This client called us out to look at their grubby Quarry tiled lobby at the front of their property in Kenton near Exeter. Being the main entrance to the property it saw a lot of foot traffic so once the sealer had worn down it wasn’t long before the dirt started penetrating the pores of the tile and became difficult to keep clean.
The property was originally a school and dated back over 200 years. The Quarry tiles in the entrance lobby were probably as old as the building and as mentioned earlier were looking worse for wear having been partially covered for years. They weren’t sure how old the tiled floor was, but they were keen to see it restored. They were therefore desperate to get the floor deep cleaned and a fresh seal applied. They agreed to my quotation, and we arranged a convenient date to carry out the work.
Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Hallway Floor
I started by taping up the skirting to protect it from the cleaning products we would be using. I then applied Tile Doctor Remove & Go to the floor and covered the area with plastic sheets to stop the evaporation of the products so that I could achieve a longer dwell time. This would really get to the deep-seated dirt and loosen it so it can be lifted from the pores of the tiles.
I then worked the floor with 200-grit carbide brush fitted to a rotary machine to remove the dirt ingrained in the clay pores of the tile. Some of the grout was loose and dislodged in the process, however my client was expecting this and had already arranged for his tiler to complete a full re-grout once we had finished cleaning. The soiling released by the cleaning process was rinsed off the floor with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.
Sealing a Quarry Tiled Lobby Floor
I wanted to seal the floor the next day so I left a couple of driers in place overnight to speed up the drying process. The next morning when I returned, I first checked the floor to make sure it was dry with a moisture meter.
The dryers had worked their magic so I was able to begin sealing the floor with Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which is an effective interior and exterior sealer. With the lobby being a high traffic area, I applied four coats to ensure a durable seal. The benefit of this sealer is it gave the floor a nice sheen really bringing out the depth of colour in the tiles, and with the newly applied grout the floor looked great.
For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This is a pH neutral product which is gentle enough for daily use. It won’t compromise the newly applied sealer which can be a problem with the stronger bleach-based products you find in supermarket products.
The work completely transformed the Quarry tiles and my client was very happy with the completed job and told me they wished they had tackled it sooner.
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