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The owner of this period cottage in the old market town of Tadcaster near Leeds, had what was once a beautiful Yorkshire stone floor in the kitchen. It has been a long time since it had been given a proper clean so over the years and with the Kitchen being a high traffic area the whole floor including the grout had darkened and he now wanted it refurbished in time for Christmas.
I visited the property to assess what needed to be done and could see straight away that any protective sealer that was once on the floor had long since worn off. In fact, it was so consistently dirty with years of built-up grease and dirt I had to wonder if one had ever been applied.
I explained what the floor needed was a really deep intensive clean and then a sealer applied to make it easy to keep clean. The problem with most tile and stone is its porosity and if left unprotected dirt easily becomes lodged into its pores making cleaning a struggle.
To prove the difference that can be achieved and to allow me to work out a process on which I could base an accurate quote I ran a test clean on part of the kitchen floor. The test clean went very well, the difference was remarkable, and the cleaned section really stood out. Pleased with the potential of a clean floor they accepted my quote, and we pencilled a date in the diary.
I returned on the appointed date and began by removing the kickboards from under the kitchen units to protect them from splashing. Next, I set about spaying the floor with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, this is a purpose made tile and grout cleaner that eats into the grease and dirt so it can be removed. This product works best if you leave it for ten minutes before scrubbing in using a heavy-duty machine fitted with a heavy-duty brush. The soil released from the floor was then extracted using a wet vacuum.
The Pro-Clean did a good job on the grout however it was clear something stronger was required to really get the stone clean, so I stepped up a gear and applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go using the same process as before. This is a really good product for removing deeply ingrained grease and dirt.
The final step of the cleaning process was to give the stone and acid wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up to remove old grout haze and other mineral deposits; additionally, being an acidic product, it counters the alkaline cleaning products used earlier neutralising the pH level of the floor and leaving it ready for sealing.
Before sealing I like to discuss the different products available and the finishes they can provide. In this case my clients’ main concerns were that they wanted the stone to look natural and easy to maintain going forward.
With this in mind, Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra was chosen, it’s a modern acrylic-based sealer that brings out the natural colours in the stone and gives a very slight smooth finish. The protection it provides will prevent dirt becoming ingrained int the pores of the stone and ensure the floor is easier to maintain. Several coats were applied, until we achieved the required finish.
The deep cleaning process and fresh sealer transformed the stone floor bringing out its original beauty and my customer couldn’t believe the difference in the floor and was highly delighted.
For aftercare I gave the client a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner, this product is pH neutral so it will clean the floor but won’t damage the sealer. Often people use household cleaners for cleaning tiled floors, but due to the strong chemicals they contain, they can do more harm than good by slowly stripping away the protective sealer and taking the floor back to square one. Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner is reasonably priced, and the concentrated formula means a small amount goes a long way so it’s well worth using.
This was a pleasurable job for me as it was good to see the floor transform from dull and lifeless to clean and showing the natural colour and beauty of the York stone, and always lovely to have another satisfied client.
Simon Testa
North East Yorkshire Tile Doctor

This client from Highgate in North London, N6 contacted us about their large honed Limestone tiled floor that was installed throughout the ground floor. It had been laid seven years prior and was now grubby and in need of a deep clean and seal including the grout which had turned black with dirt.
I visited the property to survey and assess what was required and provided the owner with a quotation for the renovation. The hallway pictured was in the worst condition, it was a busy house with young children and dogs and over the years the sealer had worn down leaving it vulnerable to ingrained dirt. Without a sealer to protect the stone it had become heavily soiled and lost its original polished appearance.
Happy with the quote we scheduled a date for the work to go ahead. The quote included deep cleaning and burnishing the stone to bring back the polish, grout cleaning and re-sealing the Limestone to protect it.
We arrived on the first day and prepared the area by taping up the skirting and woodwork to protect them from potential splashing. Next step was to burnish the floor using a set of Tile Doctor Diamond Burnishing Pads, specifically the 400, 800 and 1500 grit pads fitted to a rotary machine, these were used in sequence running each pad over the tiles several times with water to lubricate the process. The water turns into a fine slurry as pores in the stone are opened and the dirt is released, the slurry is rinsed off with more water and extracted using an industrial wet vacuum after each pad. The finer 800 and 1500-grit pads slowly close the pores and refine the appearance of the stone building up the polish in the process.
A strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was then applied to the grout lines, leaving it for a short while to soak in and then hand scrubbing with a grout brush. The dirty cleaning solution and were then removed from the floor with the wet vacuum.
This process was repeated across the different sections of the Limestone floor until I was satisfied with its appearance. Before leaving for the day, I rinsed the floor again using a buffing machine fitted with a brush fitted to give it a final clean. The floor was dried as much as possible using the wet vacuum and then allowed it to dry off fully overnight.
The following day the final 3000-grit pad in the four-pad set was applied to the floor to bring up the polish even further. The pad is applied dry with only a little water sprayed onto the tile. We call this process a “Spray Burnish” and as well as leaving the floor nice and dry ready for sealing it adds a nice subtle shine to the stone.
The floor was then sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer. This is a colour intensifying impregnating sealer that works by occupying the pores in the stone so dirt cannot become ingrained there. It will provide durable protection and make the floor much easier to keep clean. It worked well on the pale Limestone and beautifully enhanced the colour and features in stone. Once complete the floor looked brand new again.
I left a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Stone Soap with the client and gave them some information about how best to maintain the floor. This product is pH neutral and cleans whilst maintaining the patina on the stone helping to keep the floor in great condition.
The client was delighted with the result and left us a great review.
“Andrew is excellent and gets on with the job and we got a fantastic result. Highly recommend. By Aaron S, Highgate, 15 March 2021”
Andrew Newstead
North London Tile Doctor

The owner of this recently purchased property in the Berkshire village of Twyford had inherited a Jerusalem limestone floor that had been installed throughout the ground floor including the Kitchen. The previous owner hadn’t maintained the stone floor very well and as a result it had become dull, patchy and the new owner was finding it impossible to keep clean. The floor was becoming a problem for them and they had been considering ripping it all up and getting it replaced. However due to the size of the floor and potential cost of replacing it they searched for other solutions and contacted Tile Doctor to see if it could be renovated.
I scheduled an appointment with the owners to survey the floor and it wasn’t long before I realised that we could achieve a great result by polishing the Limestone using a set of diamond burnishing pads. To prove how well I thought the floor would clean up I offered to complete a demo within the small utility room. This was arranged and completed a week later, as I expected once I had finished the demo the floor looked fantastic, more importantly the client was ecstatic with the results and couldn’t wait to book us in to complete the rest of the house.
It was a large floor so I estimated the process would take 4-5 days to complete and would need to work in sections starting with the kitchen then progressing into the study and cloakroom, dining room and finishing off with the entrance hall. Thankfully I had an empty house to work in which helped as I could start sealing the area I worked on the prior day.
The limestone had become quite pitted in the high traffic area, these pits had filled up with soil and become unsightly. My first task was to deep clean the dirt filled pits and grout, to do this I used a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean and a stiff nylon brush making sure I could get into the pits releasing the dirt, then vacuuming up all the chemical slurry as I went along.
The next task was to fill these pits I used a two-part epoxy filler that matched the colour of the stone. Once the filler had dried, I worked through the hand burnishing blocks from 100 grit to 400 and I smoothed out the areas that had been filled.
Now the holes/pits had been filled I continued with the restoration of the floor by moving onto the burnishing process using diamond encrusted floor burnishing pads. This involves honing the Limestone with a set of burnishing pads starting at 400-grit. The pads are applied to the floor with a heavy floor buffing machine using water to lubricate the process. The pad is run over each tile around three times and the fine slurry this process generates is rinsed off afterwards with water and then extracted with a wet vacuum. You then move onto the 800-grit and then 1500-grit slowly building back the appearance of the stone.
As I had worked in sections/rooms at a time I was able to allow a full day drying time before sealing. Happy with the depth of colour from the pad system I opted to seal the floor with two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal. I had a range of sealers to choose from an in this case I felt Ultra-Seal would be most suited as it doesn’t change the natural appearance of the Limestone yet will provide years of protection and make it much easier to keep clean.
The owners were over the moon with how the limestone now looked and relieved that their problem floor had been restored. For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is designed for maintaining the patina on polished stone floors.
Dennis Buckland
Berkshire Tile Doctor
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This customer from the historic city of Cardiff was keen to see what Tile Doctor could do to put some life back into their treasured Limestone kitchen floor that was laid in 2008. My first observations were mainly centred on the horrific condition of the surface which although adequately sealed initially the floor had not received any subsequent maintenance and its condition had deteriorated over time. The light shining in from the patio doors highlighted all the imperfections in the floor caused by surface wear and tear commonly seen in high traffic areas such as a kitchen.
Upon closer inspection, there were further problems: the floor was stained and scuffed, and in most places the sealer had worn off completely allowing the dirt to become ingrained into the pores of the Limestone. Additionally the grout was recessed but was now flush with the tile surface due to dirt build-up. There were also areas contaminated with grease and kitchen cooking oil.
The Limestone floor tiles were 20mm thick French Limestone, and had been laid very well so there was no requirement to do any tile or grout repairs however to get this floor back to its original condition the surface would need to be reconditioned using the Tile Doctor four stage burnishing system.
I started by giving the floor a wash with a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, focusing mainly on the grout lines in order to remove the muck that had built-up there. I used a special stiff grout brush for this activity; it’s quite narrow and ideal for grout scrubbing.
This worked well, but the significant build-up of dirt along some of the grout lines meant more work was required. I tackled this problem with a hand scraper assisted with steam. At the end of this process, the whole floor was then rinsed down with water to remove any soil and the resulting slurry was then extracted using a wet vacuum.
The next step was to start the burnishing process, which basically involves applying four diamond encrusted floor pads in sequence over the floor. Each pad is a different grade, starting with the most abrasive coarse pad and moving through to the finer grades using a little water to lubricate and rinsing away any slurry between each pad.
I eventually finished with the extra fine pad which builds up shine and lustre on the tile; it had taken two days to clean the grout and burnish the Limestone but the floor was much improved and so after a final rinse down I left the floor to dry off overnight with the aid of the underfloor heating.
During this time, I also addressed the stained Limestone in the area of the kitchen where the dustbin was situated. This had been a major upset for the customer and I’m happy to report I managed to deal with it. However, it was quite an involved process, so I’ll write about this in a separate post.
On the third day I came back to seal the floor, checking first that it had dried sufficiently with a damp meter. Fortunately, the underfloor heating had done a great job of drying the stone and I was able to seal the floor using three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealant. This sealant not only provides a durable seal but also penetrates deep into the pores of the stone protecting it from within and enhancing the natural colours of the Limestone in the process.
After the final layer of sealant, I worked over the floor again with the extra fine burnishing pad both to add shine again following sealing, and to ensure that no smear marks were visible as the lighting conditions were unforgiving and highlighted any imperfections.
The customer was delighted with the results: so much so, in fact, that they booked me in to restore their Victorian hallway floor as well but that’s a story for another time!
Julian Iancono
SE Wales Tile Doctor

This Limestone tiled floor installed in a kitchen and family room at a property in Wellingborough is a great example of how this material can lose its appearance without a regular maintenance plan in place.
The customer called me as not only was she concerned that the floor had lost its lustre the grey grout had become very stained and almost black in heavy traffic areas, in fact my customer had originally asked about re-grouting but I was confident it could be cleaned.
I provided a quote which they were happy to accept.
The area was a nice wide 6 metre by 5 metre space and except for a few items of furniture that would need moving around there were relatively few obstacles. I reasoned the most efficient way to restore the polished appearance of the Limestone would be to use a set of diamond encrusted Burnishing Pads. These are fitted to a rotary machine and applied to the stone in sequence from coarse to smooth. It’s an effective process that cuts back the layer of dirt on the floor and then we build back up the polish.
We started burnishing the Limestone with a coarse 400-grit pad fitted to a rotary machine and applied with a little water for lubrication. The coarse pad is very good at removing dirt and old sealers from stone and once completed the resultant surface water and loose dirt is removed using a wet vacuum.
At this point I turned my attention to the badly stained grout lines, and applied a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was scrubbed in along the grout lines using a stiff grout brush, this is necessary as the recessed nature of the grout makes it difficult for the rotary pads to reach it.
I then repeated the burnishing process with the medium 800-grit pad and fine 1500-grit pad, the 800-grit pad removes any small surface scratches and the 1500-grit further refines the look of the Limestone slowly restoring its polished appearance.
After the whole floor had been burnished in this way it was given a further rinse with water and the soil extracted as before. I then inspected the floor to see if more work would be needed.
I was not fully happy with how some of the grout lines had responded, some were still slightly stained, and some marks were visible in the high traffic areas. I had already discussed on my initial visit with the client that this might be the case and it was agreed between us that should this be the case I would apply a Tile Doctor Grout Colourant in Light Grey to recolour all the grout lines and achieve a uniform finish.
The stone and grout was still damp from cleaning and polishing, so I decided to leave the grout colouring until the following day.
On day two I started by grout recolouring all the grout lines, it’s a straight forward process but can be a little tedious where there is a lot of grout to cover. Once complete I allowed the grout colour to dry for a couple of hours before moving onto the next step.
The last pad to be applied in the stone burnishing process is the very fine 3000-grit polishing pad which is applied dry to the tiles using a small amount of water sprayed onto the floor and leaves the stone dry and with a polished silk finish.
The floor was then sealed using two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal Sealant allowing the first coat to dry before applying the second. Ultra-Seal is an impregnating sealer that works by occupying the pores in the stone thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there. It’s also a natural look sealer that doesn’t affect the appearance of the stone.
My customer was very happy with the transformation of her floor and provided the feedback copies below. In-fact she was so impressed with the results that she also used our services to restore the grout and silicon in one of her bathrooms.
“Phil was on time & easy to deal with and did an amazing job on my kitchen and bathroom floors and the carpets & sofa. No fuss, just a great job. Liz O.”
Phil Vissian
Northamptonshire Tile Doctor

Recently I travelled down to the village of Prestwood in the Chiltern Hills of southern Buckinghamshire, to work on a Victorian tiled porch and hallway. Victorian tiles are commonly found in the entrance areas of older houses and unfortunately in this case the tiles had become heavily ingrained with dirt over time, and had suffered from additional paint and plaster spillages. The result was an unsightly mess; my client was considering covering the floor with lino after several unsuccessful attempts at cleaning it. I was called upon to provide a professional clean and seal, restoring these great Victorian tiles back to looking their best again.
On my first day at the house, I mixed up a solution of 50 per cent Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, a high alkaline cleaner, and NanoTech HBU (formerly known as Ultra Clean), which is a cleaning product that contains nano-sized abrasive particles that penetrate deep into the stone to lift ingrained dirt to the surface. This solution was worked into the tiles using abrasive scrubbing pads fitted to one of my commercial rotary machines.
The cleaning process left over a slurry of residue which I rinsed away with clean water and extracted with a wet vacuum. I was still left with the issue of stubborn paint spillages, so I applied a layer of Tile Doctor Remove & Go, a stripper with cleaning properties which is very effective at breaking down paint and adhesive stains.
Once the paint spillages had been dealt with I gave the area another rinse with clean water. I then left the house, allowing the floor enough time to dry overnight.
Upon my return the day I set about sealing the newly cleaned Victorian tiles. Before starting the sealing process I inspected the floor to check for any dampness, knowing that any excess moisture could potentially damage the performance of the sealer.
When I was satisfied that the tiles were fully dried, I applied Tile Doctor Seal & Go, a sealer which offers durable surface protection, along with an aesthetically pleasing, low-sheen finish which brings out the colour in the stone. This product can be used to seal internal, porous surfaces including Victorian, Slate, textured Quarry and Sandstone tiles.
The process made an amazing difference to the floor as you can see from the photographs; additionally the restoration of such an original feature adds a lot of value and looks so much better than lino!
Colin Ford
South Buckinghamshire Tile Doctor

Travertine floor tiles are very appealing and very hardwearing, but without the protection of a sealer to stop dirt becoming ingrained in the pores of the stone their appearance will degrade. Fortunately, this can be remedied as demonstrated in these pictures of a Travertine floor I recently polished at a house in Weston Favell, Northampton.
This owner of the property had called me out as their kitchen floor was looking very sorry for itself and he was concerned that a lot of holes were appearing which was making cleaning the floor difficult as dirt was getting trapped in the holes. I went over and carried out a test clean on two separate tiles in the kitchen and the customer was amazed at how clean they came up and especially the grout.
The kitchen was stunning, but unfortunately the state of the Travertine tiled floor was bringing down its overall appearance. Impressed with the test clean they were keen to get the whole floor renovated so we agreed a price and I scheduled the work in for the following month.
I returned on the agreed data and made a start by protecting the kitchen units by removing the plinths and covering base units and the appliances with a protective film. We then commenced the cleaning process to remove surface dirt by cleaning with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean paying special attention to the grout lines. The holes in the Travertine were filled with a stone resin, mixing it to closely match the colours of the stone.
The resin was allowed to dry before starting to re-polish the Travertine using a set of Tile Doctor Diamond encrusted burnishing pads. These pads are applied individually to each tile in sequence starting with a coarse 400-grit pad before moving onto the 800-grit and finishing with the fine 1500 grit pad. A little water is used to lubricate the process along the way and the floor is rinsed in between each pad with the resulting residue extracted from the floor using a wet vacuum. The process takes some time, but it really brings up the polished appearance of the stone and the results are well worth the effort. After a final rinse the floor was inspected and then left to dry off fully overnight.
When we returned the next day, the floor had dried, and we were able to give the floor a final polish with a very fine 3000-grit burnishing pad applied with a little water sprayed onto the tile. Finally, the floor was then sealed with two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which provides excellent protection without changing the colour of the stone to provide a natural look.
The client was over the moon with the outcome and surprised at the improvement. They were left with a floor that would be easy to clean and maintain.
Phil Vissian
Northamptonshire Tile Doctor

The tiles pictured are Chinese Slate which were laid in the Kitchen of a house in Chepstow around nine years ago. The town of Chepstow is located on the Welsh side of the River Seven and has the River Wye running through it.
The floor had not been professionally cleaned and sealed since installation. During this time the old sealer had mostly worn off allowing dirt to get into the pores of the stone leaving it looking dull, uninviting and dirty. The grout lines had also collected dirt and many of the lines had darkened.
I discussed with the client the process to get the floor cleaned and restored and demonstrated the effectiveness of the process on a small test area. They were impressed and were happy to go ahead with my quote, so we scheduled in the work which would take two days.
To get the floor clean and remove what was left of the old sealer I first made the floor wet and then added a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed with Tile Doctor Remove and Go to give it extra power. This cleaning cocktail was left to soak into the tiles for ten minutes before being scrubbed in with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine and by hand where necessary. This combination works well on really dirty floors such as this.
The scrubbing action released the years of dirt from the pores of the Slate and it wasn’t long before the cleaning solution turned black. This was then extracted off the floor using a wet vacuum. We then gave the floor a thorough inspection. There were one or two areas that were particularly stubborn, so these areas were retreated using the same process and the grout scrubbed by hand using more Tile Doctor Pro Clean.
The floor was then given another rinse with water and then dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum. This got the floor dry, but it would need to be completely dry before sealing so it was then left to dry off fully overnight.
I came back the next day to seal the floor first checking the moisture level of the stone by taking readings with a damp meter to ensure it was dry. I chose to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow for the sealer as the colour enhancing formula would be the best product to bring out the natural colours in the Chinese slate. Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer which will provides durable protection as well as allowing the surface to breath. Three coats were applied, allowing each to dry before applying the next one.
The client was so happy, so much that she said it looked better than when first laid!
I discussed aftercare with her and recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, it’s pH balanced so it won’t prematurely erode the sealer which can be the problem with stronger products you find in supermarkets. It comes in concentrated form so one bottle lasts a long time.
Paul Wales
Monmouthshire Tile Doctor

I was called out to clean a Porcelain tiled floor at a newly built property in Winwick near Huntingdon. The tiles were heavily marked with grout and dirt and were impossible to get clean. To make things worse the tiles were pale, almost white, in colour which made the staining more obvious. It was clear to me that the builder had not managed to polish off all the grout after tiling and this had now set hard on the surface.
This is a very common problem known as Grout Haze and fortunately there is a solution, in that it can be removed by giving the tiles a rinse with an acidic tile cleaner called Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up. To prove the point, I carried out a quick demonstration so the new owners could appreciate the difference.
I always like to test porcelain tiles for a reaction to acid prior to commencing work as acidic cleaners can have a negative effect on some types of polished porcelain however this one had a textured feel to it so there was no issue.
The test went well so having got the go head I began by first cleaning the tiles with a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, this was left for about ten minutes before being worked into the tile with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine. I also used a stiff brush along the grout lines to make sure the grout was as clean as the tile.
This process generates a lot of soiling which was then extracted using a truck mount machine. By Truck Mount I’m referring to a powerful cleaning machine that’s fitted into my van, it blasts the floor with hot water and then immediately extracts it using an equally powerful vacuum to grey tank in the vehicle, it’s incredibly effective and leaves very little water on the floor afterwards.
The next step was to tackle the grout haze and this is done as before by Acid Washing the floor using a dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up and scrubbing into the tile as before. Again, the resultant soils were extracted as before using the truck mount.
The floor was then speed dried using Dripods which are small horizontal fans designed to blow air downwards and ideal for drying carpets and hard floors. Once dry, a coat of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal was applied, left to dry and any excess buffed away with a White pad.
The work was completed in one day and completely transformed the floor much to the delight of my customer who left the following message in a subsequent email:
“Thank you very much indeed, we are delighted with the floor.”
I’m pleased to say I have since returned to the neighbourhood and completed another identical grout removal job at a neighbour’s property who had the same issue with builder.
Tom Conlon
Cambridge Tile Doctor

The tiles shown in the photographs below are classic distressed Black and White Italian Marble installed in the kitchen of a property in Bamber Bridge which is South of Preston. Some of the tiles had an issue with loose grout which I suspect was due to the suspended wooden floor and a small amount of movement had resulted in the grout cracking.
Ideally more support would be needed under the floor to prevent this, in the meantime however I recommended removing the grout and replacing with a flexible grout product that could cope with the movement. The tiles also needed a clean, polish and reseal so it made sense to address the issue with the grout as part of the work.
Working as a two-man team we started by cleaning the floor with a set of diamond burnishing pads starting with a coarse 400-grit, followed by 800 and 1500 grit. Water was used to lubricate the process and the floor was rinsed with water between pads with the fine slurry generated by the process extracted using a wet vacuum. These pads remove ingrained dirt and then slowly refine the appearance of the Marble building up its polished appearance in the process.
The next step was to rake out all the grout which as discussed was compromised and needed replacing. We had to be very careful when removing the grout due to the electric heating mat under the floor, any damage to that would require ripping the floor up. With the old grout removed and the floor cleaned the floor was then grouted using Mapei Ultra-colour which is a flexible and fully waterproof grout more than suitable for this situation.
Between us we managed to pack a lot into day one which was tough, however with the hardest tasks out of the way day two should be a lot easier.
Day two started with an initial clean making sure to remove any excess grout smeared on the surface that can affect the look of the tile if not removed. This was followed by the application of the last of the set of burnishing pads which is a 3,000-grit pad that really brings up the polish on the marble. You only need a small amount of water sprayed onto the floor when applying this last pad so by late morning the floor was dry and ready for sealing. The customer wanted a better sheen appearance than they previously had, fortunately we find the Diamond burnishing pads do this well, they also tighten up the pores of the stone as well which means less sealer is needed.
The floor was then sealed with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that improves colour and soaks into the stone occupying the pores and thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained. Once complete the floor looked great and the client was very happy.
Sealers and Polish do wear down with use over time so before leaving I discussed our annual maintenance plan option which will ensure the appearance of the Marble floor always looks good. The plan involves returning once a year to further polish the floor with a high-grade burnishing pad and to add more sealer if required. We also discussed the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap for regular cleaning, it is a pH neutral cleaner which is ideal for stone floors like Marble which are acid sensitive.
Russell Taylor
Lancashire Tile Doctor

This job was carried out in a terraced property in Llanelli which had a Victorian Tiled Hallway laid in a diamond pattern that looking worse for wear and in need of some attention. The clients were a young couple who had moved in two years previously and had only recently decided they wanted the floor renovated. This was earlier in the year, so I was able to pop over to the property and take a detailed look at the floor before recommending a course of action to renovate the tiles.
Upon arrival the first thing we noticed was that the border had been laid with an inconsistent pattern, non- matching tiles had been patched in essentially filling voids as you can see in the images. The floor wasn’t terribly dirty however it wasn’t very clean either.
I discussed with the client replacing the non-matching tiles, so the floor pattern was uniform however they decided against it and were happy to just to have it cleaned and sealed. We can usually source either reclaimed original tiles or some great reproduction ones, so most floors can be restored if needed. I worked out a quote for the work and they were happy to go ahead.
If you have never been you should know that Llanelli is the largest town in the county of Carmarthenshire and famous for Rugby and the production of Tin. It is located on the Loughor Estuary, some 10 miles from Swansea and 12 miles from Carmarthen.
With no tiling to do the first job was to protect the woodwork such as skirting and staircase with tape. Once done the process of cleaning began with the application of a 400-grit burnishing pad fitted to a buffing machine. The process is lubricated with water and the pad run over the whole floor two to three times to remove dirt and refine the appearance of the tile. Even after the first application of the pad we could see a massive improvement to the appearance of the tiles. To get right into the edges of the tiled floor we use a 400-grit handheld diamond block, this proved especially useful under the stairs where our buffer machine could not reach.
During this process, the water turns into a fine slurry which is rinsed off with more water and extracted with a wet vacuum. On this occasion the floor was not dirty enough to require any chemicals, the use of water and the machine was enough to get the floor cleaned up.
This job was very straight forward, and we did not run into any problems at all. After allowing the floor to dry out for 24 hours we returned to seal the tiles checking first that the floor was sufficiently dry first using a damp meter. Fortunately, the burnishing method uses a lot less water than a chemical clean, so I was able to get straight on with sealing.
The client wanted a satin sheen finish, so I applied four coats of Tile Doctors Seal and Go which works well on Victorian tiles. The sealer really put the life back into the tiles and will protect them from staining going forward. It will also make the floor much easier to maintain and keep it looking good for much longer.
I’m pleased to say the owners were very happy with the floor and recommended us to one of their friends who we also did some work for. For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This is an everyday tile cleaning product that is sealer friendly and not prematurely reduce the life of the sealer which can happen with many household cleaning products which are simply too strong.
Adrian Iacono
Swansea Tile Doctor

I recently visited a customer living in the village of Ravensthorpe, just outside Northampton to rejuvenate a 15-year-old multi coloured Chinese riven slate floor that needed a deep professional clean. Slate is a hard-wearing tile used for flooring high traffic areas but does need sealing to bring out its best features. In this case the sealer had long since worn off and dirt had become ingrained in the stone making it difficult to clean effectively.
We discussed the client’s requirements and the cleaning process I planned to follow to rejuvenate the floor. I had to check on availability, so I e-mailed over a quote and some dates later that day. They were happy with my proposal and agreed for the work to be done whilst the customers were on holiday.
My first task was to test a small area to determine which products would give the best results. In this case, I decided to start with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a strong alkaline cleaner/coatings remover that’s safe to use on Tile and Stone. I spread this solution across a section of the floor and left it to seep into the pores of the stone and lift out the ingrained dirt.
After allowing the solution adequate time to dwell, I scrubbed the slate with a carbon brush fitted to a rotary machine to gradually reveal the fantastic natural colours of the Slate hidden beneath the dirt. Happy with my choice of cleaning product I repeated this process in sections until it had been carried out throughout the entire area. Following this, I rinsed the entire floor several times with clean water, before soaking up the resulting soiled residue with a wet vacuum.
The next part of the cleaning process entailed paying attention to the grout lines which were scrubbed using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up. The resulting residue was promptly extracted with the wet vacuum and I finished by giving the whole floor a rinse with Tile Doctor pH Neutral Tile Cleaner. This is a day to day tile cleaning product which is recommended for stone floors, many supermarket tile cleaning products are only suitable for ceramic tiles due to their acidic formula and can damage a floor over years of use so you should always read the label. However, I always leave my clients with a complimentary bottle of a suitable Tile Doctor product to maintain their floors.
The floor was left to dry off overnight and I returned on the second day to seal the floor. Before starting I checked the floor was dry using a damp meter which confirmed the Slate was dry and ready to seal. The floor must be completely dry before sealing as any excess moisture has the potential to the damage the performance of the sealer. Since my client had specifically requested a silk finish, I opted to use Tile Doctor Seal and Go which dries to leave a lovely subtle sheen that really enhances the look of the stone. Five coats were applied to ensure a good hard-wearing protection.
My client was very pleased with the results, particularly as they hadn’t realised how much colour it had lost over the years and left the following feedback on our website.
”I despaired of having a clean-looking floor again. Phil Vissian assured me that intensive deep cleaning and resealing could restore our fifteen year old, subtly coloured, Chinese riven slate kitchen floor. He has done a fantastic job. Looks like new, and I shall book Phil for an annual professional clean, so that it never gets as bad again.” Sally M, Northampton
Phil Vissian
Northamptonshire Tile Doctor

This Multi-Coloured Slate floor looks nice in the Kitchen of this property in Hythe, however due to the riven surface of the tile and the deep grout lines my customer had struggled to keep it clean. Additionally, the Slate has lost all of its lustre over the years since it had been installed and it was now due a deep clean and reseal.
The combination of durability and price makes Slate a popular choice for floor covering, it is also available in a number of colours, ranging from plain black to a more diverse array of shades. Like any natural stone floor though it need sealing to keep the dirt out of the pores of the stone however sealers wear off with use
Hythe by the way is a lovely medieval coastal market town with its own beach on the edge of Romney Marsh and close to Folkestone.
Before starting I removed the kickboards underneath the kitchen units and protected the exposed woodwork with a thin film. To deep clean the Slate floor and remove any remaining sealer I applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go and left it to soak in for ten minutes before scrubbing it in with a light carbide brush. As well as removing the old sealer this process releases the dirt from the pores of the stone and brings it to the surface where it can be extracted.
I have probably mentioned this before, but I’ve invested in a powerful van mounted pressure extraction system for removing the dirt, old sealer and emulsified soils released from the stone. The system works by applying water at high pressure on the floor via a spinner tool and then simultaneously extracts the waste under suction back to a grey water tank on the van. From the customers point of view, it makes light work of cleaning the floor and more importantly leaves the floor dry and leaves no mess.
Having a dry floor at this stage is important as it means I can usually seal the floor on the same day. Its not a good idea to apply a sealer to damp floor as it will affect the way it cures and lead to an undesirable finish. The way to make sure the floor its dry is to use a moisture meter and take readings in several places around the floor. You can use an air mover to improve drying times however older floors can take a very long time to dry and for those I tend to book another day to apply the sealer.
With the floor dry I set about applying the first of two coats of Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which provides both a hardwearing sheen to the slate as well as enhancing its natural colourings. It has strong water repellency characteristics which makes it ideal for use in a kitchen where spillages are quite common.
This was quite a small kitchen, so the work was completed in one day. My client was amazed at the transformation and grateful for our advice on continued maintenance which for this floor I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap for daily cleaning.
Michael Conlon
South Kent Tile Doctor

This client from North London had recently bought a property in Highgate N6 and during renovation had discovered an original Victorian tiled floor in the hallway. The floor was laid in a classic black and white diamond pattern but unfortunately a large section was missing and had been filled with concrete. Furthermore, most of the remaining floor had been covered in cement and glue.
I carried out a survey of the floor to determine the main issues and was then able to email over a quote later that day that included rebuilding the missing section of flooring. I suspect the floor had been excavated at some point in the past to install central heating and then rather than have the excavated section restored it was simply back filled and then levelled with a cement screed before finally gluing down a carpet on top.
Once the quote was accepted, I sourced replacement tiles from the Vintage Floor Tile company. Situated in Kent they are a reclamation yard that specialises in supplying original geometric and encaustic tiles including the major historical makers such as Minton and Craven Dunnill.
Armed with replacement tiles I started by removing the concrete that had been used to backfill the missing section and prepare a new surface for tiling with quick drying cement. When ready I was able to carefully build back the original pattern using the replacements. The tiles were secured with tile adhesive and once that had gone off, they were grouted.
The floor was left to set fully overnight and then the next day I was able to return and clean the whole floor using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go. As usual this was left to soak into the tiles for a good ten minutes before being scrubbed into the tiles using a black scrubbing pad. The Tile Doctor Remove and Go did a good job of cleaning the floor and the cleaning solution soon turned black with dirt during the scrubbing. The floor was rinsed with water and the soil extracted with a wet vacuum. After inspecting the floor any areas that needed further work were hand scrubbed and rinsed again until I was happy the floor was clean.
The last part of the cleaning process was to give the tiles an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which further cleans the floor by removing old cement residue and grout haze. It also neutralises efflorescent salts in the tiles which are a common issue with floors of this age with no damp proof membrane. After another rinse and extraction, the floor was given a final rinse and then dried as much as possible using the wet vacuum.
I left the floor to dry out for a couple of days before returning to apply a protective sealer. Tile and Stone should be dry before sealing so I use a damp meter first to double check. All was well so to seal the tiles I proceeded to apply the first of what would be three coats of sealer. I used Tile Doctor Colour Grow for this, it works by impregnating the tile occupying the pores and thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there. This product also enhances the black and white colour of the tiles and makes the floor much easier to clean.
Once done the floor was transformed and needless to say my customer was very pleased with the result. For the aftercare of Victorian Tiled floors, I recommend the use of a ph neural tile cleaner such as Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner; most supermarket tile cleaners are simply too strong for use on sealed floors and can strip off the sealer prematurely.
Andrew Newstead
North London Tile Doctor

The picture shows an Travertine patio that was installed at a property in Hackney E5 around ten years ago and it had never been sealed. Over the year’s pollution and weather etc had taken its toll on the stone leaving the travertine stained with lichen, dull and grey as opposed to their original white/cream colour. Had the patio been sealed it would have provided some protection from the elements.
I conducted an initial visit where I tested several products to see what would be the most effective and establish what was required. Using that knowledge, I followed up with a written quote which was accepted, and a date arranged to complete the work.
We have adopted new working practices since the COVID-19 epidemic so we can work safely inside or outside but given the excellent weather this year this was an ideal and much easier to maintain social distancing.
During day 1 on site I started by sweeping away loose stones and other debris you typically find on patios. Then Tile Doctor Patio and Brick Driveway cleaner was applied neat to the stone and left for two hours. This is a very strong product designed for use by professionals which cuts through the dirt and was ideal for this situation. There are certain precautions you do need to take when using it such as wearing PPE and you must keep it away from ponds etc.
Using water to lubricate, the solution was then scrubbed into the stone using a coarse 200-grit pad fitted to a rotary machine and followed up with a lot of rinsing and extracting with water and a wet vacuum.
To refine the surface after the coarse Travertine the 200-grit pad I followed with 400, 800 and then 1500-grit burnishing pads in sequence rinsing with water and extracting after each pad was applied. This process is known as burnishing and closes the pores in the stone giving it a polished appearance. By this point the Travertine looked way better and we were starting to get the smooth finish back.
The weather held so the following morning a 3000-grit polishing pad was applied dry to the stone using only a little water. This brings up the appearance of the stone even further and has the added advantage of leaving it dry and ready for sealing.
The client wanted a natural appearance so two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal were applied to seal the stone. Ultra-Seal is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the stone, protecting it from within yet without changing the appearance of the stone leaving a completely natural look.
The client very happy with job and now proud so show off her revamped patio. They hadn’t realised that the patio should have looked like this from the start. For aftercare I recommended they use Tile Doctor Stone Soap, many day to day cleaning products you find in supermarkets can strip off a sealer so if your using something else do check the label first.
Jackson Davis
East London Tile Doctor

This client from Nantwich had a beautiful Travertine tiled floor installed in their very large kitchen and utility area. Realising that their tiles didn’t look as good as when they were installed, they got in touch to ask if I could clean and re-seal the tiles and grouting.
I went over to survey the floor and could see the grout had darkened (it was originally white) and the travertine was trapping dirt in the natural pits of the stone. I conducted a test clean on the grout and Travertine which responded well, the client was impressed, and I was asked to do the whole floor. Happy with my quote for restoring the tile and grout we scheduled a date to do the work.
Nantwich is a medieval market town in Cheshire, well known for its Tudor and Georgian architecture. It has one of the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England and many of these properties have very old floors.
We scheduled in a date for the work, and I began by cleaning the floor with a strong solution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go worked into the grout and pitting with hand brushes. I then used a wire brush on the grout to get it really clean. The soiled solution was rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.
Once done the Travertine was burnished using a series of Tile Doctor burnishing pads from 400 through to 1500-grit attached to the rotary machine, rinsing with water in between to remove the soiling. The pads are encrusted with diamond and after being worked over each pad three times do an amazing job of removing ingrained dirt and bringing up the polish on the stone.
The floor needs to be dry before I can apply the sealer so once the burnishing was done, I gave it a final finish and extracted as much moisture as possible with the wet vacuum.
The Travertine was left to dry off overnight and I returned the next day to apply a sealer, first checking the floor was dry with a damp meter. The readings were acceptable, so I was able to get on with the sealing. My client had requested a natural finish, so I had recommended Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which is almost invisible sealer that provides protection but doesn’t change the look of the stone. Only a couple of coats are required and being an impregnating sealer, it works by soaking into stone and occupying the pores so dirt can’t become ingrained there.
Once the sealer had dried the floor looked so much cleaner and I had a very happy customer who left the following feedback:
“Kamilla has totally transformed our tumbled travertine kitchen floor. It looks like new again, we are so pleased. Kamilla explained the whole process and was a pleasure to deal with. We are delighted with the end result, Kamilla worked so hard, would highly recommend.”
For aftercare cleaning and maintenance, I recommended they use Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is pH neutral and mild enough to use every day. You must be careful when choosing a cleaner for sealed floors as many products are too strong and will reduce the lifespan of the sealer.
Kamila Logonzy
East Cheshire Tile Doctor

These photos are of a four-year-old Limestone kitchen floor at a property in Boughton that the customer was finding hard to keep clean and maintain a shine. Part of the problem was he owned two dogs and we often warn about the problems of dog urine on sealed tile and stone due to it being high in nitrogen.
On my initial visit I was able to ascertain that the sealer had almost completely worn off, leaving the stone vulnerable to dirt becoming ingrained into the pores of the stone. I come across this problem a lot, in my experience when stone floors are installed by tilers, they generally apply a single coat of sealant which wears off over time, and as discussed earlier can be prematurely degraded by strong chemicals.
My quote to renovate the Limestone floor was accepted and included a deep clean to the stone and grout, stone polish and then re-seal.
I arrived on site on the arranged date and began by scrubbing all the grout lines with Tile Doctor grout brushes and a 3:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. I then moved on to a small handheld polishing machine to clean around the tile edges using 800 and 1500 grit diamond encrusted burnishing pad to achieve a deep clean.
The process was then repeated throughout the rest of the area using larger 17” burnishing pads fitted to a floor polishing machine. The burnishing pads I used come in a set of four starting with 400-grit and moving up to 800, 1500 and 3000 grit, after each pad is applied the floor is rinsed with water and the soil extracted with a wet vacuum.
It took me much of the day to complete this stage of the renovation and the floor was still damp so once done I left for the day, allowing the floor to dry off overnight.
I returned the following day to complete the final polish using the 3000-grit burnishing pad, this gave a high polished finish which the customer had requested. This last pad is applied dry with only a little water splashed onto the tile, a process we call a spray burnish.
The floor was then sealed with three applications of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal Sealant to protect the newly restored and polished tiles. Ultra-Seal is a penetrating sealer that soaks into those recently cleaned pores in the stone, occupying the space and preventing any dirt from becoming ingrained there. It’s also a natural look sealer so it doesn’t change the colour of the stone in anyway and is almost indetectable once applied.
“Hard work from Philip has left us with a kitchen floor brought back to life – cleaned and sealed in little over 24 hours – brilliant job – Thanks”
Before leaving I gave the customer some tips on maintenance and a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Stone Soap to enable him to keep the floor looking its best, this product works well with the sealant we applied and is PH neutral so won’t degrade the new sealer.
Phil Vissian
Northamptonshire Tile Doctor

I received a call from this client in Old Marston around two miles north east of the centre of Oxford. They had lifted a lino floor in their kitchen and found an old Quarry Tiled floor underneath and decided to see if they could have it restored.
I went over to survey the floor and could see that the tiles had been covered with a thin layer of levelling screed to ensure the lino didn’t sink into the recesses. I ran some tests to demonstrate how the screed could be removed which worked well and it was apparent that the tiles underneath were intact and could be renovated. I submitted a quotation for removing all the screed, deep cleaning the Quarry tiles and then sealing the tiles to protect them. The client was really pleased that we could restore the floor and the quote was accepted, with a date booked to do the work.
To start the work, I applied undiluted Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up worked in with a small carbide brush attached to a hand-held rotary buffer. The combination of the acid in the Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up combined with the scrubbing action of the brush were effective at removing most of the screed. The small bits of remaining screed were carefully removed by hand, using a floor scraper. The floor was then rinsed with water and the soil removed with a wet vacuum.
For the second phase of the cleaning process I applied Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel which was scrubbed into the floor with a stiff brush rinsing after with water and the soil extracted again using the wet vacuum. After cleaning the floor to remove the dirt I could still see some evidence of the screed on the tiles, so I decided to give the floor an Acid Wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which was scrubbed into the floor and rinsed off as before. Tile Doctor Acid Gel is of course an acidic product so once it was removed, I decided to rinse the floor with Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner to neutralise the pH levels in the floor. The wet vacuum was used again to remove as much moisture from the Quarry tiles as possible before leaving the now clean floor to dry off fully overnight.
I returned to seal this floor the next day. First, I checked the floor was fully dry with the damp meter, it was within the recommended range, so I was ready to complete the sealing process.
The client was not too sure if they wanted a matt or sheen finish, so I first put a coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow on the floor to show them the matt finish. Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer that enhances natural colour and protects from within by occupying the pores in the tile. After reviewing the floor, they decided it was not for them, so I followed up by applying several coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go which adds a nice sheen finish and is compatible with Colour Grow.
The combination of sealers worked very well together, and they were very satisfied with the final result and of course that we had been able to restore the Quarry tiles.
Barry Woodward
Oxfordshire Tile Doctor

I recently re-visited a Victorian period property in the Leeds suburb of Headingley which had an unusually large tiled entrance hall which we believe to be as old as the property itself. I say re-visited as I actually gave this floor a deep clean and reseal around five years ago; it’s always nice to be asked to return to a job as it shows the customers was very happy with the work. However, with five years of wear and tear the sealer had worn down and the floor was now starting to trap dirt, also it had lost the attractive shine added by the sealer and the owner felt it was time to have it done again. Additionally, the owner had recently had the whole house decorated and wanted the floor to look its best and match the fresh appearance of the property.
Sealers do wear off with use and so it is inevitable that the tiles will need to be cleaned and sealed again with time. Given it hadn’t had a professional clean and seal for five years the floor wasn’t looking too bad as you can see from the picture, it was just a bit dull in the high traffic areas such as along the centre. I’ve certainly seen a lot worse.
Initially I wasn’t 100% sure on which cleaning method l was going to use on this floor. Originally l thought about using a coarse 200-grit burnishing pad to take off a couple of layers of sealer and then re-apply 2 more coats. However, the finish on the floor wasn’t even across the width of the hallway and l felt using that approach wouldn’t resolve that. Additionally, a lot of tiles were pitted and a burnishing pad would struggle to get into the holes. So instead I decided to completely strip the floor and re-seal it which would ensure a uniform finish across the floor.
I used a strong 50:50 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean on the tiles and scrubbed it in with a black floor pad which removed the old sealer and ingrained dirt. The large floor pads are not very effective in the corners and edges, so I used a 6-inch red buffing pad fitted to a hand buffer for those. The floor was rinsed with water and the soil extracted using a wet vacuum. After inspecting the floor some areas were retreated with a repeat of the same process.
After a final rinse and extraction of the soiled water the floor was left to dry overnight.
The next day after first checking the floor was dry with a damp meter it was sealed with four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go. This is a water based sealer that gives a lovely sheen and allows the colours to shine through as well as letting the floor breath, which is important in properties of this age that usually do not have a damp proof membrane.
I was very pleased with the finished result as the pictures show and glad that l had chosen to do a deep clean and not just apply more coats of sealer. The client was over the moon.
Nigel Stoker
North West Yorkshire Tile Doctor

The pictures below are of Chinese Slate floor in the Kitchen of a property in the small village of Clifton just south of Penrith. We often get asked what the difference is between Rough and Semi Riven Slate, and this floor was a mixture of both.
If you look closely at the pictures and check out the darker parts of the floor you will see these smoother Semi Riven Slate, whereas the light copper-coloured parts of the floor were of the rougher textured variety. It’s not that unusual for stone to be mixed in this fashion as it can be supplied from different quarries in order to achieve a particular look.
The blend of different slates makes little difference when it comes to cleaning as the process is essentially the same. I would advise though if you intend to clean the floor using a mop then you should opt for Semi Riven Slate as Rough Slate can shred your mops and make it harder to maintain. We tend to use industrial floor buffing machines which work well on both surfaces so are less effected.
There was a bit of wax on this floor so to remove this Tile Doctor Wax Away was applied. The product was left to stand for fifteen minutes before being scrubbed into the stone, rinsed and then the soil extracted with a wet vacuum.
We then finished the cleaning with an Acid Rinse which involves scrubbing the Slate with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up. This not only works well at cleaning up the stone and grout but also neutralises the alkaline pH left over from using Wax Away. I am very wary of the pH level of the floor as it could have an impact on the new sealer, giving the floor an acid rinse before sealing also ensures a better bond with the sealer.
Naturally, you can’t leave a strong product like Grout Clean-up on the Stone for long as it could etch the surface so once done the floor was thoroughly rinsed with water and extracted again with a wet vacuum. A mop and bucket and lots of sponges won’t do the job on a large area like this.
Once we finished the clean, we left it to dry off overnight and came back the next day to apply the sealer. We were originally going to apply a satin finish sealer, but the client had a big dog with sharp claws which could of scratched and marked the sealer so decided against it. I advised the client to use an Impregnating sealer called Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which lifts the natural colours in the stone, but is not a topical shiny sealer as the seal soaks into the Slate and leaves a a nice matt finish instead. Only two coats of sealer were needed, and the floor looked like new again.
My client was very happy with the difference in the appearance of the stone and how much cleaner the grout was, so much so they the following feedback for us, which is always appreciated.
“Totally impressed with the team they couldn’t have been more professional and even left me with some cleaner. My horrible 12 year old slate tiles look fabulous”
As usual we left a free bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for aftercare, it’s very important not to undo all that hard work by using a product which will damage the seal, using a pH neutral cleaner will keep the seal looking sharp and fresh for years to come.
Heidi Taylor
North Cumbria Tile Doctor
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