Victorian pathway repair, clean & seal - Chatham, Kent
A couple in Chatham, Kent contacted me wishing to explore the options of repairing their badly damaged and worn Victorian pathway.
I arranged to perform a free survey and, upon arrival, the first on the list was to catalogue the missing and badly damaged tiles.
Then I discussed in detail the process, timescales and results they could expect from a 100 year old pathway.
As is so often the case with very old floors and paths, perfection is not sought after - time and again it is all about preserving the character.
Once all questions had been answered, I went away and put together a quote. This would take a week to complete, given that there were 194 tiles to replace.
Happy with the submitted quote, we booked the dates and prayed for dry weather.
The first 2 days were spent removing the broken tiles and preparing the path for the replacement tiles.
It was around this point that the week was interrupted with rain showers but progress was made nevertheless.
The tiles were replaced and left to set overnight.
The next day the deep clean started.
Using a Flexi Segment Coarse grit Diamond Floor Pad with the strong alkaline Pro Clean, the worst of the ingrained dirt shifted, vaxing as I went.
I then used a 17" 800 Medium Grit Burnishing Pad with just water, to perform a second and final clean.
Again, the path was left overnight for the tiles to dry, as a lot of water is used in these processes.
The following morning, happy that the tiles were dry enough, I started the sealing process with Xtra, Tile Doctor's oil-based, impregnator sealer.
This has an inbuilt colour enhancer to give the tiles more depth and vibrancy and also a UV protector to provide greater resilience to the weather.
The pathway then needed 12 hours to be left alone for the sealer to fully dry and cure before allowing any foot traffic.
I was really pleased with the finish, as were both the customers.