Dealing with efflorescence on Quarry Tiles

Here’s an interesting job I recently completed for a client in the historic city of Worcester. My client had two tiled floors in her house that were in dire need of restoration. They were located in the hallway and dining room of the house, and were a mix of Quarry tiles, with some believed to be over a century old. The entire area required a thorough clean and seal, while some of the tiles were showing evidence of salt damage in the grout lines, this is usually caused by damp evaporating up through the tile and grout and is more commonly known as efflorescence.

Cleaning Quarry tiled floors

I completed the cleaning and sealing processes over the course of two days. My first task was to break down any old sealer and hard wax coatings left on the surfaces of the floors from previous maintenance. Working in two metre square sections I scrubbed Tile Doctor Remove & Go into the floor, Remove and Go is a coatings remover (aka stripper) that is safe to use on Tile, Stone and Grout and is great for tackling old sealers and waxes, the product can also used to remove glue and other adhesives. This was then rinsed off and the resulting slurry extracted using a wet vacuum; the process was then repeated as necessary until all the sealers etc. had been removed.

Following the removal of the old coatings I diluted Tile Doctor Pro-Clean with four parts water and I worked the solution into the floor using a black scrubbing pad to lift out any ingrained dirt from the tile. Pro-Clean is a high alkaline cleaner which is highly effective and again safe to use on Tile, Stone and Grout.

To complete the cleaning process I addressed my attention to the salt that was evidence in the grout between some of the tiles. I used Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up for this, which removes salt and other mineral deposits, along with any stains, dirt and grout haze.

Sealing Quarry Tiled Floors

After completing the clean I gave the whole floor a thorough rinse which was then removed using a wet-vac machine, before leaving the whole area to dry overnight. I installed two air movers and a dehumidifier to speed up the process, and by the time I returned to the house the next day, the tiles were ready to be sealed.

To seal the floor I used four coats of the new Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra, which is especially recommended for sealing external tiles or internal tiles with a damp problem. The product formula has increased breathability as well as providing a robust surface seal along with an aesthetically pleasing, low-sheen finish.

Source: Professional Tile, Stone and Grout cleaning and maintenance services in South Worcestershire