How to Get the Best from Encaustic Floor Tiles

These photographs were taken of a bathroom and WC in a property in Histon The client had just had these modern Encaustic tiles laid a couple of months prior. The owner had never been happy with the final look of them and from the markings on the surface it looked like had been damaged in storage or left outside and neglected. They are a pretty unusual design so I can only assume the tiler thought their appearance was perfectly normal at the time of installation.

I was confident I could improve the appearance of the tiles and gave the client a quote for the work. Whilst she didn’t want to spend more money on her new floor, she did want it to look as it should, so rather reluctantly she agreed to go ahead.

Histon is next to Impington, they are small villages in Cambridgeshire, over the years the two villages have grown and have entwined together. Many villagers in fact do not know where one village starts and the other ends. The have 6 pubs in total!

Cleaning/Repairing an Encaustic Tiled Bathroom Floor

I wasn’t sure what had been applied to the tiles so after adding protective tape to the wooden skirting I gave them a deep clean with Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was worked into the tiles with a black scrubbing pad. Then to renovate the surface and remove the markings I honed the surface with 400-grit and then 800-grit burnishing pad using water to lubricate the process and rinsing and extracting the soil away after each pad with the wet vacuum.

Sealing an Encaustic Tiled Bathroom Floor

There were two areas that needed work so whilst one area was drying, I was able to get to work on the second and then return to the first later to apply a sealer. My product of choice for this floor was Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer which improves the colour and works by penetrating the pores of the tile and protecting it from within. I applied three coats allowing each one to dry before applying the next. The bathroom now looked as it should have done from the beginning.

My client was very happy with the improvement and left the following 5-Star review.

I only had my floor tiles fitted a few months or so ago and was so disappointed with them. I called Tom and within a few hours, he had transformed them! They look absolutely fantastic! Great value for money as well!

I recommended that in order to maintain the tiles, she should use Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner, this is a pH neutral cleaner which will keep the floor without harming the sealer. Many tile cleaning products are only designed for Ceramic or Porcelain tiles and are too strong for use on sealed floors where they will strip the sealer off with time.

 

Source: Encaustic Tile Cleaning and Renovaton Service in Cambridge

DIY Encaustic Cement Tile Renovation Problems Resolved in Twickenham, Middlesex

This Encaustic Cement tiled floor dates to the Victorian period and was found under hallway carpet at a property in Twickenham. The tiles had been covered up for years with carpet and other floor coverings and although structurally intact their appearance had suffered from the neglect. When the current owners discovered the pattered tiled floor, they were keen to restore it as a period feature, so they set about cleaning the tiles themselves. Unfortunately, they used some very harsh acidic

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Removing Grout Smears and Cleaning Encaustic Cement Tiles in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire

The photographs on this page are of Encaustic Cement tiles where the grout had not been wiped off the surface properly after being laid. This in turn allowed dirt to become easily trapped and they soon became grubby. We see this problem a lot at Tile Doctor where it is commonly referred to has Grout Smears or Grout Haze. The customer from Chipping Norton had tried to remove it themselves without success and decided to give us a call. If you haven’t come across them before Encaustic Cement

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Renovating Grubby Encaustic Bathroom Floor Tiles in Sydenham

The customer had Encaustic Concrete tiles laid in two bathrooms and a hallway around a year ago at their house in Sydenham, South East London. Encaustic tiles have been around for a very long time however they are currently undergoing a resurgence and are once again proving very popular due the varied patterns being created. It’s probably difficult to appreciate from the photographs but this particular brand of encaustic tiles were very porous and had become very grubby since being

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Restoring the Appearance of Dull Encaustic Hallway Tiles in Berkhamsted

I had an enquiry from a client in the London commuter town of Berkhamsted who had a beautiful Encaustic tiled floor in their hallway which was in need of cleaning. Encaustic tiles are made from layers of cement that are hydraulically compressed to make a very hardwearing surface that can then be decorated. The result is an easy to clean hardwearing surface that is ideal for high traffic areas such as hallways. Encaustic tiles however are micro-porous so do need to be sealed to prevent dirt

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Restoring an Encaustic Tiled Hallway Hidden Under Carpet in Cheshire

This floor may look like it’s made from Victorian tiles but if you look closely you will see the floor is actually made of 72 Encaustic tiles each one containing a regular pattern. Encaustic tiles have more in common with Ceramic tiles than Victorian and are actually made using layers of cement where are often hand painted with patterns which and hydraulically pressed into the surface. The tiled floor was actually floor found hiding under the hallway carpet by the new owners of the house

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Cleaning Encaustic Kitchen Floor Tiles in Beckenham

On a visit to a customer to a customer in Beckenham, Kent who had a pair of rugs that needed cleaning I was asked to take a look at her Encaustic kitchen floor tiles which had become dull and she couldn’t keep them clean. I carried out a demonstration on how I would clean them and also explained the different sealer options available and how each sealer can have a different effect. She was pleased with the demonstration and engaged me to clean the tiles as well as the rugs specifying a

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Old Encaustic Tiled Floor Restored in Fulham

I had an inquiry from a client in Fulham, who was representing the residents of an old building. The building had recently undergone redecoration and in the hallway, they had removed a thirty year old carpet to discover an original encaustic tiled floor underneath which turned out to be 102 years old. As you can see from the photographs the floor was extremely dirty and covered in lots of glue and paint from the carpet and decorations. Naturally they were keen to have it restored and brought

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Encaustic Cement Bathroom Tiles Burnished and Sealed

I’m often asked if you should seal a tile before grouting and the answer is a definite yes, and this Encaustic Cement tiled bathroom floor installation in Stockport is a great example as to why. The tiles had not been sealed before grouting and then, once the tiler went to grout the newly installed tiles with a grey grout, the colour ran into the tiles, staining them and leaving them looking grubby and dirty. Had the tiles been sealed it would of made the process of removing the grout from

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Deep Cleaning an Unsealed Encaustic Cement Floor

This very old Encaustic tiled flooring was uncovered at a property in Chester when the present owners started to undertake renovation. They removed the carpets and vinyl tiles from the hallway, revealing the Encaustic tiles to find that they were in truly horrific condition. This included being covered by heavy dirt, dust and, in some parts, by a sticky black bitumen. Encaustic tiles are made out of compressed cement, and were commonly used in properties built during the Edwardian and

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