The bathroom in our house has Saltillo tile which was installed before we bought the house. It wasn't sealed properly and had some stains but most particularly calcium deposits from a leaking toilet when we bought the house. Are there any solutions to "bringing the tile back to life" so it can be properly sealed?
Thanks.
Dave
As far as I am concerned Saltillo is the bane of floor management. Homes require at least year maintenance, businesses sometime monthly.
Find a tile store, NOT THE BOX STORES and take some pictures with you. Purchase the products that they recommend. I bet they will tell you to strip the whole floor, then reseal it. At least a weekend project depending on the area.
Plan on doing this at least once a year depending on traffic.
I have a friend who's living room needs to be done every 6 months. Bedrooms can go a year. two adults and two dogs is all.
Either they are on the surface or have soaked in. If they are on the surface, they should wipe/scrub off. If interior, you might try a bit of vinegar; if that doesn't work, you can sand them off/out...Saltillo is quite soft and is easy to sand. Note that sanding will likely make the sanded area red (if it is not already).
Regarding sealing, I use an water based acrylic (SealCrete) initially, then 3-4 coats of oil based semi-gloss polyurethane. The acrylic is just to seal and keep the poly from penetrating thereby making the floor darker than I want.
Our tile has been down 10 years. The only place that has been redone is part of the kitchen (needs it again). There are two tiles at the entrance to the shower that need doing because they are almost constantly wet. The rest of the floor (3000+) hasn't even had the shine from the poly dulled...me, my wife, two dogs and two cats.
-- dadiOH ____________________________
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when the tiles are new, will they be stained by the dye in the grout mix? If so, does the grout need to be closely matched to the tile color, or is there another solution? thanks bill
I didn't use grout per se, used masonry mortar, uncolored. But any cementacious material - colored or not - could stain them. It wipes/washes off if you don't wait too long but I sealed mine (with the acrylic) before grouting to make things easier. The sand in the mortar tears that up a bit as one pushes the mortar around so I do another coat of acrylic after the tiles/mortar dry before topcoating both with poly.
-- dadiOH ____________________________
dadiOH's dandies v3.06... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at
Due to the high porosity of Saltillos, a pre-sealant or use of a grout release is advisable before grouting. Usually... 'USUALLY'.... with the proper use of a pre-sealant, there should be no problems with color bleeding. Brazilian and Spanish tile "can be" (not saying are always) a bear to work with as far as keeping "uncontaminated" during construction/installation.
Regards,
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