cleaning services – Page 2 – 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

Cleaning and Sealing Marble Hallway Tiles

11th March 2017 Reese Mackie 0 Comments cleaning services, floor restoration, hallway cleaning, marble tiles, noche marble tile, northamptonshire, Oundle, sealing marble tiles, Tile Cleaning, tile maintenance, tiled floor

These Noche Marble tiles installed in the hallway of this house in Oundle are a premium product with a warm antique look however like any natural stone tile it needs to be sealed in order to prevent dirt becoming ingrained in the pores of the stone. In this case the sealer had worn off and was the floor was now difficult to keep clean so we were called into the deep clean the tile and grout and then re-seal. Sealers can last a few years depending on wear. Cleaning Noche Marble Tiles To deep clean the tile and grout and remove any remaining sealer I combined a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean 50/50 with NanoTech UltraClean. The UltraClean adds tiny abrasive particles which make a more effective cleaning product, both products are safe to use on natural stone floors. It’s best to let the solution soak into the tile for ten to twenty minutes before being scrubbed in with a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing brush or black scrubbing pad. The rotary pads can struggle to get into the grout lines so it’s best to use a stiff brush along those. To remove the soiled cleaning solution and rinse the tiles I use a high pressure spinner tool which is a brilliant machine for tile cleaning as it deploys water under high pressure water whilst extracting the dirty water back to a

Marble Posts

Removating old Marble Flagstones in West-Sussex

10th March 2017 Reese Mackie 0 Comments cleaning services, damaged marble tiles, marble tiles en-suite, shower cubicle, Tile Cleaning, tile maintenance, tile restoration, tiled shower room, west sussex, Woodmancote

Apologies in advance but I’m going to start this post with a warning; there are some very strong cleaning products available in supermarkets and most of which are completely unsuitable for use on natural stone floors because they contain acid. Even weak acids used over time will erode and reduce the life of a sealer and can lead to small holes appearing in your tiles so you do need to be careful what you apply and always read the label. The reason I mention this is I recently had a client in the village of Woodmancote with a Marble Tiled En-Suite who had sent over some photographs showing how the tiles had become marked after using Cilit Bang to clean them. Cilit Bang is a very strong product and has a great reputation for tackling tricky cleaning problems however it contains Benzenesulfonic Acid so it should not to be used on Stone. If you check the literature it does not say it can be used on stone although it does mention the product can be used on tiles and I suspect this is where the confusion comes from as I suspect it should say ceramic tiles. Getting back to the story I informed the client that it was tricky to tell from the photographs what would be required so I offered to pop round when next in the area and take a look. We offer a free no obligation home-survey

Marble Posts

Repairing Damaged Marble Shower Tiles

9th March 2017 Reese Mackie 0 Comments cleaning services, damage marble tiles, east sussex, restoring marble tiles, ringmer, shower room cleaning, Tile Cleaning, tile maintenance, tile restoration, tiled shower room

We were recently received a referral from a well-known house cleaning company who needed some assistance to resolve an issue with a Marble Tiled Shower at a Georgian property in Ringmer. Unfortunately one of their staff had sprayed a Cillit Bang cleaning fluid onto the tiles to remove Limescale deposits and had marked the tiles with white streaks which could not be removed. Now Cilit Bang is a very strong product and although it has a reputation for tackling tricky cleaning problems it contains Benzenesulfonic Acid which like any acid should not be used on Stone as it will damage it. If you check the internet you will find this problem is not uncommon and numerous people have experienced the same issue, the good news is there is a solution. Polishing Damaged Marble Shower Tiles Using a spray bottle containing a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a set of small Diamond encrusted burnishing pads attached to a handheld buffer I went to work on the tiles stripping away the existing sealer and bringing back the surface of the stone. During this process the damage to the tiles started to fade and once the sealer was removed the tiles took on a washed out appearance which was to be expected at this stage. Sealing Marble Shower Tiles After drying any wetness with a heat gun I left

Marble Posts

Restoring the Appearance of Damaged Marble Shower Tiles

8th March 2017 Reese Mackie 0 Comments addlestone, cleaning marble stone, cleaning services, cleaning shower cubicle, East Surrey, marble shower tiles, marble stone, sealing marble stone, shower cubicle, Tile Cleaning

I recently went the assistance of a home owner in Addlestone, Surrey who had damaged the surface of the Marble tiles in her shower by attempting to remove Limescale using a well-known household cleaning product, which unfortunately due to its acidic formula actually made the problem worse and etched the tiles. Burnishing Marble Shower Cubicle Tiles To remove the etching and Limescale from the Marble tiles the surface would need to be cut back and re-polished using diamond encrusted burnishing pads. For this job we used a set of six inch pads which are similar to the floor pads but smaller so they can be attached to a hand held machine and used on vertical surfaces. To burnish the tiles a coarse pad is applied first lubricated with a little water and this removes surface deposits such as Limescale and in this case also the etching. The resultant residue is washed away and then you proceed on with the Medium, Fine and Very Fine polishing pads until the surface has been restored. Sealing Marble Shower Tiles Once I had finished applying the Very Fine pad I gave the tiles a thorough rinse and then dried them so they could be sealed for which I used a coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that gets into the pores of the stone enhancing the natural colours

Marble Posts

Restoring the Polish on Marble Tiles

7th March 2017 Reese Mackie 0 Comments black marble tiles, Brackley, cleaning services, floor restoration, maintaining marble floor, northamptonshire, polishing marble tile, Tile Cleaning, tile maintenance, tiled floor

This customer from the town of Brackley near Northampton got in touch with us to discuss their lovely black Marble tiled floor where it was proving difficult to maintain the shine. I went to visit and after carrying out some tests and asking a number of questions it became clear that that the product that had been used for regular cleaning had a high alkaline detergent content which was not suitable for the floor and had been causing smears, there were also light scratches due to the soiling levels. For polished stone or sealed floors we always recommend a neutral PH cleaning product such a Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner. Burnishing Polished Black Marble Tiles To remove the light scratches and restore the shine on the Marble it was necessary to cut back the surface and re-polish with a set of burnishing pads. The pads come in a set of four and are applied in sequence starting with a coarse pad together with a little water to cut through the old sealer and grime. You then progress through the other finer pads one by one until you get to the final polishing pad which provides a high polish. After polishing the floor was rinsed down to remove any slurry from the polishing process and then allowed to dry before sealing with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which impregnates the pores in

Marble Posts

Restoring the Finish in an Opulent Marble Bathroom

6th March 2017 Reese Mackie 0 Comments bathroom cleaning, cleaning services, East Surrey, marble tiles, refreshing bathroom tiles, sealing marble floor, sink restoration, Tile Cleaning, tiled bathroom, Westminster

You may recall a job I wrote about earlier in the year concerning a Limestone tiled floor in Westminster well I’m please to say the owner of that property was so pleased with my workmanship that I was asked back to maintain the Marble tiled bathroom which included a sink unit. Maintaining Marble Tiles Normally with polished stone it’s necessary to burnish the floor however in this case the tiles were in good condition with no scratches in the polish, there were a few spots and marks on the tile that needed to come off and they had lost some shine however a full burnish would not be necessary. To remove the spots and marks I treated them first with a solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted 4:1 with hot water. I then scrubbed them using a red buffing pad on my rotary floor machine, which took the marks away from the stone. Next I used a medium burnishing pad with a little water and followed with the fine pad and finally the ultra-fine burnishing pad to restore the shine and polish. I offered to build-up a durable polish with Tile Doctor Shine Powder however the owner was happy with the finish that had been achieved. Sealing Marble Tiles Once the tiles were dry I sealed them using Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer which occupies the pores of the stone