Deep Cleaning Tiles Archives - Birmingham Tile Doctor

Minton Hallway Floor Before and After Restoration Kings Heath

Full Restoration of a Minton Tiled Victorian Hallway Floor in Kings Heath

1 Comment / Bournville Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Kieron Norton

Details below of the full restoration of a Victorian Minton tiled hallway floor that I restored earlier this year in the South Birmingham suburb of Kings Heath. The owner had recently purchased the property and discovered a Victorian tiled floor underneath an old carpet in the hallway.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Restoration Kings Heath

The floor was in a very poor state with areas where tiles were missing and had been backfilled with a cement levelling compound. The adjacent vestibule also had a large area of tiling missing. My client was delighted when they had found some of the missing original tiles and now wanted to investigate having the floor returned to its former glory.

I went along to quote and give a demonstration of the restoration process and provide an indication of the expected results. The test area responded well to the treatment and they were happy with my quote to repair and renovate the floor, so were booked in to restore the whole floor and I set about sourcing matching replacement tiles.

Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The first two days were spent carefully removing the leveller, cleaning up the exposed subfloor then cutting and fitting replacement tiles. One of the areas that needed extra work was a doorway which required a sub-floor installing before being able to tile with a matching pattern.

Victorian Tiled Hallway During Restoration Kings Heath

With the main hallway tiling completed I started on the tiling in the adjacent vestibule. I had been given a couple of bags of original tiles to sort out by the owner and fortunately most of them were in good condition, so I was able to repair the vestibule with approximately 90% original tiles. The rest were made up of reproduction tiles that I had managed to source. Additionally, the floor had numerous loose tiles which needed resetting and finishing with replacements. Due to so many of the tiles being original the appearance between the newly replaced area did not look too much different however I was confident the following deep clean and seal would blend them in well.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

With the tiling now repaired my next focus was the cleaning which I started on day three with an application of neat Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to help loosen the carpet adhesive and paint splashes that were staining the floor.

The Pro-Clean was mopped onto the floor and then worked in with a 200-grit diamond pad fitted to a weighted rotary buffing machine. The extra weight, cleaning agent and coarse pad gets into the pores of the tile releasing years of ingrained dirt and removing old sealers and coatings. The floor was then rinsed with water and the waste extracted with a wet vacuum.

The next step was to give the floor an acid rinse using another Tile Doctor product called Grout Clean-up which is designed to remove grout smears and mineral salts that will have been trapped into the pores of the tile after years of being covered in carpet. The grout clean-up was worked into the tiles using a 400-grit burnishing pad to refine the tile surface and close up the pores. The floor was rinsed and extracted again and left to dry out for two nights.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I returned a few days later and after testing the floor was dry set about applying a sealer. For this floor I chose to apply six coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which gives a lovely sheen finish and really brought out the character in the beautiful tiles. It’s also water based so it doesn’t leave a smell as it dries.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Restoration Kings Heath

By the time I had finished the floor was looking transformed and the client was delighted, so much so they left this fantastic review:

Kieron was fantastic. He brought our Minton flooring back to life and kept us informed every step of the way. He really knew what he was talking about and has done a fantastic job. Not to mention he was a really really lovely guy and great value for the incredible workmanship he offers.”

I left the customer with a bottle of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to help maintain the tiles appearance. It is important to use a neutral pH cleaner when maintaining sealed floors as stronger tile cleaning products that you find in supermarkets are too strong and will prematurely strip the protective sealer off a floor.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in West Midlands

Full Restoration of a Minton Tiled Victorian Hallway Floor in Kings Heath Read More »

Victorian Floor Before After Renovation Edgbaston

Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Edgbaston, Birmingham

1 Comment / Birmingham City Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Kieron Norton

This homeowner in Edgbaston contacted me about a Victorian tiled floor they had found under the hallway carpet since moving into the property a couple of months ago. The floor was stained with paint splatters, adhesive and had loose and missing tiles. Original features such as Victorian floors can add a lot of value to a property so they wondered if it could look a lot better than its present state.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Restoration Edgbaston

I visited the property in Edgbaston which is a suburb of south Birmingham and best known for its Cricket ground which is home to the Warwickshire Cricket Club. I surveyed the floor and run a test clean on part of the floor to work out how best to clean it. The old Victorian tiles responded well to the treatment which impressed the homeowner and so the job was booked in.

Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway

On the first day I cut and laid replacement tiles around the door threshold that I had sourced before starting the job. Then I reset some loose tiles and added some replacements on another threshold.

Victorian Tiled Hallway During Repair Edgbaston

The front door had been replaced in the last couple of years, but it had been moved outwards which exposed part of the inner doorstep at the end of the hallway. I suggested that it would look better with tiles running right up to the door, so I removed part of the concrete with an SDS drill and cold chisel to allow space for new tiles to be laid level with the existing floor. The tiles were set in place using a quick setting adhesive which allows for grouting after only a few hours.

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway

The next day I returned to deep clean the floor first checking the repairs I had made the day before were now secure and had dried nicely. My next job was to remove the paint splashes which I did by carefully scraping the paint off the tiles along with any old adhesive.

Victorian Tiled Hallway During Restoration Edgbaston

Next, I covered the floor with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and allowed it to dwell on the floor for ten minutes. Then ran a 200-grit diamond pad over it which gets into the tiles pores and cleans them. The floor was then rinsed the floor with water and extracted the dirty slurry with a wet vacuum.

Final stage of the cleaning process was to give the floor an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which helps neutralise the floor after using Pro-Clean which is alkaline. It also dissolves any unwanted salts trapped in the tile that might rise to the surface later, a process commonly known as efflorescence. I then rinsed and extracted the floor again before leaving for the day.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The cleaning process had been quite intensive so I left the floor for a couple of days before returning so it could dry out completely. The floor had dried well so I set about applying a sealer to the floor.

I sealed the floor with six coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go extra which is a low sheen sealer which will protect the floor going forward. Seal and Go Extra also enhances the appearance of the tile adding colour and is also breathable so moisture can rise through the tile and not become trapped under the floor where it could cause problems. Using a breathable sealer is important for these old floors where no damp proof membrane exists under the floor.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Restoration Edgbaston

The floor now looked fantastic and the customer had said originally that she wasn’t keen on the floor, but by the end she said she loved it. Before leaving I left the customer a bottle of Neutral Tile Cleaner to help maintain the tiles appearance without affecting the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Birmingham

Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Edgbaston, Birmingham Read More »