Floor Restoration

Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration Belsize Park

Communal Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored in Belsize Park NW3

Details below of the recent restoration of a small Victorian Tiled Hallway at a property in Belsize Park NW3. The hallway provided access to several flats and had previously been covered in carpet. The carpet has been secured to the tiles with gripper rod that had been glued to the tiles and there was a section of broken tiles in front of the staircase that had been removed leaving an obvious hole in the floor.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Restoration Belsize Park Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Restoration Belsize Park

I carried out a survey of the floor to determine the main issues and took numerous photographs and measurements so I could locate suitable replacements. I knew that locating replacements wouldn’t be difficult as there are a few companies that specialise in this sort of thing and I know several members of the Tile Doctor network who have built up quite a collection. Once I was armed with all the costs, I email over a quote to the managing agent which was accepted and a date scheduled for the work to start.

Repair and Cleaning of a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in Belsize Park

Work started by carefully removing the gripper rod and cleaning up the areas where I would need to fit replacement tiles. Tiles were then cut to fit the existing pattern and colours and dry fitted into place making small adjustments along the way until I was satisfied that I had replicated the pattern exactly. Only then were the replacements fixed into place with fresh adhesive. This type of tile restoration work is quite meticulous and the whole of the first day was spent with repairs alone.

I returned on day two to deep clean the whole floor using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go. This product is designed for removing old sealers but is also good at softening adhesives and other contaminates so they can be scrubbed off. I follow the recommended process of spraying the solution onto the surface and then letting it sit for ten minutes so it has time to breakdown the contaminates before being worked in with a 200-grit diamond pad. Once done it was rinsed off with water and the resultant soiling extracted with a wet vacuum.

The next step was to neutralise the floor and counter any efflorescent salts that may have built up in the tiles whilst it was covered in carpet. Old floors like these don’t have the benefit of a damp proof membrane and shouldn’t be covered as it can prevent moisture from rising through the tile and evaporating at the surface. With the carpet gone the floor can breathe again and this can lead to trapped efflorescence salts appearing. We guard against this by giving the floor an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel and then rinsing off with water and extracting as before.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I left the floor to dry out overnight and returned on day three to apply the sealer which will protect it from dirt becoming ingrained in the tile and improve the appearance.

I used Tile Doctor X-Tra seal for this which is an oil-based sealer that’s full breathable and will allow for moisture to rise through the tiles un-impeded. The oil in the sealer has the added advantage of restoring the colours in the tiles and certainly in this case put the life back in the floor.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Restoration Belsize Park Victorian Tiled Hallway After Restoration Belsize Park

Once done the original floor which must have been at least 100-years old was completely transformed and the tiled floor added a bit of class to the entrance to the property.

 

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in North London

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Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before and After Restoration Highgate

Repairing and cleaning a Victorian Tiled hallway in Highgate

This client from North London had recently bought a property in Highgate N6 and during renovation had discovered an original Victorian tiled floor in the hallway. The floor was laid in a classic black and white diamond pattern but unfortunately a large section was missing and had been filled with concrete. Furthermore, most of the remaining floor had been covered in cement and glue.

I carried out a survey of the floor to determine the main issues and was then able to email over a quote later that day that included rebuilding the missing section of flooring. I suspect the floor had been excavated at some point in the past to install central heating and then rather than have the excavated section restored it was simply back filled and then levelled with a cement screed before finally gluing down a carpet on top.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Before Renovation Highgate N6

Once the quote was accepted, I sourced replacement tiles from the Vintage Floor Tile company. Situated in Kent they are a reclamation yard that specialises in supplying original geometric and encaustic tiles including the major historical makers such as Minton and Craven Dunnill.

Repair and Restoration of Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Armed with replacement tiles I started by removing the concrete that had been used to backfill the missing section and prepare a new surface for tiling with quick drying cement. When ready I was able to carefully build back the original pattern using the replacements. The tiles were secured with tile adhesive and once that had gone off, they were grouted.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor During Renovation Highgate N6

The floor was left to set fully overnight and then the next day I was able to return and clean the whole floor using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go. As usual this was left to soak into the tiles for a good ten minutes before being scrubbed into the tiles using a black scrubbing pad. The Tile Doctor Remove and Go did a good job of cleaning the floor and the cleaning solution soon turned black with dirt during the scrubbing. The floor was rinsed with water and the soil extracted with a wet vacuum. After inspecting the floor any areas that needed further work were hand scrubbed and rinsed again until I was happy the floor was clean.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor During Renovation Highgate N6

The last part of the cleaning process was to give the tiles an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which further cleans the floor by removing old cement residue and grout haze. It also neutralises efflorescent salts in the tiles which are a common issue with floors of this age with no damp proof membrane. After another rinse and extraction, the floor was given a final rinse and then dried as much as possible using the wet vacuum.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I left the floor to dry out for a couple of days before returning to apply a protective sealer. Tile and Stone should be dry before sealing so I use a damp meter first to double check. All was well so to seal the tiles I proceeded to apply the first of what would be three coats of sealer. I used Tile Doctor Colour Grow for this, it works by impregnating the tile occupying the pores and thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained there. This product also enhances the black and white colour of the tiles and makes the floor much easier to clean.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor After Renovation Highgate N6

Once done the floor was transformed and needless to say my customer was very pleased with the result. For the aftercare of Victorian Tiled floors, I recommend the use of a ph neural tile cleaner such as Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner; most supermarket tile cleaners are simply too strong for use on sealed floors and can strip off the sealer prematurely.

 

Professional Repair and Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in North London

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Victorian Hallway Floor Before After Restoration in Haringey

Rebuilding and Restoring a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in Haringey N22

Convinced that their Victorian tiled hallway was beyond repair they decided to give Tile Doctor a call just in case there was a chance it could be saved. The property was in the Turnpike Lane area of Haringey in North London (N22), amongst a similar style of properties.

Victorian Floor Before Restoration Turnpike Lane N2 Victorian Floor Before Restoration Turnpike Lane N2

Victorian floor restorations are a speciality of ours, so I went over to take a look at the hallway and survey the tiles. When I got there, I could see why they thought nothing could be done as a lot of the tiles had come loose. However, I was pleased to inform them that in fact it could be restored and that as an original feature doing so should add a lot of value to the property. Happy that the floor could indeed be renovated we were given instructions to go ahead with the work and agreed a date for the job to begin.

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

On Day 1 we set about lifting all the loose tiles. We then cleaned all the excessive adhesive from the subfloor and the loose tiles. With much of the subfloor now exposed we were also able to repair the badly damaged areas with quick drying cement. Some tiles were too badly damaged to relay, so these were replaced with matching reproduction tiles sourced from Original Features who are a specialist supplier of Victorian Tiles based in Crouch End.

Victorian Floor Before Restoration Turnpike Lane N2 Victorian Floor During Restoration Turnpike Lane N2

On day two we re-laid all the tiles and grouted the floor. After allowing the tile adhesive and grout to set we returned a few days later to deep clean the floor.

Cleaning involved applying a 200-grit burnishing pad to the floor lubricated with water to remove ingrained dirt. The floor was rinsed with water and the soil removed with a wet vacuum. This was followed by giving the Victorian floor an acid wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up. I always recommend an acid wash for tiled floors as it removes grout smears and other mineral deposits from the tiles and further improves their appearance as a result. The floor was given another rinse and again the soil was extracted with the wet vacuum.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

We then returned the next day and after checking the moisture readings were satisfactory, the floor was sealed with 3 coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which soaks into the pores of the tile improving colour and adding protection from within. This sealer gives the floor a lovely subtle finish, it would also give it great protection for some time to come particularly in a high traffic area such as the hallway.

Victorian Floor After Restoration Turnpike Lane N2 Victorian Floor After Restoration Turnpike Lane N2

Once done, the floor looked great the colours were really striking and most importantly my client was delighted and left some great feedback, see below:

Excellent service. Top quality workmanship and they worked extra late without complaint and without additional charges as the job turned out to be bigger than initially estimated. Andrew responded to all our queries in a friendly and polite manner throughout the job. By Martin T, London.

For aftercare cleaning of Sealed Victorian tiled floors, I always recommend Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner. Most supermarket products are simply too strong for a sealed floor and will slowly strip away the sealer with use.

 

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in North London

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