Hello

I am cleaning these tiles for a local hotel and spa, the thing is when the place was build 4 years ago, the tiles where layed first before anything else so they got alot of dirt, plasterdust, grime and you name it ground in and they where not cleaned. Since then with under floor heating and the chlorine and other chemicals in the pool, not to mention the bacteria off us all have taken its toll and formed what looks like a layer over the old dirt and has set it in.

The tiles look like ceramic or porcelain and are turning greyish black especially around the areas were the water has been settling/trapped. Only the traffic areas are mainly effected.

I have tried a really strong tile cleaner and it does not budge it, so I tried some acid (brick acid cleaner) and that does the job but since the tiles are close to the pool I don't want to use the acid if you know what I mean, is there also a chance the acid will damage the tiles?

If anyone has knowledge on this I would really appreciate it thanks
Dan

I think you will need a professional to view the floor. If you could be more certain of tile materials used it would be helpful.
I also feel you would not get a satisfactory finish without specialist machine cleaners.

Photos would help !

as long as you do not use to strong a mix of acid/ water and leave it on to long ,it should be OK,
don't worry about the acid entering the water to much as dry/acid is used to balance the pools chemistry, as long as you tell the pool manager/owner so they can check the PH level and balance again if needed

Hi Sir Ramic and gooner59

Thanks for your super fast response . Sir Ramic I have been told by the owner it is ceramic and it looks like ceramic. I use a SX-12 with 1200psi behind it to rinse after scrubbing with a rota. I described it as best as I can in the initial post.
Gooner59, thanks for your reply I was thinking what you said, thanks for the reassurance. I am still trying not to use it though.LOL

Has anyone treated this problem with any other method eg: chlorine tablets or chlorine powder?

yes the more i think about this the more i have reservations, i would say have a professional pool company in to do the job!! the implications of getting it wrong and be dire acid/ chlorine =mustard gas

I have never carried out any work along the lines of what you are going to do but if I needed advice then my first call would be to Dave (gooner) because its his line of work.