Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior

Looking for information or help in the field of DIY and home improvement. Post your questions, suggestions and comments here.
burrotaxi
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 4:40 pm
Location: Cheltenham and Mijas

Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior

Postby burrotaxi » Sat Jan 13, 2018 7:52 pm

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
BurroTaxi

User avatar
gerryh
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 8046
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:17 pm
Location: Cajiz, Malaga

Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior

Postby gerryh » Sat Jan 13, 2018 8:20 pm

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
Gerry Harris

TorreDelAguila
Resident
Posts: 1356
Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:52 am
Location: Sayalonga

Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior

Postby TorreDelAguila » Sat Jan 13, 2018 8:39 pm

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.
Last edited by TorreDelAguila on Sun Jan 14, 2018 9:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Chris

User avatar
gerryh
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 8046
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:17 pm
Location: Cajiz, Malaga

Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior

Postby gerryh » Sat Jan 13, 2018 8:49 pm

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
Gerry Harris

User avatar
Wicksey
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5879
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:21 pm
Location: Axarquia coast

Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior

Postby Wicksey » Sun Jan 14, 2018 11:49 am

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.)

burrotaxi
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 4:40 pm
Location: Cheltenham and Mijas

Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior

Postby burrotaxi » Sun Jan 14, 2018 12:35 pm

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
BurroTaxi

User avatar
Trooperman
Resident
Posts: 1074
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:40 pm
Location: Fuente de Piedra

Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior

Postby Trooperman » Sun Jan 14, 2018 1:20 pm

I am surprised at some of the comments! :eh: 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.
nil illegitimum carborundum

TorreDelAguila
Resident
Posts: 1356
Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:52 am
Location: Sayalonga

Re: Terracotta tiles for interior/exterior

Postby TorreDelAguila » Sun Jan 14, 2018 7:17 pm

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! :think:
Chris


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 21 guests