Victorian Hallway Tiling

Victorian floor tiles usually come in two broad styles. Geometric floors are built from small plain-coloured shapes, such as squares, triangles and octagons, arranged into a repeating design. Encaustic-style tiles carry the pattern within each tile. Many Victorian tiles made today are porcelain or ceramic with the same look, and some intricate designs come on pre-assembled sheets that keep the small pieces in position.

The front door is where a hallway is seen first, so the setting out starts there. The pattern is centred on the width of the hall where possible and checked along its whole length, because hallways in older houses are rarely perfectly straight or square. Cuts are pushed to the edges, under the border, rather than across the middle of the design.

Robert sets these out carefully so the pattern runs true down the length of the hall, with borders where they suit.

A border is a band of plain or patterned tiles running around the main design. It frames the pattern and gives a place for the cuts against walls and skirting, which is why borders work so well in narrow halls where the walls aren't parallel. Corner pieces are planned so the border meets cleanly at every turn, including around the bottom of the stairs.

Many period houses have suspended timber floors in the hall. Timber moves with temperature, moisture and footfall, and a pattern made of many small pieces shows cracks quickly if the base flexes. Loose boards are fixed down, and the floor is usually overboarded with suitable boards or fitted with a decoupling membrane before tiling, following the manufacturer's instructions. Concrete floors are checked for dips, cracks and damp and levelled where needed.

Suspended timber floors in older homes often rely on air bricks and a ventilated space beneath to stay dry. Tiling over the top shouldn't block that ventilation, so keep air bricks clear. If there are signs of damp or rot in the boards or joists, get them looked at before any tiling starts.

Where the hallway meets other rooms or the front step, the finished floor height is planned so doors still open and thresholds finish neatly with a suitable trim. Some encaustic-style and clay tiles need sealing before grouting, to stop grout staining the surface, and again afterwards: follow the manufacturer's instructions. Most porcelain versions need no sealing.