Luckily for this client in the village of Docking in Norfolk, the water pipe under her kitchen sink burst the day before she left for a four-week holiday in the USA, so at least she was able to turn the water off at the mains and minimise the damage before leaving for the airport… every cloud,
Luckily for this client in the village of Docking in Norfolk, the water pipe under her kitchen sink burst the day before she left for a four-week holiday in the USA, so at least she was able to turn the water off at the mains and minimise the damage before leaving for the airport… every cloud,
Luckily for this client in the village of Docking in Norfolk, the water pipe under her kitchen sink burst the day before she left for a four-week holiday in the USA, so at least she was able to turn the water off at the mains and minimise the damage before leaving for the airport… every cloud, as they say!
On her return she found that the Terracotta tiled flooring had dried out perfectly but unfortunately, the acrylic sealer had suffered badly as the evaporating moisture came up through it and the entire surface of the floor had developed a milky-white bloom. Our client thought that complete replacement of the whole floor, which ran from a large kitchen diner through to a long utility room with separate storage cupboards and a WC would be the only option. Fortunately, before investigating that expensive option she gave Tile Doctor a call in the hope that the floor could be saved.
In order to remove the damaged acrylic sealer, we applied a strong dilution (1:2) of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed with a little Tile Doctor Remove and Go. This was scrubbed in along with a small amount of honing powder using our 17″ rotary machine fitted with a medium nylon brush before being power rinsed and extracted to remove all the chemicals and resulting slurry.
The grout lines, corners and edges where the original sealer had been applied more thickly were then further cleaned by hand with Tile Doctor Nanotech HBU Remover, HBU stands for Heavy Build-Up and this is a useful product for tackling stubborn areas.
The floor was then finished off with very fine honing powder applied with water and a black scrubbing pad before being rinsed and extracted again. Finally, the whole floor was acid washed with Tile Doctor Acid Gel to neutralise all remaining cleaning agents and counter act any efflorescence salts which may appear in the future before being left to dry thoroughly overnight with the assistance of our dehumidifier.
On our return the following day, the floor was thoroughly damp tested and found to have dried extremely well enabling us to start applying the new sealer straight away. The client had specified a muted shine surface for her floor, so we chose to use Tile Doctor Seal and Go.
Terracotta is made from clay which is quite a porous material so seven coats were needed to completely seal the floor. This would provide optimum fluid resistance along with the mid-sheen finish she had requested.
Here’s what the client had to say when we’d finished:
I am delighted with the work carried out. The terracotta tile floor of my kitchen was in a terrible state following a flood and it has been restored to an excellent condition. A very professional and personal service which I am happy to recommend.
Source: Terracotta Tile Cleaning and Renovation Service in Norfolk
It’s surprising how often I get asked to look at tiled floors stained with paint and other chemicals because of careless decorating work. Such was he reason that I was asked to renovate this Slate tiled floor that had been installed in the garden room of a house in Hampton, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. On this occasion the customers decorators had not covered the floor properly prior to painting which led to spots of paint and a white haze in places where they had tried and
It’s surprising how often I get asked to look at tiled floors stained with paint and other chemicals because of careless decorating work. Such was he reason that I was asked to renovate this Slate tiled floor that had been installed in the garden room of a house in Hampton, in the London Borough
It’s surprising how often I get asked to look at tiled floors stained with paint and other chemicals because of careless decorating work. Such was he reason that I was asked to renovate this Slate tiled floor that had been installed in the garden room of a house in Hampton, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. On this occasion the customers decorators had not covered the floor properly prior to painting which led to spots of paint and a white haze in places where they had tried and failed to rub the emulsion off the stone floor.
I went over to take a look and could see that the floor would benefit from been given a thorough clean, spot treating the decorating issues in the process and then given a fresh coat of sealer to protect the floor going forward and bring out the character of the stone. Having given the customer a quote which was accepted we agreed a date for me to return and given the floor a new lease of life.
The correct way to restore a floor such as this is to first strip off any existing coatings such as old sealers and take the tile back to its original condition. To do this I sprayed on a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and left to dwell and soak into the old sealer and paint stains. Remove and Go is a stripper that as its name suggests is designed to be used on Tile, Stone and Grout. After ten minutes the product was worked into the slate tile and grout using a heavy duty rotary scrubbing machine. To help with the cleaning process, we also sprayed on Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is our go to Tile and Grout cleaning product.
The solution soon turned into a slurry as the dirt, old sealers and stains were lifted out of the pores of the slate. To remove the soil the floor was rinsed with water and then extracted from the floor using a wet vacuum.
The floor was then inspected, and stubborn stains spot treated until I was happy with the condition of the tile and grout. The floor was given a final rinse to remove any trace of cleaning products and then dried as much as possible using the wet vacuum.
I left the floor overnight to dry completely following the cleaning and returned the next day to finish the renovation. After testing for damp to ensure the floor was dry, two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow were applied to fully seal the floor. Colour Grow is a colour enhancing sealer that penetrates int the pores of the stone to protect it from within. It worked really well on the Black Slate and restored the contrast in the tile while giving it the deep black look that the customer was expecting. The fresh sealer has the added benefit of making the floor easier to clean in the future
The floor now looks completely revived and the sealer will help keep it looking that way for some time to come.
Source: Slate Tile Cleaning and Renovation Service in Middlesex
This lovely Victorian tiled floor was located in the hallway of a beautiful house in Abergavenny which is an old Market Town that dates back to Roman times on the outskirts of the Brecon Beacons national park. It has been sometime since it was last given a thorough clean and seal and was now in need of some TLC to give it a new lease of life and have a chance to take centre stage again. The floor was in excellent condition, but the old sealer had worn off in the high traffic areas and dirt
This lovely Victorian tiled floor was located in the hallway of a beautiful house in Abergavenny which is an old Market Town that dates back to Roman times on the outskirts of the Brecon Beacons national park. It has been sometime since it was last given a thorough clean and seal and was now in
You may need to reinforce your floor joists if you have saggy floors in your house. Floor joists will help to bring up walls that seem to be falling in. Floor joists can be found under the house, for example, in the crawl space. They can even be found in the basements of homes. Either way, they are put in to lend support to weakening walls and floors. When is it time to replace them or install them? Installing a floor joist can be a big job. You should have some friends come by to lend a hand. If this is your first time installing a floor joist, here are a few steps to help get you going in the right direction.
Step 1- Gain Access
You must first gain access to the floor joists. Depending on which floor is sagging, you may need to take out a ceiling to gain access to that flooring or you may have to go to the basement or crawl space to gain access for those particular floors. If you have a false ceiling you may have to remove a few tiles to gain access to the joist.
Step 2 – Assess the Damage
Next, you need to take a look at the damaged area and figure out where the problem is and how you will be fixing it. When you look at the flooring, check to see where the worst problem areas are and which joists are sagging the most. If the joist itself is rotting, that could be another problem all its own. This could mean replacing more than a partial joist. If you do happened to find damaged joists, it would be a good idea to check to see if there is more damage so it is not an ongoing problem.
Step 3 – Measurements
The next thing that needs to be done is to measure the floor joists for the length, width and distance from each other. It might be a good idea to make a drawing of the floor joist as a reference. Be sure to jot down your measurements and mark it on the diagram so you have a good record of where they go.
Step 4 – Reinforce the Floors
You will have to use a very sturdy piece of wood or some steel plating to reinforce the floor joists. Now it is time to use some wood and screw it into place on the original joist as well as the cross beam. A steel plate can be used the same way.
Now that you know how to install a floor joist, you can protect your home from those sagging floors and walls. Knowing where to install the new joist is very critical to making the other joist strong enough to withstand the sagging. Taking care of them as soon as you realize there is a problem can save you a lot of money in the long run.
Source: www.DoItYourself.com
Earlier this year I was called to the Dartmoor town of Moretonhampstead in order to take a look at a large Terracotta tiled kitchen/dining room which the owners had ‘lived with’ for over a decade but were finding it harder and harder to keep clean. Upon arrival, I could see that any sealer that
Cleaning Tile 