Quarry Tiled Floor Archives - Leicestershire Tile Doctor

Pub Quarry Tile Floor Renovation Bricklayers Arms Thornton

Quarry Tiled Floor Renovated at the Bricklayers’ Arms Thornton Village

We were contacted by a local brewery regarding the renovation of an old Quarry Tiled Floor at the Brick Layers Arms in Thornton near Coalville. The brewery was Everards of Leicestershire who are a famous brewer with over 170 years of history in the region.

The Bricklayers Arms was being refurbished, and the floor had been included as part of the project. The pub itself is over 500 years old and a main focal point for the village, with its own footpath leading down to the Thornton Reservoir.

The Edwardian era quarry tiles had been discovered under a large carpet that lifted in the lounge bar, and it was decided to have the floor restored as an original feature. The carpet had been secured to the tiles using a strong adhesive which had contaminated and stained the whole floor.

Quarry Tile Floor Before Cleaning Bricklayers Arms Thornton

Happy to assist I went over to the pub and conducted a test clean with the pubs manager Paul. The clean went well and after submitting a detailed quote, Everards commissioned us to deep clean & seal all the hard floors in the pub, including the toilets.

Cleaning Quarry, Flagstone and Porcelain Tiled Floors

The work was then scheduled for the end of the renovation works when most of the tradespeople would be out of the building, this always makes sense as we don’t want to have to clean the floor twice.

One of the main issues was old carpet adhesive so this was tackled first using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove & Go which was sprayed onto the floor and left to soak in for ten minutes. This product is a heavy-duty stripping solution designed for problem soiling and the removal of coatings and contaminants.

Thick glue deposits were carefully scraped off by hand before the solution was scrubbed into the quarry tiles using a rotary machine fitted with a coarse silicon carbide brush. The resultant slurry was then extracted off the floor using water and a wet vacuum.

Once this step was completed, we cleaned the Quarry tiles & Grouting with Tile Doctors Pro-Clean diluted at 1:20. This is another specialist cleaning agent that works well on grout. The method used was the same, i.e. allowing it to dwell before scrubbing it in and extracting.

Quarry Tile Floor During Cleaning Bricklayers Arms Thornton

The floor was then neutralised with a diluted solution of Tile Doctors Grout Clean-Up which being an acid neutralises the previous cleaning products which were alkaline. This product also further cleans the floor and removes other contaminates such as grout hazing. The floor was rinsed with water and extracted again to leave the surface chemical free and allowed to dry.

We worked our way through the pub deep cleaning the remaining flooring which included another section of Quarry tiles that hadn’t been covered by carpet, a Flagstone floor and modern Quarry & Porcelain tiled floors installed in the toilets. All these floors were similarly cleaned and where needed intensively cleaned with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up to further restore their appearance.

Quarry Tile Floor During Cleaning Bricklayers Arms Thornton

Sealing Quarry, Flagstone and Porcelain Tiled Floors

Once a floor had dried the last step was to apply a sealer which protects the tiles from ingrained dirt, this ensures dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away.

Quarry Tile Floor After Renovation Bricklayers Arms Thornton

A variety of Tile Doctor sealers were used for this to ensure the best result for each type of tile. For instance, to seal the Quarry tiles a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal were applied which is an impregnating sealer that gives a natural look. Conversely the Flagstones were sealed with Colour Grow which had a colour enhancing formula.

Porcelain tiles don’t usually accept a sealer however to protect the grouting in the toilets Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal was applied. Grout being cementitious and rough does cause it to trap dirt so this will help keep the grout stay cleaner for longer.

Quarry Tile Floor After Renovation Bricklayers Arms Thornton

For aftercare cleaning Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner was supplied, it’s essential to use a product like this for maintaining the appearance of sealed flooring and we instructed the pubs management on how to use it effectively.

Professional Restoration of Quarry, Flagstone and Porcelain Tiled Floors in Leicestershire

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Edwardian Quarry Tiled Hallway Restored in Market Harbourough

Details below of a restorative clean and seal we completed of an Edwardian Quarry Tiled Floor and Edwardian Geometric Floor at a house in the town of Market Harborough, Leicestershire. Market Harborough is a very old town that dates back to Saxon times, as a result it has some very old buildings including the church that was built in the 1300’s.

Both floors had been hidden underneath carpets for many Years. They were exposed by our customer thirteen years ago, who had painstakingly removed the cement-based levelling screed from the Quarry Tiled Kitchen Floor.

Quarry Tiled Floor Before Restoration Market Harbourough

The floors were moisture damaged from years of inherent damp build-up and didn’t look their best with ingrained historic soiling and damage to the hall tiles.

We were asked to quote for a restorative cleaning, sealing and repairs by our customer. After inspecting the floor, we quoted for the work and advised how long it would take to complete. We also guided our customer where to purchase period reproduction tile replacements from. In this instance our customer purchased made to order tiles from world renowned tile manufacturer Craven Dunnill in Bridnorth, Shropshire.

Cleaning Edwardian Quarry Tiles

We carried out repairs first carefully removing the damaged tiles and fixing in place the replacements purchased by the customer. Some of the original tiles were also loose but in good physical condition so these were re-fixed in place and grouted in.

Quarry Tiled Floor During Restoration Market Harbourough

Once the grout had set we started the cleaning process with the application of Tile Doctor Remove & Go ready to use heavy duty cleaning solution and coatings remover to the tiles. Working in small sections we allowed the product to soak into the tile for thirty minutes and then agitated the solution, with both an abrasive brush and a coarse 200 grit pad. This process quickly broke down the years of soiling and surface contamination. We extracted the resulting slurry and followed up with the application of Tile Doctor Acid Gel to treat inherent cement contamination and historic efflorescence salt staining. This was again worked into the tiles and the floor rinsed using low moisture methods.

We had arranged to seal the floor the next day, so air movers and a fan heater were left in place to help dry the floor overnight.

Sealing Edwardian Quarry Tiles

On the second day after confirming the tiles were dry we sealed the tiles with four coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer that soaks into the pores of the tile protecting it from within. The floor was then buffed by hand to remove excess sealer and was ready for use within the hour. We advised the customer that whilst the floor could be walked on quite quickly, that the sealer would take up to 48 hours to fully cure.

Quarry Tiled Floor After Restoration Market Harbourough

Before leaving we advised the customer that the sealer can be prematurely worn down by the use of strong cleaning products and so recommended the they use Tile Doctors pH Neutral Floor Cleaning concentrate. This should always be diluted correctly, and the water changed frequently, to avoid suspended soils from being deposited back onto the surface of the floor. If properly maintained, then the sealer should last a minimum of 5 years.