islington Archives - North London Tile Doctor

Acid Etched Limestone Tiled Bath Panel Restoration The Angel

Limestone bathroom tiles in The Angel Islington

Here we have a luxury bathroom tiled in Limestone at an apartment in The Angel in Islington. I was contacted by the letting agent who discovered the damage when the tenant moved out, although they were unsure of the cause I immediately recognised it as acid damage from the use of acidic limescale removers. These products are simply too strong for use on limestone which is acid sensitive and results in etching as shown in the photos.

Limestone Tiled Bath Panel Before Renovation Angel N1

The agent had new tenant’s looking to move in, but they wanted to sort the acid damage out beforehand. The etching can be difficult to remove so to make sure a good result could be achieved I did a test clean on one tile of the bath panels. The result was great, so I gave a quote which was accepted.

Given the fast nature of the London rental market there was very limited time between the old tenants moving out and the new in. However, I was able to collect the keys from the agent allowing me to squeeze the job in around my other projects.

Removing Acid Etching from Limestone Tiling

To remove the etching I had to burnish and literally resurface the limestone tiles using a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads. Naturally I can’t use large floor pads on wall tiling however Tile Doctor also do these pads in 6-inch which fit a handheld polishing machine.

Work started with the application of a coarse 400-grit pad using water for lubrication, the soiling is then wiped away and the process repeated with an 800 and 1500 grit pads using the same process. These pads remove the etching and build up the polish on the Limestone.

Limestone Tiled Bath Panel During Renovation Angel N1

Some of the staining was very deep and so to get a good result I had to use coarser 120 and 200 grit diamond blocks first. These are small hand-held blocks available in different grits that can get into awkward spaces. Once all of this was done, I rinsed the tiles down and dried them.

The last step in the burnishing process was to apply a final polish with an extra fine 3000-grit pad which adds a nice subtle polish to the stone.

Sealing Limestone Bathroom Tiling

To finish, the Limestone was sealed using Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which is a modern oil-based impregnating sealer that enhances the colour of dark limestone and will make cleaning easier going forward.

Limestone Tiled Bath Panel After Renovation Angel N1

For aftercare cleaning I recommended supplying any future tenant with Tile Doctor Aqua-Pro which is a day-to-day spray cleaner which can be used in the shower to prevent the build-up of limescale.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Bathroom in North London

Limestone bathroom tiles in The Angel Islington Read More »

Edwardian Style Hallway Floor Cleaned and Repaired in Islington, London

1 Comment / Islington Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Andrew Newstead

This customer from Islington in North London had an Edwardian Black and White tiled hallway in need of repair and restoring.

Edwardian Hallway Floor Before Tile Cleaning Islington

To restore the lustre of the Edwardian floor tiles the floor would need what was left of the old sealer stripped off, tiles deep cleaned, the replacing of missing and broken tiles and finally applying an impregnating colour restoring products and a protective sealer. You will full details of how this was done below.

Cleaning Edwardian Style Tiles

Before starting we covered the skirting, doors and threshold areas with protective tape. Then to remove what was left of the old sealer and clean the floor the area was left to soak in a strong solution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go for about ten minutes. It was then scrubbed into the tile using a slow speed orbital floor machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad and also hand held brushes to get into the corners and other tricky areas.

The now soiled cleaning solution did a good job removing the dirt and old sealer and was rinsed away using water and then extracted with a wet vacuum. The tile and grout was inspected and the process repeated where required before giving the floor a final rinse to remove any trace of cleaning product. It was getting late at this point so the floor was left to dry off thoroughly overnight.

Sealing Edwardian Style Tiles

On our return we first carried out a number of restorative tile repairs using matching Edwardian reclaimed tile replacements primarily to the door thresholds and skirting board edges. Before grouting we applied a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow sealer to the whole floor as this would make any excess grout easier to remove. Colour Grow is also a breathable sealer that impregnates into the pores of the tile protecting it from within and also enhancing the colours in the tile.

We had to leave the floor for another day primarily to allow the grout to dry before returning the next day to complete the sealing process this time using six coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which adds a lovely sheen and works really well on Edwardian floor tiles.

Edwardian Hallway Floor After Tile Cleaning Islington

As you can see from the picture, the floor has been restored to its original condition and with the correct maintenance; it should last for years to come.

Restoring Edwardian Hallway Tiles in North London

Edwardian Style Hallway Floor Cleaned and Repaired in Islington, London Read More »

Rebuilding a Damaged Victorian Tiled Hallway in Islington

1 Comment / Islington Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Andrew Newstead

A customer in Islington had part of their Victorian tiled floor damaged due to building work and contacted us to ask if it was possible to restore it back to life as they didn’t want to lose such an original feature from their house. Victorian tiled floors are quite popular in the UK and we regularly complete restoration projects of this type so we were confident it could be restored.

Victorian tiled floor before repair Islington

Laying Victorian Floor Tiles

Finding replacement tiles was the key to restoring this floor however over the years we have built-up a list of UK suppliers who specialise in Victorian tiles so fortunately we were able to source a matching set and completely rebuild the area at the bottom of the stairs with replacement tiles.

Cleaning Victorian Tiles

The next task was to set about cleaning the tiles using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in with black scrubbing pads fitted to a rotary buffer machine. The soiled solution was then extracted using a wet vacuum and the floor rinsed with water. Final step of the cleaning process was to give the tiles an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which removed old traces of grout and other mineral deposits such as efflorescence from the floor. Once happy that is had done its job is was extracted from the floor and then the tiles were given a thorough rinse and left to dry off overnight.

Sealing Victorian Tiles

Next day we sealed the floor using Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a breathable solvent based sealer, and is also very good at lifting the colours out of the clay tiles as providing a seal that will help protect the tiles from stains going forward.

Another fantastic restoration completed and well worth the time that went into it, it’s great to see such a lovely feature in a house of this age which I’m sure adds value to the property.

Victorian Tiled Floor Restoration in North London

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