Edwardian Conservatory in Birchington-on-Sea, Kent
Following on from an almost identical job 2 doors down, via recommendation, I was asked to restore this Edwardian conservatory floor in Birchington.
There were no repairs required with this job and it was a straight forward case of a professional deep clean and seal.
A medium coarse grit diamond pad was used with a strong alkaline cleaner solution which lifted years of dirt and any old, remaining sealers, which was unlikely.
Plenty of water was used and a red slurry had to be vax'd up as I went along. Several mop and bucket loads later on, and the floor was left to rest and dry out overnight.
The next morning when I returned there had been a heavy build up of efflorescence over night.
Efflorescence occurs when minerals are brought to the surface with the drying tile as a foam and then sets as a salt.
This is a perfect example why tiles need to be left to dry out for a period of a day or more before sealing.
Had I not and sealed straight away when the floor was still wet, then this would have caused issues.
A wrung out mop containing an acid solution was used to shift the efflorescence.
It didn't take long for this to dry out and 2 coats of a solvent-based, impregnator sealer was used which has a colour intensifying component.
The result was a lovely deep red and black floor...
