Opening the Pores on Victorian Clay Tiles with Diamond Hand Blocks in Cartmel

Pictures below are from a Victorian tiled floor we recently renovated in the South Cumbrian village of Cartmel. The house had experienced a bit of subsidence in the past, which had settled long ago, but left a series of cracks running through from the front door to the staircase.

The owner of the property had decided to get the floor renovated and wondered if anything could be done to improve the cracks and reset several tiles which had become loose. Having restored numerous period floors previously I was confident all these problems could be resolved and the floor renovated to a high standard.

Repairing and Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Floor

Before cleaning the floor needed to be secure so the subsidence issues had to be resolved first. I had to take out several loose tiles, rake out the old adhesive and grout and then reset them with fresh rapid setting adhesive and grout. Then to resolve the cracking a colour matching grout filler was pushed into the gaps and this disguised the cracks quite well.

Once the repairs had set the cleaning process could begin starting with the application Tile Doctor Remove and Go worked in with a coarse 200-grit milling pad. Remove and Go is a powerful tile cleaning product that as the name suggests will remove all sorts of coatings such as sealers.

Small hand-held Diamond blocks were used for cleaning up the Yellow tiles, these tiles contain sand in the clay to give it the colour as such they are always the most porous and most difficult to get clean. However we have found using a set of handheld Diamond blocks of different grits we can open up the pores of the clay, release the ingrained dirt and then close the pores ready for the final clean and seal.

The final clean involves giving the floor an acid rinse for which I use Tile Doctor Grout Clean Up. This final step removes old grout smears, clay resin and also counters the use of alkaline cleaning products such as Remove and Go leaving the floor with a neutral ph. Lastly it etches the clay slightly resulting in a stronger bond with the sealer, improved finish, and better performance.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Floor

To seal the floor a thin coat of X-Tra Seal was applied, this is an Oil based Impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the clay tile protecting it from within and helping the colours to pop out. Additional this sealer is fully breathable which is an important consideration when dealing with a floor laid in the Victorian era without the benefit of a damp proof membrane.

As usual before leaving we like to advise the customer on how to maintain the tiles using a compatible cleaning product such as Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner. This aftercare product has a neutral ph. which won’t impact the sealer like many of the standard bleach based products you find in supermarkets.

Source: Victorian Tile Cleaning and Sealing Products and Services in Cartmel Cumbria