MatthewC
Member
- Messages
- 1,729
- Location
- Central/South England
Having often mentioned the limecrete floor (with imported black limestone flags) I laid in my kitchen 10 years ago, I am now (or as the other half says, "at last") embarking on doing another limecrete floor in the hallway. The hall is interesting - you enter a rectangle through the front door and then turn sharp right to go through an arch which once once an external wall and so it's 16" deep; then there's a second hall with the lounge to the right, the kitchen to the left and the stairs ahead. The kitchen doorway is also through an old thick 16" wall.
The hall is about 7 sq m altogether, and has inch-thick quarries which are 6" square (approximately!!), red and black. Some of the black are genuine black (Staffordshire blue?) but others have red showing through the black. Many of the tiles are showing signs of surface deterioration and a mat on the floor often shows dampness underneath. Possibly half of the tiles could be re-used if I was pushed. My plan is to lay a limecrete floor using recycled foamed glass (an improvement on the loose LECA I used last time).
The questions I have are (1) what I should lay on the surface and (2) what to do about grouting (if anything). I'd like to replicate what I have and so have had some samples of new breathable tiles which either tend to be thinner than I'd like (which would be half inch minimum), or else are just not right, usually because the surface is rough. Equally, buying reclaimed tiles would be my preference but the Staffordshire blues seem to be very rare and red quarries are often sold by chancers who ask silly prices, cannot be bothered to specify the dimensions properly and do not remove the old grouting (usually cement).
Does anyone know of a supplier of decent red and black 6" quarries, new or recycled?
The hall is about 7 sq m altogether, and has inch-thick quarries which are 6" square (approximately!!), red and black. Some of the black are genuine black (Staffordshire blue?) but others have red showing through the black. Many of the tiles are showing signs of surface deterioration and a mat on the floor often shows dampness underneath. Possibly half of the tiles could be re-used if I was pushed. My plan is to lay a limecrete floor using recycled foamed glass (an improvement on the loose LECA I used last time).
The questions I have are (1) what I should lay on the surface and (2) what to do about grouting (if anything). I'd like to replicate what I have and so have had some samples of new breathable tiles which either tend to be thinner than I'd like (which would be half inch minimum), or else are just not right, usually because the surface is rough. Equally, buying reclaimed tiles would be my preference but the Staffordshire blues seem to be very rare and red quarries are often sold by chancers who ask silly prices, cannot be bothered to specify the dimensions properly and do not remove the old grouting (usually cement).
Does anyone know of a supplier of decent red and black 6" quarries, new or recycled?