A property developer contacted me about an old Victorian Quarry tiled floor that they needed to make good at their customers house in Harborne following renovations. The work needed to be done professionally and more work was anticipated restoring the original Victorian tiled floor in the adjacent hallway which I’ll detail in a separate article.
I went over to survey the floors and provide a quote for completing the work. The house dated from the 1800’s and the Quarry tiles in the front room were black and buff coloured. In fact, after I did a test clean the buff coloured tiles turned out to be deep red in colour, but the floor was that dirty you would never know it. There were also areas of missing tiles where replacements would be needed to match the rest of the floor. We discussed a price for the work, which was readily agreed, and the work booked in.
Cleaning and Repairing a Quarry Tiled Living Room Floor
Before starting work, I managed to source approximately 90 replacement tiles from a reclamation yard which were delivered to site. Once they had arrived, I began the tiling work by building up the sub floor with some levelling cement. When this had hardened, I started laying the tiles with a quick setting adhesive. Some needed cutting to size which was carefully completed. Once the tiles had been positioned, I grouted the area and the floor was then allowed to dry.
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The floor was then cleaned using a combination of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and Remove and Go, scrubbed in with a black scrubbing pad. The floor needed a couple of goes to get it completely clean, and there were also some screed areas which were treated with Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up. The floor was then rinsed, next we applied more of the Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up this time to the whole floor to give it an acid rinse. The floor was then rinsed again and then allowed to dry for a couple of days.
Sealing a Quarry Tiled Living Room Floor
On return the was sealed with three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which was left to soak in and then buffed off. This product impregnates the pores if the Quarry tiles enhancing the red and black colours whilst proving protection from staining going forward.
You can see from the photographs the transformation that was achieved. If you look closely you can notice a difference between the original and reclaimed tiles but this will be less noticeable over time.
Before leaving I left the client with a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to help maintain the tiles appearance and protect the seal. He was over the moon with the job.
Source: Quarry Tile Cleaning and Restoration Service in Harborne, Birmingham
Sealers protect your tiles from staining and enhance their appearance, however they do wear down over time depending on foot traffic and what products are used to clean them (don’t use anything even mildly acidic) and this is when dirt can become ingrained in the pores of the tile, so if you do want to keep your stone floor looking its best talk to Tile Doctor their regular maintenance service that will ensure your sealer is kept topped up.