Period Victorian Floor Renovated at Cleethorpes Guesthouse

I was asked to look at renovating a Victorian tiled hallway floor for a guesthouse owner in Cleethorpes. There had been a flood at the property and the tiles had developed a White blooming which is usually a sign of Efflorescence. Also, a wooden floor in an adjoining corridor had been damaged and had to be lifted and in doing so the discovered that the Victorian floor actually continued along the corridor, which was a nice surprise.

Another issue was the old mat well by the front door where the tiles around the edge were coming away. I could have repaired that with salvaged tiles, but the client wanted a cheaper option, so I suggested making several repairs with the tiles we had available and rebuilding the matt well with a new piece of matting. This was the option she was happy with.

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I first carried out a deep clean to Victorian tiles in the adjoining corridor to remove the glue that had been used to secure the wooden floor, it was also covered in paint splashed from decorating, however, my method should take care of both these problems.

I used a combination of Tile Doctor Remove and Go mixed with Tile Doctor Pro-Clean to create a strong coatings remover/tile cleaning solution and left it to soak on the tiles for ten to twenty minutes. This gave it time to break down and soften the paint and glue, it was then removed using a hand scraper with some assistance from a steamer. The mess generated from the process was then rinsed off and extracted with a wet vacuum.

To counter the efflorescence and further clean up both the corridor tiles and the main hallway I treated the tiles to an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel. This is left for another ten minutes before being worked into the floors and then rinsed off and extracted as before. Being an acid, it will neutralise the alkaline efflorescent salts in the floor, it also cleans the tiles to remove old cement and grout.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The next day the corridor floor was dry enough to seal with Tile Doctor Colour Grow and between coats I carried on with the cleaning the rest of the hallway which needed more attention.

The problem I had with the hallway was that the white blooming wasn’t just efflorescence, it turns out it still had traces of an old topical sealer on the tiles and that would need to be stripped off. I used more Tile Doctor Remove and Go for this, working in a strong dilution until all the sealer had gone. Again, this was rinsed off with water and extracted with a wet vacuum.

Once this was all done, I reset all the tiles around the mat well. Finally, I laid some self-levelling compound within the well to get it to the required height.

On the third day I made up a wooden frame for the mat well and secured it down before cutting a piece of matting to fit in snuggly. I then finished off sealing the hallway floor using Tile Doctor Colour Grow to get a consistent look between the corridor and main hallway. While I was waiting for everything to dry, I even gave the front entrance tiles a complimentary clean.

The floor was completely transformed by the work, and I’m pleased to say my client was over the moon with what had been carried out. For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is safe to use on sealed floors and will help keep the floor looking beautiful for many years to come.

Source: Guesthouse Floor Cleaning and Renovation Service in Cleethorpes Lincolnshire