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Victorian Tiled Hallway Renovation Carlisle Cumbria

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Renovation in Carlisle

1 Comment / Carlisle Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning / Chris Jones / Acid Gel, Black Pad, Carlisle, Colour Grow, Hallway Tile Cleaning, Lake District, Neutral Tile Cleaner, North Cumbria, Oxy-Gel, Tile Repair, tile restoration, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Sealing

The client from Carlisle had been putting off cleaning and sealing their Victorian tiled hallway floor for some time. Having finally decided it was overdue a clean and seal I was asked to pop round and provide a quote for its renovation.

Happy to oblige I popped over at an agreed time to inspect the floor and work out a detailed quote. I could see there were a few minor repairs to the tiling that would be needed so I included those in the work and worked out a detailed quote to bring the floor back to its original condition.

The quote was accepted and date agreed for the work to start which typically takes two days for a floor like this.

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway

The first job was to add protection to the stair carpet, new oak doors, skirtings, and surrounding surfaces. The rotary machine I used for scrubbing the floor can cause a little mess, so I like to ensure all the adjacent areas were sealed and safeguarded from moisture and chemical exposure.

Once done I set about completing a few minor repairs which are quite common with a floor of this age where a couple of tiles had come loose and needed refixing with rapid set adhesive.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Carlisle During Cleaning

With that complete I set about on the initial deep clean which started with the application of Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel across the entire floor. This was chosen for its thicker consistency and reduced use of water due to the cellar immediately below the hallway. The product was allowed to dwell on the tiles for a good ten minutes before being agitated using a deck brush and rotary scrubber fitted with a black pad.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Carlisle During Cleaning

The machine was run over each tile five or six times to lift deep-set grime and reveal the original colours of the tiles. Once done, the soiling was extracted with a wet vacuum, and the floor was neutralised with clean water which was also removed with the wet vacuum.

Next step was to treat the tiles to an acid rinse using diluted Tile Doctor Acid Gel. This is applied to the tiles as before and is used to remove cement-based residues, mineral deposits, and remaining contaminants. The gel was allowed to dwell briefly and then removed using a wet vacuum.

Multiple floor fans were deployed after the cleaning process to accelerate drying and ensure the tiles would be dry enough to seal the following day.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway

The next day moisture readings were taken in several spots to confirm the floor was dry and that the fans had done their job. Using Gel cleaners reduces the amount of water needed in the cleaning process which also helps reduce drying times.

To seal the tiles multiple coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow impregnating sealer were applied to enhance the natural colour, improve depth, and protect the surface. Overall, this achieved a clean, uniform, revitalised finish while maintaining the floor’s original Victorian character.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Carlisle After Cleaning Sealing

The transformation was clear and the client was extremely pleased with the result and left great feedback. For aftercare I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is an effective product that won’t impact the sealer.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Carlisle After Cleaning Sealing

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in North Cumbria

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Renovation in Carlisle Read More »

Victorian Hallway Floor Renovated in Carlisle

Original Victorian Hallway Floor Restored Back to Life in Carlisle

1 Comment / Carlisle Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning / Chris Jones / Acid Gel, Carlisle, Cumbria, Floor Tile Cleaning, Hallway Floor, Oxy-Gel, Restoration, sealing victorian tiles, Victorian Hallway Restoration, Victorian Tiles, X-Tra Seal

This is probably one of the oldest Victorian floors we have worked on, the house dates back to 1853 and is the second one we have covered on the same road in the leafy city of Carlisle . The whole street was owned by the council for several decades and the houses including floors have experienced all sorts of damage to them over the years. More recently the houses have been released to a private developer who called us in to handle the restoration and resurrect the hallway tiles which you will see on the pictures.

Period 1853 Victorian Hallway Floor Before Restoration Carlisle

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The first job for us was the tile repair, and this meant preparing the surface for the new tiles, which involved carefully knocking up all the loose and cracked tiles and then re setting them using matching replacements where necessary.

Period 1853 Victorian Hallway Floor During Restoration Carlisle

To do this I like to use a multi tool to score the grout and then break out the cracked tiles with a hammer and chisel or a power drill. The replacement tiles had to be re-sized to fit, oddly enough most of the damage was along the edge of the floor where air ducts used to be in place and then these had been concreted in. The main part of the floor though was still in good order even though it was 170 years old.

Once the replacement tiles were set, a low moisture cleaning technique was used to get the whole floor clean. This involves covering the tiles in Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel and leaving it to soak into the tile for ten minutes. Being a gel cleaner, it is easier to control and there is less water involved. The gel is then scrubbed in with a buffing machine fitted with a 100-grit milling pad. A little bit of water is added to help lubricate and scrub off the dirt and soiling. A wet vacuum is then used to remove the soil which is an essential piece of kit for this line of work.

After the initial clean the floor was given an acid rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which was applied neat and as before scrubbed in using a pad, this time using a finer 200-grit milling pad. Again, a little water was used to aid in the clean up being careful not to flood the floor.

The reason for the low moisture clean is that there was a basement underneath the hallway and the client had nowhere else to put certain fabrics, furniture etc so with a low moisture clean we can minimise the chance of any water finding its way into the space below. The wet vacuum was deployed again to remove the cleaning products and water and the floor was left to dry.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Once clean and dry the floor was sealed using two coats of Tile Doctor X-Tra seal which as the name suggests is a little bit extra as it’s a very robust sealer, although mainly designed for outside areas it’s an oil-based formula that works really on Victorian tiles.