Your Questions, Answered
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Generally, it is best to do the tiles first, but only if you have a very careful decorator and if the floor can be protected with something substantial like templated corrugated plastic. From our perspective, having to clean tiles meeting the skirting once the decorators have finished can add hours to a job. And depending on the durability of the paintjob, some touching up will likely be needed, despite upmost care.
If embarking on a major house renovation it is likely that the tiles will be one of the last jobs. But it is advisable to get a quote for your restoration work before the builders move in and cover the floor, for budgeting purposes. Always protect the tiles using Corex, or for bigger jobs, plywood. This will help, to avoid any more tiles coming loose with all the footfall of a busy site.
If looked after, a floor that has been refurbished can look good for a decade or more. If you redecorate in the meantime, please do NOT try and protect the tiles using adhesive film as this will damage the polish.
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Traffic is best kept to a minimum whilst your floor is being cleaned and any pets will need to be kept away to prevent them walking through the cleaning chemicals . We work in small sections and we always aim to keep a pathway open for access but this can be difficult in a narrow space.
Once the tiles are clean there will be a strictly no shoes, wheels or spillages rule while they dry. The drying process is very important and it may require either more time or a slightly higher setting on the thermostat in the winter. And some of the colours on the floor may take longer to dry than others. In the summer, in a well ventilated house, we usually leave a day or two in between the clean and the polish. The polishing takes half a day and access should be kept to a minimum but it can be walked on in socks an hour after its finished.
The polish takes up to 3 days to fully cure depending on atmospheric conditions and for the initial 24 hours the finish is still delicate and easily damaged by shoes and pets claws.
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Yes, it is possible to tackle cleaning your tiles yourself with minimal equipment and a lot of elbow grease. But there is perhaps no substitute for having an experienced eye on the job as restoration work by nature can be very unpredictable.
For larger spaces, the hire of a scrubbing machine could be beneficial, keeping in mind that the corners, edges and under the radiator will still have to be done by hand.
If you do want to have a go yourself it can be a very rewarding experience, and easily tackled over consecutive days, a small area at a time. To help you in this process we offer site visits (London mainly) , where we can trial out the chemicals with a sample clean and talk you through the whole process. This typically starts at £250.
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This depends entirely on your level of practical skill. DIY restoration can work for very minor issues, but Victorian tiled floors are delicate and extensive damage usually needs professional help.
Poor DIY can ruin the look and feel of a floor underfoot.
For those that fancy a challenge though, we can assist with a site visit and simple demonstration to get you on your way. Or in colour matching and sourcing any replacement tiles you need. And this starts at £250
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Vintage tiles in great condition are becoming more and more difficult to source. It can be hard to get perfectly matching tiles in colour, size and condition and some compromises may be necessary, including doing it in a mix of old and new tiles.
If you are lucky enough to have a floor with patterned tiles (known as encaustics) you may have to settle for a slightly different design. Or failing that, have them made up which can take 4 to 12 weeks in some cases.
It is advisable to measure up and consider what tiles you might need at the beginning of your building work, to allow plenty of time to get a tile set together. Some pieces such as two inch white squares are in perpetually high demand with prices continually rising. But it is possible to cut these shapes to exact size from a larger replica tile and this can work very well.
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We have a small stock of quality vintage tiles and may be able to assist you in finding the tiles you need. Our starting price for this service is £35.
A decent photo taken in natural light may be sufficient to ascertain some of the colours for the odd tile. But for larger quantities we do recommend a site visit starting at £250 for a proper colour matching, or if there are any loose tiles, a sample would be great.
When buying vintage tiles, although they are referred to in imperial sizes (eg two inch triangle….4 inch square) it is advisable to measure in milimetres as all the manufacturers had slightly different sizes and to get a good alignment you need tiles to be the same size, or a tiny bit smaller. Or it is a lot of extra work to trim the tiles down.
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Unfortunately we do not purchase tiles. But if you do have a floor heading for the skip, please contact us.
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Most of the cleaning chemicals we use are water‑based and low‑VOC . Unfortunately, in practice, plant based or eco cleaners rarely deliver the fast, brilliant results a professional needs. Especially if there is old varnish or paint to remove.
Natural finishes such as beeswax need frequent reapplication and buffing, Modern acrylic polishes are harder wearing and require less maintenance.
Good maintenance products—those that reinforce sealer with each mop—reduce the need for frequent deep cleaning, thereby lessening the environmental impact over time.
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It’s always best to use a matching vintage tile in good condition. But generally these need to be thinned first as originally the tiles were laid directly onto a wet screed.
However, if vintage tiles are not available, many Victorian floor colours can be matched with replica ranges, which are mostly 9mm deep, allowing room for a bed of adhesive. But these will need to be hand-cut to size if you want a seamless result as the pre-cut sizes are nominally smaller than original Victorian tiles.
A hand-cut replica can look better than a poorly matching vintage tile in bad condition.
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Acrylic polish is a synthetic resin that makes a clear protective layer on the tile and adds shine. Matt or colour-enhancing sealants soak into the tile’s pores and leave no shine.
The polish perhaps makes the floor easier to maintain, especially if the tiles are very pitted, as you have a surface to clean. This can last many years, up to a decade even in optimal conditions… ie removing shoes, vacuuming regularly and using PH neutral cleaning products.
You can also re apply the polish as and when necessary. But if you allow it to degrade completely you may have to start the whole process again.
It is always advisable to mop up any spillages immediately, as anything too acidic or alkali will burn through the polish.
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There are so many colours and designs that picking one can be daunting. Hopefully, my Gallery of original floors will help you to decide.
Think about style: earthy terracottas, ochres and browns give a warm, traditional feel; black-and-white feels modern and spacious.
You’ll need to pick the pattern, the border and the outside edge colour. Small pattern repeats suit narrow halls better than large geometric patterns. For black-and-white schemes, larger tiles are cheapest, but smaller tiles work best in small spaces.
The recessed door thresholds are mini installations in themselves. Usually involving a symmetrical repeat of the border to look authentic, and hardly ever as a block of plain colour which really jars the eye on an otherwise intricate floor.