sealing quarry tiles

[plasticpigeon]

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas break.

I am asking a question that has probably been posed many times before. I have laid a quarry tile kitchen floor into limecrete. I am keen to put something down that brings out the colour. I know linseed oil seems to be traditional, but I have also read about the stuff going yellow when oxidising and dust sticking to it before it dries. Now there is much talked of breathability and it seems that silicate paints are recognised to be "breathable" which I assume means that water vapour can permeate more easily than through silicate paint than a plastic based paint. So how about using something like cockpit shine on quarries which restores colour to car plastics as I am sure that is silicone based. Could be slippy I suppose. Any other ideas? Thanks.

 

[skier-hughes]

I haven't done any sealing of my tiles, they're x years old and worn.......
But when I've spilled linseed on them I wipe it witha cloth, it sinks in quickly and buffs up and there's no stickyness and fluff etc.
The best way of applying linseed oil to any product is, good quality linseed oil, heat it up hot, apply it very thinly, wipe it of and buff straight away and put cloth on fire before it self ignites
Can't say the spilled and polished tiles have remained very polished once walked on for a while.

 

[Flyfisher]

I used a Liberon stone sealer on our new pamment floor. They have a range of stone products including 'colour enhancing' ones. I used the 'natural' one, which has not changed the tile colour at all.
http://www.liberon.co.uk/flooring/stone,434,464.html?&args=Y29tcF9pZD0zMDQmYWN0aW9uPWxpc3RlUHJvZHVpdHMmaWQ9NDAmfA%3D%3D

I wouldn't use that 'car shine' stuff on a floor as I doubt it would be hardwearing.

 

[Feltwell]

I'd leave quarries alone and not put anything on them. Mine get a regular vacuum, and an occasional mop with a bit of Flash in the water, that's about rigorous as it gets. They look fine to me.

 

[Moo]

I second that.

 

[88v8]

Can understand the desire to bring a little shine to the floor. We have a quarry floor in the dining room, relaid with reclaims by a couple of goons who will never cross my threshold again, the tiles are rather dull and some of them have pitted surfaces. Also have a historic hearthstone which for historic reasons is now part of the floor; very rough and, had I had the sense, should have been relegated to the garden. All in all a great disappointment, although more so to the wife.

The trick is to bring some shine and smoothness without shutting down the breathability. Over concrete that wouldn't matter, there is no breathability, and the Liberon sealer might be fine. Over limecrete or earth it would just be wrong.
I have also seen reference to boiled linseed, but haven't tried it as I doubt its durability.
Having said the sealer would be wrong, which is statin' the bleedin' obvious really, I suppose a sealer would be OK if applied with microscopic care and a small brush so it covers the tiles but not the grouting, considering that the floor breathes 90% through the joints.
One day I might try it, but the thing is with any product that sinks in, it's a one-way street. Best try a couple of spare tiles first, and leave them a week or three.

Ivor

 

[fluffytail10]

Well after trying various things on my pamments - such as linseed in all its various forms - i have decided to leave them bare. I use a nice old brush to give them a sweep daily and a wash with flash when they're looking a bit grimy. I was worried about them getting stained, but they never have, even after the usual red wine spillage. Just wipe up straight away and they are fine.Mine are at least 200 years old, pitted, scratched, worn, dimpled, undulating and cracked in a zillion places - however I love them like that.

 

[Flyfisher]

The sealing of porous tiles such as terracotta pamments is mainly to make them stain resistant. This includes staining by the grouting, so the tiles should be sealed before grouting and the grouting itself need not be sealed because it is easily replaced should it become badly stained. In this way the floor can be protected yet still, largely, breathable.

 

[88v8]

The sealing of porous tiles such as terracotta pamments is mainly to make them stain resistant. This includes staining by the grouting, so the tiles should be sealed before grouting and the grouting itself need not be sealed because it is easily replaced should it become badly stained. In this way the floor can be protected yet still, largely, breathable.

Ah. Didn't know that. Another case of me finding how the job should have been done, after it's completed. :?

But, does it not actually produce a shine, or anything approaching what t'other half might regards as 'nice'?

Ivor

 

[skier-hughes]

In the last nine years ours have had all sorts spilt on them and not a stain. I can't imagine the last 100's of years they were treated any differently!

 

[Flyfisher]

I'll admit it was quite a dilemma to decide what to do. We have some floors in the house that are old, maybe original, pamments laid directly on earth and they are wonderfully worn, pitted, cracked in places, and otherwise marked from many decades, probably a few centuries of use. They look perfectly fine and we do nothing but sweep them.

So, for the new kitchen extension we chose pamments, though brand new ones handmade locally. The dilemma then is to keep them looking reasonably uniform as they age or leave them completely unprotected and risk localised staining, something which is probably inevitable in a working kitchen and regular thoroughfare to the garden. So we chose to seal them before grouting and time will tell if this was the correct decision.

 

[dans]

After much research and upon the advice received on this very board (Penners if I recall ?), we opted for the Polyx Waxoil in Satin-Matt clear. With 3 boys under 5, a cat, a Labrador and a building site to walk through, the Polyx wax has done a great job of protecting our ancient floor!

I tested all the finishes and found Matt far too bland and the Satin-Matt not too shiny that it looks fake. I'll try to post a pic ...

Hope everyone had a nice Xmas by the way!!

 

[dans]

Here we go- I think I've posted it to the site before? We have some furniture and a bigger woodburner since this photo , thankfully!!

 

[dans]

Ps. It's breathable, hard wearing and also looks great on old timber floors! Here's our pine floor with Polyx...

 

[DJH]

Nice photos Dans. I like your house...

Doug

 

[dans]

Thank you !

A lot of the ideas came from this site!!

 

[MatthewC]

Ps. It's breathable...

Are you sure about that? The OSMO website says that these products are micro-porous and water-repellent, which rather implies to me that they won't be breathable as well. See http://www.osmouk.com/images/POLYX%20OIL%20PRODUCT%20INFO.pdf. What happens if you put some water on your floor? Does it pool with a good meniscus, or does it soak in and then dry out slowly?

I'd like to do something to make the quarries in my hall look better as there's far too much white bloom and surface damage, plus some of the black ones are actually red which is now showing through.

 

[dans]

Micro porous surely means it is breathable?? Like any wax-based product, it just not as breathable as leaving it bare, but far better than modern 'sealers'...

 

[plasticpigeon]

I wish there were numbers for breathability. I have a feeling that how water sinks in is different to how vapour passes through. Capillary action vs vapour permeability. This bit of info from keim paint is slightly interesting and helps to get an idea of comparative numbers.

http://www.keimpaints.co.uk/fileadmin/uk/pdf/Breathability___Moisture_Vapour_Permeability.pdf

 

[dans]

How breathable is beeswax or linseed oil...?