A few months ago, I was asked to look at this Terracotta tiled floor that was installed in the kitchen diner of a house in Haslingfield. The client wanted to have it deep cleaned and re sealed because regular cleaning no longer had any effect and the tiles were now looking very dirty. The village of Haslingfield is only about six miles south-west of Cambridge and only a twenty-minute drive from my base in Dry Drayton.
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After discussing the problem floor on the phone, I arranged to visit the property, survey the floor and work out the best course of action. As you can confirm for yourself from the pictures on this page the floor was indeed looking dull and dirty and I suspected the sealer had worn down and was now allowing dirt to build-up in the pores of the tile. I carried out a test clean to show the client what the result could look like and the floor responded rather well. They were very satisfied and happy to go ahead with my quote and so we arranged a convenient time to carry out the work.
Cleaning and Restoring a Terracotta Tiled Hallway Floor
To deep clean and remove what was left of the old sealer I applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go, this is sprayed on and left to soak in for ten minutes. Then it was scrubbed in with a black pad fitted to a rotary machine. The dirt released from the tiles was then rinsed off the floor with water and extracted with a wet vacuum. This process was repeated as needed before turning my attention to the grout lines which was hand scrubbed with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which cleans the grout and removes any excess grout.
The floor was given a second rinse and then inspected with any stubborn stains spot treated by with a repeat of the previous process. Thankfully the initial clean had been effective and there were only a couple of areas that needed further attention.
Once the deep clean was completed, the floor was left to dry off overnight and the following morning.
Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Hallway Floor
Returning in the afternoon, I tested the floor for excess moisture with the damp meter. This confirmed the tiles were dry, so I started applying a fresh sealer. I selected to use Tile Doctor Seal and Go for this as this is a specially formulated water-based blend of acrylic polymers which provides both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable low-sheen finish which the client wanted. Five coats were applied allowing enough time for each coat to dry before applying the next.
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I think you will agree from the pictures there was a remarkable transformation during this restoration. Certainly, my client was very happy with the result and has since had us back to repeat the process on another Terracotta tiled floor. They also left the following comments on the Tile Doctor feedback system which is always appreciated.
Tom did a great job bringing back depth and tone to our very dirty Terracotta kitchen tiles. Very happy with the results.
Source: Terracotta Tile and Grout Cleaning and Renovation Service in Cambridgeshire