The Tile and Stone Blog

Tile and Stone Maintenance

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Welsh Slate bids for World Heritage Status

The BBC have reported on a bid by the Welsh Slate industry to obtain World Heritage Status. Having lived and grown up in North Wales I have been surrounded by this wonderful gift of nature, but it’s reach is far greater than that. Welsh slate can be found all over the world, you can read the article here:

And for those who want more information, watch this short video, also from the BBC

 

 

Copyright Ian Taylor and The Tile and Stone Blog.co.uk, 2013. See copyright notice above.

From Travertine Beds, to Bedroom Floor – Inspirational Use of Stone in the Home

Another quick case study here, this time from our friends at Taylor’s Etc. with a stunning design utilizing natural, unfilled, tumbled travertine in a bedroom setting.  The bedroom has an open-plan design and so there was a desire to have a continuous, uninterrupted floor running from the en-suite, through the rest of the room.

Travertine Bedroom

Continuous Travertine Flooring

The soft tones of the natural travertine lend themselves well to a bedroom environment. The client liked the natural look and feel and so specifically requested that the stone remain ‘unfilled’ after installation, this simply means that the natural, characteristic holes and pits in the surface of the stone were not to be filled with grout. Although the floor has been sealed with a good quality, water based sealer.

Ensuite using travertine

En-suite Close-up

To allay any concerns about the floor being cold under foot, under-tile heating was installed throughout the en-suite and the bedroom (both areas can be independently controlled via their own thermostats). The finished result, as you can see is exquisite with the travertine playing an important role in the overall design. The client, as you might imagine, was delighted. For more information contact Taylor’s Etc..

Unfilled Travertine

Unfilled Travertine

 

Copyright Ian Taylor and The Tile and Stone Blog.co.uk, 2013. See copyright notice above.

Case Study – Re-Coloured Grout

This month I have another case study, again courtesy of Andrew Titmuss, of Posh Stone Floors

Andrew took on a grout re-colouring job where the client has an existing white glazed tile with a dark grey grout. The client feared that it was not possible and was contemplating the horrors of raking out the grout to re-do with a white.

As most Tilers know, raking out grout can be a nightmare job, consider the following:

 

  1. It takes ages – there is no fast way, by hand takes forever, using a grinder is just too dangerous. There are special oscillating machines that make it easier, but not easy
  2. It is hard work
  3. It is not always possible to get every bit of old grout out – invariably there will be some grout left on the tile edges, and this can show through the new grout
  4. It is messy – it creates lots of dust
  5. It usually results in damage some of  the tiles – almost always a few tiles are scratched or chipped in the process – this makes a great deal more work if spare tiles are available, but often there are no spare tiles and quite often they are no longer available to buy.

 

So a grout recolouring product can be a real problem solver, refreshing the look , making it like new again, giving a uniform and consistent colour and best of all, sealing the grout at the same time.

However there can be challenges and going from a dark grey to a white, is one such challenge. The way around this is to apply two coats, letting the first coat dry before applying the second.

The results speak for themselves though, fresh, clean looking grout joints that are also sealed, oh, and one delighted customer.

Thanks for the photos Posh Stone Floors

Recoloured grout from grey to white

Grey ‘before’ & white ‘after

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

close up of recoloured grout

Close Up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grout recoloured

Finished job

 

Copyright Ian Taylor and The Tile and Stone Blog.co.uk, 2013. See copyright notice above.

Cleaning Slate – Case Study

 

I have received so many comments on the subject of cleaning slate that I have invited a stone cleaning professional and friend of mine, Andrew Titmuss of Posh Stone Floors to take us through one of his jobs.

Below you can see the job he was faced with, a nice multi-coloured, riven (naturally textured) slate floor which, over time has accumulated a lot of general dirt. The customer brought Andrew in to advise with a view to cleaning and sealing the floor.

Dirty slate floor

Floor before cleaning

Continue reading

Copyright Ian Taylor and The Tile and Stone Blog.co.uk, 2013. See copyright notice above.
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