Stripping Terracotta

Terracotta Tiled Floor Before After Renovation Flore Village

Terracotta Floor Renovation Prior to Kitchen Installation at Flore Village

The following photos are of a Terracotta floor restoration I carried out in the picturesque village of Flore, situated between Northampton and Daventry. I was asked to assess the potential of the Terracotta floor in an old cottage, the clients had always liked the floor but didn’t want the bad condition of the tiles to detract from the effect of the beautiful new kitchen they were planning to install. They needed reassuring that it would be possible to restore the floor to a good standard and thereby enhance the final look of the new kitchen before they went to the expense of replacing the entire floor.

Whilst I was there, I carried out a test clean to a small area of floor, stripping off all old the sealers to expose the natural blemish free face of the tile. Having worked out a process for restoring the floor I was also able to come up with an accurate price for completing the floor. I left the quote with the customer and was pleased to hear back from them a few days later to let me know they had decided to go ahead with the restoration of their floor.

Terracotta Tiled Floor Before Restoration Flore Village Terracotta Tiled Floor During Restoration Flore Village Terracotta Tiled Floor After Restoration Flore Village

Before being able to set a date for my return I had to liaise with for the kitchen company to agree a date them to come and remove the old kitchen and install the new. I would slot in-between the two dates.

Stripping Terracotta Kitchen Floor Tiles

When returned to the do the work the kitchen had been stripped out as promised and with no kitchen units etc. to protect from splashing, I was able to get straight on with the cleaning of the floor using Tile Doctor Oxy-Pro alkaline tile cleaner.

Terracotta Tiled Floor During Restoration Flore Village

Oxy-Pro is a gel and doesn’t require a lot of water to activate it, my concern was Terracotta tiles are very porous and it helps the drying process if you keep the moisture down to a minimum, especially as this work was carried out in November. The product was scrubbed into the Terracotta tiles using a stiff brush tool attached to rotary machine. I also used grout brushes on the wide grout lines working in small sections at a time and clearing the resulting slurry with a wet vacuum as I went.

Terracotta Tiled Floor During Restoration Flore Village

Once the cleaning process was completed across all the Terracotta, I spot treated the many stubborn stains with Tile Doctor Acid Gel, especially along the grout lines. This was brushed in, left to dwell, scrubbed and then removed with a wet vacuum. The stone was then mopped with plain water to neutralise and remove any trace of cleaning products. I then installed a fan to dry the entire area as quickly as possible.

Terracotta Tiled Floor During Restoration Flore Village

Sealing Terracotta Floor Tiles

As the customer was not using the kitchen it provided time to leave the floor for a few days to fully dry out with a small dehumidifier left on site to assist with the drying process. I returned later to seal the floor and started by taking a damp meter reading so I could be sure the Terracotta was completely dry.

Terracotta Tiled Floor During Restoration Flore Village

The results were good, and I was able to go ahead and seal the Terracotta using several coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra for a silk finish. Once of the reasons I picked this sealer is its breathable so it will cope with any moisture rising through the tile from the subfloor which is an important consideration on old floors which have no damp proof course.

Terracotta Tiled Floor After Restoration Flore Village

Although I never got to see the new kitchen installed my customer was very pleased with the transformation of the floor and left the following testimonial on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Philip did a fantastic job restoring the terracotta tiles in our kitchen. They are good as new! Philip was hardworking and excellent at communicating with us and planning the best time to do the work around our new kitchen being fitted. Highly recommend! Ayesha D.

Terracotta Tiled Floor After Restoration Flore Village

 

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Terracotta Tiles Before After Deep Cleaning and Sealing Maidford

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated at a Maidford Cottage

This Terracotta tiled floor was installed in the kitchen of a cottage in the small village of Maidford near Towcester. The tiles were not looking their best and the owner of the property realised it was time to do something about it and contacted Tile Doctor to have the floor stripped and resealed. Stripping and Sealing tile and stone floors is our bread and butter so I was more than happy to pop round and survey the floor which was approximately 9m2.

The grout had darkened with dirt and the previous tile sealer was failing so dirt was now getting ingrained in the Terracotta making it difficult to clean in places and leading to a patchy appearance. We discussed the work involved, my quote was accepted, and a date agreed for me to return and complete the work which would take two days, one to clean and one to seal.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Maidford

Stripping Terracotta Kitchen Floor Tiles

After tidying up the Kitchen and removing the kickboards from underneath the kitchen units I set about working on cleaning and stripping the Terracotta floor of old sealers. To start I tested a small area with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Wax Away. Wax was quite often used on Terracotta so I figured this product would be a good place to start. My suspicions were proved correct, and I found this to be the best product for removing the many layers of sealant on the floor. Wax Away is a new alkaline product by Tile Doctor and ideal for cleaning clay-based tiles such as Terracotta.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor During Cleaning Maidford

With my sights set on the rest of the floor Wax Away was scrubbed into the tile using a 17” rotary floor scrubbing machine and a black scrubbing pad running on a slow speed which helps to reduce splashing. This activity soon brought the dirt off the floor and the soiled cleaning solution was removed using a wet vacuum and the floor was rinsed down with clean water. The cleaning process was repeated a couple of times until I was happy with the floor, a stiff hand brush was then used along the grout lines with a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to clean up the grout.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor During Cleaning Maidford

After rinsing and extracting the floor again the floor was inspected, and I noticed there were a few stubborn paint splashes on the tiles. I managed to remove these and these by spot treating the affected area with Tile Doctor Remove and Go and a steamer to lift the stain out of the clay tile. Once happy the floor was clean it was given a thorough rinse to neutralise it and remove any trace of cleaning products and then left it to dry.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Maidford

Sealing Terracotta Floor Tiles

I allowed the floor to dry for several days before returning to seal the Terracotta using numerous coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is an ideal sealer for Terracotta and provides durable stain protection together with a low sheen finish. Terracotta is by its nature very porous and so it’s not unknown for it to take up to nine coats of sealer, which can take some time to apply as like paint you have to wait until it’s dry before it will take the next coat.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor During Sealing Maidford

The customer was so impressed by the results I achieved in their kitchen they decided to go ahead and book me in to carry out this process throughout the whole of the ground floor which included lounge, study and hallway.

Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor After Sealing Maidford

 

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