Colour Grow Archives - Edinburgh Tile Doctor

Victorian Tiled Vestibule Floor Renovation Trinity Edinburgh

Restoring a Heavily Soiled Victorian Tiled Vestibule Floor in Trinity Edinburgh

I was recently contacted by a homeowner in the Trinity district of Edinburgh, who owns a charming Victorian property. They had discovered a stunning original Victorian tiled floor in the vestibule that had been covered up for some time and was now in need of some TLC. The tiles were largely intact however they were very badly soiled, covered in adhesive residues, and dulled by decades of grime and neglect.

Victorian Tiled Vestibule Before Clean and Seal Trinity Edinburgh

Victorian tiles are a classic feature of period homes, often made from encaustic or geometric clay tiles. They’re very robust but can suffer damage or lose their vibrancy if not properly maintained. With the right cleaning products and equipment, they do come rather well and having seen some of the examples on my website of similar floors they were keen for me to work the same magic on their floor.

It wasn’t a large area so after running a few tests and measuring up I provided them with a quote that included deep cleaning the tiles including removing the adhesive and deep-seated dirt and then add a sealer for protection. Happy with the quote I got the go ahead to do the work and a date was agreed for my return.

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Vestibule Floor

The first stage was to prep the area for work. I then applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove & Go, a powerful stripper designed to break down old sealers, adhesives, and heavy soils. The product was left to dwell for fifteen to twenty minutes before being agitated with a rotary floor machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This started to lift away years of embedded dirt and residue.

In areas with particularly stubborn adhesive patches, I used a handheld scraper and neat Tile Doctor Remove & Go where needed. The grout and edges were detailed using stiff brushes and handheld rotary pads. After the initial clean, the floor was thoroughly rinsed with clean water and all the fluids extracted with a wet vacuum.

The tiles were then treated to an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel, an acid-based gel cleaner that further cleans the tiles and removes mineral deposits. The extra level of cleaning really helped to bring out the original colour in Victorian tiles, it also neutralises the floor after the use of alkaline cleaners.

Victorian tiles are clay-based and quite porous, so it’s essential the floor is completely dry before sealing. I left the floor to dry for several days, using air movers to assist the process.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Vestibule

Upon return, I tested the moisture levels to ensure it was ready to seal. The readings were fine so the first of two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow was applied to the floor. This is a breathable, matt, colour-enhancing impregnating sealer that works really well on Victorian tiles and is also externally rates so ideal for a hallway of vestibule. This product not only protects the tiles from staining but also lifts and intensifies the natural tones in the red, black, and ochre patterned floor.

The transformation was dramatic. What was once a dull, neglected floor is now a vibrant and character-rich entranceway, showcasing the home’s original period features. The intricate patterns of the Victorian tiles are fully visible again, and the sealer gave them a lovely satin appearance. The homeowner was delighted and how well the tiles responded.

Victorian Tiled Vestibule Before Clean and Seal Trinity Edinburgh

Before leaving I took time to discuss aftercare which for a sealed tiled floor, I recommend the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a gentle yet effective product that won’t erode the sealer.

If you have a period floor in need of restoration, I cover the Edinburgh area and would be happy to provide a free site visit and quotation. Victorian tiles can last generations with the right care—get in touch to bring yours back to life.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Vestibule in Edinburgh

Restoring a Heavily Soiled Victorian Tiled Vestibule Floor in Trinity Edinburgh Read More »

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Renovation Edinburgh

Victorian Hallway Renovated using Low Moisture Cleaning in Edinburgh

Details below of a another Victorian Hallway floor restoration that we completed recently in Edinburgh. The owner of the property was unhappy with how dull the floor had become and was keen for it to be renovated back to health.

Old Victorian tiles are porous and so do need to be sealed to protect them from ingrained dirt and staining, unfortunately sealers don’t last for ever and do wear down with use so if you want to keep your floor looking clean you do need to maintain the sealer.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Renovation Edinburgh

I’ll add more detail below but in total this project took three days to complete as there were a lot of tiles that had to be lifted and fixed back down again, this was all done on the first day and once set the whole porch area had to be regrouted.

Renovating a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in Edinburgh

As mentioned above the first day was spent ensuring the tiles were secure. This involved checking every tile by hand in the hallway and porch floor and identifying all the problems so they could be removed cleaned up and then re-laid with fresh adhesive.

It’s a lot of manual work but by the end of the first day the tiled floor was solid and ready for cleaning although I decided to come back to do the cleaning a few days later to give the repairs time to set.

Old floors like this one don’t have a damp proof membrane under the floor so you have to be wary of how much water you use during cleaning, if you use too much it could take days or even weeks before the floor dries out you can seal it. Fortunately, we have a solution and for situations like this we adopt a method called “Low Moisture Cleaning”

Victorian Tiled Hallway During Renovation Edinburgh

This method primarily involves giving the floor an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which being a gel is very easy to control. The gel is applied to the floor and left to dwell for a while before it is worked in with a coarse 200-grit burnishing pad. Then after going over the floor a few times with the pad the slurry extracted with a wet vacuum. The process was repeated two to three times until I was satisfied that tiles were as clean as possible. I then wiped the floor using a damp cloth dipped in a bucket with a mixture of Grout Clean-Up and water.

This method allowed us to get the tiles as clean as possible without the need of any alkaline cleaning products which can cause efflorescence issues later when the floor dries. Efflorescence is a common problem on floors of this age where a damp-proof membrane has not been fitted; moisture rises through the sub floor and tile carrying salts which then get deposited on the surface of the tile as the moisture evaporates. Once complete the floor was left to dry off overnight with an industrial fan in place to help with the drying and to ensure it would be ready for sealing the next day.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

On the final third day we returned to seal the floor testing the moisture level first with a damp meter to ensure the floor was dry. The results were positive, and I was happy that it was within the correct tolerance for the sealer to be effective. To seal the floor, we used Tile Doctor Colour Grow, applying three coats and letting each coat dry before applying the next.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Renovation Edinburgh

The sealer enhanced the deep colours in the tile and gave the floor hardwearing protection that should last many years to come, the fresh sealer will also make them easy to clean. I should mention that Colour Grow is also fully breathable which is perfect for a floor with no damp-proof membrane, in that it won’t trap moisture under the tiles where is could eventually spread to the walls and lead to rising damp.

Before leaving I took time to explain the importance of using a neutral pH tile cleaning product such as Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner for day-to-day cleaning. A lot of products you find in supermarkets contain bleach and are simply too strong for cleaning a sealed surface and will quickly erode the sealer with use.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Edinburgh

Victorian Hallway Renovated using Low Moisture Cleaning in Edinburgh Read More »

Victorian Tiled Floor Before After Restoration Edinburgh

Glue-Stained Victorian Tiled Hallway Repaired and Restored in Edinburgh

1 Comment / Edinburgh Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning / Thomas Wilson

As you can see from the photographs below this beautiful Victorian Tiled Hallway floor in Edinburgh was in a bad state of repair. The floor has been covered with carpet for many years and the thick adhesive had completely stained the tiles; in fact, you can still see the pattern of the underlay marking the worst parts of the tile. It could be worse as I have seen this done with gripper rods nailed straight through the tile before.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Edinburgh Before Restoration

On top of that part of the floor had completely collapsed between the staircase and doorway to the bathroom. This would need to be raked out, backfilled with cement and then re-tilled with replacement tiles that were a close match to the original

I discussed with the client the work needed to carry out a full restoration and gave them a quote. Aware of the fact that original tiled hallways can improve the value of a property they were happy to accept and we scheduled a date for the work to commence.

Removing Carpet Adhesive from a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Work started by carefully removing as much of the thick glue and underlay as possible with hand scrapers. Once done I treated the floor with Tile Doctor Acid Gel and scrubbed it in with a rotary floor buffer machine fitted with a Black pad. This generated a lot of soiling that was then extracted with a wet vacuum and the floor inspected.

It was obvious to see that more work was needed to remove all traces of the glue so I decided to switch up a gear and use more Acid Gel but this time scrubbed in with a very coarse 100-grit diamond pad followed by a 200-grit pad. Encrusted with industrial diamonds these pads are more expensive than the black scrubbing pads however using the black pad first did remove a lot of the large particles that would have otherwise clogged up the diamond pads. This process worked well and by the end of the afternoon I had managed to remove all the debris left by the carpet and glue.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Edinburgh During Restoration

Repairing a Collapsed Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The next ask was to focus on the collapsed section of flooring which started by cleaning out the rubble and backfilling with concrete board and cement until it was level with the existing floor.

I used around forty reproduction Victorina Tiles in this area carefully placing them to match the original pattern and cutting them to the right size where required. A fast-setting adhesive was used to fix them in place followed by grouting.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

You can’t apply a sealer to a damp floor and the tiles needed some time to dry out after the cleaning so it was around a week later before I returned to finish the work by applying a protective sealer.

Given the age of the floor I decided to apply a fully breathable sealer called Tile Doctor Colour Grow. This is an important consideration when sealing old, tiled floors as it will allow for any moisture to rise through the tile and evaporate at the surface, otherwise moisture can become trapped until the floor resulting in damp issues. Colour Grow also contains a colour enhancer that brings out the colours in the tile and works by soaking into the pores of the tile making it long lasting, again another important consideration for a busy hallway.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Edinburgh After Restoration

The client was very pleased with the newly restored floor, and for ongoing cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This product has a neutral Ph which is ideal for sealed surfaces; stronger bleach-based cleaners are simply too strong for use on sealed tiles and will erode the sealer prematurely.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in South Yorkshire

Glue-Stained Victorian Tiled Hallway Repaired and Restored in Edinburgh Read More »