Victorian Tile Cleaning Archives - North Lincolnshire Tile Doctor

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Restoration Mablethorpe

Neglected Victorian Tiled Hallway Rebuilt at Mablethorpe Air B&B

Last year I was asked to restore a Victorian tiled floor in the hallway of a property in Mablethorpe which was let out to Holidaymakers. Mablethorpe has a beautiful long sandy beach and is very popular seaside resort, however being so close to the coast does leave it exposed.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before Restoration Mablethorpe

Like many old floors it had certainly seen a lot of wear and as well as a deep clean and seal I identified numerous tiles that would need replacing. None of this was an issue and as part of my quote for restoring the floor I agreed to source the tiles from a specialist supplier.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before Restoration Mablethorpe

Happy with my quote a date was set for the end of the main season for my return to do the work.

Repairing a Damaged Victorian Tiled Hallway in Mablethorpe

Work started with the repair work and I set about carefully removing the broken and loose tiles, I say carefully as its quite easy to disturb adjacent tiles when doing this and I didn’t want to make the job any bigger. Unfortunately, I discovered that the base beneath the tiles had crumbled in several areas so there was nothing for it but to remove large sections of tiling so it could be rebuilt.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor During Restoration Mablethorpe

As many of the original tiles were cleaned up for re-use as possible and once the base had been repaired, I was able to start reconstructing the tile floor to march the original pattern. This is careful work and involves cutting and shaping a lot of replacement tiles to match the original pattern and dry fitting them until I the design had been reproduced.

Once I was happy with the pattern the tiles were stuck into place and grouted. It was meticulous work and took several days to complete.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Mablethorpe

The floor was left to set before returning to do a deep clean with Tile Doctor Remove and Go scrubbed into the tiles with a black pad fitted to a rotary machine. The floor was then rinsed with water and the slurry extracted with a wet vacuum. This product as its name suggests is a coatings remover and tile cleaner that does a good job of removing old sealers and dirt.

Next the floor was given an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which was pasted onto the tiles and then brushed in. This product also cleans the floor and being acidic this product neutralises the floor following the use of Remove and Go which is a strong alkaline. It also dissolves any salts that may be lying dormant in the floor which is a common problem with floors of this age that don’t have a damp-proof membrane.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor During Restoration Mablethorpe

After this the floor was rinsed and wet vacuumed to remove as much moisture as possible. Once done the floor was left to dry out for a couple of days.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway

The last step in the restoration was to apply a protective sealer to the tiles which would improve the finish and add protection. Sealers work by keeping dirt on the surface where they can easily be cleaned away and for this floor, we had chosen Tile Doctor Colour Grow.

Colour Grow is a hard-wearing impregnator that soaks into the pores of the tile protecting it from within and as its name suggests improves the colours in the tiles in the process. This product is also fully breathable which is an ideal feature when choosing a sealer for old floors like this one.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor After Restoration Mablethorpe

Once complete the floor was structurally sound and should last another 100 years. It also looked much cleaner and brighter and most importantly my client was very happy with the result.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor After Restoration Mablethorpe

For aftercare I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which un-like many of the stronger products you find in supermarkets won’t impact the sealer and reduce its life.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Lincolnshire

Neglected Victorian Tiled Hallway Rebuilt at Mablethorpe Air B&B Read More »

Flood Damaged Victorian Hallway Renovated at Cleethorpes Guest House

I was asked to look at renovating a Victorian tiled hallway floor for a guesthouse owner in Cleethorpes. There had been a flood at the property and the tiles had developed a White blooming which is usually a sign of Efflorescence. Also, a wooden floor in an adjoining corridor had been damaged and had to be lifted and in doing so the discovered that the Victorian floor actually continued along the corridor, which was a nice surprise.

Victorian Floor Before Renovation Cleethorpes

Another issue was the old mat well by the front door where the tiles around the edge were coming away. I could have repaired that with salvaged tiles, but the client wanted a cheaper option, so I suggested making several repairs with the tiles we had available and rebuilding the matt well with a new piece of matting. This was the option she was happy with.

Victorian Floor Before Renovation Cleethorpes

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I first carried out a deep clean to Victorian tiles in the adjoining corridor to remove the glue that had been used to secure the wooden floor, it was also covered in paint splashed from decorating, however, my method should take care of both these problems.

I used a combination of Tile Doctor Remove and Go mixed with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to create a strong coatings remover/tile cleaning solution and left it to soak on the tiles for ten to twenty minutes. This gave it time to break down and soften the paint and glue, it was then removed using a hand scraper with some assistance from a steamer. The mess generated from the process was then rinsed off and extracted with a wet vacuum.

To counter the efflorescence and further clean up both the corridor tiles and the main hallway I treated the tiles to an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel. This is left for another ten minutes before being worked into the floors and then rinsed off and extracted as before. Being an acid, it will neutralise the alkaline efflorescent salts in the floor, it also cleans the tiles to remove old cement and grout.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The next day the corridor floor was dry enough to seal with Tile Doctor Colour Grow and between coats I carried on with the cleaning the rest of the hallway which needed more attention.

The problem I had with the hallway was that the white blooming wasn’t just efflorescence, it turns out it still had traces of an old topical sealer on the tiles and that would need to be stripped off. I used more Tile Doctor Remove and Go for this, working in a strong dilution until all the sealer had gone. Again, this was rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

Once this was all done, I reset all the tiles around the mat well. Finally, I laid some self-levelling compound within the well to get it to the required height.

Victorian Floor During Renovation Cleethorpes

On the third day I made up a wooden frame for the mat well and secured it down before cutting a piece of matting to fit in snuggly. I then finished off sealing the hallway floor using Tile Doctor Colour Grow to get a consistent look between the corridor and main hallway. While I was waiting for everything to dry, I even gave the front entrance tiles a complimentary clean.

Victorian Floor After Renovation Cleethorpes

The floor was completely transformed by the work, and I’m pleased to say my client was over the moon with what had been carried out. For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is safe to use on sealed floors and will help keep the floor looking beautiful for many years to come.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in North Lincolnshire

Flood Damaged Victorian Hallway Renovated at Cleethorpes Guest House Read More »

Victorian Hallway Floor Restoration Scunthorpe

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Repaired and Restored in Scunthorpe

1 Comment / Scunthorpe Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning / William

This Victorian tile floor was found under a carpet in a property in Scunthorpe during redecoration. The client asked if it could be cleaned up and some minor repairs carried out so we scheduled a date for me to go over and survey the floor.

Victorian Floor Before Restoration Scunthorpe

Whilst at the property I took some measurements so I could create an accurate quote for doing the work. Sometimes I can price the work off photographs but with old floors like this I prefer to take a detailed look as you never know what you might find. Another consideration is efflorescence due to it being covered in carpet and probably rubber backed underlay, materials like this prevent the floor from breathing. Old floors like this one don’t have a damp-proof membrane it is best to let the floor dry out before doing any further work.

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

My quotation was accepted, and the work started by addressing the the repairs using the tiles provided. The repairs however turned out to be more than expected as I discovered lots of patches that required lifting and re-fixed in place using a rapid setting adhesive and grout; this was unexpected but had to be done.

Victorian Floor During Restoration Scunthorpe

The next day with the floor now stable, I started the cleaning process using Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a strong alkaline product that cleans tiles and removes coatings. This is sprayed onto the floor and left to dwell for twenty minutes before being worked into the tiles using a buffer machine fitted with a Black scrubbing pad. This process breaks down old sealers and soils lifting them to the surface where they can be removed. The residue was then rinsed away using minimal water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

After rinsing I then repeated the process with Tile Doctor Acid Gel which further cleans up the tiles and dissolves any alkaline salts in the floor that might result in efflorescence later. As the name suggests this is an acidic product, it also neutralises the pH level of the floor after the use of alkaline cleaning products earlier.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The hallway was then left to dry for a couple of days before returning to seal with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which has a matt finish. This is a hardwearing sealer which will ensure the high traffic area is protected and allows the natural colours of the Victorian tiles to shine through. The other reason this sealer was chosen though was that its fully breathable and will allow moisture to rise through the floor.

Victorian Floor After Restoration Scunthorpe

The client was over the moon with the result especially as I had kept to the quote and not charged for the additional tiling work. Before leaving I took time to discuss ongoing maintenance cleaning of the Victorian tiles and recommend the use of Neutral Tile Cleaner which won’t affect the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Lincolnshire

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Repaired and Restored in Scunthorpe Read More »

Painted Victorian Hallway Floor Tile Restoration Louth

Tile Paint Removed from Victorian Hallway Tiles in Louth

1 Comment / Louth Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning / William

These photos taken at a property in Louth area great example of how well old Victorian tiles respond to restoration. A previous owner of the property had decided they didn’t like the classic look of the tiled floor and decided to modernise the look by painting over the whole floor with white tile paint.

Roll on twenty years and the paint had started to wear away and the whole floor was looking rather miserable. The current property owners (and quite sensibly on my opinion) had realised the value and original period floor can add to a property and rather than cover the whole thing up decided to get in touch with Tile Doctor about the possibility of having it restored.

Painted Victorian Hallway Floor Tiled Louth Before Paint Removal

I went over to Louth to survey the tiles and run some tests to see what would shift the paint and whether the tiles underneath could be saved. Fortunately, the results were encouraging and gave them a price for restoring the whole floor back to its original state. This included removing the paint, deep cleaning the tiles and then sealing to protect it.

Removing Paint from a Victorian Tiled Floor

To remove the layer of paint from the surface of the tiles, I needed to use a solvent remover product specifically designed to remove paints, this was applied liberally to the affected area and left to dwell.

Once the stripper had removed top layer coat of paint I was left with a grey undercoat. To lift this out of the tiles and grout I used Tile Doctor Remove & Go in combination with a steamer. The heat of the steamer helped to strip away the excess paint, making removal a much easier process. Remove & Go is a multi-purpose coatings remover designed to remove all sorts of products including sealers, paint, and adhesives, all of which seemed to be present on these tiles.

Painted Victorian Hallway Floor Tiled Louth During Paint Removal

The process was quite time consuming but it had the added bonus of lifting out dirt trapped in the pores of the Victorian tiles leaving them clean. To finish the floor was rinsed with water and the soiling removed with an industrial wet vacuum.

Painted Victorian Hallway Floor Tiled Louth After Paint Removal

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Floor

After leaving the area to dry for a full five days, I returned to the property to seal the tiles which would improve their appearance further and will protect them from dirt becoming ingrained in the pores.

My choice of sealer was Tile Doctor Seal & Go, which is a water-based blend of acrylic polymers designed to provide both a stain resistant surface seal and a long-lasting low-sheen finish. It is suitable for use on most kinds of unsealed, porous surfaces, including Slate, Quarry and Sandstone but works equally well on Victorian tiled floors.

Once complete the floor was transformed, and the owner much relived it had been possible to remove the paint and restore the original beauty of the hallway tiles.

Painted Victorian Hallway Floor Tiled Louth After Restoration

For aftercare I recommend Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner, it’s a gentle but effective cleaner that won’t harm the seal. You have to be very careful when choosing a sealer for sealed floors as many contain bleach and are simply too strong resulting in the sealer being worn away prematurely.

Professional Restoration of Victorian Hallway Floor Tiles in Lincolnshire

Tile Paint Removed from Victorian Hallway Tiles in Louth Read More »