Terracotta Floor Tiles Restoration Cambridge

This terracotta floor tiles restoration was for an insurance company. The client had had a burst pipe whilst away on holiday which caused no end of damage, including the wax finish to their terracotta kitchen floor in Cambridge.

Unfortunately, someone without any knowledge and experience in restoring natural stone floors attempted to strip the wax finish off the entire floor using inappropriate methods resulting in not only a job half done, but some of the baked surface of the tiles as well.

It was at this stage where Cornwell Services were asked if we could salvage the  floor as neither the insurance company or the client wanted the trauma of replacing the terracotta floor.

To call this job a challenge would be an understatement, I am surprised I haven’t developed a bald patch after all the head scratching!

Terracotta tiles can be temperamental when water is introduced to it. Being highly absorbent it sucks water in like a sponge and lets it out very slowly. Sometimes, usually on dirtier floors, or where multiple layers of seal or wax that need to be removed, it is necessary to use larger quantities of water to rinse the stripping agents and dirt away which tends to saturate the terracotta. As the floor dries, usually over several days, the terracotta will, in most cases, release salts in the form of white powdery efflorescence (the white stuff you see on bricks). Fortunately it is quite easily removed.

It had taken some time to notice that the pale shiny areas that remained on most tiles were not wax residues but the remnants of the original surface of the stone resulting from the amateur restoration attempt.

Fortunately, these tiles were a flat machine made tile which allowed us to hone the surface of the tile using expensive diamond floor honing discs.

It worked! We were now left with a blank canvas. All we needed now was to allow it to dry and then apply the new finish.

If only it were that easy. Upon drying, and after removing the efflorescence, the tiles had a ‘bloom’ to them. This ‘bloom’ was simply strains of different shades that ran through the terracotta tile, but were not on view through the original baked surface.

We tried colour enhancing impregnators, topical seals, shiny finishes, matt finishes, but none changed this patchy appearance that the clients hated.

It was looking like this job was beating us and would end up having to be ripped up after all.

As a last resort, I suggested going down the old fashioned traditional route and use boiled linseed oil followed with a wax coating. It had to work because once you filled the tile with linseed oil, it’s never coming out again.

It did the trick. The linseed oil darkened the tile to a lovely warm rich colour. Allowing a day or two for each coat to cure it was ready for the final wax coating.

We applied an antiqued beeswax which further enhanced the brown of the tile. After polishing with a machine, the floor looked fabulous.

Mr & Mrs Centa were delighted with their beautiful restored terracotta kitchen floor.

Their terracotta bathroom floor looked pretty good too! Here’s the before and after photos;

Contact Saul for advice on cleaning terracotta tiles.