Dirty Terracotta Floor Deep Cleaned and Sealed in Sandwich

I was called to a property in Sandwich, which is a few miles south of Margate, to look at renovating the Terracotta flooring in the kitchen, dining room and conservatory. The house was originally three cottages and close to the end of a project to convert them into one property.

The floor hadn’t been cleaned in years and the porous nature of the Terracotta tiles meant that the floor had taken on a lot of dirt. During my visit to the property, I carried out a small cleaning test on one of the tiles to show the client what they could expect by way of results. The test went well, and I was able to work out an accurate quote for the renovation. Happy with the test clean and my quote I was booked to do the work and we arranged a convenient date of my return.

Sandwich is a beautiful historic part of Kent, it was one of the Cinque Ports and still retains many of its medieval buildings and older properties. As you may have suspected the town also gave the name to the food, we regularly tuck into courtesy of John Montagu who was the 4th Earl of Sandwich.

Cleaning Dirty Terracotta Floor Tiles in Sandwich

Working in sections I started with the application of a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to soak into the tiles for roughly ten minutes. This was then worked into the Terracotta using a 400-grit burnishing pad fitted to a rotary buffer machine. The process generated a lot of red slurry which was vacuumed away using an industrial wet vacuum. The tiles were exceptionally dirty and more rinsing with water, and vacuuming was needed to remove all the soiling.

The pad had struggled to reach into the pits of the tiles and recessed grout so for the next step I chose to fit a nylon wire attachment to the floor buffer and run it over the tiles and the especially the grout. This did the job and cleaned out the puts and the grout lines very well. The floor immediately looked significantly better.

Using fresh water with a weak solution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up, a mop and bucket the floor was given an acid wash to remove any old grout smears and neutralise any alkaline salts that could lead to efflorescence issues later. Once done the floor was rinsed with more water and the solution vacuumed off the floor. The floor was then left to dry for two days so it would be ready for the next step of sealing.

Sealing Old Terracotta Floor Tiles in Sandwich

Two days later I returned on schedule ready to apply a fresh sealer. I was concerned about the amount of water used during the cleaning process, so I started by checking the moisture level of the tiles with a damp meter.

I was happy with the readings so lost no time in applying the sealer. Three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow were applied which is an impregnating breathable sealer that soaks into the Terracotta occupying its pores and preventing dirt from residing there. This product contains a colour enhancing element that really brings out the colour in the Terracotta and being fully breathable it will be able to cope with any moisture rising through the tile which can be an issue with these old floors that don’t have a damp proof membrane.

With a sealer now in place protecting the floor any dirt will remain on the surface where it can be easily mopped away. On that note I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for regular cleaning, this will ensure that the floor can be cleaned without compromising the newly applied sealant. Household cleaners tend to contain strong chemicals which will break down the seal prematurely.

The client was very happy and left the following feedback, its short but he gets the message across.

‘Graham did an excellent job thank you’

 

Professional Restoration of a Terracotta Tiled Conservatory, Kitchen and Dining Room Floor in Kent