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Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Deep Cleaned and Sealed in York

This client had just moved into a property in York and having pulled back the old carpet revealed a lovely old period Victorian tiled floor she didn’t know existed when she bought the house!

I went over at the beginning of this year to survey the floor and could see that fortunately, no glue or carpet grips had been used to secure the carpet; additionally the floor was in good physical condition considering its age with no cracks or loose tiles. The tiles were however very dusty and dirty with ingrained dirt and so had probably been covered with carpet for a very long time. The hallway was quite dark I’m afraid with little natural light so apologies for the photographs.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Cleaning York

With old houses like this you never know what you are going to find so whilst I was there surveying the floor, I took some moisture readings with a damp meter on the floors and walls. The readings came back low so no sign of damp which was a relief to the owner.
We agreed a price for the work, and I arranged to come back the following week.

I must admit I do like York, its steeped in history and famous for its Cathedral and Viking museum. The houses in the city have loads of character and period features like this floor are quite common.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in York

I deep cleaned the floor with a strong 1:3 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in with a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine. Initially the solution was left to soak into the tile before being agitated by the machine. The soil was then rinsed off with minimal water and then extracted with a wet vacuum.

I followed this up with an Acid Wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel to further clean up the tiles and help inhibit any potential efflorescent salt issues which are common in floors of this age due to the absence of the damp proof membrane. The floor was given a further rinse and extraction and allowed to dry out fully overnight. I needed the floor to be dry for the next day so it could be sealed.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I came back the next day and started by taking more damp readings which showed similar readings to the day before. Given the low readings I was able to move straight onto sealing which was done using four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go. This product works really well on old Victorian Tiles like these and being water based it doesn’t leave a smell as it dries.

Once the final coat of sealer had dried there was a significant improvement in the appearance of the floor which was much appreciated by client who was very happy with the end result.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Cleaning York

For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to maintain the floor, it has a nice fresh smell and can be used regularly due to its pH neutral nature which won’t prematurely erode the sealer like stronger bleach based cleaners.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Yorkshire

Yorkshire Stone Before and After Cleaning in East Morton

Cleaning and restoring a traditional Yorkshire Stone floor

1 Comment / Sandstone Tile Cleaning, Skipton Tile Cleaning, Work History / Nigel Stoker

This was a typical and relatively straightforward job for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed it because it amply demonstrates how a modest investment in professional cleaning and sealing can transform a tired old Yorkshire Stone floor into something really stunning!

Older properties in the small village of East Morton, near Keighley in West Yorkshire, are built almost entirely of locally quarried Sandstone – from its Manor Houses, Churches and barns to the many cottages built during the Industrial Revolution for workers in Morton’s textile and paper mills. Yorkshire stone is a sedimentary rock made up of quartz, mica, feldspar, clay and iron oxides. Its colour depends on the ratio of minerals it contains, and differs throughout the quarries where it is mined. It is incredibly hard wearing and durable, and has been used for building, construction and landscaping since mediaeval times.

Yorkshire Stone Before Cleaning in East Morton

The lovely original Yorkshire Stone floor in this client’s home was in great condition but looked lifeless and uninteresting. As the local Tile Doctor agent, I was tasked with deep cleaning and sealing the floor to bring it back to life. Rather unusually, this customer wanted a matt finish for the floor – which on reflect was a great choice.

Cleaning a traditional Yorkshire Stone internal floor

I started by deep cleaning the floor with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. This is a concentrated, multi-purpose high-alkaline cleaner, stripper and degreaser which is safe to use on all types of tile, stone and grout including natural stone. I diluted one part Pro-Clean to three parts water – enough to ensure that any traces of grease, scum, oil, mildew and algae were removed and scrubbed it in using a floor buffing machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad and running at slow speed to cut down on splashing. This brought out all the dirt from the floor which I then rinsed off with more water and extracted with a wet vacuum. Stubborn areas were re-treated using the same process and once I was satisfied the floor was clean I left the floor for two days, so it could dry out thoroughly.

Sealing a traditional Yorkshire Stone internal floor

The next step was to test a couple of suitable Tile Doctor sealers to see which would give the best matt finish the customer was looking for. I decided upon Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is a premium, solvent-based penetrating sealer formulated to provide maximum stain protection yet without changing the colour of the stone. Being a premium product it’s ideal for high traffic areas such as hallways, kitchens and stairs, it’s also an excellent grout sealer and a perfect choice for this floor. Most importantly, it gave the no-sheen, natural-look finish that the customer wanted.

I started by sweeping and vacuuming the floor to ensure that every trace of dust was removed before sealing. Then I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Sealer – one in the morning and one in the afternoon to allow the first coat to dry out before applying the second. 30 minutes after applying the second coat I tested with water droplets to make sure that the surface was completely sealed. The customer was able to walk on and use the floor as normal after just two hours, and after just 24 hours the full cure was achieved.

Yorkshire Stone After Cleaning in East Morton

What a transformation! The lifeless, grey floor was now full of colour and character, highlighting all the wonderful and original textures and tones in the Yorkshire Stone. The customer was very happy!

Professional Renovation of a traditional Yorkshire Stone floor

Cleaning and restoring a traditional Yorkshire Stone floor Read More »