Terracotta floors
Terracotta, a charming kiln-fired material, adds warmth and character to various areas of the home. However, without adequate care, it can succumb to damage from everyday use. If your aging terracotta flooring requires restoration or repair, Tile & Stone Medic Gloucestershire boasts years of expertise and stands ready to assist, regardless of the situation.
Common issues
Inadequate maintenance of terracotta flooring can result in the relatively swift appearance of marks, including surface scratches and abrasions. These blemishes often arise when the terracotta hasn’t been regularly vacuumed or swept, leading to the accumulation of debris ground into the tile’s surface underfoot.
Terracotta floor tiles typically lack glazing and exhibit high porosity, which increases over time. Proper sealing is imperative to mitigate these tendencies. When the tiles start to appear worn and lackluster, it’s likely that their sealant has worn off, particularly if staining is evident.
Subfloor issues can pose significant threats to terracotta tile flooring. Given their porous nature, moisture infiltration through the subfloor can cause substantial damage to the terracotta. Watch out for signs such as discoloration or loosening of the tiles; if they don’t lie flat, there may be underlying issues to address.
How we maintain terracotta flooring
While terracotta is prone to wear, restoring worn surfaces is typically straightforward with the right tools. For scratched or marked tiles, a thorough buff and polish can effectively eliminate most imperfections, revitalizing their appearance. Heavy buffing can also diminish the impact of staining.
In instances where liquid marks and staining are evident, applying a fresh coat of robust sealer serves to safeguard against future damage. Although the sealer acts as a barrier against dirt and spills, its protective effects diminish over time. Based on our experience, applying a new coat of sealer annually is optimal for maintaining terracotta’s appearance.
Addressing issues stemming from subfloor decay or moisture infiltration poses a greater challenge in restoring terracotta to its former splendour. In such cases, replacing tiles may be necessary, and we’re equipped to assist in sourcing suitable replacements.
Will repairing my terracotta tiles cause disruption?
Our goal is to restore your terracotta flooring to the utmost quality while causing minimal disruption to your environment. Terracotta maintenance doesn’t entail heavy machinery or noisy equipment, nor does it involve hazardous chemicals. You can trust that we adhere to the highest standards of health and safety in our work.
If you have terracotta flooring in need of restoration or general repairs, we’re here to assist you. Contact Tile & Stone Medic Gloucestershire today for a no-obligation quote.
More about cleaning Terracotta
Terracotta tiles offer a charming way to infuse warmth and rustic ambiance into your home. Crafted from fired clay, the name “terracotta” translates to “baked earth.” Their orangey-brown hue effortlessly brightens up kitchen spaces, and with tiles available in various sizes, replacements are generally straightforward if needed.
However, caring for terracotta tiles requires a bit more attention compared to some flooring types. Being highly porous, terracotta swiftly absorbs spillages, necessitating diligent upkeep to ensure longevity and aesthetics.
If you have older terracotta flooring, it’s advisable to inspect the subfloor to prevent premature wear and tear. Some older floors may have inadequate subflooring, traditionally constructed of sand, which is prone to moisture infiltration, jeopardizing the tiles above. Addressing underlying issues is crucial to avoid recurring problems.
A professional tile cleaning and restoration service can significantly extend the lifespan of your terracotta tiles. Our cleaning and sealing procedures create an effective water-repellent barrier, enhancing protection and simplifying maintenance. With a professionally applied seal, routine upkeep merely involves a quick sweep or vacuum a few times a week, alongside prompt spill clean up to preserve the floor’s appearance.
At Tile & Stone Medic Gloucestershire, we offer a range of sealers to enhance terracotta’s appearance, catering to your preferences for a reflective wet look or soft matt sheen.
While a professionally applied seal offers excellent protection, it’s not permanent and requires periodic refreshment, typically once or twice a year based on usage levels. Pet claws may expedite wear, necessitating more frequent resealing. Fortunately, refreshing the seal is a straightforward task when the floor has been properly maintained.
If your terracotta tiles need attention, our experienced team is here to help. Contact us today, and our friendly technicians will assess your needs and schedule the most suitable service. Remember, natural materials demand specific cleaning methods, so trust a company with expertise in their care. With Tile & Stone Medic Gloucestershire, your terracotta tiles are in capable hands.
FAQs: Tile Cleaning
The process we carry out will depend on your specific floor and the use that it gets. There will be variations for different materials and the finish that you wish to achieve. The process will also be impacted by the full scale of work that we carry out, for example which types of cleaning and restoration are being performed. It is not unusual to apply several layers of sealant if this is necessary and appropriate.
Firstly, a floor should always be sealed when it is first laid. Get in touch with us straight away if this hasn’t been carried out already. It will also need periodic sealing in order to protect the floor on an ongoing basis. How often sealing is required depends on a number of factors such as the specific material used for your flooring and the kind of use it has to survive. For example, a bathroom with natural tiles that is frequently exposed to water may require sealing more often than porcelain tiles in a kitchen. Frequent maintenance, such as sweeping and hoovering up the dust and grit that erodes floors when trodden on can help. Once the sealant is worn away, not only will scratches be more likely, the risk of staining or permanent damage from liquids is drastically increased as there is no protective layer to prevent absorption. If in doubt get in touch with our team of friendly technicians who can discuss your needs.
We have a range of high quality Faber products which will help protect your floors from damage. As every type of floor is different and has myriad uses, we will consult with you to work out the best way to protect your investment. We can apply topical sealants which form a protective layer on top of the floor, or if needed an impregnating sealant, which will be partially absorbed into the stone or tiles. There are many variations of these sealants and as each floor type has unique characteristics and vulnerabilities we can work with you to find and apply the the best kind of protection.
Absolutely. If this was not carried out by those who fitted the floor get in touch immediately to ensure that the appropriate protection can be applied as promptly as possible. We would recommend that this is carried out once the flooring is in place as this means the grout, which is generally more porous, will also be protected.
We apply a sealer to a floor in order to protect it. Different types of floor, both manmade and natural stone, are vulnerable to different sorts of damage. They can all be harmed by chemicals to a certain degree, even by the acid in food and drink spillages, as they will be very slightly porous. As well as this, they can be worn away by physical damage. Even foot traffic can have a big impact if dust or grit has built up on the floor, since it increases abrasions. A sealant will reduce the chance of a spill becoming a stain by reducing the floor’s ability to absorb liquids. It can also help protect the appearance of the floor by forming a protective barrier. A sealant won’t prevent all damage and it will still wear away over time, but it will help your floors last longer, helping protect your investment. Sealants will even help protect your floor from UV radiation which can lead to fading over the lifespan of a high value stone or tiled floor. We can consult with you to find the best sealant for your floor and the type of use it gets to make sure it receives the best form of protection.
Absolutely, we stock a range of high quality sealers which we can use to make your tiles shine like new.
In many cases yes, it’s one of our specialities. We’ll need to take a look at the amount of staining to make a proper assessment.
Call Tile & Stone Medic! It sounds like your grout may be contaminated we frequently fix discoloured grouting.
In many cases we can, although it depends on the type of tile and how serious the damage is. Let us take us a look at your floor and we’ll make an assessment. Please note we can only carry out floor repairs as part of a full deep clean or restoration for your stone floor. Unfortunately, we are not able to attend to carry out repairs in isolation.
Generally yes, depending on how many have become loose and the condition of the subfloor, we can generally restore loose tiles without issue.
Whilst we may use specialist chemicals in the course of our work, we can assure you that by the time we leave all residues will be gone and your tile or stone flooring will be perfectly safe for everyone to use. We work to extremely high standards of health and safety, conducting proper risk assessments where appropriate and never putting you or anyone else in danger.
We always work in the most considerate way possible. Work will be tailored to your needs and will fit around your schedule where possible. We avoid bringing loud or bulky machinery into your home and when a job is complete we thoroughly clean up after ourselves to leave your space looking as tidy as it did when we arrived.
