Details below of a Terracotta Tiled floor that was installed in the Kitchen, Hallway and WC of a house in Mablethorpe. You can see from the photographs below that the floor was not looking its best having been splashed with paint from decorating and overdue a deep clean and seal.
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Terracotta tiles are very porous and need to be sealed to prevent dirt from becoming ingrained in the tile as once that happens, they become very difficult to keep clean and just look permanently dirty. Unfortunately, sealers wear off with use and so overtime dirt starts to become lodged in the tiles. Another problem we find is the premature degradation of the sealer due to the use of bleach-based supermarket floor cleaning products that are simply too strong for use on a sealed floor.
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Having surveyed the floor I could see straight away that the tiles needed a deep clean to remove the ingrained dirt and deal with the paint spots, then resealing with a durable product that will enhance the look of the floor and importantly protect the Terracotta. I worked out a quote for the renovation work which my client was happy to accept and a date was set for my return.
Deep Cleaning Terracotta Floor Tiles
To get the tiles clean we applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed 50/50 with Nanotech Ultra Clean which combines well to produce a heavy-duty alkaline cleaner/coatings stripper. This combination is ideal for working with difficult floors and for best results I spray the solution onto the tile and grout and leave it soak in for ten to twenty minutes. Long dwell times give the product more time to work breaking down the dirt and softening up the paint.
The next step was to work the products into the floor using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine running at a slow speed. Once done the resultant slurry was rinsed off with water and then extracted with a wet vacuum. The floor was inspected and any stubborn staining was spot treated using the same process until I was completely happy the floor was clean.
The floor was still quite wet at this stage with small puddles of water forming in the dips of the uneven floor; the wet vacuum took care of most of this but the floor was still too damp for sealing so I left a couple of air blowers to assist with the drying of the floor and returned two days later to start the sealing.
Sealing Terracotta Floor Tiles
When I returned the floor was mainly dry but there were a couple of damp spots which I took care of with a heat gun. Tile Doctor Seal and Go was used to seal the floor; Terracotta can be very porous so eight coats were required to completely seal the floor so it was some time before it was finished.
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When finished, I gave the customer instructions on how to maintain the floor using Tile Doctor Neutral Clean which is a mild but effective Tile and Grout cleaner. He was over the moon with the result and said that it had far exceeded his expectations which is always nice to hear.
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Source: Terracotta Floor Cleaning and Renovation Services in Mablethorpe Lincolnshire
