The pictures below come from the basement of an old Vicarage in St Michaels Hamlet, Liverpool where there was a mixture of tiling including Quarry, Marble, and Sandstone. The current owner had bought the rather magnificent property 35 years ago and caried out various modernisations but had never touched the floors in the basement kitchen.
Built near the church of the same name, St Michaels Hamlet is a suburb of Liverpool close to the banks of the river Mersey. Back in the day the area was popular with wealthy shipping magnates and resulted in large Victorian mansions being constructed.
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The Red and Black Quarry tiles in the Kitchen were the main concern but there was also a section of Marble tiles and a small section of Yorkstone which had seen better days. I proposed milling the Yorkstone to reveal a fresh surface, but the owner only wanted the stone cleaned and sealed so its many faults and marks would highlight its history.
Deep Cleaning Basement Quarry Tiles in St Michaels Hamlet
The process I used to clean the Quarry, Yorkstone and Marble tiles was the same and involved spraying the floor with a 1:4 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean and leaving it to soak in. Pro-Clean is an alkaline degreaser and stripper and is our go to product for cleaning Tile and Grout.
After ten minutes the product has had time to break down the dirt in the pores of the tile and is then scrubbed in with a rotary brush fitted to a buffing machine running at slow speed. Water is added during the process to add lubrication and the whole floor is rinsed water at the end and the residue extracted with a wet vacuum.
With several floors to clean I split the work up and was able to inspect and re-apply the treatment where needed to ensure all the stubborn staining was removed. Once satisfied they were as clean as they could the floors were given a final rinse to remove any trace of cleaning product and then left to dry out overnight, assisted with a few heaters to help the drying process.
Sealing a Quarry, Yorkstone and Marble Tiled Basement Floor
The next day we took several moisture readings with a damp meter to make sure the floor was ready to seal. The heaters had done their job and readings were all good, had that not been the case I would have had come back another day to seal the floor, we don’t recommend applying a sealer to a damp floor as you won’t get the best result.
Having discussed the properties of different sealers with the owner previous Tile Doctor Colour Grow had been selected. It’s an impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the tile improving colour and adding protection from within. As well as enhancing colour it’s also a fully breathable so it will cope with any moisture under the floor allowing it to rise through the tile and evaporate at the surface. This is an important property when choosing a sealer for old floors like these which won’t have the benefit of a modern damp proof membrane.
Once done the Red and Black Quarry tiled floor looked much cleaner and lighter with the contrasting colours really shining through. The appearance of the Yorkstone and Marble floor was also improved. It never fails to impress me the transformation that can be achieved when it comes to cleaning old tiles.
My client was very satisfied with the work we carried out and left the following feedback for us which is always appreciated.
Paul G – Liverpool”
For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner, it’s a mild cleaning product that’s pH neutral and compatible for use on sealed surfaces.
Old tiled floors won’t have a damp proof membrane installed under the floor so it’s essential to use a fully breathable sealer that will allow moisture to rise through the tile and evaporate at the surface. Without this moisture will reach out to the walls where it can result in rising damp.