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How To Care For Your Encastic Tiled Floor |
by:
Edward Green |
If your tiled floor is in an Edwardian property and beautifully colored you are probably looking at an Encastic tiled floor. Most of the encastic tiled floors we restore have had a real beating. Smashed tiles, glue where carpet was probably stuck to it at one stage, old solvent based polishes.
The point is, once restored the floors are superb and an absolute joy to look at. It requires quite a bit of work but they really are worth it. The tiles themselves are clay information with the various rich terracotta colours burnt in making them extremely durable. They are made by mixing wax and turpentine and then heat bonded. Even when heavy objects are pulled across the tiles and deep scratches occur the colour will still be there unlike most modern day tiles.
The word "encaustic" comes from the Greek word enkaustiko which literally means "burnt in" the tiles are still available today for repairs from good stone suppliers.
Cleaning the tiles is a relatively painless task as you can use a mild alkaline detergent and a good stone sealant from the shop to easily look after them.
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