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Victorian Hallway Floor Cleaned Sealed Twickenham Middlesex

Clean and Seal of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Twickenham

1 Comment / Twickenham Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Jonathan Oldham

This Victorian tiled hallway floor at a property in Twickenham was in great physical condition considering its age but just hadn’t been cleaned or sealed in quite a few years. Over the years the protective sealer has worn away and dirt tracked in from outside had sunk deep into the pores of the tile. The floor looked dull, and my customer was finding it hard to clean and maintain effectively.

Victorian Hallway Before Restoration Twickenham

Cleaning Victorian Tiles

To remove the ground in dirt from within the pores of the tile I needed to apply a strong cleaning product that would breakdown the dirt and deal with any remaining sealer left on the floor. Usually, I find the sealer down the center of the hallway is worn away with use, but you still find traces towards the wall. To do the renovation effectively I would need to remove all the sealer during cleaning otherwise you risk an uneven appearance.

The best sealer stripper and cleaner for the job is a product called Tile Doctor Remove and Go so I mopped a strong dilution onto the floor and then left it to soak in for around fifteen minutes. To get the best from this product it’s advised to give it a long dwell time thereby allowing it to break down old sealer and dissolve the dirt and contaminants.

The floor was then scrubbed with a rotary floor machine to work the product into the pores of the tile and release the trapped dirt. After the first pass the floor was rinsed with a little water and the soil extracted using a machine. After inspecting the floor some areas were re-treated using the same process to ensure all the sealer and dirt had been removed.

After a final inspection I left the tiles to dry off overnight.

Sealing Victorian Tiles

The following day I returned and started by taking moisture readings from different parts of the floor. Its not a good idea to apply a sealer to a damp tile and damp areas should be dried out with a heat gun first.

My client was keen to have a classic shiny appearance, so I chose Tile Doctor Seal and Go to add protection to the tiles. The sealer will prevent dirt becoming ingrained in the tile and protect the floor from staining caused by spillages whilst making it very easy for our customer to maintain in the future. As you can see from the pictures, it also gives a nice sheen finish to add lustre to the floor as requested by my customer.

Victorian Hallway After Restoration Twickenham

Before leaving we had a quick chat about maintaining the floor and a warning about the use of strong floor cleaning products which can be over strong and prematurely strip the sealer away over time. For this floor I recommend Tile Doctor Neutral cleaner which is an effective cleaner but as its name suggests is pH neutral and mild enough not to harm the sealer.

Professional Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in Middlesex

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Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored back to Health in Twickenham

1 Comment / Twickenham Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Jonathan Oldham

Apologies in advance but I forgot to take the usual before photograph of this Victorian tiled hallway in Twickenham that I worked on recently. It’s a shame really as it was certainly in need of a good clean and re-seal after years of inadequate maintenance and I’m sure a photo would have helped.

Victorian tiles are porous and do need a sealer to stop dirt becoming ingrained, as once that happens they can be difficult to clean and a Hallway is an especially high traffic area that will see a lot of dirt being tramped in. That activity also wears down the sealer over time so it’s important to keep it topped up.

Cleaning Victorian Tiles

On these tiles, we used a 50:50 combination of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean mixed with Tile Doctor Remove and Go. This combination of products works very well to break down old sealers and also to clean the general soil away from the tile. As usual it was left to soak into the tiles for ten minutes before using a heavy duty scrubbing machine to scrub the floor clean. This achieved a good result and the soil and products were then flushed away using our special flushing tool which fires a jet of water onto the tile whilst vacuuming at the same time (no mess!) to an external tank.

Sealing Victorian Tiles

After allowing the tiles to dry off overnight with some heating on, the floor was ready to accept a new seal the next day. Our customer decided to have a sheen finish so we opted to apply Tile Doctor Seal and Go. These tiles are very porous and so need seven coats to be applied to the floor before it was completely sealed.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Cleaning in Twickenham

Apologies again for not taking a before photo so you can compare the difference however hopefully you can see how health the floor looks following the deep cleaning and application of a fresh sealer which will ensure future maintenance is a lot easier for the customer.

Professional Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in Middlesex

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Victorian Hallway Floor Restored in Hampton

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Stripped and Sealed in Hampton

1 Comment / Hampton Court Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning, Work History / Jonathan Oldham

These photographs are of a Victorian tiled hallway at a house in Hampton, Middlesex which is South West suburb of London. The tiles had suffered during the completion of extensive building works and as you can see from the picture below, the tiles were looking dull and had lost their vibrancy.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Cleaning Hampton

On top of that the floor was heavily soiled with plaster dust as well as general soiling from wear and it had not been cleaned or sealed for nearly eight years. Victorian tiles are very hard wearing however and I knew I could put new life into the floor by giving them a good deep clean and re-seal.

Cleaning Victorian Hallway Tiles

To get the tiles clean and remove unwanted coatings we applied a 50/50 combination of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and Tile Doctor Remove and Go.
This combination of products is effective at breaking down old sealers and coatings as well as cleaning the soil away from the tile.
The products were left to soak in for ten minutes before using a heavy-duty machine fitted with a scrubbing pad to work the solution into the pores of the tile. This did the trick and the soil and products were then flushed away using our special flushing tool which fires a jet of water onto the tile whilst extracting it at the same time with a vacuum (so no mess!)

Sealing Victorian Tiles

After allowing the tiles to dry overnight with some heating on, the floor was ready the next morning to accept a fresh sealer. Our customer wanted to have a sheen finish so we opted for Tile Doctor Seal and Go which works really well on Victorian tiles. Seven coats were applied to the floor before it was completely sealed and protected.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Cleaning Hampton

As well as improving the appearance of the tiles new sealer will also make cleaning much easier for the customer.

Restoring a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Middlesex

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