Victorian Tile Cleaning Archives - Swansea Tile Doctor

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before After Renovation Neath

Victorian Tiles Hallway restoration in Neath

1 Comment / Neath Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Adrian Iacono

This enquiry from Neath came from an elderly gentleman who was moving into a care home in the near future and wanted his Victorian tiled hallway renovated before the property went on the market. He mentioned he didn’t think it was that dirty however it could do with a clean and reseal.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Clean and Seal in Neath

We arranged to call in one morning and take a look at the tiles and whilst there we completed a test clean so we could provide an accurate price for renovating the floor. For the clean I applied Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, the purpose of this was to see whether and how fast the dirt would shift and also to get an idea of the condition of the floor beneath the layer of dirt.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Test Clean in Neath

The test clean went well and the owner was happy to accept our price and suggested that as we had already made a start we might as well continue. Fortunately, there were two of us that day and I only had a couple of other quotes in the area, so I was able to crack on. I should mention this work was done at the beginning of 2020 before the COVID-19 lockdown.

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

All sorts of detritus gets walked into hallways so we began by using a hand held scraper to take off anything that sat upon/above the floors surface. This also makes the cleaning process that little bit easier for us. The earlier test clean had enabled us to establish which cleaning methods and products would work best on the floor so it was just a question of putting the plan into action.

The process involved applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to the floor, leaving it to soak in for ten minutes and then working it with a coarse 400-grit diamond pad fitted to a rotary buffer. More water was applied for lubrication where required and the soil produced afterwards was rinsed off and extracted with a wet vacuum. The pad is encrusted with industrial diamonds and cuts into the tile and removes a very thin layer leaving the tile very clean.

After extracting the soil, the floor was inspected, and we noticed that there were a few tiles throughout the floor that needed more work. To deal with these we used hand-held diamond blocks of varying grits to remove the ingrained dirt and bring the tiles back to life.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The client was over the moon with the results of the cleaning and we scheduled a date of the following week to come back and seal the tiles. We also discussed sealers and he had asked if we could leave the floor with a shiny finish. With that in mind we recommended Tile Doctors Seal and Go which works really well on Victorian tiles. It is also water based and so doesn’t produce a smell as it dries.

On our return the floor was given a quick wipe down and once dry sealed with four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which will add protection and make them easy to keep clean.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Cleaning Sealing in Neath

Once complete the floor looked great and very welcoming, just what you need when selling a property as initial impressions always count.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Swansea

Victorian Tiles Hallway restoration in Neath Read More »

Victorian Hallway Floor Before and After Renovation Glynneath

Renovation of Victorian floor in Glynneath

1 Comment / Glynneath Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Adrian Iacono

The photographs below are of a Victorian Tiled floor taken earlier this year at a property in the small welsh town of Glynneath. The lady who lived there was selling her house house and wanted her Victorian hallway floor restored so she could achieve the best price. She mentioned it was severely dirty and was unsure if we would be able to help, however we have seen a lot worse and politely reassured her we were certain we could.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before Renovation Glynneath

We visited the property first to survey the floor and produce an accurate quote for its renovation. The floor was indeed very dirty, there were paint splatters and plaster stains throughout from decorating. Fortunately, it was in good physical condition and no tiles needed to be replaced. We discussed with her the process we would use for cleaning and gave her a quote. She was happy to accept this, and we arranged a time to complete the work for her.

Renovating a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

We began by taping up the surrounding woodwork to protect it from splashing during the cleaning. Then using a handheld scraper, we carefully removed the paint and plaster from the floors surface to make the cleaning process that little bit easier for us. This was followed with the application of a 400-grit diamond burnishing pad fitted to a rotary machine lubricated with water. The abrasive pad cuts into the surface of the tile removing the contaminates and dirt in the process.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor During Renovation Glynneath

After vacuuming up the slurry with a wet vacuum it became clear more work would be needed under the stairs where our buffing machine struggled to reach. To tackle this handheld diamond burnishing blocks were used, again lubricated with a little water.

After doing this the floor was inspected again and I decided to repeat the whole cleaning process one more time with extra focus on the yellow border tiles, that were still heavily soiled. I found the handheld diamond blocks were ideal for spot cleaning the ingrained dirt and bring them back to life. After a final rinse and extraction of the floor I was happy the floor was as clean as it could be and was left to dry off overnight so it would be ready for sealing the next day.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

On day two the floor was tested for moisture with a damp meter to make sure it was dry and therefore ready to accept a sealer. All was well and having previously discussed sealers with the client we opted to apply Tile Doctor Colour Grow. There were two reasons for this, primarily she wanted all the colours in the floor to stand out and secondly we wanted to ensure the floor would allow any moisture to rise thorough the tile which is an important requirement for these old floors which don’t have a damp proof membrane. Tile Doctor Colour Grow is fully breathable and as its name suggests it enhances the colour so clearly is an ideal choice for the floor. Four Coats were applied and as you can see from the pictures the floor now looks amazing.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor After Renovation Glynneath

Although the floor looked fantastic the sale of the property had to go on hold due to the Covid-19 epidemic. This also impacted the work we do however since then Tile Doctor have implemented several measure to ensure we can continue to work safely in people’s homes, so if you need any work doing, do get in touch to discuss how we can safely move your project forward.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Swansea

Renovation of Victorian floor in Glynneath Read More »

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before and After Restoration Bridgend

Neglected Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored and Extended in Bridgend

1 Comment / Bridgend Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Adrian Iacono

This client had recently moved into an older property in Bridgend and having pulled up the previous hallway covering had found a heavily soiled Victorian tiled floor underneath. However, for some reason we never discovered the answer to it only ran from the porch to the foot of the stairs which I guess explains why it had been covered up and neglected.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before Extending in Bridgend

The client asked if we would be able to restore the existing Victorian floor and if would be possible to extend the tiling throughout the hall continuing the original pattern. Cleaning the original floor and completing the tiling work didn’t present a problem however it can be tricky finding tiles to match the pattern of the original floor. Unsure if it could be done, I offered to do some research and get back to him once I had found a workable solution.

Fortunately, there are still a few suppliers that produce tiles and after speaking with other members of the Tile Doctor network I was able to source matching tiles. The owner was still keen to proceed and so I agreed a price, placed an order for the tiles and scheduled a date to start the work.

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Before starting the tiling work, I applied a latex levelling compound to bring the height of the floor we were going to lay up, level and flush with the existing Victorian floor. After allowing the latex to dry and now having an equally level surface, we were ready to begin laying.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor During Extention in Bridgend

Laying a tiled floor to match an existing pattern is a tricky process as your constantly having to check the geometry of the pattern as well as keeping everything in line with our levels. Another issue we ran into with this job was the new tiles that we had ordered, all differed in width from the originals which made it a very long strenuous process having to cut them to fit.

Once the floor was laid and had dried out it was time to turn our attention to the original floor which needed several deep cleans. For this we used Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was worked in with a black scrubbing pad to release all the ingrained dirt from the tile. The dirt was then rinsed off and extracted with a wet vacuum.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The job took eight days in total and ended with the application of five coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go sealer. Each coat is left to dry before applying the next. This seal gives the floor protection and a lovely finish. This final step of sealing really brought both floors together and left the subtle sheen finish the client requested.

For aftercare I left the client a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, which we recommend for cleaning sealed tiled floors. Neutral clean has a pH neutral formula which won’t harm the sealer like stronger cleaners which can prematurely strip a sealer off the floor.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor After Extention in Bridgend

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Swansea

Neglected Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored and Extended in Bridgend Read More »