marks over the surface of the marble ruining the polished appearance and these could not be removed using normal domestic cleaning processes. I wasn’t surprised to find that the owners couldn’t restore the polished appearance of the Marble, as a hard stone like Marble needs to be burnished to build up a polish. I carried out a damp test and cleaned a test area using diamond encrusted burnishing pads, as the floors were still slightly damp I advised the customer to turn on the underfloor heating to assist in drying out the stone for a week, in that time a quote was

Removing Carpet Adhesive, Polishing and Re-Grouting a Large Marble Tiled Floor in Felixstowe, Suffolk

17th May 2021 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Adhesive Removal, Felix Hote, Felixstowe, Fisons, Harvest House, Honing, marble restoration, marble tiles, Palm Court, Stone Burnishing, Suffolk, wedding ceremonies

Earlier this year I was asked to restore a large 290m2 Marble tiled floor in a room known as Palm Court at the famous clifftop Grade II listed Felix Hotel in Felixstowe which has now been redeveloped into 61 retirement apartments with communal areas. The Felix Hotel was originally opened in Felixstowe in 1903 and was advertised as the Finest Hotel on the East Coast. It is said that Ms Simpson stayed at the Hotel during her divorce proceedings In Ipswich to allow her free to marry King Edward VIII. The building was taken over by Fisons in 1952 who used it as their HQ and it is believed that they covered the Marble floor with carpet so they could use it for office space. Our task was to remove all the carpet glue and restore the Marble tiles of Palm Court back to its original glory. The room is used for wedding ceremonies and the company that runs the property wanted to restore the floor as an original feature. There are some photos below of the room as it used to be when it was opened. With 290m2 of Marble flooring to restore it was clearly large project however having worked on numerous stone floor restorations previously I was confident we could restore it and was able to bring Dean who runs the North Essex Tile Doctor to assist. To provide an accurate price for the work

Communal White Marble Tiled Hallway Cleaned and Polished in Cardiff Bay

11th May 2021 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Cardiff Apartments, Cardiff Bay, Listed Building, Marble Floor Renovation, Marble Hallway, marble restoration, South East Wales, Stone Polishing, White Marble

This beautiful Marble Tiled Hallway can be found in a listed building in the heart of Cardiff Bay. Situated on a very grand corner plot the property was previously occupied by various banks which served the financial markets of shipping and coal import/export businesses for over 200 years. The building has now been converted into fourteen very desirable apartments one being the penthouse on the top floor with panoramic views of the bay and even a private lift accessed from the main hallway directly to the lounge! Very impressive. The Marble floor was mostly original and has been added to with similar Marble tiles during previous renovation works. The stone was an off-white marble with various colour veins running through the body. The area of the restoration was the main entrance and hallway to access the staircase and lift to the apartments. Deep Cleaning a White Marble Hallway Floor The main method I used to restore the floor was to apply a set of Tile Doctor diamond encrusted burnishing pads of various grits to rebuild the polish on the floor. Before starting that process however I gave the tiles a general clean with a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean scrubbed in with a coarse black pad fitted to a rotary floor machine (also supplied by Tile Doctor). Afterwards the floor