Reds and yellows, pinks and greens. Purples, oranges and blues. A whole rainbow of colour were used in Geometric and Mosaic Wall and Floor tiling designs across homes in Scotland and North England in the Victorian era. And while sadly so many of these original tiled designs have been destroyed, those that remain are becoming a saught after element of Victorian homes across the country and can add significant value to the property.
The colours originally chosen for tiled Hallways, Bathrooms and Entranceways would help dictate the entire rooms colour palette and truly make the room stand out with bright and vibrant style that reflected the Victorian interior design of the time.
As an example of how significant Victorian Tiling Colours were to the ‘flow’ of a room, when mosaic tiling patterns used predominantly light colours on the tiles (such as Minton Ceramic Tiles) with flashes of brighter ones, the bright flashes of colour would be used as a primary colour palette for the rest of the room. And where the floor tiling colours were darker, the rest of the room would contrast with lighter walls and furnishings.
While there are of course many other shades used for Victorian Tiling across the country, these are some of the most popular Victorian Tile colours used at the time.
Original Victorian floor tiles can understandably, over the decades, suffer from a lot of foot traffic and ‘wear and tear’. But while these beautiful decorative wall and floor tiling mosaics have managed to stand the test of time, they have also had to endure decades of sun fade, weathering, over the counter cleaning agents and a steady build up of grime which can all contribute to remove and fade the colouring of these original period tiles.
At Were Tiling, we restore and seal original Victorian tiled floors and produce excellent tile cleaning results even on original Minton tiles that have suffered from colour fade over the years.
We provide all of our tile cleaning using a combination of delicate machine and hand cleaning processses. We use specialist floor cleaning machines, combined with diamond cleaning pads that only require water. While we always aim to clean tiles without the use of chemical cleaning agents, we do occasionally have to use cleaning products depending on the state of the floor itself. This has to be done on a case by case basis.
Once the floor has been stripped and cleaning and has been allowed time to dry, we carry out a colour intensify process and then seal the floor to protect it from scrapes. This can be burnished with either a Matt finish, which leaves the floor in a more natural state. Or we can seal the floor in a wax coating. This is a more traditional way that Victorian tiled floors were probably originally finished, although this finish does require more maintenance.
If you would like to know more about the restoration of original Victorian floor tiling and tile cleaning to bring the natural and original colours back to life, please call Andrew on
07932 716 716 or email andrew@were.co.uk
Brian from Newcastle We were replacing a carpet in our hall and discovered the original Victorian tiling was still there. Andrew came to our home, looked at the tiling and gave us a quote with no hassle. His attention to detail and careful and methodical approach are clear in the end results. We are so delighted with the work that he has done. We never thought about having a tiled hallway but we are more than delighted with the results and it has increased the value of our home considerably.
Andy from Glasgow We were looking for our Storm Door area and hallway to have a matching contemporary geometric tile design to them. We want a modern take that worked with our period Victorian home. Andrew was one of three tilers we call. He was the only one who took any measurements and really looked at the set up that we wanted. We went Were because they seemed to know what they were talking about and we were impressed with their detailed quote breakdown. It meant we knew exactly what to expect. And the end result - we could not be more happy with the end results. Our hallway looks better than ever.
