[gwrightson]

 Can any body point me in the right direction regarding the cleaning of the tiles ,
they are made from lancustrine clay from yorks

www.yorkhandmade.co.uk/floor_pop1.htm

70% of downstairs floor is tiled with these, and the other 30%  are tiled with brand new tiles , same type  .
what is the best method and solution to use? what type of sealer and an indication of price would be more than helpful

geoff

[sherco]

Cleaning them you will need a green scrub pad on your scrubbing machine and a wet vac. The best cleaner i have used is Aqua mix stone deep clean, mix it as per instructions and wet the floor with it, use your scrubbing machine to scrub and leave to dwell on the tiles for 10/15 Min's and don't let it dry out and only do small areas at a time, 5/6sqm then wet vac it up, once you have done the floor you will need to neutralise the floor with clean water too remove any of the cleaner, this is a very important to get this right, once the floor is dry i use a water based sealant as this penetrates the terracotta better, for a natural look use Aqua mix sealers choice gold, or for a gloss finish use Aqua mix high gloss sealer. Apply the sealer with a paint pad applicator and tray, don't put to much sealer on in one go, some terracotta needs 6/8 coats and you need to let them dry between coats, once dry drop a bit of water on the tiles if it doesn't absorb into the tiles you have enough sealer on them, if it soaks in more coats are needed.

[gwrightson]

tks sherco for a comprehensive reply,.

what sort of price per metre is th norm , obviously amount of sealer and number of coats affect the price,
geoff

[sherco]

depends how many metres, normally do that at my day rate plus materials and sealing anything around £2/3 per metre but explain it depends on how many coats as this price is for one application only so you need to explain that to your customer.

[carpetmonsters]

Hi
 Terracotta will take 6 plus coats of sealer to cut cost you could offer low shine sealer from aqua mix and redo every three years sts from solution is also a very good cleaner

Steve

[expro]

I would be interested to know when you test for dry of the seal is it one hour or less or more? I find that three coats of Prochem Stone seal is more than enough.Let each coat sink in, then apply next and so on. If you then test with water IT WILL SINK IN BUT!! TEST IT NEXT DAY AND IT IS WATERPROOF.Most seals need time to cure.
Try it on spare off cuts at home or in the corner of the room before you do the job then you will know how much to buy and keep your costs down.On some tiles One or Two coats may do.

[sherco]

You have to let the seal cure as instruction, and only doing one tile on terracotta to see how many coats it needs doesn't work as the tiles absorb different amounts of sealant.

[gwrightson]

expro, I am doing exactly that , testing on a tile at home,

although I have yet to take on this job, he seems to be happy with the price I have quoted him and any extras for sealing etc, i do However have 1 concern , the newly laid tiles appear to have marks on them , i,m guessing it salt been drawn out from tiles, I have test cleaned an area , but they just seem to dry back the same , any suggestions.

[gwrightson]

this may help, it is like a dry film on part of tile.

[expro]

Are the marks round the edges of the tile or random? Were they grouted in?  Were they sealed before being layed?

[sherco]

Two concerns here, what is the sub-base? It could be the tiles drawing damp up from sub-base and it could be efflorescene (salt) in the tiles, if so it thats a major problem. How long ago where the tiles laid?

[expro]

Geoff just seen photo thats grout residue You could try dry scrubbing to remove that because if you nwet scrub it will keep drying back dusty . if you cannot remove it you could use Prochem QMT Stoneclean that will do it. This is a classic case of the floorlayer not doing his job properly.You could suggest HE removes it/

[gwrightson]

Sherco, the tiles have been laid down around two weeks now, they were not sealed before laying,

expro,  I have to agree I thought exactly same residule from grouting , I mentioned this to the builder who said they were pointed in with a damp cement , not wet . he admitted a little may have been on tiles.
 I,m thinking an extra charge may be required for this area.

geoff

[sherco]

You want to use Grout Haze clean up, to remove this, i wouldnt use an acid cleaner unless you really know what you are doing.

[expro]

Hi Geoff.Obviously at the end of the day you make your own mind up what products you use but i think you need to bare in mind that this grout has now been on there for some time and others have tried to remove it without success.As an installer,and consultant in the flooring and cleaning industry for many years i can  assure you that the builder has not been entirely honest with you.Also on a surface such as this a brush is far more effective than a pad.Prochems Qmt is in my opinion the way to go.Best of lucucu
Ps You can always do a small test area which willgive you an indication of the the difficulties in the removal of the grout.It is always better to test first than go blindly onwards at full tiltuck Ex