Window Sill tiles scratched with carborundum stone

The tiled window sill on the front of our house had been painted years ago and the paint was peeling off.

So although a long job I patiently scraped off all the paint. Then discovered that a couple had been damaged and just filled with a filler and painted over.

I'm in the process of removing one. See web picture:

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I thought they would clean up well with a carborundum stone, but soon realized that they were *glazed* and I have now made a right mess of a couple of them. See the two to the right of the broken tile that I'm in the process of taking out.

I really don't want to paint them again unless I have to, since I 've a feeling its just going to peel again in a couple of years. Any suggestions as to what I'm best doing to try and repair scratched tiles?

Reply to
john royce
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john royce wrote: ...

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I'd either ignore it or replace them along w/ the broken one. Outside nobody's going to ever notice much anyway.

You could try polishing (a la finishing Corian, etc.) but imo it would be much effort for little purpose.

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Reply to
dpb

I'd try a clear sealer. Won't be as good as a glaze but it should restore the colour.

Reply to
Stuart Noble

What are you replacing the broken ones with? If you have same, replace them all. WW

Reply to
WW

Not to argue, but are you sure they are glazed? Don't look glazed in the photo. Terra cotta tile is very soft, so you should be able to sand the scratches with fine grit. I would put a clear glossy varnish if you want them to look glazed - it will help conceal fine scratches and keep water out. If you're in a cold climate, sealer might help preserve them from water freeze/thaw.

Reply to
norminn

" snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net" wrote in news:Z7ydnR8I_PSyGdLXnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:

They didn't look glazed to me either, but they do look scratched now. Not sure how to repair that. I would suggest that they either be left alone, or replaced.

As far as water freeze/thaw is concerned, most houses in Holland used to have terracotta tiles for roofing. They last almost forever, and in Holland it can get (occasionally) down to 0F. Winter is an almost constant freeze-thaw.

Of course, your terra cotta may be different from the Dutch variety. The Dutch word for this kind of rooftile is "dakpan" (roof pan), and a google search for "dakpannen" (the plural) should give you plenty material.

Reply to
Han

They look similar to what I know as 'quarry tiles' are they about 6" square? I bought some last year from Wolsley Builder Centre less than £1 each IIRC. They have a slightly glazed look to them and I used them inside on a window ledge as they don't mark when my wife waters her pot plants!

Peter

Reply to
Peter Andrews

I agree. You have to replace one, if you have replacements get some more or research to find replacements. It is actually easier to replace more than one in a location because it gives more room to clean up the space so that you can mortar the new one in. Doing only one makes it cramped to chip out the old one and the mortar holding it in place.

Reply to
EXT

Machine rooms at work used to be quarry tiled. I'm pretty sure they were wax polished. Something similar may work.

Reply to
<me9

depending on how deep the scratches are...........you can use 100,

150, 220, 400 to polish the scratches out and then apply a sealer or wax.

From my viewing of the photos, the tiles (imo) look like soft unglazed tile?

cheers Bob

Reply to
fftt

With a seal to reflect some light, the scratches probably won't show. A smear of vaseline might be enough

Reply to
Stuart Noble

OP probably has considered that .. suggesting simplest alternative.

The tiles on a windowsill will collect snow, some melt, some seepage through porous tile, then freeze and crack. Maybe.

I've sanded harder ceramic stuff. Terra cotta is generally a lot softer than other clays. Most I've seen is Mexican, but I'm no authority. I've used latex stucco patch to fill defects in masonry (concrete block). It would be pretty easy to use it to fill in the broken tile and then paint with a little craft acryllic paint to match the tile. Ours isn't exposed to freezing, but there is no sign of different surface once painted.

Reply to
norminn

" snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net" wrote in news:H8GdnbQmzPlrAM3XnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:

It probably does indeed depend on the particular material and the firing of the ceramic/brick like material. The material in the OP's picture should be unaffected, if it is anywhere similar to what I think it is.

I used terra cotta as a generic term. Brick is close as well, I thin. These clays apparently can be prepared/fired in many different ways to make them more suitable for particular purposes. I have no idea for instance why some roofing "tiles" in Holland are eiher red, bright red, blue-grey, look like glazed, etc. They all seem to last for decades if not longer. They are NOT slate, which is too expensive (transport) and difficult to handle.

Reply to
Han

Our Victorian gateposts have huge great terracotta pyramids on top of them,

I've just had great success taking off several layers of peeling paint with an angle grinder and paint removing disk (pan scourer type). Finish afterwards was an acrylic stone sealer. It's tricky to get the surface buffed just right, as the disk will smear given half a chance, but it looks far better now.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

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