I had 3 floors tiled with quarry tiles a while back. They had a coat of sealer before grout but then during grouting the tiler made a right mess of them leaving me to sort it out! After a silly amount of time cleaning the marks and excess grout off I started to seal again with a cloth. Applying with a cloth was very slow (and only can do in evenings) and it was suggested to me (and confirmed on here) that I should use a paint pad. The finish looks great however, they scratch very easily. I am fairly sure this is because there is too much colour intensifier on in places.

I have tried using the wipe on more, wipe more off method but its prooving near impossible to do as it makes a right mess. I've read comments about polishing off excess but not in these exact circumstances. Do you think it can work, and recommendations on what I should get to do it?

Many thanks in advance.
D

Why did'nt you get your tiler back to sort it out...

Do you know what sealer was used and what quarry tiles were laid.

Quarry tiles don't normally need sealing , what make are they ?


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He did come back because he wasn't paid. Too a look at what needed doing and never returned, evidently not worth the hassle :-)

I'll check brand of tile, perhaps I am wrongly saying quarry, they are clay tiles.

Sealant is colour intensified - fila? topps tiles one.

Got a couple of pictures from my phone to add some detail..

This is what it was like after I had made a start to removing residue and staining, still bad at this point.
IMAG1427.jpg
This is what it is like today... (it doesn't look this shiney in real life though)
IMAG1463.jpg
Here is some scratching, in a different room where I can see it has gone on much thicker.
IMAG1462.jpg

Dave loves pictures and they tell a thousand words (David Gates - Bread.)

At one point a couple of weeks ago we even thought about ripping all the floors up it was so depressing. I did think I was winning the battle with them as I got them really clean and the colour stuff was really working but wish I had never used a paint pad (or at least slapped it on with a pad).

I'm sure if you look closely on the pics you can find other fun such as I think the ridge on the tile edge indicates they are self spacing tiles designed to be very close but then have been laid with wide spacers.

I've not been able to check the make yet but any initial thoughts?

They look like a thin dust pressed tile.. when they were sealed did they get buffed over before the sealer dried..?..

I think on the first seal they did get the excess removed but I've used a lot of grout/residue/stain remover since if that matters. I am fairly sure at this point I've applied the later coats too thick and I didn't buff. I did try buffing the last coat but it was tacky like drying syrup and going nowhere.

I've just found a box of them, they are made by Ceralfa and are their Natural product with no treatment. A quick look on their site tells me I probably A) should have bought presealed ones and B) used a recommended wax sealer

Which brand did you use..? ( Sealer)|

Fila is it?.. the topps tiles branded stuff. colour intensifier.

Not one i have used..

over application will be the issue..

yep :-( does anyone know if I can polish it back though?

I have used this when customer has supplied it....seems very thick, not easy to use. I found you have to apply it and wipe it of in about a minute...nightmare stuff!!!

I've emailed the maker to see if it can be polished, I might just have a go anyway. Supposedly its a wax based product and wears away with time so I would assume I can speed up that process with a machine. Has anyone tried this or tried a dewaxer? does de waxing just take away a bit or is it back to square one with sealant? is it a pain to do?

thanks.

Pesonally I would be stripping back with LTP solvex, try on a small area to start and wear gloves for hand protection and to get rid of the existing sealers, take it slow and be thorough..when cleaned use LTP colour intensifier and stainblock, if you want to bring up the colour...

I've seen quarry tiles never sealed and still look good but your choice.

These looked really bad and were not practical. If you spilled they just soaked it up and the roughness made it just shred mops and held the dirt.

I was afraid that may be the solution, sounds like a worse job than putting it on. I suppose then I have nothing to loose by trying to polish the surface back first.

thanks
d

Unless I missed it - but were the tiles sealed before/after grouting?

Both. They were sealed (rollered on, wiped off) Grouted, Then lots of mess cleaned off. Then sealed again (but too much in places) these tiles were like sponges, it was hard to see the first 2 or 3 coats and water still soaked in and didn't bead.

Just trawling some other threads and on this one : The best way of applying Lithofin Colour Intensifier?there was advice on using a polisher on the floor to remove the excess, I know it is a different product but similar so would it work? anyone have experience of this?
thanks
d

Not one I've used...remember you will be using a different brand to whats allready been used, as I said I would want to remove whats allready been applied IMO

Sorry, I meant that in that other thread it talks about finishing the enhancer with a machine polisher. I'm not planning on adding more, just want to know if there is a chance I can buff off the excess now as opposed to strip it off and start again. Didn't want to buy or hire a machine if its a waste.

Im doing a limestone floor at the moment where to much sealer has been applied. I used HTC twister pads to remove the over applied sealer. I used the white standard twister pad to remove the sealer or you could use the red if really bad. You use a 150rpm rotary scrubber just put water onto tha floor. Here is the phone number 0845 4602500.

Excellent, thanks very much enduro. I need to hire a machine and get some of these pads. I'll report back with how I get on. Oh, any recommendations for something to used on a small polisher to reach the places the big one can't?

Originally Posted by deebees

Excellent, thanks very much enduro. I need to hire a machine and get some of these pads. I'll report back with how I get on. Oh, any recommendations for something to used on a small polisher to reach the places the big one can't?

When you get the pads a 4 inch circle can be removed from the centre of the pad so you can use these.