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Victorian Craven Dunnill Floor Renovation Stoke Golding Nuneaton

Craven Dunnill Floor Restoration in Stoke Golding Nuneaton

1 Comment / Nuneaton Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Mick Gayton

The Victorian Floor was in Stoke Golding a small village near Nuneaton Warwickshire. Some years ago, the client had decided to tile over the original Victorian geometric tiled floor with a modern tile. Back to the present day and their tastes had changed and so they decided they preferred the classic look after all and wanted the old floor restored. The process of removing the modern tiles however caused quite a bit of damage to the old floor and in the process managed to damage a large section of the sub floor.

Victorian Hallway Before Craven Dunnill Tile Rebuild Stoke Golding Nuneaton

After surveying the floor, I could see that as well as the obvious, the floor had dropped by the door to the lounge so this would need repairing and the tiles by the kitchen door had been removed and would also need replacing. Happy for me to do the work I worked out how many replacement tiles would be needed to renovate the floor. The tiles were then ordered from Craven Dunnill who have been in operation since 1872 and still make the same tiles to this day.

Cleaning and Repairing a Craven Dunnill Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The first day on the job involved removing tiles and screed from the damaged sections, cleaning up the rubble as I went. The now exposed subfloor was built up to the right height by adding self-levelling screed which was left to set before more work could be done. Once the new screed had set the replacement tiles were cut and laid using a flexible adhesive. The damaged tiles in the floor where also removed and replaced where needed.

Victorian Hallway During Craven Dunnill Tile Rebuild Stoke Golding Nuneaton

The next step involved deep cleaning the whole hallway floor, first using Tile Doctor Remove and Go and then followed up with Tile Doctor Acid Gel using 200 and 400-Grit burnishing pads to really get the tiles clean and bright again. I hand finished the corners and edges with handheld burnishing blocks of different grades and then left the floor to dry overnight.

Sealing a Craven Dunnill Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The next morning, I inspected the floor to check it was clean and dry however, it also revealed a few more cracked tiles that were not obvious the day before. These were removed and replaced as before.

The floor was then pre-sealed using a coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer followed up with a few coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra. The combination of the two sealers brings out the colours in the tiles whilst providing hard wearing protection that will keep the dirt out of the tiles. Both sealers are breathable which is an important consideration when sealing old floors like this one which don’t usually have a damp proof membrane.

Victorian Hallway After Craven Dunnill Tile Rebuild Stoke Golding Nuneaton

Due to the amount of tiling work needed that job was completed over a two-week period however the floor looked amazing when finished and well worth the effort. Given the history of the floor I’m sure the fully restored floor will add a lot of value to the property, certainly my client was very happy with the finish.

Professional Craven Dunnill Victorian Hallway Restoration in Warwickshire

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Ex Pub Quarry Tiled Floor Restored to Fantastic Condition in Newbold-on-Avon, Rugby

Pubs have been though a decline in the last ten years with one in five closing due to increased business rates and some believe the ban on smoking has had a part to play. My client saw this particular pub come up for sale in Newbold-on-Avon near Rugby and snapped it up with the intention of turning the lovely thatched Cottage back into a home. It needed a lot of work though and I was called into to sort out the floor which was a mixture of 6×6 inch and 9×9 inch Quarry tiles. The tiles were in a bit of a state and there were also large sections of concrete in 3 areas that had been painted red to blend in with the tiles.

Quarry Tiled Floor Thatched Cottage in Rugby Before

Rebuilding and Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Floor

The customer wanted the Quarry tiled floor restoring and extended throughout the floor which meant a substantial amount of work would be required to remove the concrete, rebuild the foundation and level with screed and then fit around 100 reclaimed tiles not to mention cleaning and sealing.

Quarry Tiled Floor Thatched Cottage in Rugby During Rebuild

The work was hard going at times, especially knocking out the concrete and adding the screed surface to the right level. Once that was done worked moved quickly on to laying the new tiles and grouting them in. Overall it took three days just to rebuild the floor alone.

The customer did not what the Floor to look too different between the old and new so once the tiling was done the whole floor was treated with Tile Doctor Remove and Go to remove traces of red paint and glue. The solution was scrubbed in using a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad and then rinsed off with water and then extracted using a wet vacuum.

This improved the look of the tiles but it also revealed some grout haze issues on the original tiles and after digging up the floor earlier I was aware no damp proof course had been installed which is not unusual in these older properties. To counter the grout haze and deal with any potential efflorescence issues I gave the whole floor an acid wash with Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up which was scrubbed in and then rinsed off with water and extracted with a the wet vacuum. The tiles need to be dry in order to be sealed so I left the floor for 24 hours with a number of industrial Air Movers in place to aid the drying process.

Sealing a Quarry Tiled Floor

Upon my return to the house I checked for any dampness that could have damaged the performance of the sealer, thankfully, the floor was dry and ready to seal, and so I proceeded to apply several coats of Tile Doctor Seal & Go Extra.

Seal & Go Extra is a fully breathable sealer that allows for effective moisture transmission, important where no damp proof course is installed. The sealer provides durable surface protection against dirt and stains, and is suitable for most kinds of internal, natural stone tiled floors, including Quarry, Victorian and Flagstone.

Quarry Tiled Floor Thatched Cottage in Rugby After

The job took a week in total and as you can see from the photographs I successfully managed to restore the old tiles which with the addition of the cleaning and sealing have blended in well with the new tiles.

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