south middlesex – Tiling Tips – Tips and Information About Tiling

Marble Tiled Shower Cubicle Refresh

12th March 2017 Reese Mackie 0 Comments cleaning services, floor restoration, marble mosaic tile, richmond, sealing marble floor, shower cubicle cleaning, shower cubicle maintenance, south middlesex, Tile Cleaning, tiled shower cubicle

This Marble mosaic tiled shower cubicle in Richmond, Surrey was in need of a good clean, re-seal and re-silicone. Moisture had penetrated the old sealer and left mould and mildew in the pores of the tiles. This is quite a common problem in the modern insulated homes we live in today which invariably have in-sufficient ventilation. The silicone sealant around the base of the shower had also perished allowing water in behind the tiles around the base. Cleaning Marble Mosaic Tiles and Grout We first stripped away all of the old silicone and proceeded to clean the tile and grout by scrubbing in a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go, which is a strong coatings remover that shifts just about anything but is also safe to use on tile, stone and grout. This did the trick and resulted in what was left of the old sealer being removed and had the added bonus of cleaning the grime away from the Marble tiles. Sealing Marble Mosaic Tiles The bathroom was allowed to dry out for a period of 2 days so as not to trap any moisture behind the new sealer. Then once dry we applied two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a solvent based sealer that reaches deep into the pores of the stone preventing other contaminates from becoming ingrained in the tile. The final step was to applying a new

Marble Posts

Tumbled Marble Floor Refreshed in Twickenham

23rd February 2017 Reese Mackie 0 Comments marble tiles, south middlesex, Tile Cleaning, tile sealing, Twickenham

Marble tiles can be tumbled in large drums to achieve an aged and softened effect, and this can look very nice providing that the stone is adequately maintained. In the case of this floor at a property in Twickenham South West London, the Marble tiles that had been laid over five years ago, and in that time the sealer had worn down offering the floor little protection. Dirt had now become ingrained in the pores of the stone and grout, and a deep clean and fresh seal were required to restore the stone’s original colour and lustre. The property owner asked me to complete the job and I was more than happy to oblige. Cleaning Dirty Tumbled Marble Tiles To begin the restoration, I applied both Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, which is a high alkaline cleaner, and Tile Doctor Remove and Go, which a heavy-duty stripper and remover, to the floor and scrubbed the products in using a scrubbing pad fitted to a professional rotary machine. The chemical solvents in the Remove and Go helped to break down any old sealer that remained inside the stone, allowing the Pro Clean to then work its magic on the stubborn ingrained dirt the customer had struggled to remove previously. Some of the deeper veins and grout lines I chose to scrub by hand to ensure the fullest and most meticulous clean possible.

Marble Posts

Marble Tiles Restored After Being Etched With Cillit Bang

16th February 2017 Reese Mackie 0 Comments marble tiles, shower room, south middlesex, Tile Cleaning, tile sealing, Twickenham

Here at Tile Doctor we can’t stress often enough how careful you have to be when choosing a cleaning product for use on natural stone. Acid bases cleaners in particular can etch the surface so always read the label before buying. Unfortunately, this customer, who lives in Twickenham, learned this the hard way. Limescale build-up on shower tiles can be an unsightly problem in hard water areas and this customer’s house cleaner had attempted to treat it with Cillit Bang on their Marble tiled shower room floor. Whilst good at removing Limescale on ceramic tiles, the product is acid-based and in this case caused severe etching to the surface of the Marble. This customer is not the first to experience this problem with Cillit Bang and we have looked into this before and I can confirm it does say on the back on the bottle that you should not use it on all natural stone including Marble and Granite. The mistake had really damaged the appearance of this lovely floor however the good news is etched Marble can be refinished and we do offer this service. Fortunately, this customer found us on-line and called us in to rectify the problem as Burnishing a Marble Tiled Shower Room Floor With high quality, acid-sensitive stone we find that rather than cleaning with a liquid product, it is

Marble Posts

Renovating White Tumbled Marble Tiles

14th February 2017 Reese Mackie 0 Comments Hampton, kitchen, marble tiles, south middlesex, Tile Cleaning, tile sealing

This White Tumbled Marble tiled floor at a house in Hampton had been installed throughout the kitchen and dining area ten years back and was now in desperate need of a deep clean and seal to remove dirt that had accumulated in the pores of the stone. Once the dirt gets into the pores it makes it difficult to keep clean which is exactly the problem the property owner had experienced. The ‘tumbled’ effect on the Marble is achieved by tumbling the tiles in drums to soften and age the edges and surface of the stone. However, it was difficult to appreciate this interesting style as the presence of dirt and staining was quite overwhelming and the owner was now keen to restore it back to its original condition. Cleaning Tumbled Marble Tiles I started the restoration by applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. This high alkaline cleaning product was spread across the floor and left to dwell for a short period, before I then worked it deep into the pores of the stone using a heavy duty rotary scrubbing machine. Next, some of the stubborn, more deeply ingrained stains were scrubbed by hand, along with the grout lines, which were also particularly dirty. The resulting slurry of water and cleaning solution was then pressure rinsed away and soaked up with a wet vacuum. The