This Terrazzo tiled floor in the kitchen of a property in Pattingham was laid in the 1950’s and had become dull over time. The otherwise modern looking kitchen was being let down by the dull floor and the client now wanted it cleaned and polished to lift its appearance.
The country village of Pattingham is directly West of Wolverhampton and a thirty-minute drive from my base in Bilston. Happy to help I spoke to the owners over the phone and arranged a time to pop over and survey the floor.
After visiting the property, I could see that the Terrazzo tile and grout needed a thorough deep clean and then sealed to bring back the natural colour of the tiles and ensure they were protected in the future. I gave them a price for the work which they were happy to accept, and we arranged a suitable time to start the work.
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Cleaning a Terrazzo Tiled Kitchen Floor
To start the cleaning, I sprayed a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove & Go onto the floor and left it to soak for ten minutes and start breaking down the contaminants. The floor was then scrubbed using a Black pad fitted to a rotary buffer machine which loosens the dirt and brings it to the surface.
The floor was then rinsed with an Airflex Pro machine which applies water to the floor at high pressure and then extracts the waste using a powerful vacuum. This helps dislodge the soiling and ensures mess is kept to a minimum. Once this was done, I checked the floor for any stubborn areas that needed further work and repeated the process as required until I was satisfied the floor was as clean as possible.
I then moved on to burnishing the floor which is the best way to bring up the polish on stone-based flooring. This is done using a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads fitted to the rotary machine with added weights to increase the traction. 400, 800 and 1500 grit burnishing pads were applied in sequence rinsing and extracting after every pad. These pads further clean the Terrazzo and buildup a natural sheen.
The corners and edges were done by hand with a handheld polisher fitted with smaller 6-inch version of the pads. After giving the floor a final rinse and extraction, it was left to dry with the aid of several air movers.
Sealing a Terrazzo Tiled Kitchen Floor
I returned the next and went over the floor with a very fine 3000-grit burnishing pad, this tightened the pores in the stone and deepens the natural sheen appearance. This final pad is applied dry with only a little water sprayed onto the floor and once done it leaves the floor ready to be sealed.
The sealer chosen was Tile Doctor Colour Grow which works by occupying the pores in the floor thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there. It’s also fully breathable which is an important consideration when sealing old floors like this and it contains a colour enhancer that improves the look if the tile. Three coats of sealer were applied and then when dry it was buffed to a shine with a White pad.
For aftercare I left the client with a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor pH Neutral Cleaner to help maintain the floors appearance. It’s a mild but effective tile cleaner for use on sealed floors, many products you find in supermarkets are simply too strong for use on a sealed floor and will reduce the life of the sealer.
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If you have a problem with your Tile, Stone or Grout don’t hesitate to contact Tile Doctor on 0345 512 0122, they cover the whole of the UK and will arrange for your nearest Tile Doctor to provide you with a free, no obligation quotation.