Hi, what was the solution to this? I have the same problem in an old condominium here in Thailand. Uneven surface, coated with years of pitted, wax and dirt that make the tiles really dark and ugly. We also thought of grinding them to even them out and perhaps give a more modern look and then seal them with some product.... even thought of polyurethane paint as a sealant!
Anyway am desperate for any good solutions if there are any!!
Cheers,
Tony
don't use a poly sealant they need to breathe. they're designed to be porois so that they can keep the kitchen cool before we had refrigeration the floors would be slopped with water to create cool area for storage of meat etc. If its just wax you can remove the wax and they I'll clean up. There's expensive stiff called oxi gel but I have been using cheap oxi stain remover for laundry and it has done an amazing job even stripping off old
tile paint. Where edges are raised you could grind them down or you can use terracotta coloured epoxy to fill a ridge so it slopes and fill the big chunks missing. This advice I got from floor specialist but the epozy does discolour horribly by dirt so I don't recomend it in areas where you will be walking regularly. Its really hard to just fix one
tile but if its broken its not difficult and you can reset the odd one here or there. You can also use actual terracotta and a bit of lime to make a
cement that is not going to spall them or create damp to fill gaps this doesn't discolour the way that the epoxy does but it is difficult to get the right mix and the right colour but if you can get terracotta clay without sand in your area to match the tiles ...I can't remember the ratio to be honest you might have to experiment with samples that's what I did. I think it was six parts clay to one part lime putty and then I used the clay powder to top it dry so the top was darker as the lime is pretty pale. Then seal them with a breathable sealer not polyurathane. Wax and linseed oil although recommended I find they attract the dirt badly. These floors in the old days would have been washed down every year around the 19th of may traditionally and scrubbed with a hard deck brush and sand which wore them away slightly to a soft finish. Its no harm to remove the top layer so long as you seal them with a breathable sealer or if you want to wax them fair enough. But wax builds up and about twice a year or so traditionally they would be cleaned with amonnia to remove the wax and rewaxed. Don't use any acidic cleaner on them as that will eat away at the brick and when you wash the floors use a dry mop to take any water off as if it sits on the indents it will make the indents deeper. When these floors were made it was expected that you would sweep them daily. Scrub them weekly and refinish them regularly when needed. They're not like a glazed
tile that you can expect to stay like a dinner plate for years. they are more like hair they have to be daily taken care of. And even replaced and reset when needed. If you reset them use a sand lime base because that is much easier to redo and
cement is too rigid..if these were ever reset in
cement anywhere that temperatures change or moisture changes then the
cement which cannot move can cause cracks and lifting. so always use lime and sand which is a soft base that allows for swelling and is also a joy to lift a wonky
tile out so easy and replace in future.
