How can I clean this up?

[horsemeatscandal]

Had a joiner 'round to look and levelling a floor and randomly found this by the front door. I think I'd like to keep it but it's got some adhesive and concrete on it, especially round the edges. What's the best way to clean it up?

Also, do we think it's original? House is from ~1880. I'm thinking probably not.

[ATG]

To my untrained eye, that looks very much like Victorian neo-Gothic, so 1880 would be a bit late, but quite possible. Is it in keeping with the rest of the building? E.g. what do you windows and roofline look like?

[smifffymoto]

Solutions world of clean do a very good stone and tile cleaner.Hire a rotary cleaner and you’re away.
People will recommend brick acid,baking powder and vinegar,all sorts of st.

Professional don’t use them so you shouldn’t either.
Why, you may ask,because they are ste and don’t work.

[horsemeatscandal]

ATG said:

To my untrained eye, that looks very much like Victorian neo-Gothic, so 1880 would be a bit late, but quite possible. Is it in keeping with the rest of the building? E.g. what do you windows and roofline look like?

No other original features remain, at least not visible. Didn't even get a surprise fancy fireplace. The house will have originally been built for a miner and his family, I thought that tiling seemed a bit fancy for that haha.

[horsemeatscandal]

smifffymoto said:

Solutions world of clean do a very good stone and tile cleaner.Hire a rotary cleaner and you re away.
People will recommend brick acid,baking powder and vinegar,all sorts of st.

Professional don t use them so you shouldn t either.
Why, you may ask,because they are ste and don t work.

Nice, thank you.

This one? https://www.worldofclean.co.uk/neutral-stone-clean...

[Road2Ruin]

horsemeatscandal said:

Had a joiner 'round to look and levelling a floor and randomly found this by the front door. I think I'd like to keep it but it's got some adhesive and concrete on it, especially round the edges. What's the best way to clean it up?

Also, do we think it's original? House is from ~1880. I'm thinking probably not.

We had something very similar, in our 1903 house. It too was dirty and had cement on it. In the end I used an old chisel to get the worst of the cement off and a very fine glass paper for what was left. It came up fine. I then used a sealing liquid that brought it to a nice shine.

[ATG]

horsemeatscandal said:

ATG said:

To my untrained eye, that looks very much like Victorian neo-Gothic, so 1880 would be a bit late, but quite possible. Is it in keeping with the rest of the building? E.g. what do you windows and roofline look like?

No other original features remain, at least not visible. Didn't even get a surprise fancy fireplace. The house will have originally been built for a miner and his family, I thought that tiling seemed a bit fancy for that haha.

Interesting! Maybe when you're poking around you'll be able to see a bit of what's underneath it, or if anything around the edges appears to have been removed to allow the tiles to be laid. A bit of archaeological context!