Renovation of an 18th Century Listed Terracotta Floor in High Wycombe
We were contacted by the owner of an 18th century barn in High Wycombe about a mosaic Terracotta tiled floor that needed renovating. The barn had been converted into a modern house but the customer had to keep the floor as parm of the planning constraints due to the property being listed. With most of the renovation work now completed the floor had become heavily stained and the owner was looking to have the floor sympathetically cleaned.
Having popped over to the property to take a detailed look at the Terracotta tiles, make sure it was structurally sound and work out a detailed quotation that would include a complete strip, deep clean and reseal. The job would take two days, one day to clean allow drying time and then one day to seal.
The quote was accepted and date set for the work to start; the floor was solid so no repairs would be needed and no tiles to order beforehand.
Deep Cleaning Terracotta Kitchen Tiles
On day one work started by covering the tiles with Tile Doctor Oxy-Gel and allowing it to dwell for twenty minutes or so. This product is a strong alkaline gel cleaner that’s ideal for cleaning old floors that don’t have a damp proof membrane, liquid cleaners use more water and would require longer drying times. The long dwell times allow the product longer to break down the soils in the tile which on this floor was quite heavy.
Next the floor was scrubbed using a Rocky floor machine fitted with a 60-grit carbide brush, these brushes are very good at getting into the crevices of the tiles and take the heavy lifting out of cleaning. Working in small sections I scrubbed the floor with extra weight added to the buffer for maximum traction and a deeper clean.
The soiling was then extracted using a wet vacuum to reveal a real transformation and an impressive difference in the colour of the tiles. The floor was checked and any issues spot cleaned, for instance I noticed a few of the yellow terracotta tiles where darker than the rest so I used Tile Doctor Remove and Go to clean them further and I was pleased to see it made a significant improvement. Just goes to show how resilient tiled floors can be, regardless of age.
Next the floor was given an acid rinse to neutralise the ph. level after the use of alkaline cleaning products and to further clean the tiles and remove any residue marks. To do this another Tile Doctor gel cleaning product was applied called Acid Gel and then rinsed off with water and extracted with the wet vacuum. The floor was also mopped with Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner to ensure it was clear of all cleaning products, then after another extraction with the wet vacuum left to dry overnight.
Sealing a Terracotta Tiled Kitchen Floor
The next day I arrived and started work by checking if the floor was dry enough for sealing. I used a digital damp meter for this and I was pleased to see the use of gel cleaning products had helped keep moisture to a minimum.
Happy with the moisture readings the first of what would be seven coats of sealer was applied to the floor; Terracotta is very porous so does require a lot of sealer to get the right level of protection. It’s important to use a breathable sealer on an old floor like this so Tile Doctor Seal and Go Extra was chosen which is an acrylic-based seal that adds a nice subtle sheen to Terracotta tiles.
The sealer is applied using a cotton cloth and wiped over with a white rag building up the layers and leaving a good amount of time in between to dry. The sealer will sit on top of the floor improving its appearance and making it smoother and easier to clean going forward.
Once complete the clean tiles and new sealer really brought out the colours in the floor bringing it to life making it quite the period feature in what is now a modern home. Most of the tiles responded well to the cleaning but given its age there were some that I couldn’t get perfect however I think this adds character to an old floor and considering its age it came out well.
For aftercare I left the customer with remainder of the sealer so it can topped up and recommended Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner for regular cleaning.
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