Neutralising Efflorescent Salts in Period Flooring with Tile Doctor Acid Gel in Belsize Park London

Details below of the recent restoration of a small Victorian Tiled Hallway at a property in Belsize Park NW3. The hallway provided access to several flats and had previously been covered in carpet. The carpet has been secured to the tiles with gripper rod that had been glued to the tiles and there was a section of broken tiles in front of the staircase that had been removed leaving an obvious hole in the floor.

I carried out a survey of the floor to determine the main issues and took numerous photographs and measurements so I could locate suitable replacements. I knew that locating replacements wouldn’t be difficult as there are a few companies that specialise in this sort of thing and I know several members of the Tile Doctor network who have built up quite a collection. Once I was armed with all the costs, I email over a quote to the managing agent which was accepted and a date scheduled for the work to start.

Repair and Cleaning of a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor in Belsize Park

Work started by carefully removing the gripper rod and cleaning up the areas where I would need to fit replacement tiles. Tiles were then cut to fit the existing pattern and colours and dry fitted into place making small adjustments along the way until I was satisfied that I had replicated the pattern exactly. Only then were the replacements fixed into place with fresh adhesive. This type of tile restoration work is quite meticulous and the whole of the first day was spent with repairs alone.

I returned on day two to deep clean the whole floor using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go. This product is designed for removing old sealers but is also good at softening adhesives and other contaminates so they can be scrubbed off. I follow the recommended process of spraying the solution onto the surface and then letting it sit for ten minutes so it has time to breakdown the contaminates before being worked in with a 200-grit diamond pad. Once done it was rinsed off with water and the resultant soiling extracted with a wet vacuum.

The next step was to neutralise the floor and counter any efflorescent salts that may have built up in the tiles whilst it was covered in carpet. Old floors like these don’t have the benefit of a damp proof membrane and shouldn’t be covered as it can prevent moisture from rising through the tile and evaporating at the surface. With the carpet gone the floor can breathe again and this can lead to trapped efflorescence salts appearing. We guard against this by giving the floor an acid wash using Tile Doctor Acid Gel and then rinsing off with water and extracting as before.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

I left the floor to dry out overnight and returned on day three to apply the sealer which will protect it from dirt becoming ingrained in the tile and improve the appearance.

I used Tile Doctor X-Tra seal for this which is an oil-based sealer that’s full breathable and will allow for moisture to rise through the tiles un-impeded. The oil in the sealer has the added advantage of restoring the colours in the tiles and certainly in this case put the life back in the floor.

Once done the original floor which must have been at least 100-years old was completely transformed and the tiled floor added a bit of class to the entrance to the property.

Source: Period Floor Cleaning and Restoration Service in Belsize Park London