The management wants to sort out the hallway this summer. Quite a big
job (re-plaster, paint, blah blah) and part of it will be the floor.
The biggest part of the space is tiled with original Victorian clay
(/Minton) tiles. These could use a bloody good clean and re-grout but a
few have chips it the surface like someone has dropped a hammer on them.
Unlike modern tiles, removing one and replacing is not really an
option as they are very thick and bedded in a strong mortar, so I'm
wondering whether there's any way to fill the dings with something.

The approach that comes to mind is epoxy (ie araldite), dyed with
something suitable. Most of the damage is on dark grey or black tiles,
so won't be terribly visible. I can see that epoxy pigments of various
kinds are available and not very expensive (especially compared with
sourcing replacement tiles, which are unbelievably expensive, if you can
even find them), although it does seem a pity to buy 500g to dye maybe
20ml of araldite.

Has anyone tried anything like this and found any good tips?

Cheers

On 27/05/2014 08:19, GMM wrote:
The management wants to sort out the hallway this summer. Quite a big
job (re-plaster, paint, blah blah) and part of it will be the floor. The
biggest part of the space is tiled with original Victorian clay
(/Minton) tiles. These could use a bloody good clean and re-grout but a
few have chips it the surface like someone has dropped a hammer on them.
Unlike modern tiles, removing one and replacing is not really an
option as they are very thick and bedded in a strong mortar, so I'm
wondering whether there's any way to fill the dings with something.

The approach that comes to mind is epoxy (ie araldite), dyed with
something suitable. Most of the damage is on dark grey or black tiles,
so won't be terribly visible. I can see that epoxy pigments of various
kinds are available and not very expensive (especially compared with
sourcing replacement tiles, which are unbelievably expensive, if you can
even find them), although it does seem a pity to buy 500g to dye maybe
20ml of araldite.

Has anyone tried anything like this and found any good tips?

Aradite is a nuisance since you have a 1:1 mix of resin and hardener.

Rather than araldite I'd be inclined to try a filled polyester or
acrylic resin to get the opacity and the colour right. You will have to
practice mixing the colours meticulously until you get it right.

Ideally you want to mix a coloured batch of resin and match it when
cured using a system where the catalyst is a trace. Then you have some
repair medium you can use on the actual job. I have done this on other
damaged ceramics with reasonable success. Not sure if it would tand up
to the heavy wear on a floor though...

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 27/05/2014 08:19, GMM wrote:
The management wants to sort out the hallway this summer. Quite a big
job (re-plaster, paint, blah blah) and part of it will be the floor. The
biggest part of the space is tiled with original Victorian clay
(/Minton) tiles. These could use a bloody good clean and re-grout but a
few have chips it the surface like someone has dropped a hammer on them.
Unlike modern tiles, removing one and replacing is not really an
option as they are very thick and bedded in a strong mortar, so I'm
wondering whether there's any way to fill the dings with something.

The approach that comes to mind is epoxy (ie araldite), dyed with
something suitable. Most of the damage is on dark grey or black tiles,
so won't be terribly visible. I can see that epoxy pigments of various
kinds are available and not very expensive (especially compared with
sourcing replacement tiles, which are unbelievably expensive, if you can
even find them), although it does seem a pity to buy 500g to dye maybe
20ml of araldite.

Has anyone tried anything like this and found any good tips?

Cheers

You can buy 100gms of pigment powder here

http://www.apfitzpatrick.co.uk/

If you need advice, there's not a lot they don't know about colours!

On Tuesday, May 27, 2014 8:19:16 AM UTC+1, GMM wrote:
The approach that comes to mind is epoxy (ie araldite), dyed with
something suitable.

kitchen worktop repair/joint material may be a source of small quantity material.

Owain