This Victorian tiled hallway and kitchen floor in Teddington, Middlesex, was in need of a deep clean including stripping out the old sealer and re-sealing to ensure easy maintenance in the future. Being a high traffic area the tiles had accumulated a high amount of soil over the years, there was also a lot of glue that had been used to stick carpet down in the past which had to be removed and there was heavy staining to the kitchen tiles from spillages over the years. If that wasn’t bad enough the owners of the house were in the middle of renovating the property so there was paint and plaster on the surface which would also need to be treated prior to sealing.
Cleaning Victorian Tiles
In order to break down the glue and paint the affected areas were sprayed with Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was then left to soak in. Following 10 minutes dwell time I then proceeded to scrub off the glue and paint and the resulting soiled solution was rinsed away.
The next step was to scrub the entire tiled floor using a rotary machine fitted with a scrubbing pad and a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean high alkaline cleaner. This broke down the soil ingrained in the tile and released it along with the remaining old sealer; the floor was then pressure rinsed to ensure all of the dirt was removed from the pores and stubborn areas re-treated.
Sealing Victorian Tiles
The floor was then left alone to dry for twenty four hours before I came back to seal it for which I used four coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go. This is a water based topical sealer that leaves no smell and provides a nice sheen to the floor; it will also repel liquids and dirt making it easier to maintain the tiles in the future.
You can see from the photographs how the sealer has gives a high sheen finish to the tile which reflects the light and enhances the colours of the stone leaving the floor looking as good as new and very vibrant.
For really bad staining I find steam helps to lift the grime out of the tile, one of those decorators steamers for removing wall paper should do the job.