spanish tile

[baldy]

My wife and I are in the process of laying spanish tile (saltillo super) on a concrete floor. I've noticed that it is very absorbant, since I had to already break one up that our dog crapped on. Should we apply the sealant before grouting, so the moisture from the grout doesn't get absorbed? My wife suggested sealing before grout, and a second coat of sealant after the grout. What do you guys think?

[Jimmer]

Patrick,

Do you ever stop work on your home ? Here is a quote from a website I found...

"Most dealers sell their Saltillo tiles "raw", meaning neither stained nor sealed,] but recommend they be stained and sealed after installation-if not before. [None-the-less, all Saltillo tiles must be sealed. Should dealers only sell pre-sealed Saltillo tiles?]

One national manufacturer, Custom Saltillo International, has changed all this. CSI imports only the best Saltillo Tiles and is producing eight standard colors of stained Saltillo Tiles along with their Saltillo Tiles that are hand stained to colour-match any color. CSI imports only the true Saltillo Tiles and hand stains them to colour-match any color. Once stained they are then pre-sealed with Charlotte's Saltillo Tile Sealer and shipped ready for installation. Once installed and grouted the grout and tile need to be sealed with 2 to 3 more coats of Charlotte's Saltillo Tile Sealer and then allowed to cure for 24 hours. At this point, 4 coats of Charlotte's Floor Polish are applied over the sealer. Charlotte's Floor Polish protects and prolongs the life of the sealer. Applying "Magic Sliders" to the bottom of the furniture that will slide across these tiles will prevent the furniture from chipping the tiles and with proper maintenance, your new Custom Saltillo Tile floor can look as beautiful as the day it was installed for years to come. Really! Some people [choose] the natural look or a matte look for outside as well as inside. Charlotte's Impregnator Sealer, with a matte finish is guaranteed to last 10 years under ultra violet light. Amazing! "

Here is a link to the site...

http://www.customsaltillo.com/a/pavers.tpl

Good luck, Jim

'Just a handyman trying to help'

[baldy]

Cool, thanks for the info. And to answer your question, "no end currently in sight."

Another question: We have a baby grand piano in this room that's being tiled. The only easy way to work around this that we thought of is to tile all the room except where the piano sits, wait the proper curing time, move the piano to a finished part of the room, and complete the floor where the piano formerly sat. I know it will be a nerve-wrenching experience setting the piano on the finished tile for the first time. The piano sits on 3 legs, on small wheels. What precautions should we take? Any better ideas than what we've come up with?

[baldy]

And in case it wasn't clear, the thing we are worried about is cracking a tile.

[Jimmer]

Patrick,

If I were doing it, I would tile a section of the room as you suggest and then move the piano onto the finished tile using three strips of 1/2" plywood to roll easier and spread the load a bit while moving.

I would not tile all around it first, just because of past bad experiences with working in towards a center. I have better success tiling across a room.

Assuming you are using the proper size knotched trowel and you are taking care to set the tile without voids under them... there should not be a problem with the weight of the piano.

Good luck, Jim

'Just a handyman trying to help'

[baldy]

Actually, we pushed the piano to a corner of the room. We've been tiling from the center outward, working each corner at a time. Hehe, we found out the hard way the proper way to tile a corner, so as not to tile yourself in (don't want to step on newly laid tile). So we were just going to do that corner last, working as we would in any other corner. Thanks for the tip on weight transfer, I hadn't even thought about how we were actually going to move it to its spot.