Terracotta floor cleaning and restoration Worcestershire
Terracotta is an attractive, kiln-fired material suitable for flooring in many parts of the home. Without proper care it can become damaged from regular wear and tear. Is your aged terracotta flooring in need of restoration or repair? Tile & Stone Medic have years of experience delivering our terracotta floor cleaning and restoration service in Worcestershire and would be glad to help whatever the case.
Common issues
If terracotta flooring is not carefully maintained it can begin to show marks fairly quickly. Surface scratches and abrasions are common. These marks tend to occur when the terracotta hasn’t been hoovered or swept regularly enough, causing detritus to be ground into the surface of the tile under foot.
Terracotta floor tiles are generally unglazed. Furthermore, they’re highly porous, and they become more porous with time, so it’s essential they are properly sealed. When the tiles begin to look worn and dull their seal may have become exhausted. If staining is visible this is certainly the case.
Issues with the subfloor can cause major damage to terracotta tile flooring. Due to their porous nature, if moisture is allowed to get underneath the tiling through the subfloor it can wreak havoc with the terracotta. Look out for discolouration or loosening of the tile, if the tiles don’t sit flat there may be an issue underneath. That’s where our terracotta floor cleaning and restoration service in Worcestershire comes in!
How we maintain terracotta flooring
Whilst terracotta can wear easily, when it has suffered and become worn restoration is usually a simple matter of choosing the right tools for the job. In the case of scratched or marked tiles, a thorough buff and polish can remove the majority of marks and get them looking fresh again. Where staining has occurred, a heavy buff will lessen its impact.
Where liquid marks and staining are apparent we would apply a new coat of strong sealer to prevent damage in the future. The sealer acts as a barrier against further dirt and spillages but it won’t last forever. In our experience a new coat of sealer once a year is the best way to keep terracotta looking its best.
If the subfloor has decayed or failed to prevent moisture from getting in the terracotta it can be a challenge to restore it back to its former glory. In these cases replacement tiles may be necessary and our terracotta floor cleaning and restoration service in Worcestershire can help to source them.
Will repairing my terracotta tiles cause disruption?
Our aim is to restore your terracotta flooring to the highest possible standard with an absolute minimum of disruption to your environment. Maintenance of terracotta does not require heavy or noisy machinery, nor dangerous or corrosive chemicals. Rest assured, we work to the best standards of health and safety.
If you have terracotta flooring in your home and would like help with restoration or general repairs we are here for you. Call Tile & Stone Medic Worcestershire today for a no obligation chat about how we can be of service.
More about cleaning Terracotta
Terracotta tiles are a wonderful way to create a warm, rustic atmosphere in the home. Made from fired clay, the name translates as ‘baked earth’. The orangey-brown colour of terracotta never fails to brighten up a kitchen and, with tiles readily available in a range of sizes, they’re generally quite straightforward to replace should anything go wrong.
Taking care of terracotta tiles in the home can involve a little more work than some types of flooring. Terracotta is naturally a highly porous material, meaning it absorbs spillages quickly. Making sure it’s well looked after is essential to make it last a long time and keep it looking great.
If you have an older terracotta floor in your home it’s usually a good idea to check the subfloor to ensure it’s not causing your tiles to wear out quicker. With some older terracotta floors it’s not unusual to find a poor subfloor underneath. A subfloor is supposed to provide support and an anchor point for the tiles on top. Traditionally terracotta would be installed onto subfloors made of sand, which is far from waterproof and leaves the tiles vulnerable to moisture from underneath. This is a particularly frustrating problem, since the signs of damage are often not obvious until it’s too late. Thankfully terracotta tiles aren’t particularly expensive to replace, but it’s worth dealing with the cause of the problem rather than symptom or you may end doing this over and over again!
A professional tile cleaning and restoration company get help you get a much longer life from your terracotta tiles. Our cleaning and sealing service creates an effective water repellant coating to properly protect this beautiful flooring. With a professional seal in place, maintenance becomes a straightforward matter of a quick sweep or vacuum a couple of times a week. You’ll still need to wipe up spills quickly to keep the floor looking great, but the chances of staining will be much lower. What’s more, at Tile & Stone Medic Worcestershire we stock a range of sealers than can enhance the look of terracotta. Want a reflective wet look finish or a soft matt sheen? No problem, just let us know and we’ll select the perfect products for the result you want.
A professionally applied seal is really the number one way to take care of your terracotta tiles, and this is the final step in our terracotta floor cleaning and restoration service in Worcestershire. With regular sweeping it’ll keep your tiles looking good as new for months, but it’s sadly not permanent. We’d generally recommend a refresher coat of sealer once or twice a year depending on the level of use the floor has to withstand. Pet claws, for example, can scratch and wear away at sealer a little quicker than slippers and socks. It’s usually a pretty simple job to refresh the protection of floor so long as it has been well looked after in the interim. If not it’s no reason to panic, we’re known throughout the region for our great value refurbishment services and we’d be delighted to help.
If you’ve got terracotta tiles in your home and are looking for an experienced team to take care of them then you’re in the right place. Get in touch with us today and one of our friendly, experienced technicians will work out what you need and the best time to do it. Remember, natural materials have very specific cleaning requirements, so only ever work with a company who truly understand them. With our terracotta floor cleaning and restoration service in Worcestershire you’re in safe hands.
FAQs: Tile Cleaning
The process we carry out will depend on your specific floor and the use that it gets. There will be variations for different materials and the finish that you wish to achieve. The process will also be impacted by the full scale of work that we carry out, for example which types of cleaning and restoration are being performed. It is not unusual to apply several layers of sealant if this is necessary and appropriate.
Firstly, a floor should always be sealed when it is first laid. Get in touch with us straight away if this hasn’t been carried out already. It will also need periodic sealing in order to protect the floor on an ongoing basis. How often sealing is required depends on a number of factors such as the specific material used for your flooring and the kind of use it has to survive. For example, a bathroom with natural tiles that is frequently exposed to water may require sealing more often than porcelain tiles in a kitchen. Frequent maintenance, such as sweeping and hoovering up the dust and grit that erodes floors when trodden on can help. Once the sealant is worn away, not only will scratches be more likely, the risk of staining or permanent damage from liquids is drastically increased as there is no protective layer to prevent absorption. If in doubt get in touch with our team of friendly technicians who can discuss your needs.
We have a range of high quality Faber products which will help protect your floors from damage. As every type of floor is different and has myriad uses, we will consult with you to work out the best way to protect your investment. We can apply topical sealants which form a protective layer on top of the floor, or if needed an impregnating sealant, which will be partially absorbed into the stone or tiles. There are many variations of these sealants and as each floor type has unique characteristics and vulnerabilities we can work with you to find and apply the the best kind of protection.
Absolutely. If this was not carried out by those who fitted the floor get in touch immediately to ensure that the appropriate protection can be applied as promptly as possible. We would recommend that this is carried out once the flooring is in place as this means the grout, which is generally more porous, will also be protected.
We apply a sealer to a floor in order to protect it. Different types of floor, both manmade and natural stone, are vulnerable to different sorts of damage. They can all be harmed by chemicals to a certain degree, even by the acid in food and drink spillages, as they will be very slightly porous. As well as this, they can be worn away by physical damage. Even foot traffic can have a big impact if dust or grit has built up on the floor, since it increases abrasions. A sealant will reduce the chance of a spill becoming a stain by reducing the floor’s ability to absorb liquids. It can also help protect the appearance of the floor by forming a protective barrier. A sealant won’t prevent all damage and it will still wear away over time, but it will help your floors last longer, helping protect your investment. Sealants will even help protect your floor from UV radiation which can lead to fading over the lifespan of a high value stone or tiled floor. We can consult with you to find the best sealant for your floor and the type of use it gets to make sure it receives the best form of protection.
Absolutely, we stock a range of high quality sealers which we can use to make your tiles shine like new.
In many cases yes, it’s one of our specialities. We’ll need to take a look at the amount of staining to make a proper assessment.
Call Tile & Stone Medic! It sounds like your grout may be contaminated we frequently fix discoloured grouting.
In many cases we can, although it depends on the type of tile and how serious the damage is. Let us take us a look at your floor and we’ll make an assessment. Please note we can only carry out floor repairs as part of a full deep clean or restoration for your stone floor. Unfortunately, we are not able to attend to carry out repairs in isolation.
Generally yes, depending on how many have become loose and the condition of the subfloor, we can generally restore loose tiles without issue.
Whilst we may use specialist chemicals in the course of our work, we can assure you that by the time we leave all residues will be gone and your tile or stone flooring will be perfectly safe for everyone to use. We work to extremely high standards of health and safety, conducting proper risk assessments where appropriate and never putting you or anyone else in danger.
We always work in the most considerate way possible. Work will be tailored to your needs and will fit around your schedule where possible. We avoid bringing loud or bulky machinery into your home and when a job is complete we thoroughly clean up after ourselves to leave your space looking as tidy as it did when we arrived.
