Hi all,
we are almost in the process of completing the offer on a house which
has considerable number of Saltillo tiles. My wife loves the orangish
colored tiles. Are there issues with them? Any inout on cost related to
things like sealing, grout (the grout lines seem much wider in these types
of floors) etc will ne nice to hear

Thx

-keshav
phoenix, AZ

"smurty" wrote in news:VLY9d.7843$Lo6.3680@fed1read03:

Hi all,
we are almost in the process of completing the offer on a house
which
has considerable number of Saltillo tiles. My wife loves the orangish
colored tiles. Are there issues with them? Any inout on cost related
to things like sealing, grout (the grout lines seem much wider in
these types of floors) etc will ne nice to hear

Thx

-keshav
phoenix, AZ

Phoenix is a good place to have saltillo tiles, and a place where they're
more likely to be installed correctly. Uninstalled, saltillo tiles are
really quite fragile, are easily broken, and can literally crumble into
pieces. Set solidly in a good bed of mud on a concrete slab, they are
quite durable. Yes, the grout lines are typically much wider than with
ordinary tiles. To prevent staining, sealing is imperative. Under
average residential use, sealing should be done annually; twice a year if
in a high traffic/heavily scrubbed area. Although this newsgroup is
predominantly do-it-yourselfers, I would highly recommend having the
floor professionally steam cleaned and sealed before you move into the
house. There are numerous companies in Phoenix who specialize in this.
You'll be glad you did. Enjoy the floors!


--
It's me, Baker in Apache Junction!

When the Chips are Down,
the Buffalo is Empty.

smurty writes:

Are there issues with them?

They are an utterly primitive building material, literally made in a
peasant's backyard. Absolutely inferior to the concrete they rest on as a
flooring material. But I have this silly prejudice that, as a general
principle, the "finish" on a structure should be of higher quality than the
"substrate".

But they are fashionable. For the moment.

Look for the ones that have footprints from stray raccoons in them. This
shows the charming authenticity of their rustic manufacture, and is highly
valued.

Of course you can imagine some peasant, laughing at the gringos, and
printing the wet clay with an amputated, mummified raccoon paw.

Richard J Kinch wrote:

smurty writes:



Are there issues with them?



They are an utterly primitive building material, literally made in a
peasant's backyard. Absolutely inferior to the concrete they rest on as a
flooring material. But I have this silly prejudice that, as a general
principle, the "finish" on a structure should be of higher quality than the
"substrate".

But they are fashionable. For the moment.

Look for the ones that have footprints from stray raccoons in them. This
shows the charming authenticity of their rustic manufacture, and is highly
valued.

Of course you can imagine some peasant, laughing at the gringos, and
printing the wet clay with an amputated, mummified raccoon paw.



Oh, stop it! You made me spit out my beer all over the keyboard! :-)

Richard J Kinch wrote in
:

smurty writes:

Are there issues with them?

They are an utterly primitive building material, literally made in a
peasant's backyard. Absolutely inferior to the concrete they rest on
as a flooring material. But I have this silly prejudice that, as a
general principle, the "finish" on a structure should be of higher
quality than the "substrate".

But they are fashionable. For the moment.

I'd say that depends largely on where you live. They have been
"fashionable" in the Southwest for longer than anyone remembers.

Look for the ones that have footprints from stray raccoons in them.
This shows the charming authenticity of their rustic manufacture, and
is highly valued.

Now that's a characteristic of being fashionable. It used to be that
finding an artifact in your tiles was a happy accident. Now, many people
specifically seek out a certain number of such tiles for "added
interest".

Of course you can imagine some peasant, laughing at the gringos, and
printing the wet clay with an amputated, mummified raccoon paw.

They may very do something like that now, owing to their popularity.
Originally, it was just a natural occurence in the process of sun-curing
the tiles.

--
It's me, Baker!

When the Chips are Down,
the Buffalo is Empty.