Victorian hallway

[whenhenshaveteeth]

Hi, our hallway is currently half tiled with original Victorian tiles in fairly good condition and half carpeted (old and minging).

I'm keen to remove the carpet but it looks like the tiles in the second half have been removed and concreted over (why???). I guess the only solution is to dig up the concrete and have new Victorian like tiles put down. Has anyone done this? How was the result and how much did it cost?

Watching this one with interest as keen to do the same. I've only got as far as finding the tiles I like for a really good price, not sure what it costs to lay them but I gather it's very labour intensive as they are small, have to be done one and with a very gap for grout compared to normal tiles.

Victorian solid floors can be very thin and weak compared to modern ones, which I suppose is why Victorian tile floors are often uneven, if the base has cracked or sunk.

If the "new" part of yours is where a wooden floor was filled in with concrete, consider very carefully if it has introduced a source of damp floors or blocked ventilation to other wooden floors. This is very common.

Thanks for the advice piglet.

I actually lifted the carpet completely with our builder and we've got another 10cm of original tiles under the carpet then the tiles have been removed and new concrete was poured on top of the existing floor.

The builder chipped some of the concrete off and said the whole thing could easily be chipped away - the floor under the concrete isn't board just old concrete or "original floor" as the builder called it. This is good, now the question is how much will the whole thing cost. Obviously the builder can give me a quote for removing concrete an relaying tiles but I need to find matching tiles and I'm guessing this will be the expensive bit... Anyone's done something similar?

there are sites out there doing 'original' victorian style tiles to match original ones. i've never had to do it myself but I am sure if you google you will find them.