Multiple Tile Doctor products used in the Full Restoration of a Minton Tiled Vestibule Floor at a Victorian Property in Bearwood Birmingham

Having decided to remove the vestibule carpet at this property at this Victorian property in Bearwood the owner was pleased to discover an original Victorian tiled floor. Unfortunately, the floor was not whole and approximately 25% of the tiles were missing and replaced with cement leveller. I have seen this sort of thing before, and I suspect they had been removed due to damage and of course it’s much cheaper to backfill with cement than carry out a considerate repair.

The current owner however was keen to have the floor re-instated as a period feature and requested a quote for the work. Happy to oblige I popped over to survey the vestibule floor which was quite small and work out a quote for the restoration including sourcing replacements for the missing tiles which we identified as being Minton, a factory famous for Victorian tiling.

I worked out a detailed quote which was accepted and I set about tracking down replacement tiles before setting a date for the work to start.

Repairing a Victorian Minton Tiled Vestibule

Once I had sourced the original Minton tiles that would be used to rebuild the missing floor, I was able to make a start re-creating the floor on a board so the customer could see how it would look. A lot of accurate cuts were needed to create the shapes of the puzzle that would be needed to match the original pattern which was tricky work but quite rewarding.

Happy with the pattern I made a start breaking out the screed that had been used as backfill and had also been smeared over some of the tiles. I had to work carefully to avoid upsetting the remaining tiles but managed to take out several large chunks of screed. A lot of cement sub floor came out too which would need to be re-laid before tiling could start. The rubble was removed and then a new concrete leveller was poured in allowing room for the tiling that would sit on top. Once done the cement was left to set overnight.

The next day the pattern was carefully re-laid from the board onto the vestibule floor using fresh adhesive. I did a dry run first to be ensure the pattern would be an exact match. Once complete the floor was left to set overnight.

Repairing a Victorian Minton Tiled Vestibule

With the floor now fully intact it was cleaned using Tile Doctor Remove & Go which is a strong alkaline coatings remover and tile cleaner. After leaving the product to soak for around ten minutes it was worked into the tiles using a small black scrubbing pad fitted to a hand polisher. Normally I use a large 17” floor buffer on floor tiles but on this occasion, there wasn’t enough space to make that an effective solution. This process loosened the remaining screed covering the tiles and brought out a lot of the staining. Once done the floor was rinsed with water and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum.

My next step was to give the floor an acid wash to remove any old grout smears and neutralise other mineral contaminates such as salts that can get deposited on the surface of the tiles as moisture evaporates as the floor dries. This is always a risk with old floors where no damp proof membrane exists. To do this I applied a dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up which is scrubbed into the tiles with a deck brush and then rinsed off the floor with water and a wet vacuum. The floor was then dried using the wet vacuum and a heat gun.

Last step in the cleaning process was to give polish the tiles with a 1500-grit burnishing pad and then a 3500-grit burnishing pads. Again, these had to be the smaller 6-inch versions and were effective at removing remaining staining and brings a consistent appearance to the tiling.

Sealing a Victorian Tiled Vestibule Floor

To seal the floor, I applied two coats of Tile Doctor X-Tra Seal which was combined 50:50 with Tile Doctor Colour Grow. The addition of Colour Grow makes the X-Tra Seal which is oil-based sealer more workable and improves the colour in the tiles. Both sealers are impregnators that soak into the pores of the tile to provide maximum protection and X-Tra Seal is rated for external use making it ideal for a vestibule.

The last step was to buff the tiles with the hand buffer fitted with a small White pad to remove any excess sealer and further bring up the appearance of the floor. For aftercare I left the customer a bottle of pH neutral cleaner and explained the need to avoid stronger cleaning products which can erode the sealer prematurely.

You can see how well the floor responded to the treatment and my customer was delighted with the transformation.

Source: Professional Minton Tile Cleaning and Renovation Service near Bearwood Birmingham