Help - how do you get undercoat off quartz tiles?

noelphobic

As the title says, my son has been painting, dropped the roller and got paint on my quartz floor tiles. It's not coming off properly and I'm scared to put turps or anything like that on it in case it ruins the tiles. Have googled but can't find anything. Would be eternally grateful for any help. Thanks in advance.

Leif

What kind of paint? I got some oil based wood paint, and some wall emulsion on granite. I used a Stanley window scraper. Did the job. Obviously you need to be careful, as you could scratch the tiles, but I imagine it would work on the quartz tiles, just make sure you hold it flat on the surface. Example:

http://www.tooled-up.com/ManSubCategory.asp?MID=STA&CID=18&SCID=164&referrer=googlestanleydecorating&gclid=CImZkPu1tLACFUdItAodEnOpSQ

There may well be better products available, I just happened to see this one in the shop, and found it did what I wanted.

tpt

give lithofins advice line a call 01962 732126

McKneff

Next time, tell him to put a good quality dust sheet/plastic sheet down.

noelphobic

McKneff wrote: »

Next time, tell him to put a good quality dust sheet/plastic sheet down.

He put newspapers down but the sleeve fell off the roller - and rolled! I've got a builder who's been doing some other jobs for me which are nearly finished so I've asked him to finish the painting - probably less expensive than potentially having to replace brand new and very expensive tiles :eek:

DVardysShadow

It it has not dried, use white spirit. It might make the tiles look a bit funny in the short term, but it will evaporate away.

If it has dried, I fear you have caused a bigger problem out of fear of causing a problem.

Leif

Sounds like it was emulsion paint.

Not sure I'd risk white spirit, that is a solvent, and quartz tiles contain ~4% resin which could be attacked by white spirit. My guess is that emulsion will come off easily. Try with your finger nail, and I bet bits come off, proving that it will come away.

noelphobic

Leif wrote: »

Sounds like it was emulsion paint.

Not sure I'd risk white spirit, that is a solvent, and quartz tiles contain ~4% resin which could be attacked by white spirit. My guess is that emulsion will come off easily. Try with your finger nail, and I bet bits come off, proving that it will come away.

It was undercoat, which is oil based. Emulsion comes off a lot easier!

noelphobic

DVardysShadow wrote: »

It it has not dried, use white spirit. It might make the tiles look a bit funny in the short term, but it will evaporate away.

If it has dried, I fear you have caused a bigger problem out of fear of causing a problem.

I've used Polycell brush cleaner. I put a small amount on a cloth, dabbed away at the paint, then wiped it off with a dry cloth. I then wiped it over with a wet cloth and it looks okish so fingers crossed!

keystone

You should be OKwith that solution although I would have attempted "the scratch it off with the fingernail" option. Quartz tiles are not porous.

Cheers

noelphobic

keystone wrote: »

You should be OKwith that solution although I would have attempted "the scratch it off with the fingernail" option. Quartz tiles are not porous.

Cheers

I've just found a couple of spots of dried on paint that I must have missed yesterday and scraped them off with my fingernail. Wouldn't I have had to wait for it to dry before attemptiing that though, which would have been risky? Plus I had tried to wipe it off with a cloth, which was silly as I just ended up smearing it around and made matters worse.

For what these tiles cost I would have licked it off if I'd thought it would help:eek: