Grout Removal Archives - Shropshire Tile Doctor

Epoxy Grout Haze Removed from New Porcelain Floor in Telford New Build

The photos below are of a Polished Porcelain tiled floor at a house in the new Telford Lawley Village development. When the house was built my customer had specified large format White glazed Porcelain floor tiles on the ground floor and had insisted on the use of a matching white Epoxy Grout. The developer agreed to lay the tiles but refused to use Epoxy Grout (which is very resilient but also tricky to work with). As a result, the customer hired someone else to grout the floor.

Porcelain Tiled Floor Before Epoxy Grout Haze Removal Lawley Village Telford

Epoxy Grout is notoriously difficult to work with and unfortunately the tiler was unable to remove all the grout residue from the surface of the Porcelain tiles and ruining their appearance. The tiler tried to remove the grout residue but ended up discolouring all the skirting boards instead. The customer was out of time at this point and had to move in, but the floor looked a right mess as is clearly visible on the before pictures on this page. Having given up on the tiler they decided to call Tile Doctor.

Fortunately for the customer we are very familiar with this issue and have been resolving problems like this for some time. After discussing the problem on the phone, I paid the customer a visit to take a close look at the problem and after running a few tests I was confident I could fix it for them. We agreed a price and I arranged a time to return to complete the work.

Cleaning a Polished Porcelain Tiled Hallway Floor

To break down the polymers in the epoxy grout I first applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was left for approximately fifteen minutes before agitating it with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary floor machine. This process removed most of the grout haze but to get it looking 100% I swapped the black pad to a 3000-grit diamond burnishing pad and polished the tiles using a little water sprayed onto the tile. This is a very fine polishing pad and brings up the finish on the Porcelain tiles a treat.

Once that was done, I inspected the floor again looking for stubborn areas and then spot treated those areas by hand with a repeat of the same process and a scraper. The tiles were factory sealed so once I was happy all the grout haze was gone the job was finished.

Porcelain Tiled Floor After Epoxy Grout Haze Removal Lawley Village Telford

For aftercare and keep the floor looking pristine I recommended they use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. It’s easy to use and comes in concentrated form so you only need a small amount, it has a nice fresh smell. They could use household cleaners, but they are likely to leave a residue and leave smears on the polished surface

The client was very happy that I saved the floor for her, it now looked how she had imagined it and was in keeping with the rest of the stunning new house. She left the following testimonial for me, which is always a delight. They now just needed to clean up the skirting boards, which may need a rub down and a lick of paint.

“Very professional manner. Excellent job. I am more than pleased. Edith K.”

Professional Restoration of a Polished Porcelain Tiled Hallway in Shropshire

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Repair Restorations Oswestry

Victorian Tiled Hallway Repaired and Restored in Oswestry

1 Comment / Oswestry Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Jozsef Hoffmann

A home owner who lives in the old market town of Oswestry in Shropshire called me in recently to work some Tile Doctor magic on their Victorian Tiled Hallway. They had been refurbishing the house room by room and had left the hallway floor until last. The previous owner of the house had repaired part of the floor at the far end of the hallway with an odd selection of unmatched tiles. The result was a bit of any eyesore and I’m surprised it hadn’t been covered over with carpet which is what most would do, the only good thing about the repair was that it had been laid level.

Victorian Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Oswestry

There were several other areas were tiles were loose and would need relaying and a section where holes had been drilled into a couple of tiles damaging them in the process. In total I estimated there was about two square meters of tiles that would need relaying; I would be able to use some of the original tiles that had become loose, but it was clear I would need to track down some replacements either from a reclamation yard or from a retailer if I could find a match.

Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

As it turned out I managed to source the replacements without too much trouble, Victorian Tiles are still very popular today and there are a number of UK companies that still sell them.

My first task was to remove all the loose tiles and carefully remove what I’m going to call the eyesore. I have a handheld power tool that makes light work of removing grout which came in very hand and then once the grout was removed the tiles were prised out. The old grout and adhesive were then scraped off the sub floor, so the replacements could be fitted.

Victorian Tiled Floor During Repair Oswestry

With the loose, damaged and eyesore removed it was now a question of cutting replacement tiles to match the existing pattern and then fix them into place with fresh adhesive. This activity took up much of the first day and before leaving the tiles were grouted in, so they would be secure for cleaning the next day.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Day two was all about deep cleaning the entire floor to remove any old coatings and ingrained dirt in the tiles. I did this using a strong dilution of Remove and Go which was left to soak into the tiles for a while before being scrubbed in using a rotary machine fitted with a black pad; the resultant slurry was then rinsed away with water and extracted off the floor using a wet vacuum.

There were some stubborn paint splashes from decorating that needed dealing with, so I gave these a spot clean using more Remove and Go and plenty of elbow grease. The floor was then given a final rinse to remove any trace of cleaning product and then dried as much as possible with a wet vacuum before being left to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The tiles must be dry before sealing and after testing the floor with a damp meter I confirmed that the floor was indeed dry. I had previously discussed sealers with the owner he had opted for a matt finish. I decided that Tile Doctor Colour Grow would be the best choice of sealer to apply, it’s an impregnating sealer that leaves a matt finish and works by occupying the pores in the tile protecting it from staining from within. It also enhances the natural colours in the tile, only two coats of sealer were needed.

Victorian Tiled Floor After Cleaning Oswestry

The floor now looks fantastic and most crucially the eyesore has gone.

Victorian and Victorian Floor Tile restoration in Shropshire

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