Tag Archives: flagstone

Old Kitchen Flagstones Deep Cleaned in South Lancashire

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The pictures below were taken in the Kitchen of a charming cottage situated in the village of Stacksteads near the town of Backup, North of Manchester in the district of Rossendale. The flagstone floor was over 100 years old and the customer was unhappy with their appearance. They had tried to clean/mill and seal themselves a few years ago and had found the process hard work and very time consuming. This time round they decided to ask professional applicator at Tile Doctor for help.

Old Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Renovation in Stacksteads Backup

We had conducted a small patch test so we could show possible results to the customer. They had also advised us that they felt the stained areas of grout was beyond cleaning and would probably need replacing. However replacing the grout would have been quite an expensive option so instead of replacing we suggested deep cleaning the grout lines during the renovation process.

Old Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Renovation in Stacksteads Backup

The customers were happy with the results of the patch test so the job was booked in.

Deep Cleaning Old Flagstone Flooring

On our return visit we set about deep cleaning the flagstones using a strong dilution Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in using a Black Scrubbing pad fitter to a rotary cleaning machine. This action certainly gave the floor a good clean and removed the old sealer but some stains were proving stubborn to shift so we tried a stronger product called Remove and Go combined 50/50 with NanoTech HBU which add nano-sized abrasive particles to the mix.

We left the resulting formula to soak into the stone for a while and then scrubbed it into the floor with a stiff brush paying particular attention to the grout lines. This did the trick and so we then removed the now soiled and dirty cleaning products with a wet vacuum and washed down the floor with clean water to remove any trace of product and neutralise the floor before sealing. We then left for the evening so the floor could dry out fully overnight.

Old Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor During Renovation in Stacksteads Backup

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

We came back the next day and tested the floor with a damp meter in a few different locations to make sure no dampness remained in the stone. The Flagstone was dry so we proceeded to seal the floor with a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which penetrates into the pores of the stone protecting it from within and enhancing the natural colours of the stone.

Old Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor After Renovation in Stacksteads Backup

The beautiful colours of blue and dark sand were showing after sealing with Colour Grow which is the best sealer for stone floors. Certainly the customer was very happy with the results and left the following 5 star review!

We could not praise Kamila enough. Our flagstone floor was in desperate need of some TLC. She was punctual, thorough and completely professional. Throughout the whole process she invited me to see the progress and to keep me informed of what she was doing. She also gave us good advice on how to clean and care for our stone floor. The end result is fabulous and we are absolutely delighted. We would definitely recommend Kamila to anyone.
Jo H, Bacup

Old Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor After Renovation in Stacksteads Backup

 
 
Source: Flagstone Cleaning and Renovation Service in South Lancashire

Tired Old Flagstone Tiled Floor Renovated in Lancashire

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This customer in Great Harwood was so fedup with their Flagstone tiled flooring on the ground floor of their property. In fact they were ready to take up the floor, put a new concrete base in place and lay a wood floor down on top. However this is the original floor from when the house was built in 1894 so was not replaceable as such, and the customer really wanted to restore the floor back to its original condition, as well as other material’s in the house, to recreate the Original Victorian feeling that had been missing for many years.

Flagstone Floor Before Restoration Great Harwood Flagstone Floor Before Restoration Great Harwood

We have completed quite a lot of this type of work for customers in the past and we publish all out work on our website and it was one job similar to this that convinced the customer that we had the answer to her problem.

Milling an Old Flagstone Floor

A few years ago Tile Doctor invented a system called Milling to deal with problematic stone floors like this one. The system uses very coarse Diamond pads fitted to heavy machinery to mill the stone until it is a smooth as possible. This action gets rid of years of traffic marks, ingrained dirt as well as old wax and sealers. There’s nothing harder than Diamond so we find this system woks really well on an old damaged floor like this one.

The process will leave the stone looking rough so once finished with the coarse pads we then apply a lighter Diamond grit pad to remove the scratch marks that the heavy diamond grits leave behind. The floor is rinsed between pads and a little water is also used to provide lubrication.

After resolving the stone issues we re-grouted the whole floor and conduct one more final clean using Tile Doctor Neutral Clean before leaving it to dry out ready for sealing a few days later.

Sealing an Old Flagstone Floor

On our return the sealer we chose for these old flagstone was Tile Doctor Colour Grow, it penetrates into the pores of the stone protecting it from within and in the processes lift the natural colours in the Stone.

Colour Grow is a breathable sealer which you need when sealing these old stone floors which won’t have a damp proof membrane installed. A wet look or polishing sealer will eventually spoil in damper wetter weather.

Another advantage of Colour Grow is it leaves a Matt finish which is a more natural look for Sandstone Flagstones like these. They will also be easier to clean as the milling process made the stone much smoother to the touch, so it becomes a lot easier to maintain in the future.

Flagstone Floor Before Restoration Great Harwood Flagstone Floor Before Restoration Great Harwood

The results were fantastic, and the customer is really pleased that they will no longer have to replace the tiles. The appearance and condition of the Flagstone had been improved so much that most people would not believe it had been laid 123 years ago!
 
 
Source: Flagstone Tile Cleaning and Renovation Service in Lancashire

George 3rd Flagstones Floor Renovated in a Cotswolds Cottage

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Minchinhampton is an ancient market town located on a hilltop in the Cotswolds area of Gloucestershire, famous for being one of the UK’s areas of outstanding beauty. The town has a long history and many of the residents live in some truly picturesque and characterful cottages that date back to the 18th century and beyond.

I was recently contacted by a property owner in the village. She had just uncovered an original Flagstone tiled floor in her cottage, which dates to 1765. The floor had previously been covered by a wooden floor and the property owner was keen to see if I could restore it. We’ve had some fantastic success with restoring similar floors in the past, so I was more than happy to see what could be done.

I visited the property initially to conduct a test clean and check that I would be able to remove the copious wood adhesive left on the floor after the covering had been lifted. This test clean was successful, and the customer booked me in for complete the full restoration straight away.

Old Flagstone Floor Before Restoration at Minchinhampton Cottage

Cleaning a Dirty Flagstone Tiled Floor

My first action in the process of restoring the floor was to mix a strong solution of two products – Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU and Tile Doctor Remove and Go. Remove and Go is designed to strip away any old sealer on the floor and dissolve any adhesive and paint stains, while NanoTech HBU is a potent cleaner which uses nano-sized particles to penetrate deep into the stone and eliminate ingrained dirt.

This solution was applied across the floor and left to dwell for 40 minutes. Then, using a poly-brush fitted to a floor buffing machine, I cleaned the floor and in doing so removed 85 percent of the ingrained dirt. To tackle the rest of the ingrained dirt, I spot cleaned the stubborn area using Tile Doctor Acid Gel in combination with a handheld steamer. Acid Gel is a concentrated mix of phosphoric and hydrochloric acids.

I also used a handheld buffing machine fitted with a Coarse 100 grit diamond encrusted pad to grind away any outstanding dirt and level off the surface of the tiles. When I was satisfied with the results of the cleaning process, my next operation was to replace all the missing grout on the floor. I did this using a Limestone grout, which was a good colour match for the Flagstone.

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Floor

With the first day of work complete, I left the floor to dry out for the next three days. With the floor being particularly old, it was important to give it a long period to dry to help avoid any damp issues.

Upon returning to the property, I ran some quick damp tests to check the floor could be sealed. When satisfied that there was no excess moisture to deal with, I proceeded to seal the floor with three coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go, leaving 30 minutes to dry between coats. This will give the floor robust protection against ingrained dirt along with the high-quality satin finish the customer had requested.

Old Flagstone Floor Before Restoration at Minchinhampton Cottage

Seeing the result, the customer was really pleased with her floor. She had previously thought there was nothing that could be done to restore these old Flagstones, but with the right combination of products and cleaning methods I was able to achieve a fantastic restoration. Another satisfied customer.
 
 
Source: Sandstone Tile Cleaning and Restoration in Cotswolds

Sandstone Flagstones Renovated in a Cheshire Kitchen

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Bramhall is an affluent area of East Cheshire and home to some truly fantastic properties with equally impressive floors. I recently had the pleasure of visiting one of these properties to attend to a Sandstone tiled kitchen that was looking past its best.

Sandstone has been used as a building material since ancient times, with some famous examples of Sandstone architecture being the Strasbourg Cathedral in Strasbourg, France, and Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Of course, Sandstone is also commonly used for paving and tiled floors. It is typically very porous, meaning that dirt and stains can easily become ingrained if the stone is not taken care of correctly. The wonderful natural shades in the Sandstone quickly lose their character and, as was the case with this floor, the tiles become dull and unappealing.

Sandstone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Bramhall Sandstone Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Bramhall

Cleaning Dirty and Dull Sandstone Kitchen Tiles

To clean this floor, I first mixed a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go, which is multi-purpose stripper and cleaner. The product strips away any old sealer on the tiles and draws out ingrained dirt, stains and heavy grease build-up. It always provides consistent results and it can be used it on all kinds of tile, stone and grout to great effect.

I applied the product and left it to soak for roughly 20 minutes to allow time to penetrate the pores of the stone and reach the deeply embedded dirt. Next, I scrubbed the floor using a specialised buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad to get the stone clean. The resulting dirty cleaning slurry was quickly soaked up using a wet vacuum and after rinsing with water I used the wet vacuum again to get the floor as dry as possible before leaving for the day and allowing the floor to dry off fully overnight.

Sandstone Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Bramhall

Sealing Sandstone Kitchen Tiles

Upon returning to the property the following day, I tested the floor with a damp meter, checking for any excess moisture that could prevent me from sealing the stone.

Thankfully the floor proved dry and I could seal the floor using two different types of sealer. First, I applied a coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which is an impregnating sealer designed to fill the pores of the tiles to block ingrained dirt, as well as to enhance the natural colours in the stone.

By itself, Colour Grow provides a natural-looking matte finish, but in this instance the customer had requested a low-sheen finish, so I also applied Tile Doctor Seal and Go. Seal and Go is a water-based acrylic sealer which provides both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable low-sheen finish.

Sandstone Kitchen Floor After Sealing Bramhall Sandstone Kitchen Floor After Sealing Bramhall

Looking at the before and after photos, you can see the floor underwent a real transformation. The deep clean really restored the condition of the Sandstone, while the addition of robust sealers will ensure that it is easy for the customer to keep clean in the long term. Needless to say, the customer was really pleased with the result!
 
 
Source: Sandstone Tile Cleaning and Restoration in Cheshire

Restoring Salvaged Flagstone Flooring in a Gloucestershire Kitchen

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Here we have an interesting situation in which an old Flagstone tiled floor had been salvaged from a cottage approximately 30 years ago and subsequently reinstalled at a house in Ledbury, a small market town which lies to the west of the Malvern hills in the North of Gloucestershire. Since being reinstalled, the Flagstone tiles had been barely touched in terms of maintenance for three decades and so the stone and grout were naturally in need of a deep clean and seal!

Salvaged Flagstone Floor Before Restoration in Ledbury

The property owner had heard about the natural stone tile restoration services Tile Doctor provides and so booked me in to see what could be done to improve the condition of his floor.

Salvaged Flagstone Floor Before Restoration in Ledbury

Cleaning a Dirty Flagstone Tiled Floor

My first job in the cleaning process was to distribute a mixed solution of two cleaning products across the floor. These products were Tile Doctor Remove and Go, which is a multi-purpose stripper designed to remove old coatings and sealers, as well as any adhesive and paint stains, and Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU, a powerful cleaner which utilises nano-sized particles to penetrate difficult-to-reach areas of the stone to eliminate deep lying dirt and stains.

This potent cleaning solution was left to dwell on the surface of the floor for 45 minutes before being worked deep into the stone with a poly brush fitted to a buffing machine. The resultant cleaning slurry was then hoovered up with wet-and-dry vacuum. Next, the floor was rinsed and cleaned with just clean water and the slurry was once again hoovered up.

Salvaged Flagstone Floor During Restoration in Ledbury

This left the tiles clean and fresh, so I turned my attention to cleaning the grout lines in detail, which also involved spot cleaning any stubborn grout smears with Remove and Go and Tile Doctor Acid Gel, which is a blend of Phosphoric and Hydrochloric acids in gel form designed to remove stains of this kind.

When satisfied with the result of the cleaning process, I rinsed the floor for a final time with fresh water, hoovered up as much moisture as possible with a wet vacuum and left the stone to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Floor

On arrival at the property the following day, I checked the floor for dampness with my damp meter. The test proved that no excess moisture was present, so I proceeded to give the Flagstone a fresh seal.

With regards to sealer choice, the customer had requested a natural-looking matte finish to match in with the rustic characteristics of the Flagstone, so I used Tile Doctor Colour Grow – which provides exactly that. Colour Grow is a durable impregnating sealer that also enhances the natural shades in the stone to really bring the whole floor back to life. Roughly an hour was left between the application of each coating of sealer to allow the floor dry before applying the next.

Salvaged Flagstone Floor After Restoration in Ledbury

The result was a noticeable improvement in the condition and appearance of the Flagstone – and the customer couldn’t have been happier. It’s always satisfying to breathe some new life into old natural stone tiles.

Salvaged Flagstone Floor After Restoration in Ledbury

 
 
Source: Flagstone Tile Restoration in Gloucestershire

Finishing off a Flagstone Floor Installation

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Property renovation can be a busy and chaotic process, especially when some of the work falls short of your expectations. This customer, who lives in the tiny Bedfordshire village of Moggerhanger (pronounced locally as ‘Morhanger’), called me in as he was not happy with the appearance of a newly laid Flagstone tiled floor in the kitchen, dining room and downstairs WC. There was extensive renovation work taking place at the property and the customer had been let down by his tiler, as a result he agreed to allow his builder to lay the Flagstone tiles.

Unfortunately, the installation was not completed properly and the grout haze quickly emerged. What’s more, there was a significant quantity of adhesive staining on the surface of tiles, left over from the decorating which had not been removed. The customer needed help to get the floor looking the way it should and we were more than happy to help.

Cleaning and Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Toilet Floor

The photo below shows the extent of the grout haze present in the WC area. I was able to remove this successfully by using Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up which is a concentrated phosphoric acid cleaner designed to penetrate below the surface to remove grout haze, mineral deposits, rust stains and efflorescence.

Flagstone WC Floor Installation Before Cleaning Moggerhanger
This product was scrubbed into the grout using a rotary machine fitted with scrubbing brushes. The soiled cleaning residue was then removed using a wet-vac machine. Any stubborn areas of grout haze were given a second treatment, followed by a washing and rinsing.

The next photo shows this area after an application of Tile Doctor Stone Oil which soaks into the stone to enhance the natural colours and texture. I allowed the area to dry for 24 hours before sealing with Tile Doctor Seal & Go which adds a nice sheen to the tile as well as further protection.

Flagstone WC Floor Installation After Cleaning Moggerhanger

Cleaning and Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

The next pair of photos show the staining of the kitchen tiles including a close-up shot.

Flagstone Kitchen Floor Installation Before Cleaning Moggerhanger Flagstone Kitchen Floor Installation Before Cleaning Moggerhanger Close-Up

I was able to remove the staining using a stiff rotary brush in combination with our reliable alkaline cleaner Tile Doctor Pro Clean, which was followed by an application of Grout Clean-Up to remove any particularly stubborn deposits. The floor was allowed to dry for twenty-four hours before being sealed in a similar way to the bathroom using three coats of Stone Oil and three coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go. The final photos show the finished floor.

Flagstone Kitchen Floor Installation After Cleaning Moggerhanger Flagstone Kitchen Floor Installation After Cleaning Moggerhanger

Finally, I was asked by the customer if I would help the builder out by assisting with grouting the entire kitchen due to time restraints and because the customer wanted to get the room back into use as soon as possible.

Together we finished grouting the entire area correctly, made much easier by the fact that I had already sealed the floor. New grout was left to dry for a further 24 hours, before I returned to give the floor a light clean and two further coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go to ensure the new grout was sealed and adequately protected.

The customer left the following feedback stating how pleased he was with the overall service:

“Philip did a fantastic job getting extensive amounts of adhesive and grout off of our newly laid flagstones. He also re oiled, sealed, helped with grouting and a final clean/seal so when he left the flagstones were completely finished. Prompt service and stayed late to get the job done as soon as possible so we could put our house back together. Would highly recommend.”
Source: Sandstone Flagstone Tile and Grout Cleaning Service in Bedfordshire

Putting new life into an Edinburgh Kitchens Flagstones

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Our tiled floor restoration services have attracted a number of high profile customers over the years. In fact, not too long ago I was contacted about restoring a Flagstone tiled floor at a property in Edinburgh belonging to a Scotland international footballer.

The tiles and grout were in real need of professional cleaning and sealing because it clearly had not experience adequate maintenance in a while. Here’s a quick overview of how I was able to get the floor back to looking its best.

Flagstone Kitchen Floor Edinburgh Before Cleaning Flagstone Kitchen Floor Edinburgh Before Cleaning

Cleaning a Dirty Flagstone Tiled Floor

First of all, we cleaned the tiles and grout using a mix of two products: Tile Doctor Pro Clean and Tile Doctor Remove and Go. Pro Clean is our high alkaline cleaner and is a very reliable product for removing soil from natural stone. Remove and Go serves the more specific purpose of stripping away any old sealer and breaking down any paint and adhesive stains.

After completing the initial clean, I used gave the tiles another wash using a solution of Pro Clean and water,
before extracting any dirty slurry with a wet-vac machine. I did this several times until I was happy the floor was clean to the best possible extent. I also filled in any missing cement in joints and then installed drying equipment to help dry out the Flagstone tiles overnight.

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Floor

Upon returning to the property the following day I did a quick check for any damp issues. Thankfully none were present, so I was able to proceed with sealing the tiles using seven coats of Tile Doctor High Shine.

This sealer is a specially formulated water-based blend of acrylic polymers, providing both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable high-sheen finish. By doing so it eliminates the need for sealing using two products to achieve that effect.

Flagstone Kitchen Floor Edinburgh After Sealing Flagstone Kitchen Floor Edinburgh Completed

The restoration process was really transformative, as you can see from the photos above. The tiles compliment the design of the property very nicely and it’s great to know that they can now be kept looking fantastic for longer. Another satisfied customer!
 
 
Source: Flagstone Tile and Grout Cleaning Service in Edinburgh