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Among the many types of stone used for paving, slate
is widely regarded as an excellent choice due to its strength, its strong colours, and its hard-wearing properties, but those very features that make it an attractive option can also pose challenges when it comes to installation. This time the problem was grouting.
We received a call from Tyldesley
, Wigan
, Manchester
where our customer had grouted the slate tiles himself but now grout was coming out and cracking everywhere, so we agreed a date for our free quotation service.
On arrival it was clear what the problem was. When this slate stonepatio got laid, tilers didn't grout it with proper flexible grout, but used setting sand instead and our customer thought it wasn't grouted, so he decided to do it himself. Problem with that was, grout lines were only couple millimeters deep, due to setting sand and ofcourse it wouldn't be a proper job. Actually when I arrived, I pushed through the grout with my finger.
After explaining what needed doing, we got quickly booked in to do the job.
On this slate patio tiled floor it was relatively easy to remove all existing grout, it was actually so easy that we didn't have to use any power tools, just hand grout removal tools. When all grout was removed, we had to dig deeper and get all the setting sand out, which wasn't the hardest thing to do but time consuming. After scraping out all we could from grout lines we used out industrial vax to vacuum out anything left in grout lines. During the grout removing process, we also discovered there was a tile moving so we took it our and rebedded it.
All grout lines cleared and tile fixed, we started preparing for grouting. For grouting we usedGrey Superflex Wide Joint Grout, it is a flexible, water and frost resistant cement-based powder grout with built-in admixture. Specifically designed for use in areas where increased flexibility and enhanced durability are required. It is suitable for walls and floors.
We used our grouting tools to really push the mixture as deep in grout lines as we possibly could, so they would be properly filled. This was followed up by cleaning any grout excess left on tiles with a wet grout sponge. Everything was going well with this job until it started raining and we had to cover everything up and finish grouting the next day.
When arriving the next day we checked is there any rain damage with our last days grouting but due to using high quality grout, we had no damage at all. So we quickly finished grouting, as there wasn't much left and started cleaningoff any of the last grout excess on these slate stone tiles.
For Cleaning we used a medium mix of our acid based Grout Cleanup Cleaner, which is specially designed for this kind of job. We applied the product on floor and left it to break down any grout left on surface for couple of minutes and then scrubbed with strong scrubbing pad fitted to our rotary machine. This was followed up by removing all soiled water with our wet vacuum and then rinsing the area again. This process worked as a treat but as always with black stone you always have to do at least couple of cleans with couple rinses each time to get it perfect. Any dusty water on black stone will show straight away. After cleaning the whole area we left the patio floor to dry till the next day.
When we arrived the next day, we used our damp tester to see if the floor is completely dry for sealing. Unfortunately there was couple of areas which we had to dry out with our heat gun.
All floor dry we started with sealing. For sealingwe used high quality colour enhancing impregnating sealer. Impregnating sealer is ideal for outside as it allows the surface to breathe, enhances stone tiles natural colours, is matte and won't make the patio slippery.
Sealer got applied with paint pad and then all excess that didn't absorb into stone got wiped off with soft cottong cloths. In total this floor took 3 fat coats of the sealer and our work was done.
We think the result was fantastic on this job and fortunately our customer agreed. He told us, he should have hired us straight away to do the work.
At the end we also gave all cleaning and maintenance info and told him to visit our maintenance tips page for natural stone: https://www.qualitytilecare.co.uk/maintenance-tips-and-advice-for-your-natural-stone-floors-walls
Tags: Slate, Natural Stone , Wigan , Tyldesley , Patio , Tiles , Cleaning , Regrouting, Flexible Grout , Sealing, Impregnating Sealer , Manchester, Wigan Tile Cleaning , Manchester Tile Cleaners, Manchester Slate Floor Cleaning