Patio Cleaning Archives - North West London Tile Doctor

Weathered Limestone Patio and Steps Restored in Wembley

Here we have a Limestone garden patio and set of steps at a property in Wembley which had become heavily affected by lichen, mould and general outdoor soiling. The stone was in good physical condition but had spent the winter in a shaded position where it slowly turned green. The patio had lost its original appearance and the owner was keen to make use of it again and so I was asked to make it presentable again.

External Limestone Patio and Steps Before Cleaning Wembley

It was clear that the Limestone needed a thorough deep clean and then sealing to protect it going forward so I worked out a detailed quote for its renovation which would take two of our technicians two days to compete. Fortunately, we were in the middle of a heat wave at the time so I wasn’t worried about rain interrupting the work.

Cleaning Limestone Patio and Steps

The first stage was to treat the Limestone with Tile Doctor Nanotech HBU remover which would tackle the mould and lichen. HBU stands for Heavy Build-Up and left to dwell on the surface for approximately 15 minutes to break down the organic growth before being scrubbed in. This was mostly done by hand due to the location of the capping stone and steps. The area was then rinsed with fresh water and the resulting slurry and soiling removed using a wet vacuum.

Next, a dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied and worked into the Limestone using a slow-speed orbital machine fitted with fine burnishing pads. This provided a deeper clean, removing the ingrained dirt and organic staining without being overly aggressive on the limestone.

After cleaning, the stone was thoroughly wet vacuumed and rinsed with fresh water before being left to dry in preparation for sealing.

Sealing Garden Limestone

Once the Limestone had been allowed to dry overnight, it was sealed with two applications of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal. This helped protect the porous stone from future staining and makes the patio and steps easier to maintain. This product is an invisible impregnator that soaks into the stone, occupying the pores and ensuring dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away.

External Limestone Patio and Steps After Renovation Wembley

Apologies for the photographs only some of these had to be taken from within the property itself to get the best angle.

Limestone Patio Aftercare

To help maintain the appearance of the restored limestone, the customer was left with a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, together with cleaning and maintenance guidelines.

The combination of the correct cleaning method, tried and tested Tile Doctor products and professional equipment has restored the appearance of this shaded limestone patio and its steps, giving the customer a much cleaner and better-protected outdoor space.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Terraced Patio and Steps in Northwest London

Porcelain Tiled Floor Cleaning in Pinner

Deep Cleaning Grout-Stained Porcelain Tiled Floor in Pinner

This customer from Pinner contacted us regarding their Porcelain tiled floor which hadn’t been professionally cleaned for a couple of years. As well as deep cleaning the tile and grout they were keen for us to remove some staining and grout marks that must have been there since the floor was laid.

Removing stubborn grout from tiling is a common problem known as Grout Haze and fortunately there is a solution, in that it can be removed by giving the tiles a scrub with an acidic tile cleaner called Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up. Also, it’s worth bearing in mind that Porcelain tiles are generally impermeable but the top layer of grout being rough does trap dirt. As a result, we often find that pale or white grout appears to darken quite quickly. This is often exacerbated during cleaning as the dirty water from the tile gets washed into the recesses of the grout line.

Porcelain Tiled Floor Before Cleaning in Pinner

Happy to assist I arranged to carry out a test clean at their property which would then form the basis of a quotation. For the test we carried out an acid wash on the grout staining and gave the darkened grout lines a good scrub with the same product. This worked really well along with a magic eraser sponge to complete the clean and remove any residue. A heat gun was used to dry the grout lines in order to show the customer what the result would look like. The couple were amazed at the instant change and how well the tile and grout lines cleaned up. We also tested an area where grout had not been fully removed when they were laid and left to dry on the tile, using the same process, we were able to remove it.

Keen to have the whole floor treated in the same way I worked out a quote which was accepted and a date scheduled.

Removing Grout Haze from Pale Porcelain Kitchen Tiles

When we returned to complete the whole floor we used same process as before with various dilutions of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up depending on the nature of the staining. Before starting though plastic wrap was used to cover and protect any areas that could be affected by the cleaning product which is acidic. The customer had an amazing built-in wine cellar in the floor of the living room with a glass door so was important to ensure that was well protected.

Porcelain Tiled Floor During Cleaning in Pinner

The cleaning involved decanting the diluted Grout Clean-up into a spray bottle and then spraying the tile and grout. The solution was then left to soak in for a good ten minutes (sometimes longer) before using a black pad fitted to a rotary machine to scrub the floor. In some areas the grout haze was quite thick, so it was necessary to use a single edge steel blade to scrape the bulk of the grout off first. The grout was hand-scrubbed as the recessed grout line can be difficult to reach with a pad; the floor was laid with large format tiles however so the grout lines were minimal.

Porcelain Tiled Floor Grout Haze Removal in Pinner

Once we had completed the clean through the Kitchen, living room, entrance hall, toilet and utility we used a steam mop to ensure there was no chemical residue on the floor. Finally, we used our buffing machine with a white buffing pad to ensure there were no streak marks left on the tile, and to bring up the finish.

Porcelain Tiled Floor During Steam Cleaning in Pinner

The customers were really pleased with the finish throughout and commented how well it had cleaned up. We discussed maintenance going forward and suggested using Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner for regular cleaning.

Porcelain Tiled Floor After Cleaning in Pinner

Professional Renovation of a Porcelain Tiled Floor in Northwest London

Deep Cleaning Grout-Stained Porcelain Tiled Floor in Pinner Read More »