Luis Valdizon
Inspiration for a scandinavian home design remodel in Vancouver

Example of a mid-sized transitional medium tone wood floor front door design in Baltimore with beige walls and a white front door

Floor to Ceiling Built-In Linen Cabinet
Example of a large minimalist master blue tile and ceramic tile drop-in bathtub design in Boston with raised-panel cabinets, gray cabinets and quartzite countertops

These pictures of a Victorian Tiled Hallway are from a property in Canterbury that was once a nursing home and was now being renovated to become a children’s home. The building was being gutted and extended at the same time and when the carpet was pulled up in the hallway, they were surprised to find a relatively intact Victorian tiled floor underneath. Whilst they thought it bizarre that anyone would want to cover up such an attractive floor the carpet had protected it over the years. They realized it would make a marvellous feature at the entrance to the property, but professional restoration would be needed to do it justice. After a bit of research, they came across Tile Doctor and got in touch. Canterbury comes under my North Kent designation, so I went to visit the property and survey the floor and quote for doing the restoration. There were a few missing and loose tiles that would need replacing and refixing also there was a lot of ingrained dirt so a deep clean and application of a new sealer would be required. I gave them a price for the work which they readily accepted, and we arranged a suitable time to carry out the work. Subject to the building schedule I had calculated the floor would take three days to restore. On the first day I set about replacing and re-fixing the missing, broken, and loose tiles. This is delicate work as you need to extract the old tile without disturbing its neighbours and then clean up the area ready for its replacement. Being a Tile Doctor I keep a selection of stock tiles for repairs, some are reclaimed, and some are replica. Also, there are several companies still making Victorian style tiles so I can usually source what I need. After the individual missing and broken tiles had been replaced and the adhesive had set, it was then a matter of renovating the floor as a whole. The tiles were covered in a thick layer of carpet adhesive which needed a combination of specialist tools and products to remove. First, a liberal layer of Tile Doctor Remove and Go was applied and left to dwell for thirty minutes. Next, Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was added and scrubbed in with a black pad. This process softened the adhesive sufficiently in readiness for the next stage which involves using a set of diamond burnishing pads on a weighted buffing machine. Several applications were needed, each time with a successively finer grade of diamond pad and rinsing off the slurry in between. The tiles were first milled using a very coarse 50-grit pad, followed by 100, 200 and finally burnished with a 400-grit burnishing pads. This removed all the adhesive and dirt in the tiles, which was cleaned up using the wet vacuum. Old Victorian floors like this do not have a damp proof membrane installed under the floor, and with a lot of water being used in the cleaning process I was concerned White efflorescence salts could appear later as the floor dried. To counter this, I gave the floor an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel to counter and dissolve the salts, it also gives the tiles another clean and will remove any old grout smears further improving the appearance of the tiles. Once done the floor was left to dry overnight. On my return I tested the floor was dry by taking several moisture readings around the floor with a damp meter. Applying sealer to a damp floor is never advised and can lead to clouding and an unwanted finish. Happy that the tiles were dry, a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer was applied. This is an impregnating sealer with a colour enhancing component to ‘lift’ the stronger colours of the floor. Colour Grow however does leave a matt appearance and as the client had asked for a shiny finish it was topped up with five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go. This is a compatible topical sealer which added a mid to high sheen. By the end of the third day the Victorian floor looked brand new, and I received the following feedback from the client. Its rare to receive feedback from commercial customers so they were clearly overwhelmed with the transformation. Did not think this glued covered bad old floor could look sooooo good Fabulous Fantastic job Looks Amazing Thank you For aftercare I recommend the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner which isn’t as harsh as many of the products you find in supermarket. Stronger products can actually strip off the sealer over time leaving it vulnerable to dirt and detracting from its appearance. Graham Davis North Kent Tile Doctor

Transitional dining room photo in New York

Crackle tile in a herringbone pattern found at Hollingsworth Showroom Jacksonville, Florida
Trendy kitchen photo in Jacksonville

Elegant curved stair with wood baluster system in Atlanta, GA.
Large elegant wooden curved staircase photo in Atlanta with painted risers

Inspiration for a small industrial metal straight staircase remodel in Chicago with metal risers

We expanded an existing deck with new stairs, railing, decking, deck board design, lighting, complete with all post and beam wraps. All decking you see is Zuri decking with Timbertech Rail Systems. We installed riser lights up the stairs with post caps on top of all posts.

We received a request to renovate Victorian tiled hallway floor at a house in the London borough of Harlesden NW10. My client had modernised the heating system and this unfortunately required a section of the tiled flooring to be dug up so new pipework could be laid. After speaking on the phone, I arranged an initial visit to the property so I could properly assess the work required and provide a price for restoring the floor. During my visit I could see there was another section of missing tiles at one of the door thresholds which would need attention. Except for the missing sections of floor I could see that the tiles themselves were in good condition for their age and would respond well to a deep clean and fresh seal. I was confident on being able to source matching replacements for the missing tiles and reassured my client that we would be able not only repair the floor but also renovate it to a good standard. I gave them a price to do the restoration which they were happy to accept, and the work was booked. After some research I managed to source replacement tiles from the Vintage Floor Tile Company in Kent; Victorian tiles are still popular so there a few companies that keep stock so we can usually find a match. With the replacements in hand, work started by removing the cement and loose material from the missing sections of flooring and backfilling with self-levelling compound to bring the exposed base up to the right level for tiling. The tiles were then cut to shape as required to match the existing patten and fixed into place with a quick setting adhesive and then grouted. The floor was left to overnight to allow the adhesive to harden fully, and I returned the next day to deep clean the whole floor. To give the tiles are deep clean a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go was sprayed onto the floor and left to soak in for ten minutes. It was then scrubbed into the floor using a rotary machine fitted with a with a black pad. This action lifted the dirt out of the tiles and the resulting slurry was removed with the wet vacuum. It turned out that the pores of the tiles were holding a lot of dirt, so the process was repeated until I was satisfied. Due to the age of the property, there was no damp-proof membrane installed so I do try to minimise the amount of water I use in this process as there is always a chance of exacerbating any latent efflorescence issues. Efflorescence occurs where moisture rises through the tile bringing with it salts from underneath the floor as it evaporates on the surface. This can lead to unsightly white marks appearing on the tile. To counteract this potential problem the cleaning was followed by an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel applied with a 100 then 200-grit pad, before finishing on a 400-grit burnishing pad. The floor was again rinsed with water after the application of each pad to remove the slurry and extracted with a wet vacuum. Once I was satisfied the floor was as clean as possible, we left site and the area was left to dry over the weekend ready for application of a new sealer. I returned on the Monday and started by taking a few moisture readings to check the floor was dry. The floor was in an acceptable range, so I applied the first of 4 coats of sealer. For this floor I chose Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra which is specially formulated product that provides stain resistance with a hard wearing low-sheen finish. This product is also breathable which is an important feature for old floors, anything that blocks moisture from rising through the tile will cause it to become trapped underneath where it will pool and eventually reach out to the walls and result in rising damp. Once complete the floor looked brand new and I’m pleased to say with the deep clean and a fresh sealer applied it was impossible to tell the difference between the original and repaired sections of flooring. For the aftercare of sealed Victorian tiled floors, I recommend Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner, it’s a mild day to day cleaner with a neutral pH that won’t damage the sealer. Many of the tile cleaning products you find in supermarkets are simply too strong. Andrew Newstead North London Tile Doctor

a narrow vertical gap at the entry cedar and adjacent drywall allows visitors a peek to the open kitchen and living via a unique interior detail
Example of a small 1960s wood wall entry hall design in Orange County

| DETAILS | in concrete constructed condos it's very rare that we ever want to have to core new drain locations. For the Master Ensuite more and more when we do full renovations down to studs we are removing the terrible 5' tubs and tiny itty bitty 3x3' showers. For some reason the idea of luxury meant squeeze as much as you can so you have a long list of features when you go to market. More and more we are doing oversized his and hers showers. So when you have a drain that you are repurposing from previous plumbing fixtures and the drain isn't centred, it's pretty much magic to have the team surprise you after several site meetings and evaluations - we opted for the plumbers favourite to use Schluter linear tile over drains and have the oversized tile cut to fit and provide the necessary grout lines for a flush shower threshold. This might seem like nothing but is everything when we have the perfect tile layout be inline with the what we think is a centred drain. These are the kind of details that make my OCD sister inside so happy, we call it the centre flush drain happy dance. Kudos to @caisleydevelopments @4thdimensionconstruction with the help of @stonetilevancouver for finding a perfect subtle sand toned oversized porcelain. A large format tile in a shade and same tone value as our hardwood floor and one shade darker than our Baltic Birch flush panels for ease of cleaning and hiding dirt. When you want things clean I opt for showers with minimal detailing to be in shades darker than white. Cleaning becomes less treacherous. Also gone is this idea of ugly accent tile, we opt for uniform tile one material throughout a bathroom floor to ceiling and if possible all walls. Construction geekery 101 continues

Lynn Bagley
Example of a country family room design in San Francisco

www.justjac.co
Inspiration for an industrial home design remodel in Los Angeles

This version of Amuneal’s Collector’s Shelving Unit features solid machined brass fittings and posts with a wire mesh surround in a warm brass finish. The unit mounts to the wall to support a series of easily adjustable glass shelves. All of our Collector’s Shelving Units are fabricated in Amuneal’s Philadelphia-based furniture studio and can be customized as required for residential and commercial spaces.

Inspiration for an eclectic powder room remodel in Charlotte

This bespoke kitchen was designed for a Victorian Townhouse in North London. Cabinets are finished in an Annie Sloan paint in Aubusson Blue with a top coat in wax. Brass knobs and pull handles. Bespoke wine rack makes great use of a narrow space, creating additional storage.

Take a look at our beautiful Natural Exclusive Hard Maple hardwood flooring in this beautiful model home bedroom.
Bedroom - small contemporary guest light wood floor and beige floor bedroom idea in Montreal with white walls and no fireplace