Victorian Tiled Floor Hidden Under a Carpet Restored in Balham

This post is about a house in Balham where the owner was doing some renovation work and after deciding to change the flooring in the hallway they discovered an original Victorian tiled flooring. They were interested in restoring the floor unfortunately their builders did not listen and didn't bother to put down any protection when decorating leaving it in a worse condition than when they found it.

Cleaning the Victorian Tiled Floor

To initially clean the floor I put down a 50/50 mixture of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and Nanotech Ultraclean diluted with four parts water; this makes a powerful alkaline cleaner that is safe to use on tiles and contains tiny abrasive particles to cut through the grime. This solution was left to seep on the tile for twenty minutes before being agitated using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This action did well to deep clean the tiles and remove dirt but there was still plenty of other problems to deal with including paint from the decorating and glue from the carpet.

In removing the glue and paint I treated the surface with Tile Doctor Remove and Go which as its name suggest is designed to remove coatings from the surface of tiles without damaging them. Working in sections the product was left to seep in for forty minutes on the surface of the tile before being worked in by hand into the glue and paint. Once it had all been removed I gave the whole floor a scrub with Grout Clean-Up to remove grout from the surface of the tile and this brightened up the colors. Last step was to give the floor a thorough rinse down using clean water, this is quite important and you need to ensure any trace of product has been removed before sealing. The water was removed using a wet vacuum which literally sucks the water off the floor and reduces drying times, the floor was still fairly damp at this stage so we called it a day leaving an air blower in place to help the floor to dry overnight.

Sealing Victorian Tiles

The following day, I decided to seal the tiles using Tile Doctor Color Grow which is an impregnating sealer that penetrates into the pores of the tile blocking any dirt from getting in and making the tiles easier to clean.

Two coats were sufficient and Color Grow also brings out the color in the tile improving its look, certainly my customer thought so as all they could say was:

"AMAZING I didn't think it was possible to get like this."

Resolving Terrazzo Floor Tile Problems

I previously restored an Quarry Tiled floor for the owner of this residence near Caerphilly Castle and was asked back to deep clean their Terrazzo hallway floor which was far from looking its best.

Restoring a Terrazzo Floor

Terrazzo is a very hard surface and needs to be burnished to get the best results so after scrubbing the floor with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and a black scrubbing pad to remove what felt like 100 plus years of black dirt I set about burnishing the floor with a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads and a little water. The set comprises of four different grades of diamond pads ranging from coarse to smooth that produce a shiny clean surface. The floor is rinsed between pads to remove any slurry from the process and given another rinse at the end.

Sealing a Terrazzo Floor

The hard Terrazzo soon dried and I was able to seal the floor with the application of three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing impregnating sealer which will prevent staining and make it easier to clean in future. Once the last coat was dry I and gave the floor a further polish with the 4th stage green pad to give a true deep shine. I think you will agree that what was once an old and tired terrazzo hallway floor now looks much better following its facelift, something that was only made possible due the quality of installation when first laid. Source: Professional advice for Terrazzo tiles

How to Cut Rubber Floors: 5 Tips

Cutting rubber floors can be a challenge to anyone who has not attempted this before, but if you use a good technique, have the right tools and materials, you'll find it's much easier than it seems.

What You'll Need

• Utility knife
• Soap and water solution
• Straightedge
• Gloves

Tip 1 – Protect Yourself
Always wear heavy gloves to protect your hands from being cut by a sharp knife.

Tip 2 – Choosing the Right Surface to Cut on
When cutting rubber with a utility knife, never lay your rubber on a surface you don't want to scratch up.

Tip 3 – Cutting a Straight Line
If you want to cut a straight line through your rubber, be sure the straightedge you use extends completely across the surface you plan to cut. Your straightedge should always be metal.

Tip 4 – Lubricating the Knife
Rubber has a natural drag that will make it hard for even a sharp knife to cut through. To overcome this drag, dip your knife in a solution of water and soap before you begin cutting.

Tip 5 – Score Your Rubber
The first cut through your rubber, unless the rubber is very thin, will not cut completely through the rubber, but it will score the rubber and act as a guide for your second cut, which will then cut through the rubber.



Source: www.DoItYourself.com

Refreshing Slate Tiled Floor in Ulveston

This property in Ulveston had formerly been used as a guest house and was now being renovated and reverted into a home. The kitchen and conservatory had a Slate tiled floor and as you can see, it had seen a fair amount of wear from the numerous fried breakfasts that had been prepared in there. The owners had decided to replace the kitchen but were keen to keep the slate floor however it was in a bad state and looked as if it had never been cleaned and sealed for some time.

I did a small test using Tile Doctor Remove and Go (which you can see in the video below) and it came up really well, naturally we were booked to come back and finish the rest of the floor which I had estimated would take two days.

Cleaning Slate Floor Tiles

Two weeks later I turned up at 9am as agreed and set up my equipment, the kitchen had already been removed so with the exception on the cooker little preparation was required. I worked in small areas using a high pressure spinner tool to remove as much dirt off the tiles as possible and a wet vacuum to remove the soiled water.

Stubborn areas were treated with Remove and Go and then I moved onto the next job which was to clean up the grout. For this I used a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a alkaline tile and grout cleaner that is safe to use on natural stone. It was scrubbed in using a stiff brush and then rinsed off with clean water, again using the wet vacuum to remove the soiled solution. The floor was now clean but still damp so I tidied up my tools and left for the day.

Sealing Slate Floor Tiles

The Next day I returned and checked the floor to ensure it was dry and that I hadn't missed anything. All was well so I started to seal the floor with five thin coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is an ideal sealer for slate as it adds a nice subtle sheen to the tile and being water based there is no smell as it dries. The sealer was applied using a paint pad applicator and each coat took around about twenty minutes to dry.

When it was complete and the floor had dried I packed up my equipment and spent some time talking to the customer to check they were happy with the results (they were very happy) and to advise them on how to keep the beauty floor by using with a neutral tile cleaner going forward which will help extend the life of the sealer.

Victorian Tilled Hallway Cleaned and Sealed in Allesley

Popular as they are in the UK it wasn't long before I was called back to refurbish another Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor this time in the town of Allesley near Coventry. This tiles were densely soiled and had been splashed with paint from decorating, on top of this there was evidence of adhesive from when the floor had been previously covered in carpet and there were a number of damaged tiles that needed replacing.

Cleaning Victorian Tiles

To get rid of paint and dirt I decided to go straight for a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was left to soak into the tiles for around thirty minutes before scrubbing it in with a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. The dirty solution was rinsed away with water and sucked with a wet vacuum and stubborn areas and grout re-treated with a scrubbing brush by hand.

I wasn't entirely happy with the condition of the tiles at this point so the next procedure was to scrub in a dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which is an acid based product that effectively removes grout haze, mineral deposits, rust stains and efflorescence. This did the trick but being an acid based product you can't leave it on the tiles for too long and so was washed off soon after and the tiles washed down with tap water.

I scraped out the grout surrounding the damaged tiles and lifted them out, I had already arranged replacements so once that was done and tidied up it was just a question of putting the replacement in place with tile adhesive and re-grouting using a sympathetic grout colour to match the aged existing grout.

My work was done for the day so I left a couple of fans running to help dry the floor and left for the day.

Sealing Victorian floor tiles

I came back the following day to seal the floor using Tile Doctor High Shine sealer which offers stain protection as well as a very shiny finish; five coats were needed to get it fully sealed.

Victorian Mosaic Hallway Tiles Cleaned and Sealed in Glasgow

These unusual period Victorian mosaic tiled floor at a residence in the west end of Glasgow were far from looking their best and obviously needed deep cleaning.

Cleaning a Victorian Floor

I'll try and keep the details short so as not to lose your attention but basically the tiles were first stripped from all sealers and coatings that had been previously applied to the floor using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was left to soak for an hour before working it in with a rotary machine equipped with a black scrubbing pad and then rinsing the floor with water which was extracted using a wet vacuum. Secondly we then cleaned the floor four times using a rotary machine and a strong mixture of Pro-Clean which was again wet extracted and rinsed again. Finally we cleaned and rinsed the floor using Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner to neutralise the tiles from any products which may affect the sealer before leaving the floor overnight to dry assisted with a turbo air mover.

Sealing a Victorian Floor Sealing

Once the floor was dry it was then sealed using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which brings out the colour in the tile and provides the matt effect the owners were looking for as well as protecting the floor from staining.

Repairing An Abused Victorian Tiled Hallway in Cardiff

This is an original Victorian tiled hallway floor in Cardiff that dated back 1890. The previous householders of which had a radiator installed serviced by laying pipes right through the middle of the floor destroying the tiles as they went, they then back filled the channel with cement. On top of that many of the other tiles had been splashed with cement and paint.

Repairing Victorian Floor Tiles

My first job was to carefully remove the cement from the channel and to precisely cut back any old cement bedding and old cement grout away from any tile edges in preparation for the replacement tiles which luckily I was able to get hold of.

After all the preparation I started carefully scraping off cement from all around the edges of the remaining tiles as well as gloss and emulsion splashes from the surface essentially giving the whole floor a thorough scrape with a hand held scraper vacuuming up the mess as I worked. Impressively for a floor of its age, I tested the floor in various places for moisture and found it to be perfectly dry.

Cleaning a Victorian Floor

To clean the floor I mixed three parts Tile Doctor Remove and Go with NanoTech UltraClean which basically adds small abrasive particles to a powerful sealer and coatings remover making it even more efficient. This was applied to the whole floor and left to soak in for an hour making sure not to let it dry out by applying further amounts; leaving it to dwell for an hour gives it time to eat away any dirt and coatings on the tile making the scrubbing procedure easier.

To scrub the tiles I used a rotary machine equipped with a black scrubbing pad while rinsing and extracting the soiled solution along the way. This cleaned up the tiles well however there were still some cement stains so this time Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up was applied to the floor in sections and left for about ten minutes to dwell before working it in with another black scrubbing pad and rinsing off. This product is acid based so you can't leave on the tiles for too long; once I was happy with the final result the whole floor was given a thorough rinse with plenty of clean water using a wet vacuum to extract the waste and dry the floor.

The channel was then filled with cement and once it had set replacement replica Victorian tiles from The Original Tile Company were installed. I then grouted the floor in a medium grey grout let the tiles become solid and the grout go hard before using a steam cleaner to make sure that I have removed all the tile doctor cleaning solutions prior to sealing.

Sealing a Victorian Floor Sealing

The customer loved a semi-gloss finish so once I had tested the floor again to make sure it was dry I sealed the tiles with Tile Doctor Seal and Go which improves the colour of the floor tiles and adds a nice sheen.

As you can see the new tiles fitted beautifully and the old floor tiles cleaned up so successfully the difference is impossible to spot. It was a lot of painstaking work though taking five days to finish but well worth the result.