Acid-Gel Archives - Tile Doctor Lancashire

Red And Black Victorian Tiled Floor Dorchester Pattern Restoration Lancaster

Dorchester Pattern Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor Restoration in Lancaster

This is a Red and Black Victorian tiled floor laid in a Dorchester pattern at a property in Lancaster. The owner has only just bought the property which dates to the 1890s and this floor had previously been covered in carpet which had started to smell and leave a pungent aroma in the air.

Red And Black Victorian Tiled Floor Dorchester Pattern Before Cleaning Lancaster

Once the carpet had been removed and the Victorian floor allowed to breathe and dry out the smell disappeared. This is the right course of action with old floors which were laid without a damp proof membrane, floors of this age need to breathe and allow moisture to rise through the tile and evaporate at the surface, carpets and underlay prevent this.

The damp issues had resulted in efflorescent salts being deposited on the surface of some of the tiles and this is an important consideration when cleaning the floor. Salts and damp go together, so the more water we use the more salts will come through after the floor has been cleaned. Additionally using an alkaline cleaner such as Tile Doctor Pro Clean or Remove and Go this will further increase the alkalinity of the floor and cause yet more salt issues so a different approach is required.

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

Naturally I didn’t want to exacerbate the moisture problems by using liquid products to clean the floor, so I used a low, moisture cleaning technique. This involves applying Tile Doctor Acid Gel as the main cleaning agent and working it in with a 200-grit milling pad fitted to a rotary machine. The gel keeps the moisture level low, and it is a very effective cleaning product and being an acid will neutralise the salts in the floor and keep the pH level at the correct balance. Once done the floor was briefly rinsed with water and all the soils extracted with a wet vacuum.

Red And Black Victorian Tiled Floor Dorchester Pattern During Cleaning Lancaster

The floor was left to dry off overnight then I called back the following day to see how it had faired. There were some areas where efflorescent salts had appeared, so I spot treated these areas with more Acid Gel and then scrubbed and rinsed with water using the wet vacuum again to remove as much moisture as possible. You will see on the photos how soft the salt was and I was able to scrape it off without too much difficulty, however if left untreated this salt would harden into a crystalline structure and become more difficult to remove.

Red And Black Victorian Tiled Floor Dorchester Pattern Efflorescencent Salt Removal Lancaster

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Hallway Floor

To make sure the sealer would cope with the damp floor I applied a thin coat of Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal to several areas before leaving. The decision on which type of sealer to apply was influenced by the damp issues as the moisture needs to be able to evaporate at the surface, so it is important to select a fully breathable sealer.

Red And Black Victorian Tiled Floor Dorchester Pattern After Cleaning Lancaster

I called back the following day and the floor was more settled, and the sealer had fully cured, the client gave his thumbs up and we continued sealing the floor with one coat of Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which is fully breathable.

Once completed the floor was transformed and worked well with other period features in the property. For aftercare cleaning I recommended the use of a Neutral PH cleaning product such as Tile Doctor Neutral Clean.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Hallway in Lancashire

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Quarry Tiled Floor Renovation Caton Lancaster

Black and Red Dorchester Pattern Quarry Tiled Floor Renovation Caton

A first glance you might not notice much improvement in this Quarry tiled floor that we recently worked on at a Victorian house in Caton near Lancaster. However, look closer and you will see that a pattern has been worn into the tiles from a previous covering most likely carpet underlay.

The sealer on the floor was also due to be replaced so having surveyed the floor on my initial visit I worked out a plan to renovate the Quarry tiles which would include deep cleaning the tile and grout, removing the underlay patterning, and then re-sealing the tiles to keep them protected.

Quarry Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Caton Lancaster

Deep Cleaning a Quarry Tiled Floor

To start neat Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel was applied to the floor and left to soak in for twenty minutes giving it time to break down soils etc. Then a 200-grit Diamond burnishing pad was attached to floor buffing machine which was a heavily weighted for extra grip and run a few times over the tiles. These pads are very aggressive and ideal for cleaning off the pattern left by the carpet underlay.

Oxy-Gel was chosen for this as being in Gel form its more manageable and holds itself against the clay Quarry tile for longer allowing the product work to a much harder, whereas a liquid cleaner generally soaks away into the clay and underneath meaning you need to use more water to remove it later resulting in longer drying times.

After the gel has been scrubbed into the tiles (no water needed at this stage) a wet vacuum Is used to remove the soiling generated during the process. After this initial clean a small amount of water is added to the floor and we go over with the same 200-grit diamond pad extracting the water off the tiles within five minutes of it being applied.

With the Oxy-Gel removed the floor was given and acid rinse using Tile Doctor Acid Gel using the same process as before but this time using a Black scrubbing pad and only allowing it to dwell for 10 minutes. Acidic products are quicker acting on clay and so need less dwell time for it to work. Water was then added and after brushing it in to the floor it was removed using the wet vacuum within five minutes. I sometimes do this job twice as this is the last of the deep cleaning process and will ensure the tiles are free from any debris and dirt before we allow the clay tiles to dry out before sealing.

Before finishing for the day, I took time to apply matching grout where it was missing which was mainly around the edges and sponged off the excess. With this done the floor was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing Quarry Tiles

The next day we conducted a damp test, but despite the use of Gel cleaning products it was still too damp to seal. My client however wanted to seal how the tiles would look with the sealer we were planning to use which was Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal, so to do this three tiles were force dried using an Air blower and a Heat Gun.

With the sealer approved the floor was left for two days so it could fully dry out, the damp test showed a much better reading and we were able to crack on applying the sealer to the whole floor. Only one coat of X-Tra Seal was needed, it’s a thick Oil based product that soaks into the pores of the tile protecting it from within, it also fully breathable so ideal for old floors like this one that don’t have a damp proof membrane. Lastly it contains a colour enhancing formula that in this case improved the deep Red and dark Black colours in the tile.

Quarry Tiled Floor After Cleaning Sealing Caton Lancaster

Lastly for aftercare I recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a gentle but effective tile and grout cleaning product. You have to be careful when choosing an cleaning product for use on sealed tiles as many are bleach based and simply too strong.

Professional Restoration of a Quarry Tiled Lobby in Lancashire

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Red and Black Victorian Tiled Floor Renovated in Lytham St Annes Lancashire

Traditional Black and Red Victorian Floor Renovated in Lytham St Annes

1 Comment / Lytham St Annes Tile Cleaning, Victorian Tile Cleaning / Russell Taylor

This property in Lytham St Annes had a large area of Black and Red Victorian floor tiles in the front room, dining room and scullery. The building dates to 1870, so the floor is likely to be over 150 years old which is a true testament to how well Victorian’s made and constructed materials even with the most basic of methods compared to modern times.

Red and Black Victorian Tiled Floor Before Cleaning Lytham St Annes

After inspecting the floor, I could see some of the tiles had characterful chips and marks in them, in fact none of them were perfect but I was confident they would still respond well to a deep clean and fresh seal. Having agreed a price and having discussed sealer options a date was scheduled for the work to commence.

Cleaning a Victorian Tiled Scullery, Front and Dining Room Floor

I was wary that such an old floor as this would not have a damp proof membrane and because of the sandy nature of Lytham’s geology I suspect was laid directly onto a sand base. Using a lot of water on a floor like this can result in long drying times and could exacerbate efflorescence issues. I therefore opted for a low moisture cleaning method that uses gel-based products.

To start we applied neat Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel which is an alkaline cleaning product safe for use on tile and grout. After being scrubbed into each tile with a black pad fitted to a rotary machine the soiling was then removed using a wet vacuum. It’s necessary to add a little water at this point as it makes extraction with the vacuum easier.

Once done the process was quickly repeated using Tile Doctor Acid Gel to give the floor an acid rinse. This process serves to clean up the floor further, removing old grout smears and countering alkaline salts latent in the tile that may lead to efflorescence later. Using an acid-based product at this point also neutralises the ph level of the floor following the use of an alkaline cleaner earlier.

The floor was then left to dry off overnight and went through the sealing options with the client, these particular tiles were laid directly on a sand base which was quite common back in the 1800s in Lytham as it’s just a bed of sand in that area of the country.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Scullery, Front and Dining Room Floor

The next day we called back to seal the tiles and started by taking several moisture readings across the floors using a damp meter. The low moisture cleaning system method had worked and all the readings were with tolerance.

Three coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow were then applied to the tiles allowing approximately thirty minutes between coats. Colour Grow was ideal for these tiles as its fully breathable and with a built-on colour enhancer it helped the red and black tiles stand out. A fully breathable sealer is necessary for a floor without a damp proof membrane as it will allow moisture from the sub floor to rise through the tile and evaporate at the surface, using a non-breathable product will result in moisture building up under the floor until it reaches out the walls potentially leading to rising damp.

Red and Black Victorian Tiled Floor After Cleaning Sealing Lytham St Annes

The floor was transformed by our efforts and before leaving I recommended that for regular cleaning, they use a ph neutral cleaning product such as Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner, many of the tile cleaning products you find in supermarkets today are bleach based and simply too strong for the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Victorian Tiled Flooring in Lancashire

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