hi all,
hope you can provide some advice for me ... I've read through lots of this forum with great interest. Attached is the problem we have with some quarry tiles. It does wash away, but it keeps coming back! A builder has told us it's rising damp, but reading posts on here I'm not so sure. Appreciate any opinions!
cheers,
Mark.

Moved to own thread. You should get more response now !

Did you seal the quarries after they were fixed?
Looks like it could be a bit of sealer bloom....

....saying that, it looks like it's coming off if the footprints on the carper are anything to go by??

When was the floor laid ? Recently ?
Looks like water damage or rising damp to me presuming its an existing floor. Even made its way up the skirting ??
Either that or you dropped a bag of flour ???

This is what you needto remove it..AQUA MIX EFF-EX i get it when cleaning Terracotta, quarry tiles etc.
Dave at www.tradetiler.co.uk the forum sponsor can supply this.

Originally Posted by Sir Ramic

When was the floor laid ? Recently ?
Looks like water damage or rising damp to me presuming its an existing floor. Even made its way up the skirting ??
Either that or you dropped a bag of flour ???

agree rising damp

thanks all ... the floor was laid in about 1700! So the consensus is rising damp then ... any suggestions how to cure that without taking the floor up?
cheers,
Mark.

Are the tiles laid on ash? or have you installed a concrete floor with a DPM?

Originally Posted by br0wser

thanks all ... the floor was laid in about 1700! So the consensus is rising damp then ... any suggestions how to cure that without taking the floor up?
cheers,
Mark.

I suppose getting the tiler back is out of the question then?

rising damp

no point sealing them as you will only trap the moisture

tiles up chemical dpm and relay floor

many thanks all, really appreciate the advice. Can anyone recommend a good chemical DPM product for this purpose? Would I need to take up the whole floor in that room, or just the area affected?
cheers,
Mark.

The Efflorescence is due to the rising damp bringing salts from the substrate and as it dries on the surface it leaves the white residue, this will just brush away with a stiff brush but as long as the floor is damp there is the possibility the Efflorescence will keep coming back.

The choice is too remove the floor and install another on to a DPM or keep on top of the Efflorescence.

A simple Efflorescence remover will not cure it and neither will sealing the tiles.

If you were to remove the tiles and use a chemical DPM then this could drive the damp to the sides and cause problems elsewhere.

Without actually seeing this at face value , it is hard to say what is best in your situation.

I think you need to get someone in to access it in full.

You say the tiles were laid 1700 - is that 5pm or 1700AD!
Before you consider removing any tiles I would have a word with English Heritage to see what work you can do on them and whether there is a grant available etc.

See as they have grout joints i would presume they were not laid that long ago as 1700...

I took it as the substrate was..

yes, the house age is between 1600 - 1700 (one half built of stone, this half where the tiles are is brick built). The house is built onto a slope and the outside wall where these tiles are is about two feet above the pavement level.

The tiles look to neat for 1700, it also looks like a cement grout

... and if I remember correctly, cement (as we know it) wasn't invented until about 1904

my mistake it was 1845 ( the power of google)