Restoring a 100 Year Old Tiled Floor with Low Moisture Acid Gel in Worcester
I received an enquiry regarding the restoration of an Encaustic Tiled floor in the hallway of an Edwardian property in Worcester. I arranged a visit to assess the floor and come up with a plan for its restoration.
The client wanted the whole floor restoring to its original condition including retiling a section just behind the front door that had been dug up to install pipe work back in the 1980’s and then backfilled with screed.
I work on these sorts of projects all the time so happily agreed to the work on condition I could find matching replacement tiles. There are several suppliers in the UK and fortunately I managed to track down the necessary replacements from a reclaimed tile supplier I know. They confirmed I could get the required tiles, so I sent a quote to the client, which was accepted, and a date was arranged to start the restoration.
Cleaning and restoring an Edwardian Tiled Hallway
Day one was spent carefully removing the old screed as I would need to install one at the right level to allow for the replacement tiles to be in installed. This has to be done very carefully so as not to disturb the rest of the tiled floor. The rubble was then removed and a new cement base laid to the correct level in order to take the new tiles.
The next stage was to cut and dry lay the replacement tiles to match the original pattern and check everything fitted, making adjustments where necessary. Once I was happy with the lay out, I started fixing the tiles starting with the border and then the main patterned inset. This was meticulous work that required the new tiles to fit the existing geometric pattern exactly. This was completed over 2 days including grouting.
Once the floor had set overnight, I moved onto the restorative cleaning. This started with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go which was worked into the floor using a coarse 100-grit diamond pad fitted to a rotary buffer machine to remove what was left of the old sealer. The floor was then rinsed with water and the soiling extracted using a wet vacuum.
The next step was to give the floor an acid wash using using Tile Doctor Acid Gel which was pasted onto the floor and then worked in with a finer 200-grit diamond pad. Once done the floor was rinsed with water and the soiling extracted with the wet vacuum as before.
Sealing an Edwardian Tiled Hallway
The floor was left to fully dry overnight, and I returned on day four to apply a protective sealer. Sealer options were discussed earlier and for this floor we had chosen Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is a durable impregnating sealer that contains a colour enhancer.
Impregnating sealers work by soaking into the tile, occupying the pores and thereby preventing dirt from residing there. This ensures dirt remains on the floor where it can be easily cleaned away.
As you can see from the photos the floor was returned to how it should look, and the client was absolutely delighted.
For aftercare cleaning I recommended they use Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is mild but effective tile cleaning product that won’t damage the sealer.
Source: Edwardian Floor Renovation Services and Solutions near Worcester