Victorian floor tile restoration is a service we have been offering for many years with hundreds of restorations completed. We are very experienced and can make your old tiles lovely again! We focus on North London, West London , Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
Many homes in London have the original tiles in hallways and on pathways. In fact it always amazes me that home owners continue to find old tiles under carpets and flooring. We can deep clean, repair and then seal and wax the tiles to make them vibrant , clean and nicely finished. This process brings out the best in your antique tiles and makes them an attractive feature for your home.
The cleaning process for old Victorian tiles
The cleaning process for authentic Victorian tiles is quite extensive. In fact its probably more involved that most other cleaning. Home owners always say that they cant clean them and then are amazed when they see a thick black sludge come out of the tiles revealing clean vibrant colors. This is because the old waxes that where used to maintain these tiles back in the day have solidified and sit deep within these porous tiles. Most household detergents are not enough to effectively dissolve them.
We there for use industrial strength detergents with professional cleaning knowledge to completely deep clean these tiles. We do however find the odd tile is stained and wont come clean, particularly with white tiles. In these cases we can replace them with reproduction Victorian tiles from Olde English
Black sludge coming out of Victorian hallway tiles during cleaning
Sealing and Waxing your Victorian hallway tiles
It is absolutely vital to refinish , seal or wax original Victorian tiles when cleaned. This is because they are very porous and actually quite soft once all the waxed and hardened oils have been drawn out from the deep cleaning process. We often find many of the colorful tiles in the design are very soft and much more fragile than the new reproduction tiles.
By deep sealing and applying some form of wax coating we nourish and protect the tiles again that have been stripped from the cleaning. There are different ways to wax and finish Victorian tiles and it depends on what the client wants in terms of looks , maintenance and longevity.