Victorian tiling and Victorian tile restoration

Victorian floor tile cleaning, sealing, restoration and repairs - hallway and pathway tiles. Classic Victorian floor tiling - new reproduction Victorian hallways and pathways - geometric floor tile interior and exterior. Victorian tiles. Edwardian tiles. Stone, marble micro mosaic floor. London

In an era where first impressions were all-important, the entrance hall in a Gothic Revival home – as in any style of Victorian house – had to impress visitors and proclaim the social status of the family within. This was easier to do in large halls found in Gothic country houses than in the narrow corridors of the Victorian terraced house.

· Nonetheless, the principle remained the same. Hall floors were primarily inlaid with encaustic tiles, medieval or geometric patterns being the most popular. These floors were hardwearing and easy to keep clean. Flat- patterned geometric encaustic tiles were described by Eastlake as “ the best mode of treating hall floor”. In grander homes, more expensive inlaid mosaics were used instead.

· We offer our services to restore Victorian style hallway floors. Also we can recreate lost floors, or sections, using modern geometric tile equivalents and hand made encaustic tiles, or salvaged tiles.

Mosaic restoration details 1

Mosaic restoration details 2

Mosaic restoration details 3

Mosaic restoration details 4

Tile cleaning, sealing

Mosaic floors - restoration, cleaning , sealing

Conservatory mosaic floor restoration, cleaning and sealing

Reproduction Victorian tile

Hall tile repairs, cleaning and sealing

Original tile re-installed, tiling old tiles

Tile cleaning and sealing

Damaged sections - repair, cleaning, sealing

Reproduction tile, new hall section

Black and white tile restoration

Victorian hall repairs

Tile repairs, cleaning and sealing

• Restoration cleaning (deposits of carpet glue, paint, varnish, old sealers and polish, ingrained dirt, cement)- to clean tile to its original appearance, and to prepare it for sealing and polishing.
• Re-grouting–remove all loose grout, all dirt deposits, and grout the floor.
• Fixing and reinforcing cracked concrete base.
• Injecting appropriate adhesives to stabilize loose tile floor sections.
• Replacing worn out and cracked tiles, or sections. We use original replacement tiles, if we do not have enough originals, we use modern equivalent tile.
• Sealing; applying polish/waxes. We will seal it and will apply high gloss or honed (mate) finish depending on your preference.
• Replacing tiles damaged by the carpet led holes.

We can lift entire mosaic floor, and reinstall it later (when it is necessary to install new concrete base, or when there is complete renovation, and it is not possible to keep old floor). Also we will install extensions of existing tile designs using original or reproduction tile. Marble, granite mosaic floors, glass mosaic, ceramics mosaic, Victorian geometric tile – slightly different restoration procedures, materials, and time required for work.

 

What sort of finish should I give a tiled floor? The traditional treatment for a Victorian tiled floor after cleaning was to apply warmed linseed oil followed by a coat of wax polish. This gave a stunning, lustrous finish to the floor, but is so labour-intensive to apply and maintain that it is inappropriate in most modern situations. Modern cold wax polishes, for example HG Golvpolish are perfectly adequate. On no account should tiled floors be sealed or varnished with any kind of resin-based or polyurethane finish. Besides their unpleasant plasticky appearance, these may cause long-term problems by sealing in damp under the floor. When you should you apply the sealer? For a new tile surface or re-grout, nearly all grout manufacturers advise that you wait at least 48 hours after grouting before aaplying sealers so the grout has time to finish setting. For maintanence of existing tilling, you should re-apply every year or two.

Victorian Tile Care: Sweep or vacum your Victorian tile floors often. Dirt collecting carpet mats should be placed in frequently used entrances and shaked out weekly. Floors will only need an occasional mop over every 2 weeks or so use HG Superfloor maintenance cleaner in your washing water, or just plain water. We do not recommend the use of floor waxes as they can be difficult to remove from ceramic tile floors. As long as your floor is properly sealed and maintained, you should find no need for these products.