Reclaimed floor tiles

[Cassie]

My eldest came over today to help me take down a ceiling, but he wasn’t feeling too good so we did a jigsaw puzzle instead! We emptied the first and smallest rubble sack of tiles and made a pattern. They are in much better nick than I was expecting! Very little cement, about 1:15 unusable. I think they were previously reclaimed and cleaned, laid for a short period in a hallway and then chucked out to me. He’s in the process of buying his own Victorian wreck, so I thought we could learn together about this ie. I’ll get him to do most of the work So, how hard is it to put down reclaimed floor tiles and get it looking good?

 

[Toby Newell]

Just clean off the backs and sides carefully, will lay good as new. Will be some slight bobbles at the edge.

The colours will be muted / off, you can sand them with P60 ceramic / zirconia depending on how thick the coloured layer is. This will cause some coarse spots to show.

Use Lithofin impregnator / MN colour intensifier several coats followed by a few Lithofin Multisealer coats. A little of both goes a very long way but yo do have to apply mutiple coats.

 

[Craig89]

I relaid some tiles in a fireplace that were reclaimed from a hallway. I thoroughly cleaned all the mortar off each tile before laying. It was a long winded process as each of the different styles of tile varied in thickness by as much as 5mm but once I got into the swing of it not too bad and would be happy to have a go at a hallway

 

[Feltwell]

Very good! Is that a little air feed vent from the sub-floor void? I've evidence of one of those here, you can see the pipe poking out of the chimney breast beneath the floor, alas the other end at the hearth has gone. Strange as it's only on one fireplace though, no evidence on any of the rest.

 

[Cassie]

Just clean off the backs and sides carefully, will lay good as new. Will be some slight bobbles at the edge.

The colours will be muted / off, you can sand them with P60 ceramic / zirconia depending on how thick the coloured layer is. This will cause some coarse spots to show.

Use Lithofin impregnator / MN colour intensifier several coats followed by a few Lithofin Multisealer coats. A little of both goes a very long way but yo do have to apply mutiple coats.

Thanks Toby
They don’t have a layer on top, coloured the same all the way through. I’ve scrubbed a few with warm water and a kitchen green sponge which got the majority of stuff off. I’m a way off laying them yet, but wanted to get My son going on the sorting and cleaning

 

[Cassie]

I relaid some tiles in a fireplace that were reclaimed from a hallway. I thoroughly cleaned all the mortar off each tile before laying. It was a long winded process as each of the different styles of tile varied in thickness by as much as 5mm but once I got into the swing of it not too bad and would be happy to have a go at a hallway

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They look lovely Craig! How thick did you do the cement base? Did you do it all in one go? The tiles I’ve got are also varied in thickness a little. How did you compensate for the thinner ones? I’ll be putting them in the porch, approx 5ft x 4ft. I was thinking of finding the centre point and working outwards from there. I will need to do it in at least a couple of stages I think

 

[Cubist]

Remember those old maps used by the ancient mariners that included the legend "And Here Be Dragons"? Laying a reclaimed tile floor should always come with that warning as there are many sink-holes and Pratt-falls waiting for the unwary and particularly those that do not think ahead. I’m glad to see that you are not falling into that trap.

Normally I would advise against using tiles of varying thicknesses but when its unavoidable…. After spreading a layer of bedding adhesive place a couple of the thicker tiles to establish the target height for the finished floor – use a spirit level as a guide. As you place the thinner tiles add a good dab of the tile adhesive to the four corners and the centre of the back of each tile and press it into place – you may need to ‘shimmy’ the tile to get it to bed down to the required height and position.

 

[Cassie]

Thanks cubist, that sounds like it would work. As it happens I’ve had a bit of a delve into the other bags and there are lots of good, not worn or uneven tiles. I might have enough to be able to avoid any iffy ones. Owing to a fear of making a complete hash of it, I think I’ll cut a board to the exact size of the porch floor and actually lay out the tiles exactly as they would go down using the best ones. My family can eat off laps while I repurpose the dining table for a bit

 

[Craig89]

Very good! Is that a little air feed vent from the sub-floor void? I've evidence of one of those here, you can see the pipe poking out of the chimney breast beneath the floor, alas the other end at the hearth has gone. Strange as it's only on one fireplace though, no evidence on any of the rest.

Only the rear parlour, in which the range would have been situated, did I find a terracotta pipe that had been built into the hearth. I went abit OTT and fabricated some ducts which I cast into the hearths when I rebuilt them and terminated them to a 9x6 cast iron hit and miss vent. I only have a 5kw log burner but thought sooner to have the duct and not need it than to need it and not have it.

 

[Cubist]

Owing to a fear of making a complete hash of it, I think I’ll cut a board to the exact size of the porch floor and actually lay out the tiles exactly as they would go down using the best ones. My family can eat off laps while I repurpose the dining table for a bit

Sounds like a plan.

The First Lady would tell you that theres only one thing to 'Fear more than a man with a plan' and thats the woman that gave it to him.

 

[Craig89]

They look lovely Craig! How thick did you do the cement base? Did you do it all in one go? The tiles I’ve got are also varied in thickness a little. How did you compensate for the thinner ones? I’ll be putting them in the porch, approx 5ft x 4ft. I was thinking of finding the centre point and working outwards from there. I will need to do it in at least a couple of stages I think

I used standard tile adhesive spread at about 1/4" and as Cubist described, added more to the back of the thinner tiles as required. You obviously need enough for them to finish at the same level but too much and when you tap it down the adhesive pushes up the sides, you soon get the feel for how much is required. I did it over a couple of days. I scribed some guide lines into the concrete to keep the pattern square and parallel with its self

 

[Cassie]

Sounds like a plan.

The First Lady would tell you that theres only one thing to 'Fear more than a man with a plan' and thats the woman that gave it to him.

I’m both the originator and executor of the plan, and a woman to boot so no fear on any count!

 

[Cassie]

I used standard tile adhesive spread at about 1/4" and as Cubist described, added more to the back of the thinner tiles as required. You obviously need enough for them to finish at the same level but too much and when you tap it down the adhesive pushes up the sides, you soon get the feel for how much is required. I did it over a couple of days. I scribed some guide lines into the concrete to keep the pattern square and parallel with its self

Thanks Craig. I was reading up about it (not a lot online-which prob says it’s not an easy job or one for the faint of heart!) and it said lay on cement. Tile adhesive seems like a much better idea and a lot less scope for messing it up!

 

[Cubist]

One advantage of a mortar mix is that the floor tiles can, in the distant future, be re-claimed and re-used again. Some modern adhesives are so strong that such recovery may not be an option.

 

[Toby Newell]

Thanks Toby
They don’t have a layer on top, coloured the same all the way through. I’ve scrubbed a few with warm water and a kitchen green sponge which got the majority of stuff off. I’m a way off laying them yet, but wanted to get My son going on the sorting and cleaning

same colour through? nice, they are an absolute pig to sand, iirc I used P40 ceramic alumina edge sander disc on a Festool Rotex which is pretty much full beans, with extra beans, still slow going, but along with the sealer colours will be as vibrant as new. Obviously hiring a diamond disc dressing machine would be quicker.

As everyone says, levelling is key, take your time even if you have to mix in some retarder and work in small sections. I guess there were different PSI (strength) mixes used but ones I have done have been rock hard. You might be able to soften the edges but you will never level them once they have set, a diamond machine would likely chip the edges.

 

[Toby Newell]

I relaid some tiles in a fireplace that were reclaimed from a hallway. I thoroughly cleaned all the mortar off each tile before laying. It was a long winded process as each of the different styles of tile varied in thickness by as much as 5mm but once I got into the swing of it not too bad and would be happy to have a go at a hallway

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retty

pretty!

I meant of course super pretty, what fantastic condition, and amazing vent, it came out great.

ps where is the mitred border? ahem... (is the wood ceramic tile?)

 

[Craig89]

Thanks Craig. I was reading up about it (not a lot online-which prob says it’s not an easy job or one for the faint of heart!) and it said lay on cement. Tile adhesive seems like a much better idea and a lot less scope for messing it up!

Well if you discount a few quarry tiles this was the first bit of tiling I have even done so it's perfectly doable. If you have any questions when you come to do yours then ask away and if I can help I will do so.

 

[Craig89]

retty

pretty!

I meant of course super pretty, what fantastic condition, and amazing vent, it came out great.

ps where is the mitred border? ahem... (is the wood ceramic tile?)

High praise indeed, thanks very much.

You might want to close your eyes for this bit but, although I had good intentions of installing reclaimed parquet (I even had it in stock), an about to be crawling baby with no finished room in the house dictated that I threw laminate down. The sub-floor was constructed in a way though in which if we're still here in 20 years and life has slowed down a bit then I could do as I had hoped and fit the parquet.

All things considered though I think it turned out OK

 

[Cassie]

same colour through? nice, they are an absolute pig to sand, iirc I used P40 ceramic alumina edge sander disc on a Festool Rotex which is pretty much full beans, with extra beans, still slow going, but along with the sealer colours will be as vibrant as new. Obviously hiring a diamond disc dressing machine would be quicker.

As everyone says, levelling is key, take your time even if you have to mix in some retarder and work in small sections. I guess there were different PSI (strength) mixes used but ones I have done have been rock hard. You might be able to soften the edges but you will never level them once they have set, a diamond machine would likely chip the edges.

What’s there at the moment are standard modern ceramic tiles. They are extremely tough-I’ve been dropping large lumps of cement onto them from 11ft up and not a chip! I think they are laid on a sheet of ply. Unlike any other floor in this house, it’s dead level, so when I come to take them up, maybe I’ll do the same?

 

[Cassie]

High praise indeed, thanks very much.

You might want to close your eyes for this bit but, although I had good intentions of installing reclaimed parquet (I even had it in stock), an about to be crawling baby with no finished room in the house dictated that I threw laminate down. The sub-floor was constructed in a way though in which if we're still here in 20 years and life has slowed down a bit then I could do as I had hoped and fit the parquet.

All things considered though I think it turned out OK

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It looks great Craig, sometimes you’ve got to be practical! I see you’ve managed to get your sockets in the wall. After a couple of attempts at doing this into the original lime plaster and making a terrible mess and probably ruining the wall, I think I’m going to live with surface mounted on the skirting for the rest. Furniture hides a lot