Renovating Victorian Hallway Floors at a York Bed & Breakfast

A guesthouse in the popular city of York contacted Tile Doctor regarding a couple of original Victorian tiled floors in the ground floor hallway. The property was approximately 150 years old and at some point, in the past the tiles had been covered with carpet secured with gripper rods around the edges that were fixed to the tile with a strong adhesive.

The guesthouse had been undergoing renovations and the floors were understandably the last item on the list. The request was to restore the original Victorian floor as close as possible to their original condition and create an impressive period feature at the same time.

After inspecting the tiles, I could see both floors needed repair work however due to the time pressure in getting the guest house open again the request was reduced to a deep clean and then protecting with a hard-wearing sealer. I was happy to do that in fact I find old floors like this example look more authentic when they show some age.

I worked out a quote to do the work which was accepted and was able to find a gap in my diary that suited their timescales.

Cleaning Victorian Tiles Tiles

To get the floor clean a free of adhesive a strong combination of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and Pro-Clean was applied to the tiles and left to soak in for fifteen minutes. This gives the solution time to breakdown the adhesives and dirt trapped in the floor. Then the floor was scrubbed with a 100-grit diamond pad attached to a rotary machine that had added weights to increase traction. We often find when tiled floor have been covered for a long time that patterns in the carpet/underlay imprint themselves onto the tile and a diamond pad will remove it. Once a section of flooring had been cleaned in this the soiling was extracted using a powerful industrial wet vacuum and the process repeated with a 200-grit pad.

To complete the cleaning of the old Victorian tiles they were treated to an acid wash using Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which further cleans the floor. It will also counter any salts that may be present in the floor which can appear as white efflorescence as the floor dries. The product was applied to the tiles and then scrubbed in with a black pad before a through rinse and extraction to remove any trace of cleaning product.

The floor responded well to the treatment and was then left to dry so it would be ready for the next step of sealing.

Sealing Victorian Tiles Tiles

To achieve a durable protective finish that can stand up to the constant traffic of a guest house several coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow were applied leaving 30 minutes drying time between coats. This sealer is a hard-wearing impregnator that soaks into the pores of the tile protecting it from within and ensuring dirt remains on the surface where it can be easily cleaned away.

The customer was extremely happy with the results and gave us the following five star review:

To get maximum longevity out of the sealer I recommend using Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a mild yet effective cleaner. Stronger products that are often used in commercial environments usually contain bleach and will degrade the sealer so best avoided.

Source: Commercial Victorian Floor Tile Cleaning and Renovation Service in York