Quarry tile help please

[Alfietinker]

Good evening all,

I used to browse this site regularly many moons ago when we bought our first victorian house, and ended up repointing the entire house in lime due to your advice! :lol: After a break of a highly practical, but utterly soulless 1970s box, we are now once again proud owners of a lovely Edwardian semi.

And very much in need of tlc.... a bargain, but certainly a project. Our initial thoughts are to simply make it habitable - 3 kids means a very quick spruce up of bedrooms etc so they can at least 'live'. There are some beautiful features, and some heartbreaking bodges which will have to be tackled slowly over the years. ("You want central heating? Certainly sir. Oh, don't worry about that hundred year old cornicing - we'll just whack a big whole through it and fill with foam - jobs a goodun...")

Now we can sit down relatively cleanly, first up is the kitchen. Underneath the lino was a thick layer of some sort of concrete/self-levelling compound. We've chipped this away as best we can to reveal an original quarry tiled floor! We only needed to replace a few missing tiles so we want to make the most of it. But, these tiles stick out like a sore thumb. :-(

We haven't been able to completely remove the efflorescence, despite trying many products/methods. So, we can accept it not looking any better, although it does seem a shame when I google 'restored floors' and ours is nothing like it.

Our issue is now how to finish it. I realise from reading other posts on here, than sealing isn't necessarily recommended. But these tiles are so damaged that water soaks in like a sponge. I need to mop regularly with my kids, so I really want something that will stop the floor getting soaked.

Another reason is we have a lot of condensation. Someone has helpfully installed double glazing everywhere, but neglected to add any ventilation. A floor releasing huge amounts of water everytime it is cleaned is going to exacerbate matters.

I have some 'breathable' sealant (Tile Doctor), but a test seems to add artificial shine, but leaves the look untouched.

I've looked at Liberon's Stone Sealer, but the Stone Wax recommended to finish says not to mop - impractical in my family!

Linseed oil looked promising, but I've also read it can just get sticky.

Has anyone got any other suggestions? I'd like a nice 'natural' sheen, and ideally something that would deepen the colour slightly. When the floor is wet it looks fabulous - when dry, not so much.


**Edit** I should add, we don't think they are laid on earth - it seems to be a sort of dry screed if that makes sense? The house does have damp, mostly through bad maintenence and lack of ventilation. Unfortunately had some sort of 'tanking' before we purchased. The floor was soaking when we removed the lino/concrete but has since dried out beautifully. I'm not sure if we need anything 'breathable' or not?

I know this is a rambling post, but I figured the more information the better? All answers on a postcard, gratefully received! :-D

 

[mardinor]

I recommend lower hygiene standards and/or poor eyesight and lighting (both authentic period features).

However, if you must clean then I also recommend HG Golvpolish! Been on our Victorian quarry tiles for 17 years and only topped up once.

PS the efflorescence disappears eventually with foot traffic

 

[Alfietinker]

Off to google polish..... Thanks! Have you found it breathable? That's the think I'm unsure about if we need or not.

Well, I am as blind as a bat, and the light in the kitchen is appalling. I am also firmly in the 'un-house-proud' camp. Unfortunately, my kids have even lower standards than me..... (3 boys, spaghetti bolognese - what can possibly go wrong???)

 

[mardinor]

The name is deceiving. It's actually a liquid and soaks in leaving a matt finish. I can't recall if we used an impregnator first - look on the HG website.

We've found it to be breathable. Our floor is original with no dpm. The tiles are laid end to end so any 'grout' is actually just accumulated detritus, sorry patina. It may be this that provides the breathability but, however it's functioning, it is effective. It's a kitchen and we have kids and a dog, so all the usual sources of muck!

I'd also suggest a steam mop for cleaning instead of a bucket of water. Dries almost instantly and likely to use less water if moisture vapour is a worry (we have open chimneys and single glazed sashes so plenty of ventilation!)

 

[masochists-r-us]

I use Eternum by Diversey, a water based shine and seal. Personally I like the deep red and shiny look, but if you don't, it wears off by itself over a month or so. Linseed oil really only deepens colour to porous tiles and doesn't give a great finish.