How to Restore and Extend a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

This client had recently moved into an older property in Bridgend and having pulled up the previous hallway covering had found a heavily soiled Victorian tiled floor underneath. However, for some reason we never discovered the answer to it only ran from the porch to the foot of the stairs which I guess explains why it had been covered up and neglected.


The client asked if we would be able to restore the existing Victorian floor and if would be possible to extend the tiling throughout the hall continuing the original pattern. Cleaning the original floor and completing the tiling work didn't present a problem however it can be tricky finding tiles to match the pattern of the original floor. Unsure if it could be done, I offered to do some research and get back to him once I had found a workable solution.

Fortunately, there are still a few suppliers that produce tiles and after speaking with other members of the Tile Doctor network I was able to source matching tiles. The owner was still keen to proceed and so I agreed a price, placed an order for the tiles and scheduled a date to start the work.

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Before starting the tiling work, I applied a latex levelling compound to bring the height of the floor we were going to lay up, level and flush with the existing Victorian floor. After allowing the latex to dry and now having an equally level surface, we were ready to begin laying.


Laying a tiled floor to match an existing pattern is a tricky process as your constantly having to check the geometry of the pattern as well as keeping everything in line with our levels. Another issue we ran into with this job was the new tiles that we had ordered, all differed in width from the originals which made it a very long strenuous process having to cut them to fit.


Once the floor was laid and had dried out it was time to turn our attention to the original floor which needed several deep cleans. For this we used Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was worked in with a black scrubbing pad to release all the ingrained dirt from the tile. The dirt was then rinsed off and extracted with a wet vacuum.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The job took eight days in total and ended with the application of five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go sealer. Each coat is left to dry before applying the next. This seal gives the floor protection and a lovely finish. This final step of sealing really brought both floors together and left the subtle sheen finish the client requested.

For aftercare I left the client a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, which we recommend for cleaning sealed tiled floors. Neutral clean has a pH neutral formula which won’t harm the sealer like stronger cleaners which can prematurely strip a sealer off the floor.




Source: Victorian Tile Cleaning and Restoration Service in Swansea

Putting New Life into a Classic Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in Swansea

I was called to a property in the Mumbles area of Swansea, one of my favourite places and in fact listed in 2018 Best Places to Live. In the UK report, The Sunday Times listed Mumbles as the best in Wales, so it is always a pleasure to visit this area.

The hallway at the property had a lovely example of a classic Victorian Tiled floor containing a very detailed pattern consisting of expensive blue square and triangular shaped tiles. The tiles were a lovely and unusual pattern and in good physical condition with no cracked or replacement tiles required. It had however, been some time since the floor was last cleaned and sealed and so they contacted me, their local Tile Doctor representative to renovate the floor for them. The owners of the house recognised that it's well worth preserving original features like Victorian tiled floors as period floors like this are in demand and add value to a property. They were therefore keen to get it back to its’ near original state.

Cleaning/Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

To restore the appearance of the tiles I used a 200-Grit diamond encrusted burnishing pad to remove the dirt and restore the condition of the tiles. This is run over the floor using water to lubricate and then rinsed off with water afterwards to remove the soil that is generated. This was then followed up with a 400-Grit pad which cleans and restores the surface which is left roughened after the application of the coarse 200-grit pad. This pad is again applied with water and then the floor rinsed afterwards to remove the soiling and the water is extracted using a wet vacuum.

The next step was to acid rinse the floor using Tile Doctor Acid-Gel, this is an important step for old Victorian tiled floors which have no damp proof membrane. It neutralises any inherent salts in the floor which rise through the tile from evaporation leaving unsightly white deposits on the surface. The acid gel is left to dwell for a short time and then it is scrubbed into the tile with a deck brush and then removed using the wet vacuum, the floor was then given a final rinse to neutralise it before sealing. However, for that to happen I needed the floor to be dry so after cleaning the floor I left it to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The next day I came back to the house to seal the floor. The floor had dried out nicely due to the fine weather, I quickly did a moisture test to be sure, then I was ready to move on to the sealing process.

The Mumbles area is close to the coast, so for this project I decided to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow which being an impregnating fully breathable sealer would cope better with the salty sea air. Colour Grow is a matt finish sealer that seeps into the tile occupying the small pores and in doing so prevents dirt from becoming ingrained there, it’s also a colour enhancing product that improves the colour in the tile.

After I had finished the floor was left looking restored, fresh and the vibrantly coloured pattern shone through. The client was very happy with the end result.




Source: Victorian Tile Cleaning and Sealing Service in Swansea

Achieving a High Shine on a Travertine Tiled Floor

This customer from Swansea was unhappy with the look of her Travertine floor tiles and so decided to call in tile doctor after she had seen pictures of other travertine floor tiles on one of our websites and wanted hers to look the same. The natural brown shades of her own Travertine tiles had become very dark and were looking dull and lifeless in comparison. It was clear to me that the Sealer was wearing thin with use and dirt had now penetrated the pores of the stone making it difficult to clean effectively. This is a common problem with stone floors and this is why Tile Doctor offer a maintenance service where we pop round once a year to top-up the sealer on your floor.

Stripping and Re-Polishing Travertine

To restore the polished appearance of the floor the stone would need to be stripped of any remaining sealer and dirt, re-polished and then sealed; we find the best way to achieve that is through the application of a set of Diamond encrusted burnishing pads. I started the burnishing process by fitting a coarse 400 grit no.1 burnishing pad to a floor buffer and running at a slow speed ran the pad across the whole floor. This coarse pad is designed to strip off old sealers and dirt from the tile. You use a little water to help lubricate and once complete it’s necessary to rinse the area with water to remove the soil that is generated. The next step is to start building back the polish with the 800 and then 1500 grit pads which are applied in the same manner. The floor was then rinsed again with water and I turned my attention to the grout which was scrubbed by hand using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a stiff brush. The floor was given another rinse and then inspected to ensure I hadn’t missed anything. Before leaving for the day I used the wet vacuum to extract as much moisture from the floor as possible.

Sealing Travertine Floor Tiles

On the second day I finished the banishing process with the application of the final of the four pads which is a very fine 3000 grit pad which adds a final polish to the surface leaving it looking shiny. This last pad is applied with a small amount of water spayed onto the tile in a process we call a spray burnish. The use of water is so small the floor remains dry enabling us to apply a sealer shortly afterwards. There are some beautiful brown shades in Travertine and so to really make them standout I sealed the floor using a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone protecting it from within. The sealer will also make ongoing cleaning and maintenance easier for the customer.


The customer was very pleased with the result and commented on how clean and deep the shine had come out using the Diamond pad system.


Before leaving I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap as an aftercare cleaner, this produce is specially designed for cleaning polished stone, not only does it helps build patina, but it won’t prematurely erode the sealer like many acidic cleaners you find in the supermarket which should really only be used on ceramics and Vinyl tiles.


Source: Travertine Cleaning and Polishing Service in Swansea

Restoring Old Victorian Lobby Tiles and Hallway

The owner of this property in Swansea contacted me recently about a two-part job that would involve the restoration of both a Quarry tiled hallway and a Victorian tiled lobby. The property itself dates back to 1918 - making it nearly a century old - and its safe to assume that both sets of tiles Read more...

Removing Lippage from a Polished Travertine Floor

The customer, who lives in Swansea, the second largest city in Wales after Cardiff, had been searching for a company to rectify the problems with his Travertine tiled floor for a few months with no luck. Fortunately, he discovered Tile Doctor online and as their local agent I was asked to assess Read more...

Uneven Travertine Tiled Floor Levelled and Polished in Swansea

The customer, who lives in Swansea, the second largest city in Wales after Cardiff, had been searching for a company to rectify the problems with his Travertine tiled floor for a few months with no luck. Fortunately, he discovered Tile Doctor online and as their local agent I was asked to assess the problems first hand. Upon my inspection, I was quite astounded by the way the Travertine floor had been installed. It covered an around 60 square metres and suffering severe lipping of 2-3 mm in Read more...

Quarry and Victorian Tiles Repaired, Cleaned and Sealed in Swansea

The owner of this property in Swansea contacted me recently about a two-part job that would involve the restoration of both a Quarry tiled hallway and a Victorian tiled lobby. The property itself dates back to 1918 - making it nearly a century old - and its safe to assume that both sets of tiles are of a similar age. As you can see from the photographs, they had certainly had absorbed a lot of wear and tear over the years, and as these tiles get older it becomes in increasingly difficult to Read more...

To read more on this topic click here

Quarry and Victorian Tiles Repaired, Cleaned and Sealed in Swansea

The owner of this property in Swansea contacted me recently about a two-part job that would involve the restoration of both a Quarry tiled hallway and a Victorian tiled lobby. The property itself dates back to 1918 - making it nearly a century old - and its safe to assume that both sets of tiles are of a similar age. As you can see from the photographs, they had certainly had absorbed a lot of wear and tear over the years, and as these tiles get older it becomes in increasingly difficult to Read more...

Restoring Old Victorian Lobby Tiles and Hallway

The owner of this property in Swansea contacted me recently about a two-part job that would involve the restoration of both a Quarry tiled hallway and a Victorian tiled lobby. The property itself dates back to 1918 - making it nearly a century old - and its safe to assume that both sets of tiles Read more...

To read more on this topic click here