Tips and Techniques - Victorian Floor Restoration in York, England

The owner of this beautiful period property on the outskirts of York was renovating the whole property and had uncovered a Victorian tiles floor in the hallway. The tiles were extremely dirty and stained with white paint spots from decorating at some point in its long history.

 

I visited the property to survey the floor and come up with a renovation plan. It was indeed dirty but fortunately in reasonably good physical condition for its age. It needed a deep clean and there were some small repairs needed. I conducted a test clean on a small part of the floor which responded well and based on that I was able to give them an accurate quote for the renovation. They were happy to go ahead, and we arranged a mutually convenient time to complete the works.

 

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The first thing needing attention was to re-set some loose tiles at the door entrance which is a common problem with old floors. The sub floor and old tile were cleaned and reset using a fast-setting adhesive and grout. This was left to set for a time before making a start on deep cleaning the hallway floor.

First up was to apply Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is our go to Tile and Grout cleaner which is diluted before being mopped on to the tile and allowed to soak in for ten minutes before being scrubbed in with a black pad and rotary machine.

After rinsing off the now dirty cleaning solution I could see something stronger was required to really shift the deep-seated dirt, paint sports and who knows whatever else had been used on the floor over the years. So, to turn up the cleaning power a notch I applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go using the same process and extracting the soil with a wet vacuum. This process where repeated and hand scrubbed some areas until I was satisfied the floor was clean.

The final stage was to give the tiles and acid wash by scrubbing in Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up, this process is designed to counter and salts in the tile, remove old grout smears and neutralise the pH level of the tile after using the alkaline cleaners earlier.

The floor was given a final rinsed and the wet vacuum was deployed for the las time until as much moisture as possible was taken out of the floor. The floor was left to dry naturally for a few days before returning to carry out the sealing.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

On returning to the property to carry out the sealing it was first tested for moisture using a damp meter. The tiles needed to be dry before sealing and any high readings can be resolved using a heat gun.

Once satisfied the floor was dry the floor it was sealed using four coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which will provide maximum protection from staining and enhance the colours in the tile. Additionally, Colour Grow is fully breathable which basically means it will allow any damp in the subfloor to rise through the tile and evaporate at the surface. This is an important consideration for old floors without a damp proof membrane as a non-breathable sealer can cause problems with damp building up under the floor.

 

The client was delighted with the result and was really pleased to see the floor restored to its former glory. As you can see from the photos the floor now looks clean and bright and this vastly improved the appearance of the hallway in keeping with the rest of this beautiful period property.

 

Source: Victorian Tile Cleaning and Restoration Service in Macclesfield

Renovating a Classic Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in North London

This 1930’s North London property in Mill Hill had a classic tiled hallway floor laid with black and white tiles in a diamond pattern and reminiscent of the Victorian era some thirty years earlier but still popular at the time the house was built. Mill Hill was first recorded as Myllehill in 1547 and appears to be named after a "hill with a windmill”. Over the years it’s merged with the surrounding towns and is now a desirable suburb in the North London Borough of Barnet.

I first spoke to the owner of the property over the phone to get an idea of what was required and work out a convenient time to take a look at the floor; we often get customers looking for a quote over the phone but this is not always easy to do as you never know what problems you might find with an older floor until you get there.

On inspection I could see there were in fact a large number of loose tiles in the central part of the floor which would need to be reset and grouted, the floor would also need to be deep cleaned and re-sealed with a suitable sealer to get it back to its former glory. I was confident we could soon get the floor looking how it should and after discussing the process, agreed a price and a timescale for the project. The owner was keen to get the job completed as soon as possible.

Cleaning/Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Firstly, we prepared the area with protective polythene tapes to thresholds, carpets, and door fronts to ensure the surrounding areas were protected. To clean the floor a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied, this is a concentrated, multi-purpose high-alkaline cleaner, stripper and degreaser and is highly recommended for use on natural stone, tile and grout. The tiles were scrubbed with both floor pads and brushes, it is easier to use brushes in the more intricate areas.


After the scrubbing we rinsed, and steam cleaned the floor, removing the slurry generated during the cleaning process with a wet vacuum. It was now nicely prepared ready for carrying out the repairs and the cleaning process was useful in identifying those tiles which needed extra attention.

The repairs involved resetting 50 to 60 loose tiles, the process requires carefully removing the tile, scraping out the old adhesive and grout and then replacing with new. The area is cleaned and then when the adhesive has set the tiles are re grouted in a grout chosen to best match the original. Luckily there were no damaged tiles on this floor which made the job easier. Although, we can usually track down replacements when they are needed!

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

We then left the hallway to dry off overnight, returning the next day we used a moisture meter to check the floor was dry and suitable for sealing. Old floors like these have no damp proof membrane fitted under the floor so can take time to dry out, fortunately we completed this work during warm weather, so all the readings were good.

Victorian style tiles are quite porous, so we found we need to apply give coats of sealer before they were fully sealed. We selected Tile Doctor Seal & Go to seal the tiles, it’s a specially formulated water-based blend of acrylic polymers that adds a durable stain resistant surface and leaves an appealing low-sheen finish. Being water based it doesn’t leave a smell as it dries, and it also a breathable sealer that can cope with the lack of a damp proof membrane ensuring moisture doesn’t become trapped under the floor.


The client was very happy with the completed job, the work took a day and half to complete. Considering how many tiles had been loose the job had turned out very well. The floor is now much more manageable for her and the hallway tiles life has now been prolonged.




Source: Victorian Tile Cleaning and Polishing Service in London