vintage french tiles - retrofit???

[bennygoodstuff]

hi all,

i've brought back from france a car-load of tiles from an old house that my brother in law owns, i want to have them in my kitchen.

they all have cement (i think) on the bottom of the tiles which i plan to knock of with an SDS drill to get as flatter base as possible for the tiles. they're also a little rough around the corners.

i'm wondering before i start work on them if it's actually possible to lay tiles like this with good results ? my kitchen is really small the floor space is about 2mx2m.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll265/benwoodroffe/tiles/CARRELAGE20002.jpg

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll265/benwoodroffe/tiles/IMG_7525-1.jpg

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll265/benwoodroffe/tiles/CARRELAGE20003.jpg

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll265/benwoodroffe/tiles/SRC_maison_flix_013.jpg

The top of the tiles clean up really nicely and most of them are not as bad as the two in the photo.

If you're in NW England let us know if you want to quote.

Thanks,

Ben.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Benny - Saw this thread a week ago but got sidetracked!
Just noticed it again so thought I'd better give you my thoughts.

The tile you've got is Encaustic. Its formed when a semi-liquid form of marble is poured into a mould and colours added to form the pattern which sticks to the base of the tile.
Its typical of North African styles and thus early French buildings.
The product available over here is Pre-sealed at manufacturing stage however from your photos it looks as though your tiles are not sealed and as such may take a lot of surface cleaning.
As long as you have enough tiles-clean and without too much damage, and of course if your kitchen is of the correct 'style' it will certainly look weathered/antique/old.
I did a reclaimed terracotta floor over 25 years ago in a manor house - only for my father to remark 'what are they going to do with the floor' - he thought it had been down for 150years!

Hope it all goes well!

Timeless John.

 

[Spud]

john these tiles are made in spain and are cement encaustic i posted some pics in aprils job of the month of a floor i tiled in this material laid on sand and cement, they can be found if you google cement encaustic tiles

 

[Spud]

found some pics

 

[Time's Ran Out]

john these tiles are made in spain and are cement encaustic i posted some pics in aprils job of the month of a floor i tiled in this material laid on sand and cement, they can be found if you google cement encaustic tiles

Gary - Some encaustic tiles may well be made in Spain today however as Spain was run by the Moors from North Africa until 1500, the original designs and this particular tile making method were introduced even before I started as a young lad!

I think from Benny's post these reclaimed tiles are a bit older then cement encaustics - but I may be wrong!

John.

ps.Just seen the photos - very nice!