grout colouring Archives - South East London Tile Doctor

Ceramic Bathroom Tiles Grout Refresh Sidcup

Ceramic Tile and Grout Refreshed in a Sidcup Bathroom

Details below of a Ceramic tiled bathroom I recently refreshed at a property in Sidcup. The owner had booked a painter to decorate their house when they realised the bathroom tiles would let the overall finish down. Not wanting to have the cleaning done after the painting of the bathroom I was asked if I could do the work before the decorator started work in the bathroom.

Ceramic Bathroom Tiles Grout Before Cleaning Sidcup

The tiles were ceramic laid in 30cm square tiles and these are usually very easy to maintain however in this case it was the grout and the silicone sealant where the work was needed. This sort of work can be completed in less than a day so I was able to find a space between two larger jobs I had planned.

Deep Cleaning Bathroom Tile and Grout

I started by brushing Tile Doctor Oxy Gel on the wall tile and grout. This is a strong alkaline tile and grout cleaner, which being a gel clings well to vertical surfaces. This is important as we find these cleaners work best if allowed to dwell and soak in for a good ten minutes first.

The Gel was then scrubbed into the tile and grout by hand and then rinsed of with a high-pressure steam cleaner. The next step was to use Tile Doctor Duo Clean on all the grout lines. Duo Clean is a chlorine-based cleaner to remove mould and black spots. I sprayed it on and scrubbed in before leaving for ten minutes. I then sprayed and scrubbed the black marks again before rinsing with my steam cleaner.

During this process I also removed all the mastic sealant from around the bath and in the corner of the wall tiling. When the mastic was removed and debris cleared away, I treated the exposed areas to more Duo Clean to get them clean as possible.

Although the grout responded well to the treatment there were still dark patches in places. I had explained to the customer that this may be the outcome but not to worry as I did have a plan B if needed.

Grout Colouring Bathroom Wall Tiles

Once the tiles were dry, I started on Plan B which involved applying a Tile Doctor Grout Colourant to the grout lines. I used a Limestone Grout Colourant which matched very well with the tile and once complete was very difficult to detect. The colourant forms an epoxy barrier over the grout making it much easier to keep clean going forward.

Last step was to apply a fresh bead of mastic silicone sealant along between the bathtub and the tile and along the edges of the wall tiling.

Ceramic Bathroom Tiles Grout After Cleaning Sidcup

Once done the bathroom was transformed and looked like a new installation. Also, the job was completed on time and ready for the decorator to come in and do his bit.

Bathroom Tile Renovation in Southeast London

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Chinese Slate Kitchen Floor Renovation Keston

Renovating Chinese Slate Kitchen Flooring in Keston BR2

1 Comment / Bromley Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Slate Tile Cleaning, West Wickham Tile Cleaning / Jason Gates

A client in Keston asked me to freshen up the Chinese Slate floor tiles that had been installed in the Kitchen. Kitchens are the busiest room in the house and overtime the floor had become tired and dull with ingrained dirt, the grout was also stained with dark patches. He had tried cleaning with lots of household products but nothing was improving the appearance.

Dull Chinese Slate Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Keston

I visited the property to survey the floor and recommend a solution to the problem. I could see the floor had previously been sealed but it had degraded in several areas and in some places, there was no sealer present at all. Consequently, dirt was able to get into the pores of the stone where it is difficult to remove. All these problems detracted from what should be a very beautiful Slate floor.

To demonstrate my point, I picked a small area of tiling and conducted a test clean followed by the application of a fresh sealer; the floor came up well and my client could see that we could improve the floor significantly. Impressed with the different he was happy to go ahead with my quote and we returned the following month to carry out the work.

Deep Cleaning a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

There was an old topical sealer on the Slate which had to be removed first. To do this I like to use a combination of Tile Doctor Remove and Go combined with and Tile Doctor Nanotech HBU. I applied the solution to the tiles and grout and allowed it to soak in and get to work for around thirty minutes. The two products combined create a powerful solution that will remove the old sealer and start to break down the stains in the tile and grout.

After thirty minutes, I added water to the solution and scrubbed, paying particular attention to the grout lines, then I vacuumed up the solution using the wet vacuum we have on board. I then went over the tiles and grout with my steamer to ensure I had rinsed and removed all chemicals.

When dry I could see the grout staining was far too deep to be able to get perfectly clean so I applied a grey Tile Doctor Grout Colourant to the grout lines. As well as refreshing the grout to give a consistent and uniform colour it also seals the grout, protecting it with an epoxy barrier making it much easier to clean and maintain going forward. When the grout colourant was dry it was now time to apply the sealer to the slate.

Sealing a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

I advised the client to switch from a topical sealer to an impregnating sealer that works by soaking into the stone, occupying the pores, and thereby preventing dirt from residing there.

Happy with my recommendation I sealed the slate with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which as its name suggests contains a colour enhancing formular that it perfect highlighting the natural colours in Chinese slate.

Dull Chinese Slate Kitchen Floor After Renovation Keston

The sealer adds a new level of depth to the Slate and being an impregnator is hardwearing and long lasting. The new sealer will make the floor much easier to clean in future and on that topic I also recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for that purpose.

Neutral Tile cleaner is a pH neutral product that is effective yet mild enough not to impact the integrity of the freshly applied sealer. Many household cleaning products are simply too strong for use on a sealed floor (always check the label) and will break down the sealer which may be the reason for the previous sealer failing in the past.

Professional Renovation of a Chinese Slate Tiled Kitchen in Southeast London

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Deep Cleaning Bathroom Tile & Grout in Beckenham

Beckenham Tile Cleaning, Ceramic Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Jason Gates

Recently I was asked to renovate the tile and grout of this windowless bathroom in a Beckenham flat which was not looking its best. The Ceramic tiles had become dull due to a build up of Limescale and the grout had become stained from shampoo dyes and mould.

Ceramic Bathroom Tiles Grout Before Cleaning Beckenham

Without strong ventilation and regular cleaning most bathrooms can end up with these problems however with the right products and techniques they can be renovated as you will see below.

Deep Cleaning Bathroom Tile and Grout

My first action was to apply a liberal amount of Tile Dr Oxy-Gel which is a strong alkaline tile and grout cleaning product that comes in a gel form. Being a gel it’s able to sticks to vertical surfaces for longer allowing it to break down the Limescale and soap residue that had taken up residence. Once it had been left to dwell for around thirty minutes, it was scrubbed off with water and a pan scrapper and then dried with a micro cloth. You can use this process with glazed ceramic tiles like these but for natural stone I would have used a different approach.

I then sprayed Tile Doctor Duo Clean, which is a grout cleaner and mould remover, onto the grout lines. I left the grout with the Duo Clean on it for about ten minutes before scrubbing and rinsing off with water.

The process was repeated where needed until I was happy that the tile and grout were as clean as possible however to really give the bathroom a fresh look I decided to completely renovate the grout with the application of a Grout Colourant.

Grout Colouring Bathroom Wall Tiles

There are ten colours to choose from in the Tile Doctor range of Grout Colourant’s and in this case I felt the best outcome would be to use a White colourant to match the tiles and restore the original look of the bathroom; the customer however wanted a grout colour that would provide a contrast against the white tiles, so in the end we opted for a light grey colour.

The colourant is easily applied directly to the grout and in this case I waited for the tiles to dry before applying two coats with the aid of a small brush making sure to remove any excess that comes into contact with the tile.

I finished the renovation by cutting out the original mastic sealant from around the bath and replacing with a new mould resistant silicone in white to match the bathtub.

Ceramic Bathroom Tiles Grout After Cleaning Beckenham

The bathroom now looks transformed and the epoxy grout colourant adds a layer of protection to the grout that will keep it looking good for some time to come.

Bathroom Tile Renovation in Kent

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