Slate Tile Cleaning

Welcome to my Work History archive where you will find detailed examples of the cleaning and renovation of Slate flooring carried out in Shropshire

Cleaning and Renovating Slate Floors

Slate is a very popular floor and wall tile due to its low porosity; there are many varieties and textures of Slate available as such Tile Doctor has spent many years researching the best cleaning and sealing methods and products. The semi-riven tile is particularly easier to maintain compared to the rough textured Slate commonly available due to its cheaper quarrying cost.

Porosity however small, is the main issue when maintaining Stone floors as dirt can easily become trapped in the pores and once that happens it becomes very difficult to clean. The solution is to prevent the ingress of dirt in the stone by applying a sealer such as Tile Doctor Seal and Go which works very well on Slate. However sealers do wear down with use and the application of unsuitable cleaning products, and so unless regularly maintained the floor will need to be stripped, deep cleaned and then resealed again every three to five years.

Below you will find detailed examples of work we have carried out in the past, it should give you some idea of what’s involved and what can be achieved with the right techniques and products.


Riven Slate Tiled Floor Ince After Cleaning

Riven Slate Tiled Floor Restored in old Barn Conversion in Ince

A customer in Telford recently bought this barn conversion in the village of Ince, Cheshire. The building had Riven Slate floor tiles installed on the ground floor from hallway and corridor through to the utility room and downstairs WC. The tiles were not looking their best and in fact the old polyurethane based sealer had gone yellow and started to peel off in places. The building was originally built in 1886 and is grade 2 listed and after an initial attempt to bring the floor back to life didn’t work out as planned the owner decided to get in touch.

Riven Slate Tiled Floor Ince Before Cleaning Riven Slate Tiled Floor Ince Before Cleaning

Cleaning a Riven Slate Tiled Floor

To get the floor back to its original state so it could be re-sealed the old sealer would have to be completely removed from the tiles, fortunately we have a product available that does exactly that called Tile Doctor Remove and Go. Working in sections the tiles were covered with a dilution of Remove and Go which was left to soak into the slate for twenty minutes before being scrubbed in used a rotary machine fitted with a stiff brush head. The resultant soiled solution was then removed from the floor using a wet vacuum and the process repeated until all the old sealer had been removed and the floor was looking clean again. Additionally it was necessary to steam clean the whole floor and scrub stubborn areas with a hand brush. After the whole floor was clean I gave it a thorough wash down with fresh water to remove any trace of cleaning product and then used the wet vacuum to get as much water off the floor as possible and reduce drying time.

Riven Slate Tiled Floor Ince During Cleaning

Sealing Riven Slate Floor Tiles

I left the floor to dry off for a couple of days and then returned to apply the sealer checking the moisture level of the floor first to ensure it was dry enough to take a sealer. I had discussed the various options for sealing and the customer wanted a satin finish so it was decided to use Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is a water based sealer that provides the require finish and being water based can be applied without leaving a solvent smell as it dries, four coats of Seal and Go were needed to fully seal the slate.

Riven Slate Tiled Floor Ince After Cleaning Riven Slate Tiled Floor Ince After Cleaning

It was quite a large area and originally I had estimated it would take two days to remove the old sealer and get the tiles clean in the end however it took three days due to clean the floor due to the state of the tiles and a day to seal. The customer and his wife were really happy with the result and left the following feedback for me on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

I would like to commend Jozsef on his hard work and tile doctor on their faith and training in there staff to achieve such a high standard in an end result. The experience from start to finish has been a very pleasant one. Jozsef was very professional, polite and punctual, knowledgeable, very hardworking and trustworthy. Both my wife and I would not hesitate to recommend Tile Doctor & Jozsef.
Many Thanks again Mr & Mrs Pasquali

Restoring old slate tiles in Ince

Riven Slate Tiled Floor Restored in old Barn Conversion in Ince Read More »

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Shropshire Tile Doctor

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