I’ve cleaned many interesting geometric Victorian tiled floors in my career but none so eye catching as this example at a property in Guildford which featured a beautiful 3D pattern. My client had got in touch to see if I could restore the floor back to its original, it was currently looking quite grubby but thankfully appeared to be physically intact with no loose or broken tiles.
I was confident the floor would look great with a bit of love and care and all it needed was a deep clean to extract all the ingrained dirt and then sealing. I provided a quote for the work and arranged a convenient time to complete the work for them.
Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Mosaic Hallway Floor
It was quite soiled to start with, so I gently sprayed Tile Doctor Pro-Clean over all the tiles, leaving the product to dwell for twenty minutes whilst keeping the tiles moist. Whilst this has happening I setup a weighted buffing machine fitted with a coarse 100-grit diamond pad. I’m able to attach three heavy iron bars to the front of this machine to add more heft to the machine; increasing the weight improves downward pressure and traction to equal a better result.
Applied with water for lubrication the pad is run over each of the tiles in turn. This is quite an aggressive process that cuts a thin layer from the tile which is absorbed into the water turning it into a slurry and ensuring no dust is generated. Marching up and down, slowly from front to rear I slowly deep cleaned the tiles. Once I was satisfied, they were as clean as they could possible be all the waste with a wet vacuum.
The floor was then washed with hot water and then extracted with the wet vacuum again, this was done a couple of times to remove any remaining soiling. Hot water is preferable for this as it evaporates quickly.
The buffing machine doesn’t reach into the corners, so to make sure they were not missed I used handheld diamond blocks; again, rinsing the soil created away with water and extracting with the wet vacuum afterwards.
The floor was then left to dry out overnight and I asked the owners to try and avoid walking on it.
Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor
Having discussed the clients’ needs and expectations of the final finish earlier it was clear they wanted the floor to have a subtle shine to it. They had said that a matte finish was a little boring but they thought a shiny finish was a little too much, so we opted for a sheen finish. To provide this effect I had recommended Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra which is a fine compromise that offers a subtle shine and is tough wearing. It’s actually my personal favourite that I use on many types of tiled floor.
So, the following day I applied several coats until I was satisfied the finish was as hoped. The floor looked great and created a stunning entrance to the property. This was now more in keeping with the rest of the original features in the period property.
My client was over the moon with the work and before leaving I took time to discuss aftercare. I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner for regular cleaning; this product won’t impact the newly applied sealer. It’s also mild enough to use every day which is always a possibility in high traffic areas such as a hallway.
Source: Geometric Victorian Tile Cleaning and Sealing Service in Guildford
Serving Guildford and West Surrey, Rupert Mcleod is your local Tile, Stone and Grout maintenance expert. Additionally he is an agent of Tile Doctor, the largest professional Tile, Stone and Victorian Tiled Tile restorative cleaning network in the UK. Tile Doctor has developed products and techniques to handle a multitude of issues surrounding tile, stone and Victorian Tiled Tile, interior, exterior, domestic or commercial.