1930's original tile flooring

[freesolo]

We moved into our house last year , it's a 1930's house and is carpeted throughout, very modern. After visiting a few neighbours I noticed they all had beautiful, original tiled halls I decided to have a look tonight and with the help of my trusty screwdriver I can see beautiful red tiles underneath the carpet! What do I do now? I want to show the tiles but I have barely any disposable income and don't know if i could take up the carpet and get the tiles cleaned myself, any advice?

How lovely! I'm a little jealous... 🤩

I'm quite jealous too 😂🤣

God, I'm really jealous. We have a 1920s house - not a single original feature left. Probably never had lovely tiles like that in the first place.

@WhatWouldMaLarkinDo I've just seen that our tiles match exactly!! You don't live in Wales do you? 😂

@freesolo no, Midlands! What a coincidence though! We had the carpet gripper things on ours too, DH got them off with a chisel apparently. We’re trying the tile cleaner mentioned upthread today, it seems to be doing a decent job so far.

This is our trial corner with the cleaner, it’s got most of the grot off.

@WhatWouldMaLarkin they look great! did you use the pink stuff cleaner? And did you have any glue residue?

Amazing thread! I adore my Minton tiled hallway. We have quarry tiles in the kitchen too.
I do live a tiled floor.
I’m wandering what’s under our hideous front room carpet now....

@freesolo we’re using this stuff: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B001T07P44?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

There’s some glue residue, DH is getting the worst of it off with a chisel before putting the cleaner on. It might take a fee goes to get them completely clean but it’s working well.

The plan is to put some sealer on to finish them off and protect them once they’re clean. I’m really pleased with how they’re coming up, we were all set to spend a fortune having them done professionally.

@WhatWouldMaLarkinDo aah brilliant, thank you. I'm going to try this and I really hope it works!

@freesolo hope it works well on yours too, post a picture when it’s done! Make sure you’ve got a floor scrubbing brush to brush it on.

What a satisfying thread. Great find!

What was under the carpet in the living room? If it was some sort of particle board or plywood, mine had that to level the floor but the original floorboards were underneath so you might be in luck (again)!

(Wanders around house looking for carpet/lino to rip up)

Bit of an update for anyone who's interested. I managed to get all the carpet grippers up and about 2/3 done with getting the glue up and scrubbing the floor. After I've finished I'll go over it all with a tile restorer fluid. Didn't expect to get so much done in less than a week so I'm happy so far

Looks amazing!

They're beautiful tiles op. I'm so jealous. Shitty floorboards under my carpets.

They look fabulous. Especially with the woodwork. Great job!

That looks beautiful OP. I've just pulled up my hallway carpet and found mosaic tiles. They need a good clean and there are some tiles missing by doorways.

So jealous OP. Well done for all your hard work, it's looking fantastic already. My house is 1930s but sadly under the 70s carpet we've yet to replace is just floorboards. Did find original doors hidden under later hardboard overlay though!

@Benfoldslanded

That looks beautiful OP. I've just pulled up my hallway carpet and found mosaic tiles. They need a good clean and there are some tiles missing by doorways.

Wow! They are pretty amazing!

Thanks. I'm quite intimidated by mine. Need to work out how to repair it. There are tiles missing at every doorway! I've bought some of the cleaner recommended up thread, so should be able to clean up what is there though.

goodness me @Benfoldslanded do you live in Pompeii?

That is an amazing floor. I think when it comes to period features like that, a bit of wear and tear adds to the charm. You don't really want it to look new.

Have a look at some Italian interiors where they have original mosaic, they would probably pair it with something really modern.

Ha ha no @RoSEbuds6 Stockport! Think the carpet on top was keeping the loose edges in place.

Wow @Benfoldslanded they are bloody gorgeous.