victorian tiles Archives - Edinburgh Tile Doctor

Victorian Tiled Floor Before After Restoration Edinburgh

Glue-Stained Victorian Tiled Hallway Repaired and Restored in Edinburgh

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 »

Dirty Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored in Edinburgh

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

Victorian tiled floors were popularised during the 19th century and continue to be in fashion to this day. However they do need to be properly maintained and many homeowners need assistance with this as was the case with this customer in Edinburgh. Their Victorian tiled hallway floor was very dull due to several layers of ingrained dirt, and was also marked in numerous places by paint splashes from decorating. The customer was unable to deal with these issues themselves, despite trying several times with everyday cleaning products and called us in to restore the floor back to looking its best.

Victorian Entrance Hallway Before Cleaning Edinburgh

Cleaning a Dirty Victorian Tiled Hallway

To begin, I mixed a 50:50 solution of Tile Doctor Pro Clean and Tile Doctor Remove & Go which creates a powerful cleaner/stripper solution. Pro-Clean is a high alkaline cleaner, while Remove & Go is specifically designed to break down adhesives, paints and any old surface sealer.

The solution was sprayed onto the tiled floor and left it to dwell for 5-10 minutes. It was then thoroughly scrubbed into the floor, and any excess residue was promptly extracted using a wet-vac machine.

The area was too tight to allow for a heavy rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad, so I opted to complete the cleaning process by hand. To ensure a high quality clean in lieu of the absent rotary machine, I scrubbed the floor three times over, successfully removing all of the paint marks and ingrained dirt in the process.

After cleaning it was important to neutralise any excess chemicals left over on the tiles, and I did this by washing the entire floor with Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. A wet vacuum was used to remove as much moisture from the floor as possible and then it was left to dry fully overnight.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

On the second day, I returned to the house to seal the newly cleaned Victorian tiles. The customer specifically requested a natural, non-sheen finish for the surface seal; now normally I recommend Seal and Go for Victorian tiles however it does leave a shiny finish and so I switched to Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that met the client’s requirements and has the additional benefit of improving the natural shades and colours within the tile. Three coats were applied to fully protect the tiles allowing the floor to dry between each coat.

Victorian Entrance Hallway After Cleaning Edinburgh

My customer was very happy with the results achieved over the course of two days. Before leaving the property I made sure to impart some advice on cleaning products and methods, to help the customer take long-term care of this fantastic Victorian floor.

Professional Victorian Tile Maintenance Service in Edinburgh

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Removing paint from a Victorian tiled hallway floor in Polwarth

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

This job was at house in Polwarth, a small parish through which flows the Union Canal, running from Falkirk to Edinburgh. The client had requested a clean for a Victorian tiled hallway set in the narrow reception area of the house.

Victorian Tiled floor Polwarth before cleaning

The tiled floor had been painted over by the previous owners of the house using a thick, red paint. Painting a tile floor in such a way can affect its wash-ability, and the paint can peel off over time especially in a high-traffic area such as a reception area or hallway such as this. The red paint would have to be removed in order to restore the tile underneath and reveal its natural state, as well as provide a thorough and much-needed clean.

Removing paint from a Victorian tiled floor

The first step in the paint removal process was to spray the floor with a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed with Remove & Go. Pro-Clean is a heavy duty cleaner and degreaser, suitable for use on tile, stone and grout. Pro-Clean combines well with Remove and Go, which is a multi-purpose stripper capable of removing most sealers, adhesives and, particularly important for this case, paint. The solution was left to dwell after application to allow it to soak into the tile and soften the paint and dirt.

After 10 to 15 minutes we scrubbed the floor in order to remove as much of the paint as possible. The owner of the house was surprised to see the true colours of the tile appearing, which had been hidden beneath the paint for a significant period of time. As the red paint coating was particularly thick, we had to scrub the floor multiple times. In some areas the paint proved tricky to remove so it was necessary to use a steamer to steam clean the stubborn areas.

Once all of the paint had been successfully removed, the unveiled tile floor was treated to another clean using Pro-Clean, before being given a wash down and neutralised using Concentrated Neutral Tile & Stone Cleaner. It’s important to ensure any trace of strong cleaning products are removed from floor before the next step of sealing as it can impact the sealer leading to un-even results.

Sealing Victorian floor tiles

The floor was left to dry off overnight and we came back the next day to seal the tiles using four coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go which is an ideal sealer for Victorian tiles as it provides stain protection whilst also bringing out the colours resulting in a subtle sheen appearance.

Victorian Tiled floor Polwarth after cleaning

You can see from the photos that after a thorough cleaning and sealing the floor was back to looking its best. I do wonder why someone would want to paint over such a fantastic Victorian tiled floor!

Restoration of Victorian floor at a residence in Polwarth

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Cleaning Victorian Hallway Tiles in Whitburn

1 Comment / Livingston Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Thomas Wilson

This dull and un-inviting Victorian tiled entrance hall was located at a house in the small town of Whitburn in West Lothian which is half between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The tiles were in need of a deep clean and seal and we do see our fair share of Victorian tiled floors in this area and so have become quite experienced in their maintenance.

Victorian Tiles Before Cleaning in Whitburn

Cleaning Victorian Tile and Grout

To clean the floor and remove any remaining sealer a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was applied to the floor and left to soak into the tiles for around fifteen minutes before being worked into the tile and grout using a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary bonnet machine. Pro-Clean is a heavy duty alkaline cleaning product that un-like acid based cleaners are safe to use on Tile, Stone and Grout.

The soiled cleaning solution was then rinsed off using water and then the whole process repeated; three times to ensure any remaining sealer was removed and the floor was clean. The final step was to neutralise the floor before sealing which we did by giving it a final wash with Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, this time we extracted as much water as possible using a wet vacuum and then left the tile to dry off overnight.

Sealing Victorian Tiles

We came back the next day and after checking the floor was clean and dry proceeded to seal the tiles using five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go. Seal and Go is a water based sealer so it doesn’t leave a smell as its drying, it also offers good stain protection and adds a nice sheen to the floor.

Victorian Tiles After Cleaning in Whitburn

The entrance tiles now look new again and the sealer should keep it that way for a long time to come.

Victorian Tile Deep Cleaned and Sealed near Edinburgh

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Cleaning Dirty Victorian Tiles Floor in Musselburgh

1 Comment / Dalkeith Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Thomas Wilson

We had a great result on this Victorian tiled floor at a house in Musselburgh which is five miles east of Edinburgh and apparently one of the oldest towns in Scotland. If you take a close look at the photograph below you can see how dirty the tiles were before we got started.

Victorian Tiles Before Cleaning in Musselburgh

Cleaning Victorian Tile and Grout

We were quite lucky with the floor in that it was in good physical shape and really just need a deep clean and re-seal. So the first step was to strip of any old remaining sealer or other coatings from the tiles using a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is safe to use on these old tiles. The solution was mopped onto the tile and grout and then scrubbed in using a rotary bonnet machines fitted with a black scrubbing pad. The soiled cleaning solution was then rinsed off using water and then the whole process repeated; three times in fact before being satisfied that the floor was clean. The floor was given a final rinse using Neutral Tile cleaner and then water extracted using a wet vacuum before being left to dry overnight.

Sealing Victorian Tiles

We came back the next day and checked a few areas to make sure the floor was dry before sealing. The tiles were dry so the sealing process was started using Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is an ideal sealer for Victorian Tiles as it affords good stain protection whilst adding a nice subtle sheen to the floor, five coats were required before the tiles had become fully sealed.

Victorian Tiles After Cleaning in Musselburgh

I think you will agree the tiles look transformed and the sealer should keep them looking that way for some time to come.

Victorian Tile Deep Cleaned and Sealed near Edinburgh

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