This client called me over to look at the original Victorian tiled floor in the hallway of their property in Bingley. The floor was due a clean and seal and there were a few tiling issues that needed resolving.
I went over to survey the floor and could see that except for a few broken tiles the floor was in a good condition considering its age. He wanted the broken tiles replaced and then the floor cleaned and resealed. There had been no maintenance over the last ten years which is when they purchased the property so a deep clean and seal was overdue.
I worked out a quote for the work which was accepted and then started looking for replacement tiles which would be needed to complete the repairs.
Repairing and Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway
When I returned to the property the first job was to replace the broken tiles which on a floor like this is intricate and careful work. Each broken tile has to be slowly prised up taking care not to disturb the adjacent tile and thereby making the job larger than it needs to be. With the broken tile out of the way the base is cleaned up and prepared to accept the replacement which has to be cut to fit and match the existing geometric pattern. Once I’m happy with the replacement it is then set in place with rapid drying adhesive.
Once the repaired tiles had set, I was able to make a start on getting the floor clean. To do this a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was sprayed onto the floor and left to soak into the tiles before being worked in with a coarse 100-grit diamond pad. The resultant slurry was removed with a wet vacuum and the process was repeated with a finer 200-grit diamond pad. The pads are run over the tiles using a buffer machine with weights added to improve traction. The floor was then rinsed, and the soiling extracted as before.
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Next step was to give the tiles an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which further cleans up the floor by removing old grout smears and salt deposits that can be a common problem with floors of this age. This was worked in with a black scrubbing pad and rinsed off and extracted as before.
Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway
A lot of water was used in the cleaning process so to speed up the drying process as much moisture as possible was removed with the wet vacuum after cleaning and a floor dryer was left in place.
I returned on day three to seal the tiles starting by testing the floor with a moisture meter to check it had dried sufficiently. All was well and I was able to confirm the floor was dry enough to seal for which Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra was applied. This will protect the tiles from ingrained dirt and gives the floor a nice finish. This product is also fully breathable which is an important consideration when sealing older floors that don’t have a damp proof membrane.
The client was very happy and gave me a cup of tea and a biscuit as well as the following excellent feedback:
For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a mild yet effective tile and grout cleaner. It’s important to avoid strong cleaner products which contain bleach as this will strip away the sealer.
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 or Stone Soap 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.