As I stated in my last post, I have finished cleaning the tiles for the new roof terrace. I scraped and chiseled over 300 pieces, and they are now sitting and waiting for their new home.
My work, however is far from over. I am about to start the mother of all tile restoration projects -- the tiles for the new guest bathroom. Here is the ultimate before picture:
I have laid out the tiles to make sure I have enough for the bathroom. In case you are having some very justifiable difficulty visualizing this, I have wiped a few of the tiles down with water just to show how gorgeous they are. The wet tiles resemble how they will all look after they have been sealed. They were removed from the downstairs of our farmhouse and date back to the original construction in that newer part of the house -- around 1850. They were made with a combination of sand and cement, and colored by hand.
Aren't they amazing?Yes, and an amazing amount of work, too. These 6 square meters of tiles will take me longer than the 19 square meters of terracotta I just cleaned. They were put down with a quartz based cement which adheres like crazy, and I will have to use a flexible grinder to get it all off. I plan on doing 10 a day until I get them done, in a well ventilated environment, fully protected with mask, shower cap and goggles. I will look fabulous. No one will be allowed to photograph, of course, at risk of personal bodily harm. If I am still breathing and of good humor during this process, i will post an update.
This should prove that there is nothing I won't do for my guests.
9 comments:
I agree, they are amazing and well worth wearing a shower cap! Looking forward to the update!
These are such splendid tiles and well worth the effort.
How I envy you in Italy.
They are so gorgeous-what an ordeal to clean them all but imagine the joy when they are down on the floor and look incredible.
It's a true labour of love.
Those tiles are simply beautiful. Stick at it, The floor is going to look stunning.
Rob
You work wayyyy too hard! I take my hat off to you, sorella! The tiles are lovely.
The tiles are beautiful. And as Rob stated ... a true labour of love! Looking forward to the next post.
Yep, these tiles are lovely. Italy does tiles very well - which is something I must write about - I even have some tile export stats!
Have fun cleaning them up - worth the effort though. And yes, they really do set these things in concrete!
Best,
Alex
They were colored by hand?!
They are gorgeous. However, just reading about the cleaning process made me tired.
Good luck.
Why would anyone cover up these beautiful tiles with cement? Yay for you for restoring them. A lot of work for sure but so worth it once it is done. Can't wait to see the finished product!
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