Victorian tiled floor

[vanhelgan]

When we bought our house we discovered most of a victorian tiled floor under the not-so-lovely laminate in the hallway. There are patches of missing tiles and what remain have decades of paint, glue, cement and whatever else on them. i think, however, that it will be restorable in the right hands, and we've managed to source replacement tiles from a salvage yard.

I'm guessing that this is more skilled than a pair of moderate-DIYers should take on? Any recommendations for someone who may do this type of work (if that's allowed on the forum)?

Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

Kate

 

[Moo]

Kate - before anyone can help you it would be an idea to give us some sort of idea about where you live. You may already have done this in one of your posts, but it's much simpler to put it in your profile!

 

[vanhelgan]

Sorry - I thought I'd put that! We're in Warrington.

Thanks

 

[Moo]

Warrington? Too far from Norwich for me to be of any help, I'm afraid, but I'm sure someone will be along very soon with all the info that you need.




ps You will remember to add location to your profile, won't you?

 

[skier-hughes]

Cleaning tiles is a right of passage, we all end up doing it at some stage!!
Take a few pics of what you have on yours and more help on how to remove the damage might be forthcoming.
I used gentle tapping and a hammer and chisel on our ones with gunk like cement on them with good success, a good scrubbing brush and elbow grease loosens loads of stuff, and there are several tile cleaners on the market you might like to try, others might have used them.
strippers of sudbury will help with paint removal.

 

[Lime]

IME the biggest difficulty cleaning victorian tiles is not having enough patience!
Each tile is different from the next and requires slightly different cleaning tactics so think of the floor one tile at a time.
I suggests regular scrubbing using an electric scrubber and soap over the whole floor for the first week or so.
An old fashioned mop and bucket are very useful too.
An old knife can be used to remove much of the sticky glue and paint.
The remaining stuborn bits and pieces can be taken off using paint stripper used sparingly.
All the while this slow process is going on, regular scrubbing will improve the floor.
Damaged and broken tiles can be lifted and replaced. I bedded mine on a simple mix of ordinary builders lime and sand 1:3 mixed to a thick consistancy with water. Avoid walking on the newly laid tiles for a month or so if possible.
Lastly, the cement can be removed with an acid remover bought from a builders merchants or B&Q.

Hopefully by this time when the floor is dry after scrubbing it will be much improved.

Sealing and polishing is next.
Don't be tempted to use a varnish, you will regret it later.

 

[vanhelgan]

Brilliant. Thankss for the advice. Sounds like we should be fine to get on with cleaning them up. I'm not sure I feel up to replacing the missing ones though! Will no doubt return for more advice when we've progressed with the scrubbing!

Thanks,
Kate

 

[skier-hughes]

replacing the odd tile is actually quite easy, a few together isn't too hard, but half a dozen or so in one place takes a little time to do properly for those of us who aren't practised at laying things straight