I’m having difficulty specifying traditional terracotta floor tiles for both interior and exterior use. I want to use the same tile for both and would treat the interior ones with boiled linseed oil to seal. My builder seems intent on bringing me samples of modern thin ceramic tiles that resemble terracotta. Is there a specific name for the thick 100% terracotta tiles that used to be used for patios and interior use and is there a building supplies firm in andalucia that sells these? I had always thought these could be had fairly cheaply but the usual culprits like leroy merlin dont seem to stock them.
Thanks
Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior
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- Andalucia.com Amigo
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Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior
BurroTaxi
Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior
You should be able to find them in most real builders merchants, not places like Leroy Merlin.
Possibly haven't different names for them depending where you go but rusticos is probably a common name for them.
Cheers
Gerry
Possibly haven't different names for them depending where you go but rusticos is probably a common name for them.
Cheers
Gerry
Gerry Harris
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Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior
Yes, all decent builder's yards will stock them. Usually about 30cm square, and 2.5cm thick. Cheap as chips.
Beware, though, they absorb dirt like billyo, and are very difficult to keep clean, even when 'sealed', and dreadful to wash or vacuum. Spillages of staining fluid likely to be permanent.
Beware, though, they absorb dirt like billyo, and are very difficult to keep clean, even when 'sealed', and dreadful to wash or vacuum. Spillages of staining fluid likely to be permanent.
Last edited by TorreDelAguila on Sun Jan 14, 2018 9:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Chris
Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior
You might find them called losas de barro.
Certainly agree with the above comments. I dug all mine up from inside the house and replaced them with ceramic tiles.
The outside ones will probably be replaced soon with ceramic tiles as the surface is breaking up on quite a few of them.
Cheers
Gerry
Certainly agree with the above comments. I dug all mine up from inside the house and replaced them with ceramic tiles.
The outside ones will probably be replaced soon with ceramic tiles as the surface is breaking up on quite a few of them.
Cheers
Gerry
Gerry Harris
Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior
We have them on the outside terrace and in the conservatory and I wish we didn't. They look very rustic which I don't mind, but ours were hand-made ones from Granada and have an uneven finish so you tend to trip over them, and even though I have put loads of sealant on the indoor ones they are still porous. They are beginning to lift and come loose too and I cannot get them to lay again if I lift them to try to put new cement underneath. (We had original ones in our French house that were years old and were linseeded and had quite a good patina, but they still weren't easy to keep clean and the surface was deteriorating in places.)
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- Andalucia.com Amigo
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Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior
Appreciate all your messages. We’ve had them before inside and I can relate to concerns but they will be going down in a low traffic area and its just the two of us so I think we can keep on top of them, they will also be covered with rugs. Externally we’ve had them before and they did break up but this was after about fifteen years so they may outlast me!
Thanks
Thanks
BurroTaxi
- Trooperman
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Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior
I am surprised at some of the comments! We've got them - "lozos de barro" - both inside and out and it is possible to treat the internal ones with a sealant and then a polish on top. Way back in our first house we used products from a company called "Monasterio", but I don't know if they're still available (from specialist paint shops). In our newer house we've merely used Mercadona's floor wash treatment (I think it's the one for parquet floors - in a smallish yellow bottle with a built in handle) and NOT the big bottles of fregasuelos liquid).
Outdoors it's not such a good story I'm afraid: these lozos de barro are (as someone's pointed out) usually locally made and are almost always fired at low temperatures resulting in a surface that will easily delaminate in areas subject to water drips and will become slippery and mouldy in areas hidden from the sun.....But, go for it! They kindof look good, authentic and suitably rustic for many locations.
Outdoors it's not such a good story I'm afraid: these lozos de barro are (as someone's pointed out) usually locally made and are almost always fired at low temperatures resulting in a surface that will easily delaminate in areas subject to water drips and will become slippery and mouldy in areas hidden from the sun.....But, go for it! They kindof look good, authentic and suitably rustic for many locations.
nil illegitimum carborundum
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Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior
The "firing at low temperatures" has been known to be done outside, by the sun. A good few of our outside rustic terracottas have cat and dog paw marks embedded in them, ex-factory!
Chris
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