Renovation Archives - South Lancashire Tile Doctor

Victorian Tiled Floor After Renovation Heywood

Carpet Covered Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Renovated in Heywood

This client from Heywood reached out for some advice regarding their Victorian tiled floor that needed renovating. It was quite a large hallway and porch that needed attention and having tried cleaning it themselves they realised the tiles contained a lot of ingrained dirt that was proving stubborn to remove.

Victorian Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Heywood

They had uncovered the original Victorian floor under old carpet, and though there was some damage to the perimeter due to carpet fitting and plumbing updates etc it was broadly complete. There was also some work required in the porch due to settlement.

Victorian Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Heywood

The client had attempted to clean the floor themselves as much as they could but there was ground in dirt and staining from carpet glue and paint which meant it looked permanently unclean. In addition, it was ‘sticky’, and unpleasant to walk on due in part to unstable old sealers.

They needed a quote for someone to clean and seal the tiles properly and leave a serviceable floor that could be maintained easily. For now, repairs were to be left except for replacement of a missing piece and re-fixing a few loose tiles at the foot of the stairs.

Happy with the quote, we agreed a date for the work to start.

Cleaning and Repairing a Victorian Tiled Hallway

The first job was to re-secure the tiles by the stairs and adding the missing piece of tile that I mentioned earlier. This was followed by removing what was left of the sticky old sealer which was done using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and a 50-grit diamond pad. Coarse pads are ideal for removing the ingrained patterns that carpet can leave on a tile after being covered for many years. The floor was then inspected, and any stubborn areas re-done before extracting the soiling with a wet vacuum.

Victorian Tiled Floor During Cleaning Heywood

The next job was to clean the floor using a gel cleaner called Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel. Due to the age of the property and the fact there was a cellar below, I wanted to minimise the use of water, this would also help with drying times. The gel was spread onto the floor with a little water and then scrubbed into the tiles using a 100-grit diamond pad. Once the whole floor was cleaned in this manner the soiling was extracted as before with the wet vacuum.

The last step in the cleaning process was to treat the floor to an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid-Gel. This is another specialist Tile Doctor gel-based product that has several benefits including the further cleaning of the tiles, neutralising the PH level of the floor and countering salts which are quite common with old floors.

Victorian Tiled Floor During Cleaning Heywood

The floor was now free of ingrained dirt and staining and after a final rinse and extraction with the wet vacuum the floor was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway

I returned the next day to seal the tiles and started by taking moisture readings from the tiles using a damp meter. This confirmed the floor was dry and ready for sealing.

I was then able to move onto sealing the floor using Tile Doctor X-Tra seal which is a long-lasting oil-based impregnating sealer that improves colour in the tile and is fully breathable, an important consideration when sealing an old floor that was previously covered in carpet. This product is also rated for external as well as internal use so its ideal for hallways which can get wet.

Victorian Tiled Floor During Sealing Heywood

Once complete the floor looked new again, much to the delight of my clients who were very happy with the work and left the following comment on our feedback system:

”Kevin was fantastic – he was so helpful and knowledgeable and made our old, tired floor look brilliant. Would 100% recommend”

Victorian Tiled Floor After Renovation Heywood

Before leaving I took time to discuss aftercare for which I recommended they use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, being pH neutral its ideal for the regular cleaning of sealed tiles. Many of the tile cleaning products you find in supermarkets are very strong and will strip the sealer off a floor so always read the label.

Victorian Tiled Floor After Renovation Heywood

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in South Lancashire

Carpet Covered Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Renovated in Heywood Read More »

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Renovated for a Property Investor in Burnley

1 Comment / Burnley Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Kevin Parry

A property investor contacted Tile Doctor to see if we could help renovate a property that was to be sold in few weeks’ time. To get maximum value from the investment she wanted to preserve the character and period features of the house including the Victorian Tiled Hallway floor, which as you can see from the photograph below was in need a bit of TLC!.

Victorian tiled floors and other period features have become very popular in recent years and are often discovered under hallway carpets covered in years of dirt. Fortunately, they are very resilient and with the right techniques and products can be restored back to their former glory.

Victorian Tiles Before Renovation Burnley

On our initial visit I conducted a survey of the floor to check its condition and work out the most suitable products and methods to employ to restore it. One of the main concerns we have with these old floors is damp as damp-proof membranes were not invented until relatively recently. I have a damp meter to check for this and it did indicate high moisture levels which isn’t really an issue for cleaning the floor but would restrict our choice of sealer to those which are fully breathable and allow moisture to rise-up through the tile. We agreed a price and schedule with the customer and within two weeks we were able to start the work.

Cleaning an Original Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The floor was in quite a state, made worse I suspect by recent restoration work by other contractors who unfortunately didn’t take as much care with the floor as the could have done.

After protecting the skirting boards and carpets with film work got underway starting by applying a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go to the floor to strip away old sealers and other coatings. This product also helps to break down the paint stains on the surface of the tile, though I also used a handheld scraper, as well as a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad, to speed up the process. The resultant slurry was rinsed off the floor with water and extracted using a wet vacuum.

With the floor clean of coatings, the next step was to deep clean the tiles with a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is an effective Tile and Grout cleaning product that deeply cleans away ingrained stains. Again, we used a black scrubbing pad fitted to a rotary machine to make the job easier. Corners were tough to tackle with a machine, so we had to do them by hand.
The floor was given a final rinse to remove any soil and trace of cleaning product and the wet vacuum was used a final time to extract as much moisture out of the floor as possible. Upon finishing the cleaning, we left the floor for a few days, so it could dry out fully.

Dealing with Efflorescence

When we came back to seal the floor we noticed problems with white salt deposits coming to the surface of the tile a problem known as efflorescence. I had suspected this might become an issue but there was no indication of it happening before so was not overly concerned at the time. However, it meant I could not seal the floor as planned until the efflorescence had been dealt with. Fortunately salts like these can be treated and to resolve the problem I gave the floor a wipe with a solution of Tile Doctor Acid Gel which is a blend of phosphoric and hydrochloric acids in a gel form, formulated to remove grout haze (grout smears) and treat efflorescence. Once this was done the floor was given a light rinse and dried again.

Sealing an Original Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I left the floor to dry again for a few more days and on my return, I was pleased to see the problem had not resurfaced and I was able to complete the restoration with the application of a sealer.

To seal the tiles, I used a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which is a penetrating sealer designed to soak into the pores of the clay thus preventing dirt from becoming ingrained whilst additionally enhancing the colours in the tile. The sealer really deepened the colours in the tile bringing them to life and with Colour Grow being fully breathable there shouldn’t be any issues with damp becoming trapped under the tile and causing issues later.

The customer was delighted with the results (see feedback below) and the work we did should more than pay for itself when the house goes on the market.

“Thoroughly impressed with Kamila, she was so lovely, professional and thorough! Our tiles look amazing and I was especially happy with how quick she sorted that floor out from the first email I sent. Janice M., Burnley”

Victorian Tiled After Renovation Burnley

Professional Restoration of an Old Victorian Tiled Hallway in South Lancashire

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Renovated for a Property Investor in Burnley Read More »

Old Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated at a Stacksteads Cottage near Backup

1 Comment / Bolton Tile Cleaning, Flagstone Tile Cleaning, Work History / Kevin Parry

The pictures below were taken in the Kitchen of a charming cottage situated in the village of Stacksteads near the town of Backup, North of Manchester in the district of Rossendale. The flagstone floor was over 100 years old and the customer was unhappy with their appearance. They had tried to clean/mill and seal themselves a few years ago and had found the process hard work and very time consuming. This time round they decided to ask professional applicator at Tile Doctor for help.

Old Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Renovation in Stacksteads Backup

We had conducted a small patch test so we could show possible results to the customer. They had also advised us that they felt the stained areas of grout was beyond cleaning and would probably need replacing. However replacing the grout would have been quite an expensive option so instead of replacing we suggested deep cleaning the grout lines during the renovation process.

The customers were happy with the results of the patch test so the job was booked in.

Deep Cleaning Old Flagstone Flooring

On our return visit we set about deep cleaning the flagstones using a strong dilution Tile Doctor Pro-Clean worked in using a Black Scrubbing pad fitter to a rotary cleaning machine. This action certainly gave the floor a good clean and removed the old sealer but some stains were proving stubborn to shift so we tried a stronger product called Remove and Go combined 50/50 with NanoTech HBU which add nano-sized abrasive particles to the mix.

We left the resulting formula to soak into the stone for a while and then scrubbed it into the floor with a stiff brush paying particular attention to the grout lines. This did the trick and so we then removed the now soiled and dirty cleaning products with a wet vacuum and washed down the floor with clean water to remove any trace of product and neutralise the floor before sealing. We then left for the evening so the floor could dry out fully overnight.

Old Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor During Renovation in Stacksteads Backup

Sealing a Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor

We came back the next day and tested the floor with a damp meter in a few different locations to make sure no dampness remained in the stone. The Flagstone was dry so we proceeded to seal the floor with a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which penetrates into the pores of the stone protecting it from within and enhancing the natural colours of the stone.

Old Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor After Renovation in Stacksteads Backup

The beautiful colours of blue and dark sand were showing after sealing with Colour Grow which is the best sealer for stone floors. Certainly the customer was very happy with the results and left the following 5 star review!

We could not praise Kamila enough. Our flagstone floor was in desperate need of some TLC. She was punctual, thorough and completely professional. Throughout the whole process she invited me to see the progress and to keep me informed of what she was doing. She also gave us good advice on how to clean and care for our stone floor. The end result is fabulous and we are absolutely delighted. We would definitely recommend Kamila to anyone.
Jo H, Bacup

Old Flagstone Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Sealed in South Lancashire

Old Flagstone Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovated at a Stacksteads Cottage near Backup Read More »