Terracotta tiles

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What is Terracotta?

Terracotta (Italian: "baked earth") is a hard semi fired waterproof ceramic clay used in pottery, older wastewater drains, and as surface embellishment in building construction. The term is also used to refer to items made out of this material and to its natural, brownish orange colour.

How to cut Terracotta tiles:-

Terracotta tiles are best cut with a diamond wheel cutting machine. Please See Here.

Terracotta Adhesive:-

The adhesive you use is as much dependant on what the terra cotta is to be fixed too as much as the stone itself.

The traditional method of installation and still very common in Spain is to set the tiles directly into the sand & cement screed being laid for the flooring.

Modern adhesives are also suitable and should be cement based and suitable for natural porous products. Unlike marble and limestone, the colour of the adhesive is less relevant as it’s unlikely to stain the terracotta.

Terracotta Finishing:-

Terracotta is extremely porous, it’s fundamentally just untreated baked clay, so we need to add some sort of protection to protect the floor from day to day wear and tear.

If you’ve chosen terracotta, it’s likely that you’re looking for an old looking rustic design, so a natural old sealant will be the way to go.

Lay the Terracotta raw and once down seal it thoroughly with boiled linseed oil, you may find it soaks quite a lot in on the first application, remove any excess oil that hasn’t soaked into the clay and allow to dry overnight.

Grout with a wide joint grout suitable for the look you’re trying to achieve, sandstone for a Mediterranean look or grey for an old English finish. Clean the tile thoroughly, any residue can be removed with a rag soaked in linseed oil.

Allow this to dry overnight and then reseal everything again with a thin coat of linseed oil, applied with a sponge or cloth and being careful to stop any oil pooling.

If you wish you can then use a topical finish such as Golvpolish to terracotta sealant, or antique wax, it’ all personal preference and comes down to the look you’re trying to achieve.

Of all natural products Terracotta is the most maintenance intensive, to keep it in tip top condition it will need to be stripped and resealed every 6 to 12 months.

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