grout cleaning – Tiling Tips – Tips and Information About Tiling

Marble Show House Floor Renovated in Wokingham

13th May 2021 Reese Mackie 0 Comments berkshire, Burnishing Marble, grout cleaning, kitchen floor, Marble Floor Tiles, Polishing Marble, Sealing Marble, Wokingham

I had a call out late last year to a property in the market town of Wokingham to survey a dull Marble floor which was installed throughout most of the ground floor. It turns out that the house was only built two years prior and had been the show home for a new development. The owner explained to me that to show off the potential of the new homes the developer had installed quality materials throughout, particularly the marble flooring, however the property had seen more than its fair share of foot traffic because of it. Two years of wear later and the owner was concerned with how dull the Marble floor was and the appearance of small circular stains which had appeared throughout. I explained that Marble which is made from calcium is easily etched by the use of acidic cleaning products and that most tile cleaners you purchase in supermarkets are really only for use on Ceramic or Vinyl floor tiles. I suspect any sealer used on the floor to protect the stone had also been worn away for the same reason resulting in the now dull appearance. After explaining the process, I would use for burnishing the Marble to deep clean and restore the shine I measured up and worked out a quotation. I received a message later that evening comforting they would like to go ahead, and a date was

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Honing a Tumbled Marble Floor in Oxford

31st October 2019 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Cleaning Tumbled Marble, Dining Room, grout cleaning, Honing Marble, Kitchen Tiles, oxford, oxfordshire, Stone Cleaning

The owners of this house in the historic city of Oxford contacted Tile Doctor about their Tumbled Marble tiled floor which was not looking its best and was proving difficult to clean effectively. The floor is part of a kitchen/dining room where the grout had darkened substantially with dirt. Oxford is only 12 miles from by base in Chalgrove so I spoke to the client on the phone and arranged an appointment to visit the property and survey the floor. I could see that sealer had also worn off which is a common problem with natural stone floor and dirt was now trapped in the pores of the stone. They had tried multiple types of household floor cleaners and nothing was getting the floor to look clean, and as it was so light in colour it was really looking quite dirty. We find the best way to renovate hard stone flooring such as Marble is to use a set of diamond burnishing pads which hone the stone and restore its appearance. I recommended this method to the homeowner and worked out a quote. The quote was agreed, and we set a date to do the work which given the size of the floor I calculated would take two days, one to burnish and one to seal. Cleaning/Repairing a Tumbled Marble Tiled Kitchen/ Dining room Floor The burnishing process starts with the application of a coarse

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Achieving a Deep Polish on Marble Floor Tiles in Reigate, East Surrey

26th October 2018 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Cottage Floor, Dirty Grout, grout cleaning, Marble Kitchen Tiles, Marble Tile Polishing, Reigate, Surrey

The photographs below are of a Marbled Tiled floor that was installed over much of the ground floor of a cottage that formed part of a large county estate near Reigate. The Marble floor tiles were lovely however the polish and sealer had worn off some time ago and the were now looking much worse for wear, additionally the once white grout had turned dark with dirt and I`m not sure even the owner realised its full potential. I provided a quote for cleaning and applying a deep polishing to the floor which was agreed and set a date to do the work. Marble Tile and Grout Cleaning in Reigate After protecting the wooden skirting with tape, I started the cleaning process by applying a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was scrubbed into the tiles using a stiff brush to remove any loose dirt and debris from the floor but primarily along the grout lines. The soiled cleaning solution was then rinsed off with water and then extracted with a wet vacuum. Next step was to deep clean the tiles and bring back the polish using a set of four Tile Doctor diamond encrusted honing pads which fit a weighted rotary floor buffer and are applied in sequence starting with the 400-grit pad lubricated with water. This is followed with the 800-grit and then the 1500-grit pads rinsing with

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Marble Wall and Floor Tiled Wet Room Renovated in Sheffield

14th June 2018 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Endcliffe, grout cleaning, Grout Replacement, Marble Wet Room, Mould, Sheffield

The owner of this house in the village of Endcliffe Sheffield was unhappy about the state of their Marble wet room and called me in to do something about it. The main issue was that mould had built-up across the bathroom especially on the grout and silicone sealant, the Marble tiles were also looking dull and needed sprucing up. Dealing with Mould in a Wet Room Mould thrives in moist warm conditions and without adequate ventilation it will start to take hold. Often in cases like this we advise clients to improve the power of their extractor fan or leave a window and a door open after a shower, in this case however the wet room had no windows. Another option you can try is to run the shower cold for a few minutes after you have used it, this decreases the temperature and removes moisture from the air. That tip is easily forgotten when your in a hurry so regular cleaning with Tile Doctor Duo-Clean which is a tile cleaner and mould remover should allow you to keep on top of the problem. In this case the Mould had really taken a hold and I knew form experience that scrubbing with a powerful cleaner like Duo Clean was unlikely to get the grout back to the pristine condition the customer wanted so I decided to strip out all the affected grout and silicone and replace with new. It

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Beautiful Marble Tiled Floor Polished in Willington Cheshire

25th January 2018 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Buffing, Burnishing, Cheshire, Cleaning, Floor Tiles, grout cleaning, kitchen, Living room, Marble, Polishing, Sealing, Stone, Tile, Village, Willington

Although expensive Marble is a highly coveted, popular and classic flooring choice, not only is it hard wearing you can attain a high polish that simply looks fantastic. At peak condition, it’s one of the most beautiful and eye-catching types of stone available, however it’s appearance will degrade over time and with use, so it does need maintaining. This customer, who lives in the small village of Willington in Cheshire had contacted us because they were concerned that the lustre on their Marble tiled floor which had been installed throughout much of the ground floor had faded and lost its attractive appearance. We arranged a date to go over and re-polish the floor back to health. Burnishing and Cleaning a Marble Tiled Floor On arrival the first step was to give the floor a general clean using a mild dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an alkaline tile cleaning product that is safe to use on Marble. I mention this because there are many cleaning products on the market today which are acidic and really only meant for use on Vinyl and Ceramic tiles. The cleaning solution was applied by sponge mop and left to soak for ten to twenty minutes with a particular focus on the grout lines. I used a stiff brush along the grout lines to get them really clean and then once done

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Restoring Ruined Marble Wall Tiles in a Surrey Shower

12th August 2017 Reese Mackie 0 Comments grout cleaning, Leatherhead, Leatherhead Tile Cleaning, marble tile cleaning, Marble Tile Polishing, Marble Tile Sealing, Shower Stone Cleaning, Shower Stone Sealing, Shower Tile Polishing, Surrey, Tile Cleaning, tile polishing, tile sealing

Marble tiles are a fantastic choice of stone for a shower cubicle because of its distinctive characteristics and quality. It can really add a luxurious feel and when used in a bathroom take it to the next level. However, it’s extremely important to note that Marble like all natural stone is a porous and acid-sensitive material. It must therefore be cleaned with care using suitable products. This particular Marble tiled shower cubicle at a property in Leatherhead is a good example of this done wrong. The owner had used an acid-based cleaning product to clean the stone, resulting in damage to the sealer and causing unappealing streaks to form. This type of damage can appear irreparable but, with the right combination of cleaning methods and products, it can be fixed. Once the old sealer has been removed, and the tiles have been cleaned, polished and re-sealed, they can look as a good as new. Here’s how I helped this customer restore the Marble shower cubicle. Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Shower Cubicle To begin the restoration, I scrubbed the dirty grout lines using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, which is a highly reliable and multi-purpose alkaline-based product. I then rinsed the tiles with water to remove the traces of cleaning product. Next, I moved on to the polishing stage