The owners of this Edwardian property in Finchley had purchased it a couple of years prior and since then had slowly been renovating it to restore its original character. The project was almost complete and now attention had turned to the tiled floor. The tiles were in quite a state and I was asked to work our Tile Doctor magic and bring it back to its original condition. When they moved in the hallway had been covered with carpet which gave the tiles underneath some protection. Unfortunately, however the carpet has been secured with carpet grippers that had been glued to the tiles around the edges. There were also paint splashes on the surface that would need dealing with. On top of that the floor had a few missing tiles that had been back filled by cement to provide a level base for the carpet, the client wanted like them replaced if possible. After surveying the floor, I explained what could be done and ever completed a small test clean to demonstrate how the tiles would look once deep cleaned. I was confident on being able to source very similar reclaimed tiles so replacing the missing should not be a problem. The client was very happy with the initial test result and my quotation so booked me in to restore the floor. On my return I started by applying Tile Doctor Remove and Go to soften up the glue which allowed it to be carefully peeled off the tiles with scrappers. Once all the carpet adhesive was gone, I worked a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go into the tiles using a black pad to work the cleaning solution deeper into the tiles. A wet vacuum was used to remove the slurry created, and I followed this by giving the tiles an extra clean using a 200-grit diamond burnishing pad lubricated with water. The last step in the cleaning process was to give the floor an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up, I did this for several reasons, first it removes old grout smears from the surface of the tile and second it neutralised any efflorescent salts lying dormant in the floor. This can be quite a problem for old floors which don’t have the benefit of a protective damp proof membrane under the floor. The floor was given a final rinse with water which was again extracted with a wet vacuum. I then set about lifting all the loose tiles (approximately ten) and carefully removing the concrete infills. I had previously managed to source replacements for these holes from original features. Unfortunately, they didn’t sell the correct sized octagon tiles, so I had bought 150mm square tiles and then needed to cut them on site to get the right size. After cutting and fixing the tiles I fixed them in place and regrouted the rest of the floor. I then left the floor to dry out overnight and returned in the morning. Before applying a sealer, I took several moisture readings with the damp meter to make sure the tiles were dry enough to take the sealer. I was able to confirm the floor was dry, so went ahead and applied three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealant. Colour Grow is an impregnating sealer that is fully breathable sealer which is important when it comes to old floors like these that don’t have a damp proof membrane installed. My client was very happy with the renovated floor and for aftercare I left them with a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner and gave advice on how best to clean the floor going forward. Andrew Newstead North London Tile Doctor

This property was in theLadbroke Grove area of West London near Kensington. The client had found an old and probably original black and white checkered pattern Victorian tiled floor under their cork tiled flooring. They also reported that it was badly damaged so I thought it would be best if I paid them a visit first to see how extensive the damage was and whether it was repairable. The floor was in a quite a state, the tiles were covered in glue from the cork and had several areas had been back filled with cement. I reassured them that the damage could be rectified, and that it would be possible to completely restore the floor back to a good standard. I would have to remove the glue, remove the cement that had been used to level the floor and replace with reclaimed tiles to match. They were relieved to find out it could be done and happy with my quote I was instructed to go ahead with the work. We started by taping up the skirting boards to protect the woodwork. With this done attention was turned to the glue which was softened using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go so it could be carefully scraped off. Multiple techniques and tools were needed to remove the glue including hand-held scrappers and a black pad fitted to a buffing machine. For the stubborn areas steam was applied to help lift the adhesive out the tile. Once all the glue was removed the floor was rinsed and the alkaline cleaner neutralised with Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up which further cleaned the tiles and removed old traces of grout from the floor. Old floors like this generally don’t have a damp proof membrane underneath so the acids in the Grout Clean-up also counter any efflorescent salts trapped in the tile. Once this was completed the slurry was removed with a wet vacuum and left to fully dry out overnight. The following day focus turned to repairing the areas of the floor where the tiles were missing or broken. The main issue being the cemented areas, we see this a lot with Victorian Hallways and generally what happens is a heating engineer digs out the floor to install pipework. Not being tilers, your average plumber then repairs the floor with a self-levelling cement that brings the level up to the surface of the tile so it can be covered with lino, carpet of in this case cork. The sub floor was then rebuilt with rapid setting self-levelling compound but this time to below the level of the tile. Once the new base was dry it was a just a question of re-tiling with the replacement tiles to match the original checkered pattern. The replacement reproduction tiles were sourced from Original Features in Crouch End North London. After grouting we left the floor to dry out over the weekend. When we returned to seal the floor our first step was to check the floor was dry using a moisture meter. This is critical as the sealant will not cure correctly if there is too much moisture in the floor. In this case the extra two days we had allowed had done its job and the test had confirmed it was ready to accept a sealer. The client wanted the floor finish not to be too shiny once sealed so we opted to seal with two coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra. This is good choice for old Victorian floors such as this example as it’s special acrylic-based formula allows for moisture vapour transmission which as mentioned previously is a concern where no damp proof membrane has been installed. I’m please to confirm my clients were delighted with the result, as you can see from the pictures the black and white floor restoration makes for a dramatic entrance well in keeping with the style of the property. For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which will keep the tiles in good condition going forward without damaging the new sealer. Jackson Davis Central London Tile Doctor

Did you know that soapstone is considered to be an inert stone? Acid and base neutral. It is the main reason why it is used in science and chemistry labs. You can spill anything on it without worrying about stains or etching.

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