Repair and Restoration of 135-Year-Old Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in Sheffield

This 135-year-old Victorian Tiled floor was uncovered in the hallway of a property in Sheffield by the owner. It had been hidden away under carpet and a floor matt for decades before it was discovered and this was probably due to the state it was in with lots of cracked and loose tiles.

The owner was keen to have it restored as an original feature that would add value to the property and was told by one contractor that it was beyond repair. Undeterred he reached out to Tile Doctor for a second opinion and having worked on numerous floors like this one I was more than happy to provide a quote for its restoration.

I visited the property to survey the floor and could see it would need a lot of rebuilding with reclaimed tiles. I was confident however it could be saved so set about putting a repair and restoration plan together. From this I was able to identify how many reclaimed tiles I would need and the various products needed to complete the work.

The plan fed into a detailed quote for doing the work that included elements for sourcing the replacements, carrying out the repairs, deep cleaning and finally sealing. My quote was accepted and a date agreed for the work to start.

Repairing a Victorian Tiled Floor

I managed to source all the reclaimed tiles we would need ready for the start date and began by pulling out all the damaged and loose tiles. You have to be careful when doing this so as not to disturb adjacent tiles and make the project bigger than it needs to be. Once done the base was cleared of old adhesive and the work area cleaned up ready for tiling.

With the tiles removed several cracks in the base became obvious that reflected historical movement in the floor which will have led to tiles becoming loose. These cracks were filled and then the work to re-create the geometric tiled design commenced. Putting a floor like this back together is slow but rewarding work, it requires patience and you can’t fail to admire the skill of the craftsman who laid the original tiles. All the missing and damaged tiles were carefully replaced and secured with a flexible adhesive before being grouted.

Deep Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Once the floor was whole and set work progressed onto tile cleaning. There were years of ingrained dirt and grime built up in this floor and no history of what may have been applied to the surface to protect it, so cleaning started with an application on Tile Doctor Remove & Go. This is a strong alkaline treatment which was left to soak in for ten minutes before scrubbing with a rotary machine fitted with a black pad. The slurry generated was then removed with a wet vacuum and the tiles inspected.

Next step was to give the floor an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which was brushed into the tiles. This further cleans the floor and being an acid will neutralise any alkaline salts and remove other problems such as grout smears. Once done the gel was removed with the wet vac and the floor rinsed to remove any trace of product before the next step of sealing.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The floor was left to dry off for several days, before returning to apply the new sealer. Beforehand the floor was tested with a moisture meter to ensure it was fully dry, we don’t recommend applying sealer to a damp floor as it will affect the result. The readings were fine so the floor was sealed with an initial coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow to improve colour and then when that had dried Seal & Go to add a lovely finish.

 
Once done the floor looked amazing and my client was overjoyed with the transformation. The new sealer also allowed the reclaimed tiles to blend in very well with the original and it was very difficult to spot the repairs.

For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. Most of the tile cleaning products you find in supermarkets are simply too strong for the sealer and can degrade them prematurely.

Source: Professional Victorian Floor Tile Restoration Service in Sheffield Yorkshire