Some tiled floors convey the history of a building simply by looking at them, and I’m sure this beautiful Victorian tiled vestibule floor at a property in Chorley had a story to tell. It had certainly suffered over the years and was now showing its age.
After around 140 years of use, the encaustic and clay tiles had suffered considerable wear. The back door led into a closed-off yard, meaning this hallway had effectively become the only entrance to the building. Generations of foot traffic had therefore taken their toll. Fortunately, the customer had retained a supply of original spare tiles, which meant we had the opportunity to carefully repair and restore the floor rather than replace it.
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Repairing Victorian Floor Tiling
The first job was to deal with the edges of the floor. The original 10-inch skirting boards had recently been removed by a joiner, leaving the edges somewhat damaged and uneven, with quite a bit of debris and old material to clear away.
We cleaned and levelled the edges as far as possible before applying a new self-levelling compound. This provided a much smoother and flatter surface to work from and made the process of resetting the original tiles considerably easier.
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The spare tiles also needed preparation. Old adhesive and hardened glue had accumulated on the backs and edges over the years, so these were carefully cleaned using our wet-wheel machine outside the property. It is an effective way of preparing reclaimed tiles, although certainly not the cleanest part of the job!
Once prepared, the original tiles were carefully re-laid and fixed back into position.
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Rather than using a conventional modern grout, we used the adhesive itself to fill the joints. Historically, grout as we know it today was not used on Victorian floors; the joints would typically have been filled with a sand and cement-based material. The modern grey adhesive provided a close visual match to this traditional appearance.
The floor was then left overnight to cure before the cleaning process could begin.
Deep Cleaning Victorian Tiles
For the initial clean, we used a combination of neat Tile Doctor Remove & Go and Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted 1:5. A 100-grit milling pad fitted to a small hand-held polishing machine was used as the main agitator.
This worked particularly well on the Victorian clay tiles, getting into the surface and helping to release years of ingrained dirt and soiling. The slurry was vacuumed away, the floor rinsed and brushed and then vacuumed again to remove the remaining residue.
Some areas were left to dry fully overnight before sealing.
Sealing and Protecting the Floor
Once completely dry, the floor was sealed with Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal. This breathable, oil-based sealer was worked into the clay tiles and any excess was polished away as we progressed. Additional sealer was applied where required, followed by further polishing to achieve the desired finish.
Oil-based sealers do require a little more work, but the result is a beautifully enhanced floor while retaining the important breathability required by old floors that don’t have a damp proof membrane. X-Tra Seal is also externally rated so ideal for a tiled vestibule floor.
The completed hallway now looks considerably closer to how it would have appeared when originally installed. Most importantly, the original tiles have been retained and the customer’s collection of spare tiles has allowed damaged areas to be sympathetically repaired.
The customer was delighted with the finished result, giving this 140-year-old Victorian floor a new lease of life. For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of Tile Doctor’s Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a mild yet effective product that won’t impact the sealer.
Source: Old Victorian Tiled Floor Restored in Chorley Lancashire