Milling Pads Archives - North West Yorkshire Tile Doctor

160 Year Old Encaustic Tiled Victorian Hallway floor Restoration York

Encaustic Tiled Victorian Hallway Floor Restored in York

Detailed below is the renovation of an original encaustic tiled floor at a Victorian tiled property in York which was 160 years old. The floor had been cleaned regularly but unfortunately using the wrong cleaning products which were too strong and had prematurely stripped off the sealer. This had left the tiles vulnerable to ingrained dirt and were now proving difficult to keep clean.

I went over to survey the floor and create a quote for its renovation and discovered areas where the tiles were loose and missing. One area in particular was quite bad and would need more attention to the foundation to make the floor completely level and easier to maintain.

160 Year Old Encaustic Tiled Victorian floor Before Cleaning York

From the survey I was able to create a plan for the restoration and work out a detailed quote that included replacement tiles and products. The quote was accepted and a date agreed for the work to start.

Cleaning an Encaustic Victorian Tiled Hallway

Before cleaning the floor, it was necessary to address all the problems with loose and damaged areas. So, work started with the removal of cracked and broken tiles. This needed to be done carefully so as not to lose any neighbouring tiles and therefore making the job larger than necessary. To solve the badly damaged area I had to remove the tiles and take away the lime mortar foundation underneath. This area then had to be re-levelled and made good before re-tiling with replacement reproduction tiles, I had sourced earlier.

Once the repairs had set properly, I returned to clean the whole floor using a rotary floor machine fitted with a black pad to scrub in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. This is an effective tile cleaner that lifts the dirt out of the tiles and removes what was left of the original sealer. This floor was then rinsed with water and the soiled solution extracted with a wet vacuum.

Next step was to give the floor and acid wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which neutralises the floor after the use of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is alkaline. It also dissolves any salts which may be present in the floor and could appear as white efflorescence as the floor dries.

160 Year Old Encaustic Tiled Victorian floor During Cleaning York

Next, I addressed some slight lippage issues that were inherent in the floor. To do this a very coarse 50-Grit milling pad was run over the raised areas to reduce them. I used a heavy polishing machine for this which has an automatic water feed for lubrication. After cleaning away the soiling that was generated, the process was repeated with a 200-grit milling pad to improve the appearance of the tiles.

Sealing an Encaustic Victorian Tiled Hallway

The floor was left to dry overnight and then on my next visit sealed with a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a fully breathable colour enhancing impregnator. It’s worth mentioning that using a breathable sealer is very important when choosing a sealer for old floors that don’t have a damp proof membrane.

160 Year Old Encaustic Tiled Victorian floor After Restoration York

Once done, the repaired and restored floor looked much cleaner and made the whole hallway look more inviting. My client was happy with our work and left the following 5-star feedback:

“We had our Victorian hallway tiles refurbished, cleaned and sealed with amazing results. The hallway looks ready for another 150 years. Chris was professional and a real expert”

160 Year Old Encaustic Tiled Victorian floor After Restoration York

For aftercare I had arranged for the client to receive a bottle of Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is an appropriate cleaning product for the regular cleaning of sealed floors.

Professional Restoration of an Encaustic Victorian Tiled Hallway in North Yorkshire

Encaustic Tiled Victorian Hallway Floor Restored in York Read More »

Flagstone Floor Restoration Kirkstall Leeds

150 Year Old Carpet Covered Flagstone Floor Transformed in Kirkstall Leeds

The new owners of this property in Kirkstall near Leeds discovered this 150 years old Flagstone floor under carpet shortly after moving in. Keen to have it restored as an original feature I was asked to quote for restoring it back to its original condition, or as close to that as possible given its age.

As you can see from the photos, the stone itself was very dirty and had lost all of its character. Other problems included the removal of the old glues used to secure the carpet, and the latex screed that had been used to level it and even some nails.

Flagstone Floor Before Renovation Kirkstall Leeds

To restore the appearance of the floor I recommended milling the floor with a set of very coarse diamond pads that would remove a thin layer of stone off the top and reveal new stone underneath. I would use water to help lubricate the process and keep the dust down, but it would still be a messy a job, the advantage however would be the stone would be transformed by the process.

Although difficult to comprehend I was able to show them some examples of similar floors that had received this treatment. Happy with the potential outcome the quote was accepted, and a date set for the work to begin.

Cleaning a Flagstone Tiled Living Area

The first job was to remove as much of the adhesives and latex screed as possible from the floor. This was done using Tile Doctor Remove and Go to soften them before being scraped off manually and with the help of a coarse 50-grit diamond pad. The floor was then rinsed to remove the slurry that was generated and then extracted using a wet vacuum.

Flagstone Floor During Renovation Kirkstall Leeds

A set of milling pads were then attached to a weighted floor buffer and run over each slab several times to cut through the stone surface. Water was used to lubricate the process, however as mentioned earlier this process generates a lot of stone dust so a lot of rinsing and extracting needs to happen to remove it.

Flagstone Floor During Renovation Kirkstall Leeds

I used a lot of water during the milling and It’s important that the floor is dry before sealing so I left the floor for a few days before returning to apply the sealer.

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Living Area

Old floors like this don’t have the benefit of a damp proof membrane so it is important to use a fully breathable sealer that will allow moisture to rise through the floor so it can evaporate at the surface. Failing to observe this can result in damp building up under the floor where it can reach out to the walls resulting in rising damp.

With this in mind I chose to seal the floor using two coats of Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which is a fully breathable impregnator. It’s also oil-based so it adds structure and colour to the stone really bringing it to life.

Flagstone Floor After Restoration Kirkstall Leeds

The work not only restored the flagstones but completely transformed the floor, the flagstones now have an impressive depth of colour that was simply unimaginable at the start, needless to say my client was extremely happy.

Flagstone Floor After Restoration Kirkstall Leeds

For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a gentle but effective tile cleaner that won’t impact the longevity of the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Flagstone Floor in North Yorkshire

150 Year Old Carpet Covered Flagstone Floor Transformed in Kirkstall Leeds Read More »

Faded Black Limestone Renovated Horsforth Leeds

Colour Restored to a Newly Installed Black Limestone Patio in Horsforth

1 Comment / Leeds Tile Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing / Chris Allen

I was recently asked to work some Tile Doctor magic on a Black Limestone patio at a property in Horsforth, Leeds. The gentleman had just had the patio and steps paved with Black Limestone in time for the summer, however it had lost its rich dark colour due to the use of the wrong cleaning products and methods. The installer had literally bleached the colour out of the stone as well as etching it. The client had attempted to rectify this himself and made matters worse, so he called us in to see if we could put this right.

Faded Black Limestone Patio Before Renovation Horsforth Leeds

This is in fact a common problem with Black Limestone and Slate patios; builders typically use brick acid after laying a patio to remove excess grout or mortar, but this washes out the oils in the stone which give it that desirable Black colour. Also, many types of stone are sensitive to harsh chemicals such as acids and they can etch the stone.

Faded Black Limestone Patio Before Renovation Horsforth Leeds

I reassured my client that there was no need to worry and that I would be able to renovate the patio and restore the colour. We agreed a price, which he said he would pass onto the builder, and we arranged a time for the work to be carried out. We selected a couple of options, subject to the weather.

Cleaning and Restoring a Faded Black Limestone Tiled Patio Floor

Due to the etching the stone surface had experienced, my first job was to renovate the surface using a series of Tile Doctor Milling pads. These are fitted to a rotary buffer machine that has had extra weights added to increase traction. This was tricky on the steps but with a bit of persistence I endeavoured and successfully completed the first stage. The slurry generated by the pads was then rinsed off with water and this was then extracted with a wet vacuum.

Faded Black Limestone Patio During Renovation Horsforth Leeds

Sealing a Black Limestone Tiled Patio Floor

The patio was then left to dry, luckily, we had picked a good weather window, and the temperature was quite mild for this time of year. Once the moisture readings of the stone had dropped within the correct tolerance, I was able to start the second stage of the restoration which involved applying a sealer.

I chose Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal to seal this stone, applying two coats. This is an oil-based product that restores the beautiful Black colour to the limestone resulting in a nice finish. This product is also rated for external as well as internal use so ideal for this application.

My client was very happy with the result and relieved that we had managed to achieve the finish he had originally hoped for. They were delighted they could now use the new patio to its full potential throughout the summer.

Before leaving I recommended avoiding acidic cleaning products going forward and suggested they make use of our annual maintenance offering, we would then return every spring to get the patio ready for the summer.

Professional Restoration of a Black Limestone Tiled Patio in North Yorkshire

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