terracotta finish

[jonnyc]

oh yes i and i too set fire to my mums car with old sodden linseed oil rags. fired earth had a house burn down where chucked in bin under units in a house so beware!!

 

[Perry]

yes they could be saltillo hard to see not a great picture and yes have seen more than one fire with boiled linseed oil could tell some storys lol and corrilo you couldn't use oil didn't work just soaked through bentons was shiny that why i didn't use it

 

[jonnyc]

you remember the bentons as well pjc . before that they had duraseal 500 plus top coat cant remember name. even worse than bentons but it stop the tiles exploding!!!
beginning 80's it was quite weird in that there r were only two tile shops selling hand made terracotta and they were next door to each other in holland park. Elon and fired earth.
Blimey i remember those days well.
we were told to grout the tiles with bis sandstone grout but advised to have barely enough moisture in grout mix so that it just bound together in ball in your fist. fired earth were terrified of tiles staining as we were as this was new in uk.
were told to bang the grout in to joints with a squeegee that had thick rubber strip .I lost the use of my right hand for 9 months from repeptitive bashing of grout in to joints. couldnt grip anything.

 

[TMTservices]

lol! thanks for responses guys, PJ, that finish on those terra you said was the same but upside down.. Is that the patina you mentioned ? Looks great and exactly what the customer is after! ATS the HG produce..does this give a similar look?

In regards to the fire risk!! Ive been paranoid! lol! Got to the point the other night when I woke up and threw work clothes out of bedroom window in case they burst into flames! lol! true story. Must have been dreaming about it!

What do you guys do regarding your work clobber, I got it on shirts, shorts dust sheet etc, Im assuming its the same principal???

Been up on job today cleaning them up ready for grouting tomorrow. The sealing time, I think I was just making sure to be honest, coated full tile twice using wide soft brush, it was awkward doing it due to bad weather and limited space, and again, I was being cautious with them, with having limited experience, not to mark them while handling..

Enjoyed working with them, makes a change from trav and porc which is all I seem to be doing lately

 

[Concrete guy]

Go grab a bottle of the HG stuff and try it on some off cuts, I think it will give you the finish your customer is looking for.

Any cloths I had left over at the end of the day I used to throw in a bucket of water and leave them to soak there overnight.

If they manage to self combust in a bucket of water then I'm out of any further ideas!

It's really only an issue of not screwing the stuff up into ball - leave it flat and nothing will happen.

 

[TMTservices]

John, just read your post after I posted that last one.

So you guys are telling me Im gonna end up with a burnt out van / customers house, exploding tiles and a hand like a claw after grouting! lol! Awesome! You'd think I was making a bomb, not laying a floor! lol!

So you reckon these are Mexican? The customer told me they were spanish( the reason for the linseed )?

They have taken the oil well, Im not sure what effect linseed would have on Saltillo?? Is it easily visible or is it an after effect ? The tiles seem fine.. keeping the water out and not staining??

Not to keen on having a customer phoning me in a coupke of months with exploding tiles! lol!

So Im reading if theyre spanish, waxes and HG gear is ok, If theyre Mexican then waxes and HG are a no go? Think Ill call elon in morning.

Thanks again for your help fellas.

 

[Concrete guy]

I think you'll find that "Saltillo" became the generic name for anything Spanish/Mexican. They are fundamentally the same thing.

It would be good to find out where they came from though.

Terra Cotta literally translates as "Fired Earth", who started their company from a small shop bringing in 6 different types of this stuff.

 

[jonnyc]

I think you'll find that "Saltillo" became the generic name for anything Spanish/Mexican. They are fundamentally the same thing.

It would be good to find out where they came from though.

Terra Cotta literally translates as "Fired Earth", who started their company from a small shop bringing in 6 different types of this stuff.

dont remember Fired Earth ever selling saltillos. that was the fundamental difference between elon and fired earth. elon sold mexican and fired earth primarily sold spanish. they did both sell mexican hand made wall tiles that were all the rage.
who did you work for ats in that time?
how come no one has backed me up about exploding polyps of salt under surface of saltillos !!

 

[jonnyc]

for the record i forgot to mention castelnau tiles in barnes who were an early contender in the terracotta stakes as well early 80's
they sold the famous and very good quality san genis variety from spain as did fired earth and they used to sell their own sealer which was engine oil !!!
this is how the spanish used to seal their terracotta tiles.
they then moved on to plastic accrylic resin sealer which was not dissimilar to PC1 from paris ceramics for thier blanc rose terracotta and parefeuille tile
No wonder ive got breathing problems!!

 

[Perry]

yes i new graham oliver before he went to castelnau and still see him now and again
those tiles were from them in the picture

 

[Perry]

i don't think the salt pots were anything to do with the oil but a fault in the tile used to get a lot of fired earth tiles that did it he he and saltillo is a type of mexican tile still use today now and again and was playing about with a spanish hand made today i think i worked with just about every terracotta brought into the uk and some that weren't

 

[jonnyc]

yes i new graham oliver before he went to castelnau and still see him now and again
those tiles were from them in the picture

yes , i remember him well at castelnau. he was not the owner and nice as he was not that up on the terracotta i thought and then he up and left and opened up a shop in ascot called Hyperion. Still going and done very well for himself i think.
sorry about not being able to meet today, there was an access problem as i explained today, but should be possible mon/tues next week if youre about , then im off site for few weeks and back again for another few weeks.
sorry i digress.
looked up corres tiles and they are long gone. elon still going in chelsea and using bentons traditional.
think they are best bet to ask if oil already in tiles. otherwise water based sealer always ok on top of oil but not other way round. seems like me and my exploding tiles are a figment of my imagination as no one else on this forum aware of this.it is on the net though!!so i cant have completely lost it!!

 

[TMTservices]

Not sure if this pic is any better quality, to help identify. PJ I think they look the same as in your pic. Did yours get the linseed treatment finished with Patina?

Sorry for the constant questions! But you guys know your terracotta!

 

[TMTservices]

the top few courses had just had a 50/50 coat of linseed and white spirits.

 

[jonnyc]

i don't think the salt pots were anything to do with the oil but a fault in the tile used to get a lot of fired earth tiles that did it he he and saltillo is a type of mexican tile still use today now and again and was playing about with a spanish hand made today i think i worked with just about every terracotta brought into the uk and some that weren't

have you worked with sussex terracotta . i really rated their tiles and done nice church projects with them.
what about the reaclaimed parefeuille tiles from paris ceramics and fired earth. they were actually insulation tiles under roofs in france , hence the water run marks you used to get , where water leeked through and run down tile face.
I fixed mountains of these for paris ceramics and over the years go back to clean/reseal with my restoration company . they have worn very badly in high traffic areas even with pc1 sealer and they are a definite no no for floor covering.