cracked mosiac floor

[bobby spray]

Hello, in my porch I have a mosaic floor as per the pictures. At some time in the past the building has moved and caused the floor to crack. There has been a cack-handed attempt to repair it using a poor match of tiles and what looks like a cement based adhesive. This is now breaking down itself and the tiles are coming off in several places. I want to do this myself but I am struggling to find where I can buy non-glazed tiles in the correct colours. If anyone can point me in the correct direction I would be very grateful.

TIA Bobby

 

[plasticpigeon]

That is rather fabulous and the damage minimal. Does it really need repair? I woudl think that cement was the material used originally, is it Victorian or Edwardian? A company called original style do unglazed geometric tiles for floors, but they would need to be cut with a grinder to get the right shaop for the mosaic of course.

https://www.originalstyle.com/victorian-floor-tiles/patterns/

 

[88v8]

Quite a few restorers around. Random example.
https://www.mosaicrestoration.co.uk/

How to remove the adjacent pointing, how to affix the tiles, given that chiselling up the cement base will do more damage. PVA? Resin? And grout them with? Cement of some sort, I guess.
Lovely floor. DIY the repairs? Hmmm.

Perhaps best not to fill the crack with anything too strong otherwise when it cracks again - and it will - more tiles will be pulled loose.

Was in Cyprus earlier this year, a good few mosaic floors in rather worse condition.

Ivor

 

[Cubist]

Hi Bobby,

Looks like ground heave may have caused the damage to the slab under the mosaic. Before perhaps spending a small fortune repairing the damaged mosaic I would suggest you get some advice as to whether the slab is still moving - it may be that the cement/adhesive used in the last repair is breaking up because of this rather than an inherent weakness in the cement/adhesive used.

Given the glorious quality of the mosaic you have there it would be worth your while, in my opinion, getting a couple of specialists to take a look, and perhaps give you some advice on the best way to remedy the damage.

Keep us posted please.

Cheers,

Cubist

 

[bobby spray]

Yes, I think that you are probably right. I'll seek professional help - it's too nice to take risks with. Here is a picture of the whole floor:

 

[Cubist]

That floor is absolutely stunning and hopefully saving it will not break the bank.

 

[CliffordPope]

It appears that the floor has moved slightly in two directions. The main direction has cracked some of the tesselations, so restoration would be easy in principle if you obtained material of the right shade and could cut new tesselations slightly longer than the originals.

But movement in the other directions has put some of the lines out of alignment, like a sideways shift to a railway track. Replacing those tesselations risks emphasising the discontinuity rather than concealing, because you cannot correct them except by re-laying half the mosaic.

I'd be tempted to replace the easy ones that are cracked and make judicious use of paint in the right colours with a fine brush to massage the lines between the others.