Victorian Tiled Hallway Archives - Shropshire Tile Doctor

Victorian Tiled Floor Restoration Bayston Hill Shrewsbury

Loose Victorian Tiled Hallway Repaired and Renovated in Bayston Hill Shrewsbury

When the owner of this property in Bayston Hill near Shrewsbury contacted me about a Clean and Seal of their Victorian tiled hallway and Quarry tiled dining room floors. They mentioned a few loose tiles needed resetting, however, as you will see it turned out to be over 70% of the hallway floor tiles that were loose, additionally the Quarry tiles had been covered with several layers of floor paint.

This is one of the reasons why I rarely give a quote over the phone, happy to provide a rough estimate but if you want an accurate price for the work, I really must pay a visit to the property and survey the floor first. In the case both floors needed a lot of work to fully restore them so I’ve split this work history into two parts and will publish details on the restoration of the Quarry tiled floor in a separate article.

Victorian Tiled Floor Before Restoration Bayston Hill Shrewsbury

Except for the loose tiles the Victorian hallway was simply dull with ingrained dirt just needed a deep clean and then reseal to restore its appearance. Particularly noticeable where the light blue tiles within the geometric pattern which once cleaned would really shine.

Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

For best results I use a rotary machine to clean floor tiles however the floor would been to be intact before I could make use of that, so my first task was to re-fix the loose tiles which as mentioned earlier were quite significant. In-fact once I started to lift the loose tiles, that couple of tiles turned out to be more than half of the hallway floor. When they were fixed back, I grouted it and left the floor to dry overnight.

Victorian Tiled Floor During Repair Bayston Hill Shrewsbury

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

On the second day with the floor now solid I was able to progress the cleaning starting with the removal of old coatings and ingrained dirt in the tiles. I did this using a strong dilution of Remove and Go which was left to soak into the tiles for a while before being scrubbed in using a rotary machine fitted with a Black pad; the resultant slurry was then rinsed away with water and extracted off the floor using a wet vacuum.

Once done I treated the tiles to an acid wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which is designed to remove old grout smears and salts from the tile. Salts can be a real problem on old Victorian floors with no damp proof membrane as there is nothing to stop salts being caried up through the tile from the subfloor and being left as white deposits as the moisture evaporates, a process commonly known as Effloresence. Another advantage of give the floor an acid wash is that it neutralises the pH level of the floor following the use of alkaline cleaning products such as Remove and Go.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The tiles must be dry before sealing and given all the washing and rinsing I had done to get the floor clean I decided to leave the floor for a whole week before returning to seal the tiles.

For this floor I opted to use Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that leaves a matt finish and works by occupying the pores in the tile protecting it from within. It’s also fully breathable so won’t prevent moisture rising through the tile and it contains a colour enhancer that will help improve the colours in the tile.

Victorian Tiled Floor After Restoration Bayston Hill Shrewsbury

The deep clean and fresh sealer worked well and as hoped those light blue tiles really lit up the floor. Before leaving I took time to discuss aftercare cleaning and for this floor, I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner which is a gentle but effective product that is safe to use on sealed tiles.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Professionally Repaired and Restored in Shropshire

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Victorian Tiled Hallway Repaired and Restored in Oswestry

A home owner who lives in the old market town of Oswestry in Shropshire called me in recently to work some Tile Doctor magic on their Victorian Tiled Hallway. They had been refurbishing the house room by room and had left the hallway floor until last. The previous owner of the house had repaired part of the floor at the far end of the hallway with an odd selection of unmatched tiles. The result was a bit of any eyesore and I’m surprised it hadn’t been covered over with carpet which is what most would do, the only good thing about the repair was that it had been laid level.

Victorian Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Oswestry

There were several other areas were tiles were loose and would need relaying and a section where holes had been drilled into a couple of tiles damaging them in the process. In total I estimated there was about two square meters of tiles that would need relaying; I would be able to use some of the original tiles that had become loose, but it was clear I would need to track down some replacements either from a reclamation yard or from a retailer if I could find a match.

Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

As it turned out I managed to source the replacements without too much trouble, Victorian Tiles are still very popular today and there are a number of UK companies that still sell them.

My first task was to remove all the loose tiles and carefully remove what I’m going to call the eyesore. I have a handheld power tool that makes light work of removing grout which came in very hand and then once the grout was removed the tiles were prised out. The old grout and adhesive were then scraped off the sub floor, so the replacements could be fitted.

Victorian Tiled Floor During Repair Oswestry

With the loose, damaged and eyesore removed it was now a question of cutting replacement tiles to match the existing pattern and then fix them into place with fresh adhesive. This activity took up much of the first day and before leaving the tiles were grouted in, so they would be secure for cleaning the next day.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Day two was all about deep cleaning the entire floor to remove any old coatings and ingrained dirt in the tiles. I did this using a strong dilution of Remove and Go which was left to soak into the tiles for a while before being scrubbed in using a rotary machine fitted with a black pad; the resultant slurry was then rinsed away with water and extracted off the floor using a wet vacuum.

There were some stubborn paint splashes from decorating that needed dealing with, so I gave these a spot clean using more Remove and Go and plenty of elbow grease. The floor was then given a final rinse to remove any trace of cleaning product and then dried as much as possible with a wet vacuum before being left to dry off fully overnight.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The tiles must be dry before sealing and after testing the floor with a damp meter I confirmed that the floor was indeed dry. I had previously discussed sealers with the owner he had opted for a matt finish. I decided that Tile Doctor Colour Grow would be the best choice of sealer to apply, it’s an impregnating sealer that leaves a matt finish and works by occupying the pores in the tile protecting it from staining from within. It also enhances the natural colours in the tile, only two coats of sealer were needed.