How To Strip Saltillo Tile And Grout

How to strip Saltillo tile THE RIGHT WAY! Contact Info: Google Business Page URL: https://maps.app.goo.gl/24FGQaT7H4ddxjMu6?g_st=ic Website URL: http://catalinafloorcare.net/ Email: [email protected] Tel.: (520) 808-3277 YouTube URL: https://youtu.be/Oh-13aprBP8 Catalina Floor Care's Blog: Understanding Saltillo Restoration URL: https://catalinafloorcare.wordpress.com/ If you own a home with Saltillo tile floors, you know all too well the challenges this type of flooring can present. Issues like when and how to clean it, when and how to re-coat it, and when and how to strip and refinish the coating on your Saltillo tile floor are all issues you have undoubtedly encountered at one time or another. But the most important issue by far that owners of Saltillo tile ultimately encounter is what flooring company to trust for expert knowledge and experienced-based work to be performed on their Saltillo tile. Most Saltillo tile owners know very little, and oftentimes nothing, about this floor type. And they often assume that anyone in the flooring industry who claims "to do" Saltillo tile is knowledgeable in all aspects of maintenance required for this floor type. Unfortunately, though, that assumption has often come back to bite these unsuspecting types of people. Here are some common Saltillo tile restoration myths: Myth #1: You can use a floor buffer over an aggressive pad or brush attachment to effectively strip Saltillo tile. Myth Debunked: Because the surface of Saltillo tile is uneven (not flat) the flat pad on a floor buffer skims right over the top of the lower-lying areas of the tile, completely missing the coating present in those areas. If remnants of the old coating remain on Saltillo tile after the stripping phase, they become unattractively apparent through the newly applied coating. If the floor buffer operator attempts to reach these low-lying areas of the tile by dwelling over the top of them, the flat pad will continue to miss them and will only continue to apply abrasive pressure to the higher areas of the tile. And because Saltillo tile is soft, extended abrasive pressure from an aggressive pad under a 135 RPM floor buffer will compromise the smooth surface of the soft clay tile and expose the aggregate. A coating then applied to the damaged Saltillo tile will take on a patchy, uneven appearance which is not uniform in its coverage and level of sheen from area to area throughout the floor. Floor buffers with aggressive pads are also ineffective at stripping Saltillo tile grout. Floor buffers with brush attachments are equally ineffective and inappropriate for stripping Saltillo tile for the same reasons, and with the added reasons being that the residual, dissolved coating would become glommed up in the bristles and would render the brush functionally useless, and highly effective stripping products would actually melt the nylon bristles of the brush attachment, permanently ruining it. ALWAYS strip Saltillo tile by hand using the correct products and tools. Myth #2: Saltillo tile can be stripped using a water-based sealant stripping solution exclusively. Myth Debunked: Because both Saltillo tile and Saltillo tile grout are highly porous, sealants applied to them adequately (whether water-based or oil-based) penetrate deeply into both the tile and the grout. Those sealants, then, do not exist exclusively topically - they become virtually rooted deep within the tile and grout. Water-based sealant stripping solutions are simply not a powerful enough approach when dealing with this unique type of porosity-based condition. Often, when someone who is stripping Saltillo tile using only a water-based stripping solution experiences resistance in the coating to the solution, they respond by applying added downward stripping pressure. That added pressure, if sustained, will damage the tile. Methylene chloride is mandatory when stripping saltillo tile. Myth #3: A really dirty Saltillo tile floor can be cleaned and re-coated and will look great. Myth Debunked: Over time, dirt becomes integrated with the coating on your Saltillo tile. Simply cleaning the coating topically will NOT remove integrated dirt. And if Saltillo tile floors which have dirt integrated with the coating are just cleaned topically and then re-coated, all of that integrated dirt becomes even further trapped beneath the new coating and is still visible. One of the most irresponsible recommendations that a flooring company or janitorial supply company can give its clients who own Saltillo tile which has a coating that is in a state of moderate to bad disrepair is to just have it topically cleaned and re-coated. For high-quality work in all phases of Saltillo tile installation and restoration in Tucson, Arizona, contact Catalina Floor Care today to schedule a free estimate.