I was contacted regarding an encaustic tiled floor that was located in the hallway of an Edwardian property that dated back to 1905 in Kidderminster. The tiles were looking dull and the owner was keen to have them refurbished.
Having discussed the floor on the phone with the owner I decided to pay the property a visit and survey the tiles which were in the hallway and interior porch. Although the floor looked in good condition it needed a few repairs and a good deep clean and seal. I worked out a price for the work, which was accepted, and a date was agreed for the work to start.
Cleaning and Repairing an Edwardian Encaustic Tiled Hallway
On the first day the plan of action was to carefully cut out the damaged tiles and assess the screed foundation. It’s not unusual to see some movement in floors of this age and after the necessary repairs to the screed were made replacement tiles were fitted using colour matched reclaimed tiles that I had sourced earlier from our various suppliers across the UK. Once all the tiles were fitted, any grout gaps were filled and the floor left so the repairs could set fully overnight.
Day two focused on the cleaning part of the restoration. All areas that needed protecting were covered in protective dust sheets before I applied the Tile Doctor Acid Gel to the floor pasting it on and letting it dwell. During this time, I set up our Italian hyper grinder rotary machine which is a high spec floor cleaning machine that gives a superior result. The floor was very dirty, so I fitted a very coarse 100-grit diamond pad to the machine and used it to scrub the Tile Doctor Acid Gel into the tiles. I then switched to a 200-grit pad with the same process.
The slurry was then vacuumed up using an industrial wet and dry machine and the floor was wiped with microfibres and fresh water. I selected gel products to reduce the level of water required for the clean. There was no evidence of a damp proof membrane, which is to be expected with a floor of this age, so keeping the floor as dry as possible was key.
Sealing an Edwardian Encaustic Tiled Hallway
The floor was left to dry overnight and tested in the morning for a moisture level reading. The floor was good to go, and the sealing could commence. Foar coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow were then applied, allowing thirty minutes drying time in-between each coat. The new sealer really made the colours pop and being fully breathable its ideal for a floor of this age.
The sealer soaks into the tile occupying the pores and in doing so prevents dirt from becoming ingrained there. This keeps the dirt on the surface where it is easily cleaned away.
Once dry the floor looked much cleaner and brighter, especially in the small vestibule which had seen the most wear.
Before leaving the happy customer, I took time to discuss aftercare which for this floor I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner. This is a pH neutral product and will keep the floor in the best condition, making maintenance easy and unlike some of the stronger products you find in supermarkets won’t impact or reduce the life of the sealer.
Source: Edwardian Encaustic Floor Tile Renovation in Kidderminster Worcestershire
Serving Worcestershire Mark Conway is your local Tile, Stone and Grout maintenance expert. Additionally he is an agent of Tile Doctor, the largest professional Tile, Stone and Encaustic restorative cleaning network in the UK. Tile Doctor has developed products and techniques to handle a multitude of issues surrounding tile, stone and Ceramic Tiled Tile, interior, exterior, domestic or commercial.