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Wood Effect Ceramic Tile Planks Grout Haze Renovation Birkdale

Removing Grout Haze from Wood Effect Ceramic Planks in Birkdale

1 Comment / Ceramic Tile Cleaning, Crosby Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Andrew Robb

We were contacted by a property owner in Birkdale near Southport who recently had a large kitchen extension built with wood effect Ceramic tiles on the floor. Unfortunately, the builder struggled to remove all the grout from the tiles, and this left the floor in a bit of a state. Grout haze or grout smears as it is often called can be a huge problem when laying tiles, it needs to be polished off quickly after installation and even more so if your using a modern quick drying grout.

Wood Effect Ceramic Planks Birkdale Kitchen Floor Before Grout Haze Removal

This is quite a common problem, and we are often asked to resolve tile installation problems of one variety or another. Sometimes we can use an acid-based product such as Tile Doctor Acid Gel or Grout Clean-up which can break down the grout so it can be rinsed away and extracted. Modern polymer grouts which offer improved flexibility and adhesion are trickier and will require a different approach. I wouldn’t recommend the use of acidic products on natural stone however as it can etch the stone thereby causing more problems than it solves, fortunately these tiles were Ceramic.

I conducted a quick test with Grout Clean-up, and it responded well, so I could see removing the grout haze wasn’t going to be problem in this case.

Removing Grout Haze from Wood Effect Ceramic Tiles

I diluted one part Grout Clean-up with two parts water and mopped into onto the floor and left to dwell for a couple of minutes. The solution was then scrubbed into the tile using a buffing machine fitted with a black pad to loosen the grout haze adding more water as needed. The buffing machine was run over the floor once more and the liquids removed using a wet vacuum.

Wood Effect Ceramic Planks Birkdale Kitchen Floor During Grout Haze Removal

The ceramic tiles were then speed dried using floor fans so I could review the result and repeat the process where required. Once I was happy all the grout haze had been removed, I gave the floor dry buff with a white pad to remove any water marks and improve the final appearance.

Wood Effect Ceramic Planks Birkdale Kitchen Floor After Grout Haze Removal

The photographs really show the transformation once the grout was removed. Certainly my client was over the moon with the difference and the builder much relieved, I’m sure.

Professional Clean of a Wood Effect Ceramic Tiled Hallway in West Merseyside

Removing Grout Haze from Wood Effect Ceramic Planks in Birkdale Read More »

Cleaning an Old Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor in Runcorn

This post comes from a job I did for a customer in who lives in the town of Runcorn on the south bank of the River Mersey. The request was to restore the Terracotta floor tiles in the kitchen of a property which dated back to 1773 and still had all its original features inside and out. You can see from the photograph below that the tile and grout were looking very dull and well overdue a deep clean and seal.

Old Terracotta Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Runcorn

Deep Cleaning a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor

To clean the floor, I soaked the floor in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a strong stripping and cleaning solution which removes sealers and also draws out ingrained stains and also the heavy grease build up that was present around the cooker.

After twenty to thirty minutes the solution was worked into the tiles using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine. The soiled solution was then removed with a wet vacuum and this was followed by scrubbing the grout lines with more Remove and Go and a grout brush until they were clean. The whole floor was then rinsed with water to remove any soil and trace of cleaning product. The water was then extracted using the wet vacuum. The floor was then checked to make sure it was as clean as it could be and stubborn areas spot treated.

Once I was happy the floor was clean it became apparent that some of the grout was loose and would need replacing so I took care of that using a matching grout before calling it a day and leaving the floor to dry out overnight.

Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor

We returned next morning and tested the tiles with a damp meter making sure it was dry before we could seal it. To seal the floor, I used Tile Doctor Seal and Go which adds a nice sheen to the tiles and works really well on Terracotta.

Old Terracotta Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Runcorn

I took some time to complete though as due to the porosity of the clay it required eight coats to fully seal the tiles. You have to wait between coats to allow them to dry however I was able to speed up the drying process though using an air blower.

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