Removing old polish from victorian tiled floor

[itwyatt]

Hi,

I've been reading through and you all sound a very helpful bunch. We moved into a victorian house last year and my wife's attention has turned to the floor in the hall. She wanted to give it a good clean and my mum had some plasplugs "Heavy Duty Tile Cleaner". Now if it had been me I would have tested a small area first, or even the tiles in the outhouse, but my wife eagerly scrubbed 2sqm of hall floor at 8 months 3 weeks pregnant!

Anyhow, she says to me it looks like there's residue left from the cleaner on it.... I take a look and realise that the polish has started to go a bit opaque in places and lift off completely in others, but not enough that i think more scrubbing alone would completely remove it.

So the question is what can I use to remove the rest of the polish and the what should I do to treat it afterwards? One friend suggested meths to remove the polish.

I've seen sealers as well as polish. Is the sealer necessary?

I have a feeling that this could be a big job - there's 12 - 14 sqm in total - and am also wondering whether it might be better to get somebody in who knows what they are doing!

Thanks for reading.

Iain

 

[frankenfurter]

Hi Iain,

While it is possible to restore these floors yourself, I am very much of the opinion that you should always get a professional in to do the job. Not just because this is what I've done for a living for some considerable years, but because we see some many failed attempts, damaged tiles, loose tiles, efflorescence, incorrect product usage - the list goes on.

To my team and I these Victorian floors are works of art and should be preserved where at all possible. Get a pro in and they'll give you what you want, saves an awful lot of guess work.

 

[TilingLogistics]

Hi,

I've been reading through and you all sound a very helpful bunch. We moved into a victorian house last year and my wife's attention has turned to the floor in the hall. She wanted to give it a good clean and my mum had some plasplugs "Heavy Duty Tile Cleaner". Now if it had been me I would have tested a small area first, or even the tiles in the outhouse, but my wife eagerly scrubbed 2sqm of hall floor at 8 months 3 weeks pregnant!

Anyhow, she says to me it looks like there's residue left from the cleaner on it.... I take a look and realise that the polish has started to go a bit opaque in places and lift off completely in others, but not enough that i think more scrubbing alone would completely remove it.

So the question is what can I use to remove the rest of the polish and the what should I do to treat it afterwards? One friend suggested meths to remove the polish.

I've seen sealers as well as polish. Is the sealer necessary?

I have a feeling that this could be a big job - there's 12 - 14 sqm in total - and am also wondering whether it might be better to get somebody in who knows what they are doing!

Thanks for reading.

Iain

Hi Iai,

Welcome to the forums. Commenting on these types of floor without seeing them is difficult. I find that extensive testing needs to be done to determine the correct route required to restoration. In addition you can spend a small fortune on products and waste hours of labour based on the wrong advice.

I spent a couple hours yesterday in a 13M2 hallway laid with victorian tiles conducting tests to find the best route to restore it. These people paid someone to clean this floor 7 months ago now it is all milky in appearance and looks terrible.

I am with Frankenfurter on this one. These floors are works of art in a lot of cases and I get a great deal of pleasure cleaning and restoring them. I am afraid unless you know what you are doing call a Professional.

Kev

 

[kevin]

hi,

I have had similar problems with my floor tiles so I decided to take all the years of polish off,It was suggested I use ammonia but try getting it, so I started with a wallpaper steamer then I used mr muscle oven cleaner and a millt abrasive scourer and for the stubborn bits i carefully scraped the tiles,took me abouy 3 hrs hard graft to do a standard semi detachted hall way,but well worth it,I am now looking for a sealer then a ploish that wont scuff or mark,this could be expensive as i want to test a couple of tiles at a time,any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Take care ,
k
Kev

 

[carpetmonsters]

Hi
I dont unless it is a topical sealer remove the seal. best way to clean of seal safely is to use aquamix sea remover then neautralise the floor and apply a penatrating sealer or a product called xcaliber. I used Xcaliber on my woodfloor and the product is still there after a year and we have heavey traffic.
Steve