Terracotta floor tiles

KLB

Does anybody have any experience with sealing terracotta floors? We've laid terracotta in our bathroom and I'm beginning to wish we hadn't. We sealed the tiles before laying them with an impregnating sealer, which we had to do otherwise the grout would have sunk in as they are very porous. Now we need to put on some sort of surface sealer, either wax or a water-based sealer (like varnish but not, you can get gloss or satin).

We bought a satin water-based sealer, it would be great but really darkens the tiles a lot. We chose our tiles coz they're a lovely pale shade, and wanted to keep them that way as much as poss.

So it would seem that our only other option is to wax the floor, which we didn't really want to do as apparently it needs to be done regularly to maintain it? Is this the case? Also I read somewhere that the wax can get dirt and grime in it and the floor ends up looking grubby? And to stop that happening, you need to apply a wax protector!

I didn't realise there was so much involved when we picked the tiles, wish I'd got good old ceramic ones now! Can anyone help / tell me of their experience with having terracotta tiles?

KLB

bumpity bump!

melb

hi there you could see if you could get a sealant that doesn't darken the tiles. I know with our travetine there were a few options with a product called litholin or something like that? I'd ask advice at a couple of tile shops and see if there is an alternative?

debbie42

I have terracotta tiles in my kitchen, and have to regularly wax them. I've recently bought a buffer for the job as the old polisher (Karcher) wasn't up to the job for my area (around 15 m2).

I do personally use Lithofin products, and can recommend them.

http://www.extensive.co.uk is a good web site that can supply the products, and also have very useful information. (No connection other than a satisfied customer etc.) It's not obvious where the faq for terracotta is, so this is a direct link. Have a look at the synthetic option. Classic waxing is a bit of a pain, and I wouldn't do it in a bathroom! Their phone support is excellent, IME.

majjie

Don't know if this is any help ... but I was doing a bit of research on using hardwax oils on kitchen worktops and came across this.
http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/3032B

It says it can be used on porous terracotta.

KLB

Thanks, I think I'll phone the Extensive support line, see what they think.