I received a request to quote for the restoration of this Victorian tiled floor in the hallway of a property in Chepstow. As you can see from the photograph below was in a very poor condition.
I visited the property to survey the floor and could see that although it had not been well maintained it was in good physical condition except for a few loose tiles. From experience I knew it would respond well to a deep clean and seal, so I carried out a test clean on a small area to demonstrate its potential. The tiles came up well and my client was satisfied it would be worthwhile to have it restored.
I worked out a quote which was accepted and a date set for the work to start which would take two days.
Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway
To get all the dirt out of the pores of the tiles I started with a strong dilution of Tile Doctors Remove and Go. This was sprayed onto the floor and left to soak in for ten minutes before being scrubbed in with a 17” Black pad fitted to a rotary machine.
It’s always difficult to find out the history of a floor but from what I could tell the tiles had been exposed to a variety of contaminants including paint, plaster, cement, and worn in dirt. Luckily, Remove and Go can handle all of these. I had to repeat the process on the stubborn stains and then removed all the slurry and dirt using a wet vacuum.
I then moved onto the loose tiles which needed to have the old adhesive removed from the tile and the base. The original tiles were then cleaned up by hand before new rapid setting adhesive was applied to secure them back into the floor.
Once the loose tiles had set, I moved onto the next step of giving the floor an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel. This product further cleans up the tiles by removing old grout smears and dissolving efflorescent salts in the floor. This is a common issue in properties of this age which do not have a damp proof membrane to stop moisture rising through the tile. This process also neutralises the pH level of the floor after the use of Remove and Go which is a strong alkaline cleaning product. The floor was rinsed again afterwards, and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum before leaving it to dry overnight.
Sealing a Victorian Tiled Kitchen
The next day the moisture levels of the tiles were checked with a damp meter to ensure they were dry enough to be sealed. The readings were fine, so I was able to start applying the sealer. In this case two coats of Tile Doctors Colour Grow sealer where applied which is a colour enhancing impregnator that allows for moisture vapour transmission. This is a super durable product which will give great protection to the floor, especially when it is in a high traffic area such as a hallway.
Once complete the floor was transformed and my client was extremely happy with the result. To maintain the sealer and to prevent accelerated break down I left the client with a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Ph Neutral Tile Cleaner.
Never use a steam cleaner or strong cleaning product on sealed tile or stone as this will reduce the life of the sealer. We recommend using a specialist tile cleaning product such as Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for the regular cleaning of sealed surfaces. if you do use another product always read the label first, most supermarket tile cleaners are only suitable for use on Ceramic and Vinyl tiles.