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 South Yorkshire

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.


Slate Tiled Floor Before During After Refurb Darfield

Dull and Dirty Slate Floor Stripped, Cleaned and Sealed in Darfield, Barnsley

The new owners of this property in Darfield were disappointed with the state of the Slate tiled kitchen floor which looked like it had never been cleaned. Since moving in they tried lots of different products to get it clean, but nothing had the desired effect.

After discussing the problem over the phone, I visited the house to run some product tests on the floor and discuss the options. After a few tests I could tell the floor had been sealed many times over trapping in layers and layers of dirt each time. It looked as if the floor had not been effectively cleaned prior to the numerous coats of seal being applied.

Slate Floor Before Cleaning Darfield Barnsley

Darfield’s is a village on the outskirts of Barnsley with a history that stretches back to Roman times, quite a few roman artefacts have been found around the village and are now on show at the local museum. But Darfield is most known for the 2 huge collieries that once stood there, below Darfield is a huge seam of coal that supplied the nation with coal for decades. These have long since closed but the mining history of the area remains.

The tests enabled me to work out which products would be the most effective and from that I was able to provide an accurate price for completing the work. All that was left was to schedule a date for my return.

Deep Cleaning a Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Darfield

With everything agreed I returned a few weeks later and set about stripping the slate of its’ very thick layer of old floor sealers. To do this a combination of Tile Doctor Remove and Go combined with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied to the floor and left to dwell. These two products are powerful solutions that break down sealants and dirt, when used together they make short work of the job.

Slate Floor Cleaning Starts Darfield Barnsley

The slate floor was then scrubbed with a rotary floor machine fitted with a Black scrubbing pad. This abrasive action breaks the sealer down further until the cleaning solution turns black with dirt and old sealants. I kept working the floor in this way until all the old sealer and ingrained dirt was stripped away leaving the bare stone. The floor was then thoroughly rinsed with water, and all the slurry was removed with a wet vacuum. There was an awful lot of this as the floor really was dirty underneath.

Slate Floor During Sealing Removal Darfield Barnsley

Sealing a Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Darfield

After leaving the floor to dry off overnight I returned the next day to seal the floor using Tile Doctors High Shine Sealer. This product leaves a high shine almost glossy appearance which was the affect my customer was looking for. High Shine is a specially formulated water-based blend of acrylic polymers that provides durable stain resistance, its ideal for Slate floors and you can see from the photos on this page that it made an incredible difference to the floor and really brought out the beautiful natural colours in the stone.

Slate Floor During Sealing Darfield Barnsley

My client was very happy with the new floor, the natural colours of the floor now shone through, in fact the floor looked as if it had been laid recently, quite the transformation.

Slate Floor After Cleaning Sealing Darfield Barnsley

Before leaving I recommended, they use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to clean the floor going forward. This product is pH neutral so it won’t erode the newly applied sealer and will ensure the floor is protected for longer. The same could not be said for most household cleaning products which are not meant for use on natural stone and can remove the sealer over time.

 

Professional Restoration of a Slate Tiled Kitchen in South Yorkshire

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Slate Tiled Kitchen Barnsley Before and After Cleaning

Restoring a Beautiful Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Silkstone, Barnsley

The owner of this house in Silkstone, which is a village situated in the foothills of the Pennines a few miles West of Barnsley, had inherited this Kitchen Slate floor from the previous owner of the house and in the years, they’d lived at the house they hadn’t done anything with the floor. Slate tiles are beautiful but like any natural stone you really need to maintain the sealer if you want them to stay that way, once the sealer wears off dirt can penetrate the pores of the stone resulting in a floor that always looks dull and dirty.

Slate Tiled Kitchen Barnsley Before Cleaning

In this case of this Slate floor the sealer had worn off many years prior and a thick layer of grime had built up on top of what was once an amazing looking floor. Stone floors never come with a care guide and the process of degradation happens so slowly, so you can understand how this could happen over time.

Slate Tiled Kitchen Barnsley Before Cleaning

Cleaning Dirty Slate Kitchen Tiles

Before starting I protected the wooden kitchen units from splashing using plastic sheeting. Next step was to soak the tiles in a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and Pro-Clean combined into a strong cleaning and stripping cocktail. The solution was left to dwell for ten minutes before being scrubbed in using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary floor machine running at slow speed to break through the grime and the sealers and oils that the previous owner had used on the slate.

The pad is good at scrubbing the tiles but struggles to get into the grout so after the tiles were scrubbed I followed by running a stiff brush along the grout lines to give them a thorough clean.

The soiled cleaning solution was rinsed off the tiles with water and then extracted off the floor using a wet vacuum. With the floor clear it was inspected, and problem areas re-treated using the same process.

Once I was satisfied that the Slate and the Grout was clean and clear of old sealers I gave the whole floor a final rinse to remove any trace of cleaning products and then dried as much as possible using the wet vacuum. The floor was then left to dry out fully overnight.

Sealing Kitchen Slate Tiles

Returning to the property the next day, I ran some quick damp tests to check for any excess moisture that might have prevented me from sealing the floor. We will always do this as excess moisture can affect the sealer curing.

Our client had previously decided that they liked the look of our High Shine Sealer due to how it brings the stunning colours of the Slate out. High Shine Sealer is a specially formulated water-based blend of acrylic polymers that provides both a stain resistant surface seal and a durable high-sheen finish. Four coats of sealer were applied and when the customer arrived home later that day they were totally blown away by the floor and how amazing it looked.

Slate Tiled Kitchen Barnsley After Cleaning Slate Tiled Kitchen Barnsley After Cleaning

 
 

Rejuvenating a Multicoloured Slate Tiled Kitchen Floor in Yorkshire

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