Multiple Tile Doctors Sealers used to Get the best from Slate Flooring in Ilminster Somerset

We were asked to look at a multicoloured slate tiled kitchen floor at a property in Ilminster which had been installed 22 years prior and was now proving impossible to keep clean. This is a common issue with stone floors and usually tells me that the sealer had failed resulting in dirt becoming ingrained in the pores of the tile and grout.

I suggested resolving this with a deep clean and application of a fresh sealer; apparently some of the stone had also been flaking away so I had to wonder if they had been using a strong and unsuitable cleaning product to maintain the floor.

Having paid a visit to the property to survey the floor and take measurements I was able to reassure the owner that I would be able to restore the floors appearance and sort out the flaking stone.

A detailed quotation was sent over which was accepted and a date set.

Cleaning a Multicoloured Slate Tiled Kitchen

To remove the ingrained dirt the floor was mopped with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was left to dwell for ten minutes. The floor was then scrubbed using black scrubbing pad attached to a Beton Ranger rotary machine. The grout lines were also scrubbed where needed using more Tile Doctor Pro-clean and a stiff hand brush.

This process removed the flaking stone and lifted the dirt and any remaining sealer out of the stone to the surface where it was extracted with a wet vacuum. The floor was then inspected and stubborn areas spot treated as needed.

The next stage was to give the floor an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout-Clean Up worked into the tiles with a poly brush. Following this the floor was rinsed using water and the wet vacuum used to remove the waste and get the tiles as dry as possible.

Sealing a Multicoloured Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor

The floor was left to dry off overnight and work resumed the next day starting with the taking of multiple moisture readings to confirm the stone was sufficiently dry. All was well so the floor was sealed using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow combined with Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal. These two sealers work well on multicoloured Slate floors to bring out the colour, being impregnators, they work by soaking into the stone occupying the pores and thereby preventing dirt from becoming stuck there.

The new sealer gave the slate a whole new appearance and will ensure that dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away going forward. On the subject of cleaning, I left the owner a bottle of our Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is designed for cleaning sealed tiles and won’t impact the stone or the sealer.

The owner really appreciated the work and left the following feedback:
“Lucas was efficient, friendly, knowledgeable and extremely helpful.”

Source: Tile Cleaning and Sealing Products and Services in Ilminster Somerset