Wisigoth Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 The whole ground floor of our French house has beautiful, porous terracotta tiles, most of which have a lovely glaze. Unfortunately, in the five years we've owned the house we've suffered damp on the surface of the tiles in one end of the lounge (it’s not a good idea to leave wet washing in a closed up house). We also had a minor leak in the bathroom - drips from a faulty washer, (we normally turn the water off but were expecting a builder to begin work) and now the beautiful tiles aren't so beautiful in places. The lovely glaze has worn away in patches of the lounge where attacked by saltpetre and the ones affected by the leak are limed (white in patches) and dark stained in the worst places where they went mouldy. I've tried all sorts of stuff for terracotta from Weldom (Starwax stain remover for terracotta etc.) but nothing to show for my huge effort. Does anyone know if there are companies that will restore the shine to your floors or are there any products that will work where Weldom's have failed? Should I use one of those hand held sanding machines or would that ruin them altogether? Advice appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 In the circumstances you describe, the white patches could be efflorescence: natural salts contained within the terracotta reacting to water contact. The salts dissolve on contact with water and rise to the surface where they leave a deposit on evaporation.IF it is efflorescence, you could try HG Limex, also called HG cement, mortar and efflorescence remover. (Type limex in the search box to see it.)HG products are available in France, but you might have to go to a pro place to find this one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 I had a similar thing back in the UK. If the stains won't go, try polishing them with "Cardinal Red" wax to restore the colour. It looks pretty scary at first but tones down after a day or two of walking on them! The LG products Clair mentions are good too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisigoth Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 Thanks for the tips. The efflorescence one I will definitely try. I tried cleaning the bathroom tiles up before the leak turned them black, white and mouldy, using a red "cire tomette" wax. It did improve them but I couldn't get a shine. I thought I might need to buy one of those big polishing machines they use in schools but perhaps I need to put a product on to make them shine again. I'm wary though. I wondered if I needed to strip the seal off all of them to make them even. The job is sounding very big again. Perhaps the Pages Jaunes will turn up someone to do it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 [quote user="Wisigoth"]Thanks for the tips. The efflorescence one I will definitely try. I tried cleaning the bathroom tiles up before the leak turned them black, white and mouldy, using a red "cire tomette" wax. It did improve them but I couldn't get a shine. I thought I might need to buy one of those big polishing machines they use in schools but perhaps I need to put a product on to make them shine again. I'm wary though. I wondered if I needed to strip the seal off all of them to make them even. The job is sounding very big again. Perhaps the Pages Jaunes will turn up someone to do it for me.[/quote]The Cardinal Red comes in liquid form. Myself, I just got down on my hands and knees and rubbed it into the whitened tiles with a cloth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now