Tile Doctor is the largest restorative tile cleaning and sealing network of specialists in the UK. TSJ introduces this unique company.
Tile Doctor is the largest restorative tile cleaning and sealing network of specialists in the UK.
After The company was formed in 2006 by Jeremy and Russell Taylor, both of whom have wide experience of the tiling industry. Its aim is to bridge the gap between when tiles have been specified and installed and the time when they need ongoing maintenance.
Since its foundation Tile Doctor has grown strongly and now has a team of more than 50 tile doctors working nationwide providing tried and tested products and services designed to resolve any tile, stone and grout problem. Demand for the service continues to increase in line with the substantial growth in the tile and stone sector, and they are currently on a recruitment drive.
Most Tile Doctors come from a cleaning or tiling background. However those from the tiling sector do have an added advantage and find the work much less physical than tiling itself. Tile Doctors benefit from a fully tested business model together with very low start-up and operating costs. They typically complete over 2,000 jobs every year, and the volume of work would in fact support a larger team. Hence the reason for the company’s current growth. Additionally Tile Doctor is a well-respected company with over a thousand 5 Star Reviews on Trustpilot and an average 4.7 star rating.
Jeremy sees the role of Tile Doctor as an integral and important part of the overall tiling process. “The way we see it, there is a three stage process with any tiling installation,” he says. “There is the sales phase, when tiles, adhesives and grouts are specified and sold to the customer; there is the installation phase, where the tiles are fixed, and in many people’s eyes that’s the job completed.
However, we believe there is also a third phase, the phase of maintenance, which is so often overlooked.
“Sometimes this amounts to providing a proper finish to the installation phase, for example: applying a sealer, removing grout haze or changing the colour of the original grout. Sometimes it is cleaning and freshening up an existing tile or stone surface and grout, but increasingly it is quite major restoration work, where an old carpet has been removed and a beautiful, but tired, Victorian tiled floor is uncovered. In these cases, our Tile Doctors get to work carrying out a full restoration to restore the original tiles to their former glory.”
This type of work is specialist and goes beyond merely cleaning up the tiled surface. The work is carried out using products from Tile Doctor’s own tried and tested product range, which is also available to buy online from the company’s website. This business splits about 50/50 between DIY and non-DIY.
The Tile Doctor product range includes products for effective cleaning of tiles, stone and grouts; products for stone and grout sealing and epoxy grout colouring products; stone burnishing pads; tile buffing pads and a range of specialist problem solving products. All Tile Doctors use the products from this range, and feedback is actively encouraged, so purchasers of the products, which can be bought online from the company’s website, can be sure that they are fully tried and tested.
As well as Victorian restorations, Jeremy Taylor says the growth in popularity of stone is a key factor driving growth currently. “Stone tiles require maintenance which most customers are not aware of. Once the sealer wears off and dirt gets into the relief of the stone, it is very difficult to get it out. So it’s best to have the correct maintenance procedures, and use the right products from the start. Getting these maintenance procedures in place is something that we can help with.”
W: https://www.thetiledoctor.co.uk
