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At first sight, this Victorian tiled pathway in Palmers Green, N13 did not appear to need too many repairs, with just a few obvious broken and loose tiles to be fixed. On closer inspection however it became clear it was in need of a deep clean and fresh seal.
To start, we applied Tile Doctor Remove & Go across the entire length of the pathway to break down and strip off the old sealer and provide an initial clean. In the more stubborn and difficult to reach areas where we saw the buildup of efflorescence, we applied Tile Doctor Acid Gel to neutralise the alkaline salts.
Acid Gel, as the name indicates, is a pH1 blend of Phosphoric and Hydrochloric acid in gel form, making it easier to apply to tricky areas, including sloped or vertical surfaces. Users should be aware not to use this type of product on acid-sensitive stone such as Limestone, as this can cause etching if left on too long.
Once the dirt and efflorescence buildups had been dealt with, I focused my attention towards the tile repairs, quickly realising that the extent of damage was greater than initially thought. Firstly, the numerous loose and broken tiles were removed and individually cleaned in a similar way to the rest of the floor. We then repaired the sub base ready for the existing and newly sourced tiles to be re-laid, before leaving the floor to set and dry overnight.
The next day, the pathway was grouted, before being sealed with Tile Doctor’s colour enhancing, impregnating sealer, Colour Grow to bring back the life and character to the Victorian tiles.
I was also asked to renovate the Edwardian hallway tiles in the house so once finished with the pathway they were deep cleaned using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean. This also helped to break down the old sealers and waxes – followed by a careful cleaning of the grout lines using Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up in combination with 3m black pads and detail brushes.
To ensure any pre existing sealer was completely removed, I followed up with a steam clean and left the tiles to dry overnight.
Upon my return to the property the next day, I completed re-grouting in the necessary areas, before sealing the tiles with five coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go, providing an aesthetically pleasing satin finish. Seal & Go is a topical, solvent-based sealer which forms a layer of durable protection on the surface of the tiles, protecting against dirt and stains.
The hard work invested in restoring these two floors certainly paid off, as the client was exceptionally pleased with the results, going as far as to leave the following feedback:
“I wanted to restore my tired Edwardian tiled hallway and was given Rob Voyce’s
contact details. I was very impressed with Rob and his team; they were very
professional and friendly. Rob explained the stages of the work to be carried out and
we agreed a date and the job was completed much to my satisfaction. Very pleased.”
Nigel Voyce
North London Tile Doctor

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It’s always a great surprise to find old tiled flooring hidden underneath carpet or linoleum which appears especially common with 19th century properties where it’s not unusual for the owners to uncover fantastically patterned, original Victorian tiled floors and, naturally, they want to restore them to their former glory. If you have a property of this type you might want to look under the carpets.
The majority of the time, however, these tiles have been covered up for decades, allowing for thick layers of muck to build-up and are invariably damaged carpet grippers, surface glue and adhesive tape.
This was pretty much the case with this customer who lives in the town of Warminster and was keen to have her own newly discovered Victorian hallway brought back to life, and called me down to see what could be done. Upon arrival at the property, I determined that the tiles would definitely require a very deep clean, including the remove of numerous glue stains, followed by the application of a new seal.
Before I could begin the deep cleaning process, I needed to remove the carpet grippers and surface glue, attempting to remove as much as possible by hand using a scraper.
For the particularly stubborn areas, I applied Tile Doctor Remove & Go, a powerful stripper specially designed to break down adhesives and solvents, and left it to dwell for 20 minutes to eat through the glue deposits. I then attached a black pad to a rotary machine and scrubbed the area thoroughly to clean the affected areas, before removing the resulting slurry using a wet vacuum and rinsed with clean water.
Once I was satisfied that all of the glue had been removed, I proceeded to soak the floor using a solution of the high alkaline cleaner known as Tile Doctor Pro Clean. This is a versatile product that can be used on a wide range of natural stone floors to deal with heavy soil build-up.
I left the Pro-Clean to dwell for ten minutes, and then scrubbed it into the tiles to remove the ingrained dirt and also to break down any old and ineffectual seals. The floor was then once again rinsed thoroughly with clean water which was then extracted using a wet vacuum before being left to dry for a couple of days.
Upon our return to the property I immediately tested the floor for damp using a damp meter. This is an extremely important test to carry out before sealing any kind of tiled flooring, due to the fact that excess moisture left over from cleaning can cloud the sealer and damage its ability to protect against dirt and stains.
Thankfully, the damp test revealed no excess moisture, and I was able to proceed with sealing the tiles. My choice of sealer was Tile Doctor Seal and Go, a water-based topical sealer that simultaneously provides both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable and aesthetically pleasing low sheen finish, also being water based it doesn’t give off a smell as it dries.
This is a very cost effective product that is highly suitable for use on Victorian and Quarry tiles, I applied five costs to achieve the desired finish.
The customer was very pleased with the final results. It’s always satisfying to restore original Victorian tiled floors to looking their best once again – and this one was no exception.
Stuart Ford
Wiltshire Tile Doctor

The task of keeping these white Ceramic Kitchen and Conservatory tiles clean was proving very challenging for this customer, who lives in the town of Somerton in Somerset. Somerton is known for its bustling market, which has supposedly been run on a weekly basis since the Middle Ages, and its famous ‘Market Cross’ at the centre of the beautiful marketplace is a popular tourist attraction for visitors to the West Country.
It probably comes as no surprise to anyone that white tiles are often more difficult to keep clean than others. However, in this case, rather than being badly marked or damaged, these Ceramic tiles had become dirty due to the surface being pitted rather than smooth which trapped ground in marks from spills and dirty footprints etc. The pitted rough surface is very characteristic and provides better grip however they do trap dirt are therefore more difficult to keep clean.
The grout had also suffered over the years, losing a lot of its colour in the process so as well as cleaning the tiles we agreed to give the grout a really deep clean and also to colour the grout to make it more uniform.
To clean the tiles, I firstly created a strong diluted of Tile Doctor Pro Clean and applied it liberally across the entire floor, leaving it to dwell and soak into the tile for a short period in order to soften the ingrained dirt. I then used my heavy weight rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad to agitate the solution and break down the muck.
Once satisfied with the condition of the tiles I turned my attention to the grout lines, cleaning them carefully by hand using a stiff tile cleaning brush and the same solution of Pro Clean and water. This provided a deep, penetrating that clean that left the grout lines clean and free from the dirt and grease that had dulled their appearance for so long.
With some great results achieved through the cleaning, I rinsed the whole floor to wash away any leftover Pro-Clean and left it to dry fully overnight.
I returned to the property the next day to check on the floor and after ensuring the floor was completely dry, proceeded to recolour the grout lines using Tile Doctor’s Grout Colourant. Our Grout Colourants are a waterborne epoxy that recolours, seals and rejuvenates existing grout joints and is available in ten different colours ranging from white to dark greys. The scrubbing with Pro-Clean the day before would also ensure the surface of the grout was clean and would make a good surface for the colourant to bond with.
Since in the past the grout lines had undergone a number of repairs, the existing colour was a mix of different greys. It made most sense then that they picked our ‘Natural Grey’ Grout Colourant for me to use. I painted the Colourant on carefully and waited for 30 minutes before removing any excess, leaving the grout lines perfectly covered in a uniform colour.
The difference was really noticeable and the property owner was really happy with the results. As you can see from the photos, the new grey Colourant really made the grout lines stand out against the clean white Ceramic tiles. Another satisfied customer.
Dave Hurst
Somerset Tile Doctor

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