Restoring Original Victorian Quarry Tiles

The following photos are from a property in Finedon, Wellingborough where like so many of my customers it seems the owner was in the middle of a full property restoration which included plans to bring the original Victorian hallway Quarry tiles back to life. Tile Doctor restores hundreds of Victorian floors across the UK every year so she gave us a call. I came round to take a look at the tiles and could see that the floor had been covered with Linoleum for many years which had been fixed with adhesive we was still evident on the tiles along with old wax based sealers which would need to be stripped off. In general the floor was now looking very dull and uncared for.

Cleaning Victorian Quarry Tiles

To remove the glue and restore the tiles a dilution of Tile Doctor Remove and Go was left to soak into the pores of the tile for twenty minutes before being brushed in with a rotary machine fitted with a black stripping pad. Once done the floor was rinsed down thoroughly with water and the remaining solution removed with a wet vacuum, this revealed a few areas that needed re-treating so the whole process was repeated until I was happy that the glue and old sealers were gone and the tile and grout was as clean as I could get it. This process took up much of the day and after using the wet vacuum again to get the floor as dry as possible I left a couple of fan dryers in place to assist with the drying.

Sealing Victorian Quarry Tiles

The floor was left for a few days so it could dry out thoroughly and then checked for dampness and remaining staining, the floor was dry but there were a few areas that needed further attention which were spot treated and then dried out with a hand drier. To protect it and make it easier to clean in the future the floor was then sealed by applying a number of coats of Tile Doctor Seal and Gof which added a nice light sheen finish to the look of the tile.