Tile Doctor Acid Gel used to remove Limescale on a Quarry Tiled Patio in Central London

The Quarry tiles in the photographs below were actually installed on the balcony of a flat in London’s famous Notting Hill W11. The property had been rented out and not surprisingly never maintained properly by the tenants.

There was a lot of grime and algae on the tiles which made the patio look very uninviting. The landlord was keen to rent out the flat as soon as possible and the balcony needed a end of tenancy clean to sort it out before potential tenants were shown round.

Deep Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Balcony Patio Floor

Having been entrusted with the keys and having negotiated appropriate parking I went round on a warm day to renovate the tiles and get them in the best condition possible in advance of the viewing. Fortunately, the lift was working so after a couple of trips up and down with various items of equipment I was soon setup and ready to get going.

To get the quarry tiles clean I used a strong treatment of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was sprayed onto the tiles and left to soak in for fifteen minutes to allow time for the solution to get to work breaking down the dirt and old sealers. Then, I ran over each tile multiple times with a floor buffer fitted with a Black scrubbing pad. I also used a stiff brush along the grout lines to get them clean, however, the staining was bad so short of grout colouring or re-grouting I was only able to make a modest improvement. The landlord just wanted the balcony to be presentable, so I stuck to getting them as clean as possible.

Once finished cleaning the now dirty cleaning solution was rinsed off with water and extracted using a wet vacuum. I was then able to inspect the floor and carry out spot cleaning where I felt more work was needed. One of the problems I found was the presence of limescale and to remove that I realised I needed to use an acidic product that would dissolve it.

To treat the limescale I gave the floor a second clean using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which was scrubbed in with handheld brushes and another fresh black pad. Once done, the tiles were rinsed again, and a wet vacuum was employed to get the tiles as dry as possible. Fortunately, the sun came around that side of the building towards the afternoon and the patio was bathed in sunlight allowing it to dry faster.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Balcony Patio Floor

The quarry tiles needed to be completely dry before I could seal them and with the weather forecast looking good overnight and into the next day so I left them to dry off completely overnight.

The next day I returned and started by checking the tiles were dry using a damp meter. The readings were good, so I was able to start with the application of a protective sealer which for these tiles I used Tile Doctor Colour Grow.

Only a couple of coats were required however it is quite time consuming, and you have to wait 30 minutes between coats. This sealer has a breathable formula which is well suited for use on this patio, and it contains a colour enhancer which helps to bring out the colours in the Quarry tile.

For the regular cleaning of sealed Quarry tiles, I recommend Tile Doctor Neutral Clean which is supplied in a concentrate so a 1 litre bottle goes a long way. You can’t use strong cleaning products on sealed tiles as they will prematurely erode the sealer so Neutral Cleaner is an ideal choice.

Source: Quarry Tile Cleaning and Limescale Removal Service in Notting Hill Central London