A hard floor rarely wears out. What happens is that the seal or polish on top of it wears through, dirt gets into the surface beneath, and the whole floor goes grey and dull. Replacing it is expensive and usually unnecessary.
Restoration means taking the old finish off, cleaning the floor itself, and putting a new seal or polish back on. The result is a floor that looks close to new for a fraction of the cost of lifting and relaying it.
Different floors need different treatment. Vinyl and safety flooring, ceramic and porcelain tile, natural stone, terrazzo and wood all behave differently, and using the wrong method on stone in particular can do permanent damage.
How we do it
Identify the floor
What it is, what is on it, and what condition the surface underneath is in. Stone and wood especially need the right method rather than a general one.
Strip and deep clean
Old polish and ingrained dirt removed, grout lines cleaned, and the floor taken back to the actual surface.
Seal and finish
Sealed or polished appropriately, so it resists soiling and is far easier to maintain from then on.
What is covered
- Vinyl and safety flooring
- Ceramic and porcelain tile
- Natural stone and terrazzo
- Wood and laminate
- Grout cleaning and colouring
- Ongoing maintenance schedules
See the difference
Before and after
Photographs of jobs we have actually done. Drag the handle across the image to compare.
Flagstone floor, years of grime taken back off
Terracotta stripped, sealed and polished
Slate floor cleaned and re-sealed
Questions
Floor Restoration — your questions answered
Can a badly worn floor really be restored?
In most cases yes, and it surprises people how far back a floor will come. What looks like a worn-out floor is usually a worn-out finish with dirt ground into the surface underneath. Strip that off, clean the floor itself properly and put a fresh seal on, and you get something close to new. The exception is a floor that is physically damaged — cracked tiles, vinyl worn through to the backing, or stone that has been eaten by acid. We will tell you which one you have before you spend anything.
How long does the floor need to be out of use?
It depends on the finish, but plan on the floor being out of action for the day and, for sealed finishes, staying off it overnight so it cures properly. This is exactly why most of our floor work happens at weekends, in the evenings, or in school holidays — the floor gets the time it needs and nobody is trying to walk on it while it cures.
Do you clean grout?
Yes, and it is often what makes the difference. Tiles can be spotless while the grout lines are dark, and the eye reads the whole floor as dirty. Grout is cleaned as part of tile restoration, and where it is permanently stained it can be recoloured, which is considerably cheaper than re-grouting.
Can you work on natural stone?
Yes, but stone is where method matters most. Limestone, marble and travertine are acid-sensitive and can be permanently etched by the wrong product — including some ordinary household cleaners. Stone is usually cleaned, honed or polished and then sealed, rather than stripped like vinyl. We identify the stone before we touch it.
What about safety flooring in kitchens and washrooms?
Safety flooring has grit built into the surface to give it slip resistance, which is exactly what makes it hold dirt and look grey. It needs deep cleaning with the right machinery rather than stripping and sealing, because sealing it would defeat the slip resistance and create a hazard. It is common work for us in commercial kitchens and school washrooms.
Will it need doing again?
The finish will wear over time, so yes eventually — but a sealed floor that is maintained properly goes years rather than months, and the maintenance clean is far cheaper than the restoration. We will tell you how to look after it, and for contract customers we build the maintenance into the schedule so it never gets back to where it started.
“Ashton Cleaning have always been an excellent cleaning & maintenance service. They have always completed their works to the agreed timescale and the standard of finish has always been exemplary.”