Restoring Terracotta Floors
Terracotta tile restoration and cleaning is an important aspect of maintaining the natural shine of your floors.
Restoring terracotta floors. The saltillo tile tends to be the one most people mean when they are referring to mexican tile. This form of terracotta tile or quarry tile is clay based and made in mexico. The first step in restoring terracotta floors is stripping the old wax and sealants off of the floor and then cleaning the floor. Test your terracotta tiles for porosity by placing water in the middle of a tile.
Water is the enemy so the common approach to tile and grout cleaning and refinishing cannot be followed. Allow it to soften the old finish for 20 minutes to two hours according to the manufacturer s directions. Step 5 apply sealing. It is best to buy tile stripper made specifically to work on terracotta floors.
Apply a floor stripping product formulated for tile or stone in a 6 by 6 foot square. How to renew the treatment of a terracota floor manual method in this video we can see the process to follow to restore the original appearance of a terrac. The same shape in varying hues is a typical design using saltillo tiles. It comes in all shapes colors and sizes.
These soft clay terracotta tiles such as tecate pavers saltillo tiles slate and many other porous tiles but especially terracotta tiles must be approached more distinctly. There are actually a few types of mexican tiles. Vacuum the floor to remove traces of dust dirt and sand and clean the corners with a microfiber cloth. If treated properly terracotta tile will provide for a beautiful floor which will be hard wearing warm stain resistant and extremely easy to maintain.
Allow your newly installed or existing terracotta floor to cure for 72 hours and try to avoid of stepping on it too. To protect from the sealant apply masking tape to baseboards kickboard panels and other areas you wish to protect. How to seal terracotta tiles. Use a clean soft floor cloth to wipe the floor dry and clean.
This will darken the tiles a little so to get an idea of the finished colour wet the tiles to assess the effect. If after 15 minutes the water has soaked into the floor the tiles will need to be impregnated with boiled linseed oil. When you use the stripper make sure you test on a small area of flooring first.