are these norfolk pamment floor bricks? and how do i seal ?

[robgil]

i picked up 570 of these a wile back , you may remember me moaning because i paid for 700 of them. :evil:
anyhow , the time has come to clean them up , one by one.
for the cleaning i am using one of those metal pan scrubbing sponge things , you know the kind , like a big ball of silver stainless wire wool?
they come up a treat but will need sealing.

i tried boiled linseed oil but i dont know when to stop , is there supposed to be a shiny/gloss coating on the brick when it is sealed (after about 4 coats) or can i get away with using less? i dont want a glossy finish and the more i use the darker the brick becomes and i dont particularly want to change their colour either.
any suggestions? i have tried linseed oil and also linseed oil mixed with white spirits (i think it was white spirits , i read it on here somewhere).

 

[robgil]

oops , here are some pics.

 

[AMc]

I sealed the top of ours with Osmo Polyx hard wax oil which has produced a nice matt finish (or satin if you buy that finish) that has withstood a few months use in the kitchen without harm. It's expensive but goes a very long way if you apply it properly i.e. very thin coats.

When you come to sticking them down you may need to seal the undersides depending on how porous they are. We split ours leaving a very porous surface - this appears to have sucked the moisture from the lime mortar underneath which set without bonding to the brick. If the bricks haven't been cut they should bed down OK. On advice I've resorted to dilute PVA underneath and reseating those fresh mortar as and when I can face the job - breathability isn't an issue in my case as they're siting on top of a concrete screed - the lime was purely to allow them to be replaced if the kitchen was changed and for appearance.

 

[robgil]

cheers AMc , unfortunately breath ability is a huge issue in my kitchen , i was going to just lay these on sand , really tight together so that i dont need to grout them. i hope so long as i do it this way then the brick itself wont need to be all that porous as any moisture evaporation will choose to come up between the bricks rather than through them.

 

[AMc]

Polyx is breathable on it's primary application - wood. According to Osmo it's also suitable for use on unglazed ceramic - which suggests it's going to remain 'breathable' on that surface too.
Bear in mind that if you lay close together or far apart the gaps between your bricks will amount to a tiny proportion of the floor area so I would consider not using anything to begin with and see how the floor behaves.

If you are renewing more than 25% of the floor (or any thermal element) then building control would expect you to upgrade the thermal efficiency to meet the figures in PartL1B. That effectively rules out laying directly onto sand without a form of (breathable) insulation underneath and probably a lot of excavation. I'm not telling you off, just making sure you're aware.

 

[Penners]

is there supposed to be a shiny/gloss coating on the brick when it is sealed...?

Yes, if you want there to be. If you don't, then no.

It may have been a post of mine where you read about 50/50 linseed oil and white spirit. But that was for finishing limestone, which is a lot more dense than terracotta.

If I was going to "seal" pamments, I'd follow AMc's suggestion.

 

[robgil]

ah , that was it , linseed oil and white spirits. the paments really sucked it in , ive just tried one with linseed oil on its own and it sucked it in in no time and left it a bit darker than it was previously. i shall give the Osmo Polyx a go , but isnt that primarily for wooden floors?

 

[Penners]

The object of a finish on the floor is to try and exclude dirt, to prevent dusting, to enhance the look of the floor and (in a period property) to allow breathing.

If a finish can achieve all of these things, it doesn't really matter what the substrate is.

 

[Janey]

I've spent hours sealing similar tiles with raw linseed oil - the boiled stuff gave a bit of a sticky sheen - they look fab for a while, but dull with time and foot-fall. Easily re-treated in little time, but a real pain having to do this every few months and moving furniture / waiting for them to dry again. I do 2 or 3 coats each time. I have experimented with a few different sealants, but I've found that anything tougher looks like it has an "seal", anything "waxier" attracts muck. I have decided the linseed oil is the best "natural finsh" and have resigned myself to periodic reapplications. Unless any one has any better ideas for heather browns?

J

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I've come to the same conclusion as Janey.

Used raw linseed oil on slate flags and on heather brown in the dining room.

After a few coats initially, we're at the point that a wet mop is all that is required to clean them, and a fresh coat every few months. I guess this will be annual soon.