Now known as Tile Life Restoration, we are  restorers of all types of tiles and stone. This website focusses on our Victorian tile restoration service that we undertake all over North and North West London. Also West London, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

WHAT IS INVOLVED IN A VICTORIAN TILE HALLWAY RESTORATION?

Click the link here if you wish to read more about pathway restorations 

Cleaning:

There is no short cut to restoring original Victorian tiles , it is a time consuming and spread out process as everything needs to be done thoroughly and there are drying / curing times between the different stages.

The tiles need proper deep cleaning which is an inch by inch detailed process. Nothing works better than detailed scrubbing (with additional processes and tricks:) and rotary floor machines don’t deep clean well enough IMO. Cleaning can take up to two days (especially on lighter colours and white tiles).

Sealing:

After cleaning we need to put good stuff back into the tiles which is usually a penetrating tile sealer. I use colour enhancing sealers to bring back the life and vibrance as these old Victorian tiles can look pretty flat after thorough deep cleaning.  Sealers only work when its all dry from the cleaning , so the next day for sealing and then these sealers take 24 hours to cure.

Tile repairs:

Tile repairs ( on not so damaged hallways) happen after this. More damaged hallways with allot of time required can ruin the cleaning efforts so repairs are best done before. If its less than a days work then tiling repairs can be done after cleaning and sealing. Tile repairs to original Victorian tiles require patience and lots of preparation. Chiselling out damaged ones takes allot of detailed effort to not damage surrounding ones and the tiles for replacement are made to measure onsite. I find you cant go wrong when making the tiles onsite from bigger reproduction ones and the original ones that need to go back down again need to have their backs and sides shaved off. So its also a very time consuming thing to repair these Victorian hallways.

Waxing:

Waxing can take the form of acrylic or natural blends of waxes and happens after all the other work is cured and tile adhesives from repair work have fully dried out. Tile adhesives can take a few days to dry properly so waxing is always a few days after everything else is finished. I only use natural wax now as I have had too many issues with acrylic waxes trapping moisture and becoming discoloured. ( we can discuss this further on the job if you wish)

Why Choose Me for your Victorian tile restoration job?

Because I am as good or better than the best! I specialised in new installations for many years to the highest standards and then went into other forms of work that focussed on deep cleaning and finishing of all types of different tiles and stones. I have done hundreds of these original Victorian restoration jobs and I believe my restoration process is as good as it can be !  My process leaves these old tiles absolutely clean with no damage done to them. The repairs are done immaculately as tiles made on site are perfectly sized and my tiling is seamless. 

The sealing and colour enhancing really blends the old and new tiles very well by bringing the old tiles colour closer to the vibrant new reproduction ones.

The natural blends of wax I believe is the way forward and really tops things off by adding an attractive mid sheen and depth. The wax also protects the tiles further.

Sometimes now I am back at a house that I restored the hallway with bees wax a year or two ago. And I am always very surprised at how good they look. Believe me this is not the case with acrylic wax and I have cringed when returning to jobs after a year or so where I have used acrylic wax on their Victorian hallway tiles.

The natural waxes don’t discolour, they settle to a low sheen , they don’t look dirty and just look vey smart! 

The Victorians maintained these old tiles with natural waxes back in the day and I believe this is the main reason that we can enjoy these beautiful original Victorian tiles in a restored clean state! When cleaning I draw these old natural waxes out that sit deep inside these old tiles. I can then put good seals and waxes back into them. Sometimes I get to a job where customers have had the builders throw acids on their original tiles that have eaten away the waxes and the tiles have stained and become unrestorable.

A complete restoration of very damaged hallway that I completed in NW London near Hampstead

New installation in Blenheim Victorian design tiles

New pathway I installed back in the day on Chevening RD NW6

Areas that I find have allot of Victorian tiles for restoration include, Muswell Hill, Ealing, Chiswick, Cricklewood, Hampstead Heath, Barnet, Crouch End, Harpenden, Notting Hill. Highgate, Waltham Forrest, Harrow, Hanwell, Potters Bar