This is a small job we did recently to renovate a Victorian Tiled Porch floor at a property in Edinburgh that was extremely dirty and stained. Situated at the front of the house the porch was exposed to most of the traffic coming into the property and over time the sealer had worn off the tiles allowing dirt to become trapped into its pores.
Renovating a Victorian Tiled Porch Floor in Edinburgh
If you have read any of my posts before you will know I’m vary of old Victorian tiled floors like this one. Older floors don’t have a damp-proof membrane so you have to minimise the use of water otherwise it can take days or even weeks before the floor dries out, it can also exacerbate efflorescence issues.
To work around this issue, we have adopted a “Low Moisture Cleaning” system that uses Gel based cleaning products. To start we apply Tile Doctor Acid Gel which being a gel is very easy to control. The gel is applied to the floor and left to dwell for a while before it is worked in with a coarse 100-grit burnishing pad that opens the pores in the tile so the dirt can be flushed out. Then after going over the floor a few times with the pad the slurry was extracted with a wet vacuum.
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The porch floor was then inspected and stubborn stains were spot treated until I was happy with the condition of the tiles. I also had to scrape off some paint splashes from decorating.
The next step was to further improve the condition of the Victorian tiles by applying 200, 400 and then an 800-grit burnishing pads. This closes the surface pores and makes the tiles slightly smoother. We find doing this also speeds up drying times. I used minimal water to help lubricate the burnishing process and wipe the floor after each pad using damp cloths.
Sealing a Victorian Tiled Porch Floor
The floor was then left to dry off for a week before I returned to seal the floor using Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal. This is a modern oil-based sealer that improves structure and is rated for external use so ideal for an area like a porch that gets wet, its also fully breathable so perfect for floors without a damp-proof membrane.
For the regular cleaning of sealed floors, I recommend the use of Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner which is a gentle yet effective tile cleaner. It’s important to choose a neutral pH cleaner for cleaning sealed tiles as a lot of products you find in supermarkets contain bleach and are simply too strong for cleaning a sealed surface and will quickly erode the sealer with use.
Source: Victorian Floor Cleaning and Renovation Service in Edinburgh