Fulham

Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Renovated Fulham

Restoration of an Unloved Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in Fulham

I received a request to quote for the restoration of this Victorian tiled floor in the hallway of a property in Fulham which as you can see from the photographs was in a very poor condition.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Cleaning Fulham

I visited the property to survey the floor and could see that except for a few loose tiles it was in good physical condition. From experience I knew it would respond well to a deep clean and seal so I carried out a test clean on a small area to demonstrate its potential. The tiles came up well and my client was satisfied it would be worthwhile to have it restored.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Cleaning Fulham Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Cleaning Fulham

When you have period features such as this floor in a property it is a shame not to make the most of them, they are sought after and will increase its value. Having agreed my quote, we arranged to carry out the work the following week.

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

To get all the dirt out of the pores of the tiles I first applied a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go and after leaving it to soak in for ten minutes was scrubbed in with a black pad. I also used a steam cleaner during this process to help lift the dirt out of the pores. From what I could tell the tiles had a variety of contaminants including paint, plaster, cement, and dirt. Luckily Tile Doctor Remove and Go can handle all of these. I had to repeat the process on the stubborn stains and then removed all the slurry and dirt using a wet vacuum.

I then moved onto the loose tiles which needed to have the old adhesive removed from the tile and the base. The original tiles were then cleaned up by hand before new rapid setting adhesive was applied to secure them back into the floor.

Once the loose tiles had set, I moved onto the next step of giving the floor an Acid Rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel. This cleans up the tiles further by removing old grout smears and dissolving efflorescent salts in the floor. This is a common in properties of this age which don’t have a damp proof membrane to stop moisture rising through the tile. This process also neutralises the pH level of the floor after the use of strong alkaline cleaning products like Tile Doctor Remove and Go. The floor was rinsed again afterwards, and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum before leaving it to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

The next day the moisture levels of the tiles were checked with a damp meter to ensure they were dry enough to be sealed. The readings were fine, so I was able to apply a couple of coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a breathable colour enhancing sealer. This is a super durable product which will give great protection to the floor, especially when it is in a high traffic area such as a hallway.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Renovation Fulham Victorian Tiled Hallway After Renovation Fulham

My client was amazed with the transformation and said he never expected it to come out as good as it did. I must admit considering the state it was into to start with I can understand his expectations mustn’t have been that high.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Renovation Fulham

For aftercare I recommended the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to maintain the floor, this is a pH neutral product which will ensure the longevity of the newly applied sealer and is mild enough to use every day. Its supplied as a concentrate so you only need a small amount of cleaning fluid to clean the floor and so a one litre bottle will last a while.

 

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in South London

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Victorian Tiled Hallway Before and After Restoration Fulham

Heavily Soiled Victorian Tiled Hallway Restored in Fulham

This Victorian tiled floor at a house in Fulham was in an absolutely horrendous state. As you can see from the first photograph, the tiles were caked in layer upon layer of muck, including paint and glue stains. This was due to the floor being unknowingly hidden for many, many years under carpet.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Restoration Fulham
Needless to say, the property owner was desperate to remedy get the fantastic pattern floor back into good nick, and so contacted me for assistance. I travelled up to the property in the town of Fulham in South West London, which is famous for its football club, to survey the situation and begin the work. It was immediately clear that the thick layers of dirt and staining would need to be removed, before being treated to a new seal to provide long-lasting protection.

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before Restoration Fulham

Cleaning a Heavily Soiled Victorian Tiled a Floor

My product of choice for removing the extremely heavy soil buildup on the tiles was Tile Doctor NanoTech HBU (formerly UltraClean), a powerful solvent-based cream cleaner. What makes this product different from standard cleaners is its use of nano-sized cleaning particles to penetrate below tough stains, dissolve them, and lift them to the surface. NanoTech HBU is a highly versatile product which can be used on most types of natural stone floor, both polished and unpolished.

I laid down the NanoTech HBU and left it to dwell for a short period on the tiles, allowing it to begin eating through the dirt, before using a scraper in combination with a steamer to manually lift the muck away from the tiles. Next, to tackle the glue and paint marks, I applied Tile Doctor Remove and Go, a stripper specifically designed to break down adhesive and solvent stains, and then used a scraper and a scouring pad to manually remove the glue and paint in the affected areas.

Once this was done, I scrubbed in some more NanoTech HBU to dissolve any remaining muck before rinsing the area thoroughly with clean water. To complete the cleaning process, I laid some down some Tile Doctor Acid Gel, which is a blend of Phosphoric and Hydrochloric acids in gel form, to eliminate inherent grout haze and alkaline mineral deposits in the affected areas. I then left this to dwell for ten minutes before giving the floor a final rinse to remove any chemicals and soiled residue. The floor was left for a week to dry out before I returned to seal it.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Floor

With these fantastic Victorian tiles now muck-free, I proceeded to seal the floor. I initially applied a single coat of Tile Doctor Colour Grow, which is an impregnating, colour-enhancing sealer that really brings out the colourful features of patterned Victorian tiled floors like this one.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Restoration Fulham
Once this initial coat of sealant had dried in, I asked the customer which kind of finish she preferred for the floor. She decided on a sheen finish, and so I laid down an extra five layers of Colour Grow to ensure the desired appearance, as well as to guarantee durable surface protection against dirt, stains and spillages.

Victorian Tiled Hallway After Restoration Fulham
The customer was really pleased with the results of the restoration, and left the following feedback:

“Bill worked extremely hard to clean and seal our hall tiles. Everyone is amazed at how good they look. We are extremely pleased with the results.”

Victorian Tiled Hallway Before and After Restoration Fulham
Another great Victorian tiled floor brought back to life, and and satisfied customer!

Professional Victorian Tiled Hallway Restoration in South London

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Limestone Floor Fulham Before and After

Limestone Tiled Floor Cleaned and Polished in Fulham

This Limestone tiled floor was installed at a property in Fulham, I was asked round to quote for cleaning the floor and whilst I was there I did a patch test. The test worked very well and the owner couldn’t believe that the grout was actually white not dark grey.

Limestone Floor Fulham Grout Cleaning 1

Cleaning Polished Limestone Floor Tiles

The first step was to give the floor a quick sweep to remove any surface grit etc. Before starting the burnishing process which we use on hard stone surfaces such as polished Limestone to clean and bring up the shine on the floor. The burnishing pads and encrusted with diamonds and come in a pack of four consisting of Coarse, Medium, Fine and Very Fine 17” pads. I started with a coarse pad which removes sealers and dirt from the floor, a little water is added to lubricate the process.

Limestone Floor Fulham Before Cleaning Zoom 2 Limestone Floor Fulham Before Cleaning 3

Once we had finished with the coarse pad the grout was cleaned up using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted 1 part cleaner to 4 parts water. The solution was then scrubbed into the grout with a stiff hand brush until it was clean. The floor was then rinsed with clean water to remove any cleaning products and we then continued with the remaining burnishing pads applied in order with Medium, Fine and Very Fine until the floor was thoroughly cleaned and polished. We left for the day at this point to allow the tiles to dry overnight.

Limestone Floor Fulham Before Sealing 4

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

The following day we returned to seal the floor using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a great sealer for natural stone such as Limestone as it works to lift the colours out of the stone. The last step was to buff the floor to a nice shine with a rotary machine fitted with a white polishing pad.

Limestone Floor Fulham After Cleaning Sealing 5 Limestone Floor Fulham After Cleaning Sealing 6

The customer was really pleased with the result and couldn’t believe that the floor could look so good.

Limestone Floor Fulham Before and After
 

Limestone Floor, Cleaned, Scrubbed, Polished and Sealed in Fulham

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Old Encaustic Floor Fulham Before and after Restoration

Old Encaustic Tiled Floor Restored in Fulham

I had an inquiry from a client in Fulham, who was representing the residents of an old building. The building had recently undergone redecoration and in the hallway, they had removed a thirty year old carpet to discover an original encaustic tiled floor underneath which turned out to be 102 years old.

Old Encaustic Floor Fulham Before Cleaning 1 Old Encaustic Floor Fulham Before Cleaning 2

As you can see from the photographs the floor was extremely dirty and covered in lots of glue and paint from the carpet and decorations. Naturally they were keen to have it restored and brought back to life. Given the condition of the tile and the age I to set their expectations and told them that although I was confident of making a big difference to the floor I couldn’t give any guarantees. I gave them my quotation and although it was slighter higher than what they had I mind, it was still less than other quotations that they had received and were also considering the option of replacing the carpet.

After a couple of days I received a call asking me to go ahead with the work and I booked it in.

Encaustic Tiled Floor Cleaning

My approach to the job was to initially spray a mixture of Tile Doctor Remove and Go combined with Tile Doctor NanoTech UltraClean which creates a powerful tile safe coatings remover with tiny abrasive particles that aid the cleaning process.

I left this to dwell on the tile for about fifteen minutes before scrubbing it in using a black scrubbing pad on my rotary machine. This approach removed some glue and a lot of old grime so I then sprayed down more Remove and Go and also used a steamer to loosen the remaining glue and paint. This process was repeated a section at a time until at the end of the day I gave the whole are a thorough rinse before packing away my equipment and leaving it to dry.

Encaustic Tiled Floor Sealing

I returned three days later and carried out a test with my moisture meter to make sure that the floor was dry enough to seal. The meter confirmed it was dry so I then sealed the floor using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that really brings out the colour in the tiles.

Old Encaustic Floor Fulham After Cleaning 3 Old Encaustic Floor Fulham After Cleaning 4

And as you can see the floor is transformed and now I have some happy residents who are really pleased that they opted to have the old floor cleaned instead of replacing the carpet. Not to mention that restoring such an original feature has probably added value to their investment as well.

Old Encaustic Floor Fulham Before and after Restoration 5

Original Encaustic Tiled floor cleaned and restored in Fulham

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Limestone Tiled Floor Before and After

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Cleaned and Polished in Fulham

Beautiful Limestone tiled floor installed in the kitchen of a house in Fulham, the owner was keen to have the floor cleaned and re-polished; Limestone is a very hardwearing material but does need an occasional professional polish to keep it looking its best.

Limestone Tiled Floor Before Limestone Tiled Floor Before

Cleaning Limestone Floor Tiles

The floor was given a quick wash with Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner in order to remove any surface grit and then cleaned using a set of Burnishing pads fitted to a rotary machine. The burnishing pads come in four different colours and you work your way through them starting off with the red pad with a little just water and then carry on with the white pad and then the yellow pad until the floor is thoroughly cleaned. Next step was to use Tile Doctor Pro-Clean along the grout lines with a stiff brush to get the grout clean as well. To bring up the polish on the Limestone tiles I used a green polishing pad which is the last in the set of the four burnishing pads.

Limestone Tiled Floor During Limestone Tiled Floor During

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

Once the floor was dry we set about sealing it using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a colour enhancing sealer designed to provide maximum stain protection on natural stone floors whilst bringing out the deep colour in the stone. The last step was to buff the floor to a nice shine with a rotary machine fitted with a white pad.

Limestone Tiled Floor After Limestone Tiled Floor After

This job took me two days, and the owner was extremely happy with the results and said it looked better than when it had first been laid eight years ago.

Limestone Tiled Floor Before and After
 

Limestone Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Fulham

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Limestone Floor After

Limestone Tiled Floor Cleaning in Fulham

This Limestone tiled floor hadn’t been cleaned properly for 5 years and we were asked to clean and reseal, hopefully you can appreciate the improvement in the photographs.

Limestone Floor Before Limestone Floor Before

Cleaning Limestone Floor Tiles

The first step was to scrub the Limestone tiles with a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad and a solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which is a strong multi-purpose alkaline cleaning product designed for use on stone. A strong dilution of Pro-Clean can remove sealer however it was apparent some sealer was still present on parts of the floor so Tile Doctor Remove and Go which is a dedicated coatings remover was applied to remove the remaining seal.

The floor was then rinsed thoroughly with clean water to remove any cleaning products and we then used the Twister Burnishing Pad system with a rotary machine to complete the cleaning process and polish the floor. The pads come in four different colours and you work your way through them one by one until the floor is thoroughly cleaned and polished.

Sealing Limestone Floor Tiles

Once the floor was dry we set about sealing it using two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal which is a no-sheen natural look penetrating sealer designed to provide maximum stain protection on natural stone floors including Limestone, Granite and Marble. The last step was to buff the floor to a nice shine with a rotary machine fitted with a white pad.

Limestone Floor After Limestone Floor After

The customer was extremely happy with the result and has since recommended us to others.

Limestone Floor, Cleaned, Scrubbed, Polished and Sealed in Fulham

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Fulham Victorian Floor After

Victorian Tiled Floor Restoration in Fulham

Details below of a Victorian tiled floor that we cleaned and sealed for a gentleman in Fulham South West London after he had refurbished his house and the workmen had left it worse for wear.

Victorian Floor Cleaning

I used a strong solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean diluted with hot water and applied to the floor and agitated using a rotary machine fitted with a black scrubbing pad. This worked to clean the floor and strip the existing sealer from the whole area, I then got on my hands and knees to scrub the edges and to check that all paint and glue had been removed. The soiled solution was removed using a wet vacuum and then rinsed three times before using an industrial steamer over the whole floor. This helps to neutralise and remove any products which could upset a sealer.

Fulham Victorian Floor Before Fulham Victorian Floor Before

Victorian Floor Sealing

I then left the floor to dry out and came back two days later to seal it. On my return I checked that all the chemicals had been removed and that there was no paint and muck left on the floor.

Once I was happy I then laid 6 coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Go which is an ideal sealer for Victorian tiled floors as it provides stain resistance with a low sheen finish. An industrial air mover was used to reduce drying times between coats. The last step was to buff the floor using a white buffing pad to harden the seal. The gentleman was really happy with the result and was pleased that the new tiles that had been laid as part of the renovation now blended in perfectly with the old tiles.

Fulham Victorian Floor After Fulham Victorian Floor After

 

Victorian Tiled floor cleaned and sealed in Fulham

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