This Victorian Tiled Hallway at a house in Radford near Coventry had been well preserved under a carpet for many years and the owners of the house now wanted it brought back to life. Physically the tiles were in good condition however they did suffer from the usual issues of paint splashes and adhesive stuck to the surface.
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Cleaning Victorian Tiles
To clean up the tiles and remove the paint and glue I used a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go. The edges of the floor was done first as this was where the most pain splashes were to be found due to the skirting being painted at some point in the past. The usual procedure still applied allowing the product to soak in and soften the paint before being scrubbed off by hand. Once the edges were done I moved onto the main part of the floor using the same process however this time I had the advantage of being able to use a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad. The dirty solution was rinsed away with water and removed with a wet vacuum.
To finish off and remove some signs of efflorescence (white salt stains) the tiles were then scrubbed in a dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up. This did the trick but you can’t leave this product on the tiles for too long as its an acid so as soon as it had done its job it was washed off and then the tiles were then given a thorough wash down with clean water.
My work was done for the day so I left a fan running to help speed dry the floor overnight and left for the day.
Sealing Victorian floor tiles
I came back the next day to seal the floor using Tile Doctor Seal and Go sealer which provides stain protection as well giving a nice sheen to the tile, the tiles were quite porous and needed six coats before they were fully sealed.
I use the same approach, work from the outside in. Those are beautiful and unusual Victorial tiles by the way, it’s a shame they were ever covered in carpet.