Tag Archives: ceramic tiles

End of Tenancy Bathroom Tile Refresh

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This bath with shower over was located at a rental property in the town of Chessington that had been recently vacated by students. I was called in by the landlord who was looking to re-rent the property. The request was to tidy up the ceramic tiles in the shower and bath area and to make it look decent again for the next batch of soap-dodgers. We often get asked to do end of tenancy tile cleans and have seen a lot worse than this one so I was confident it could be made to look like new again.

Dirty Ceramic Bath Tiles in Chessington before cleaning

The main problem was the grout had become darkened and stained from dirt and the dyes in soaps etc., the mastic sealant between the tile and the bath also needed replacing.

Cleaning Ceramic Tiled Shower Cubicle

To get the tile and grout clean I sprayed on Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel which works better than liquid products as being gel based it sticks to the wall tile and grout and really gets to work breaking down the dirt. I left this for a few minutes before scrubbing it in and then rinsing it off with water.

Whist this was drying I started to strip out the old mastic seal and tidied up the mess that had fallen into the bathtub using a vacuum.

Grout Colouring Shower Wall Tiles

With the tiles now clean and fresh grout dried the next step was to apply a White Grout Colourant to ensure all the grout had a consistent appearance. Although time consuming the grout colourant is easily applied with a small brush and then you wipe off any excess that gets onto the tile before it dries.

I left the grout colourant to dry for 30 minutes before applying another coat and once this had dried I set about adding a new mastic seal between the wall tile and bath. I always use a high quality silicone sealant for this; I never use cheap sealant as they soon discolour and can shrink resulting in water ingress problems.

Dirty Ceramic Bath Tiles in Chessington after cleaning

It takes a little time but the bathroom now looks much fresher and ready for the next tenants.
 
 
Source: Ceramic Tile and Grout Cleaning Service in West Surrey

Cleaning Anti-Slip Ceramic Tiles at a Car Dealership

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At Tile Doctor, we carry out professional tiled floor restorations in both residential and commercial environments. In this particular case we were asked to take a look at the tiles at a Car Dealership in the town of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. Melton Mowbray is known as the “Rural Capital of Food”, thanks to its range of local specialities, including its famous pork pie and Stilton cheese.

The problem was focused in the toilet area, where the non-slip Ceramic tiles had suffered heavy soil build-up. Since the cleaning contractor was unable to tackle the issue, Tile Doctor was recruited to restore the area using specialist tile cleaning methods and products.

Cleaning non-slip Ceramic Tiles

Judging by the level of soil build-up on the floor I mixed a solution of one part Tile Doctor Pro-Clean (a high alkaline cleaner) with five parts of water. This was then left to dwell on the tiles so the solution could seep into the crevices of the non-slip tile breaking it down and making it easier to clean.

Non-Slip Ceramic Tile During Cleaning Melton Mowbray

I agitated the solution using scrubbing pads to remove the soil which once the dirty cleaning solution was rinsed away and removed using a wet vacuum made a dramatic difference to the overall appearance of the floor.

Removing Grout Smears from Ceramic Tiles

The floor looked much better however now it was clean I could see a film of grout haze residue on the surface of many of the tiles which had been left over from the initial installation. To tackle this problem I applied Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which along with grout haze this product can also remove rust stains and other mineral deposits.

I was now happy with the condition of the ceramic tile and grout and after another rinse with water I promptly force dried the floor with a special fan in order to get the toilet ready for use again. You only need to look at the before and after photos to see the difference!

Non-Slip Ceramic Tile After Cleaning Melton Mowbray

 
 
Source: Ceramic Tile and Grout cleaning and service in Leicestershire

Night Cleaning Ceramic Supermarket Tiles

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Photographs below from a Mini-Market in Lewes where high foot traffic was taking its toll on the Ceramic tiled floor which was now is need a dramatic deep clean.

Before Cleaning Dirty Ceramic Tiles in Lewes Mini Market

Shop Floor Cleaning

As the shop is open from 6am-11pm I had to work through the night. I started by applying a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to shift the muck, this was left to soak in for a while before being scrubbed into the floor using a buffing machine fitted with a scrubbing pad and stiff brush along the grout lines. The floor was then rinsed with warm water which was then extracted using a wet vacuum. I had to repeat the process in stubborn areas but as you can see from the pictures the result was incredible, just look at the pictures!

Cleaning Dirty Ceramic Tiles in Lewes Mini Market

Ceramic tiles are glazed so do not need sealing and as there is no sealer the floor can now be maintain using a regular floor cleaning product. Hopefully they can keep on top of the cleaning however it is a busy floor with hundreds of people walking on it every day so if they do struggle we are always happy to do a regular maintenance clean for them.

After Cleaning Dirty Ceramic Tiles in Lewes Mini Market

 
 
Source: Professional Tile, Stone and Grout cleaning service in East Sussex

Reducing Coefficient of Friction

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We recently had a request to take a look at the Ceramic floor tiles installed at a fairly new office building in Lancaster. Well over 300 people work at the builder and they all come and go via the entrance hall where ceramic tiles have been installed which when wet were very slippery. To confirm this we conducted a pendulum test which is a specially designed piece of certified equipment that measures the surface co-efficient of friction which basically is a recognised measure of how much traction a surface has. The testing is very detailed and the output is an official report that can be used for insurance purposes; the report came back high risk which was expected so no surprise there, the next step was to see how this could be improved.

Applying Anti-Slip Treatment to Ceramic tiles in Lancaster Before

Cleaning Porcelain Tiles ready for Anti-Slip treatment

As well as maintaining Tile and Stone Tile Doctor are also trained in the application of Anti-Slip treatments so we were asked to apply Anti-Slip to the 36m2 of Ceramic tiles in the entrance and rectify the problem. We do this by first getting the floor as clean as possible for which we use a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked into the floor with a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. The dirty cleaning solution is removed using a wet vacuum and the floor rinsed with clean water.

Applying Anti-Slip treatment to Porcelain tiles

The second step is to apply a Priming and Locking solution which is part of the treatment diluted one part solution to four parts water. This is then left to dry and once dry is followed by the application of the Anti-Slip treatment itself.

The third step in the treatment is to re-apply the diluted Priming and Locking solution before the floor fully dries out and it’s this last step that activates the treatment and locks it in place. There’s no need to wait for the floor to dry at this point it can be used immediately after the last step has been applied.

Applying Anti-Slip Treatment to Ceramic tiles in Lancaster During

Once completed we conducted another Pendulum test so this could be compare to the original test to see if there had been any improvement. I’m glad to report the treatment worked as expected and the latest report came back as low risk. The customer keeps this to prove to any potential insurance claimant that steps had been taken to make the floor as safe as possible. You might notice that floor looks much better as well.

Applying Anti-Slip Treatment to Ceramic tiles in Lancaster After

I should mention that the work was carried out outside of working hours so no disruption was made to the normal operation of the building.
 
 
Source: Tile and Stone Anti-Slip Treatments in Lancashire

London Night Club Toilet Tile Cleaning

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Our client’s project was to refurbish four toilets in a London Night Club but didn’t want the expense of replacing all the existing ceramic floor and wall tiles; after come across our web site we were invited to visit the club and provide a demonstration after which we were awarded the contract. Our main task on this project was to deep clean the ceramic wall tiles and floors and colour seal grout lines which had over the years had stained to a yellow appearance

Night Club Toilet Cleaning Day One

We started by giving all the tiles a though deep clean with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong alkaline cleaner that is able to penetrate into the tile and lift the years of built up soiling on the tile and grout lines. This was followed with a further treatment of on the wall tile grout lines using Tile doctor Grout Clean up and another deep clean with Pro-Clean and pressure cleaned using our powerful truck mounted system which cleans under heat and high pressure and returns all the slurry to our recovery tanks for disposal.

Night Club Toilet Cleaning Day Two and Three

The tiles looked fantastic and like new again with the exception of the grout lines which although being deep cleaned of twenty years of dirt and grease still had a yellow appearance. The solution was to use a Grout Colourant to colour all the grout lines white again, the product we use is brilliant as not only does it give the appearance of newly applied grout is also protects the grout with a waterproof and stain proof barrier that is very easy to clean. Once dried we removed all the excess grout colourant residue from the tile and then polished the tiles to a pleasing high shine.

The client was totally satisfied and impressed with our work which cost a fraction of what it could of cost to replace all the wall tiles. In fact a member of the management team was adamant that we had replaced the tile and grout as he thought it impossible we could of managed this good as new look any other way.
 
 
Source: Contract Floor Cleaning Services in London

Cleaning Restaurant Tiles

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The Ceramic floor tiles shown below were installed in a Luton high street restaurant, as you can see they were far from clean, deeply stained and even the grout had gone black.

Ceramic Floor Tiles Luton Restaurant Before

Cleaning Ceramic Floor Tiles

Given the amount of dirt on the tile and grout we decided to apply a very strong combination of Tile Doctor Remove and Go mixed 50/50 with NanoTech Ultra Clean which results in the creation of a heavy duty stripper/cleaner containing nano sized abrasive particles that can penetrate deep into the dirt. The cleaning solution was left to dwell on the surface of the tile for twenty minutes before using a Rotovac machine which applies and removes water at high pressure to remove the dirt and rinse the floor.

Ceramic Floor Tiles Luton Restaurant After

Glazed ceramic tiles won’t take a sealer so once the entire floor was dry and stubborn areas re-done we were finished.
 
 
Source: Cleaning commercial tiles in Bedfordshire