Slate floor..hate it hate..Any advice..?

[shhhh]

We has real state floor tiles fitted to our kitchen/family room around 4 years ago...Seemed a good idea at the time BUT even why the guy walked out of the door I hated them.

I didn't have the nerve to tell him and he left me to "seal" the tiles myself..the area is quite large so I managed 2 coats of sealant then got bored . Now I regret it..They always look dirty and never look nice..oh except when I have just washed them.

HELP. I keep telling dh I want to pull them up but he tells me its a huge job but that we will one day as he wants to replace them with nicer tiles iykwim.
I would even settle for lino over them as I hate them that much..

What can I do to improve their appearance..? Is it easy to seal them again as apparently the more they are sealed they shinnier they look...I think this is how I want them to look...
They are driving me oooppppppppppppppppppppp the wall.!

[JackieNo]

Can you pay someone to come and give them a clean and reseal them professionally? Might cost a bit, but would still be cheaper than replacing them. Or buy a big rug for the family room bit?

[shhhh]

never thought of that...BUT the idea for the family room is a no no..Its described as a family room but is really an extension of the kitchen iykwim. Just has a breakfast table there but still looks bloody awful .

Mmmm someone to clean and reseal..mmmmm... Thanks..!!!

[Mumpbump]

You have my sympathy. Our slate floor looks great when it's clean and sealed and then starts to look cr*p very quickly. We are thinking of "sealing" it with Ronseal Diamond Hard floor varnish. I have seen slate sealed with varnish in France and I think it makes it much more shiny.

If I pluck up the courage to actually do this at any point - probably over Xmas, I will look up this post and let you know the results...

[hub2dee]

Fret not, fair maiden. You need these products . Lithofin are the name in natural stone care. You can phone them up and they'll tell you exactly which products you'll need to achieve nirvana. I've got 01962 732126 in my address book. If you're in London, I think these people were the cheapest: Tower Ceramics 020 7485 7192 91 Parkway NW1 7PP (check that is correct, I am not certain).

hth

[Bananaknickers]

Ok I am having the same problem.We moved in and they had already just been laid.They are vile and they never look clean and are marking.That website is foreign?

[doyouwantfrieswiththat]

I love our slate paving slabs, except that the underfloor heating DP put under them doesn't work anymore & can't be fixed without getting the whole lot up & they're bloody cold brrrr

know how much it would cost to get them up & put them down again anyone?

[hub2dee]

Lithofin is distributed internationally. You'll find it at most tile shops and at all natural stone shops.

I think tiling costs £20 - £30 / sqm IIRC plus materials.

[shhhh]

thanks hub2dee. Will gogle then and see who is local supplier to us. (we are northwest btw, thanks for the details though).

doyouwant...I don;t know exact costs but our kitchen/family room is big and although the tiles were expensive it cost more to actually cut and lay them. IIRC a specialist cutter/diamond cutter is required and its this that causes the high cost.

Seems we are not the only one with the problem with slates tiles ,sigh. if I had know this then I would have insisted the guy did its himself iykwim. They don't tell you that..yo see all these lovely floors in show homes etc and sadly it never looks like that.

Mumpbump, I would love it if you could let me know how you get on...I would love to do it myself but at 7 months pregnant I don't think its wise..!! Make sure you post back.xx

[crunchie]

OMG I love mine

I've juct had it laid and I think it looks the dogs doodahs

It isn't shiny granted, but I don't want a shiny floor. I wanted a matt, rustic look. I love that they don't look dirty and actually hide all dirt. I have them in our conservatirty and kitchen and they have been down about 3 montsh in the conservatory and I haven't cleaned them yet. Swept them, hoovered yes, but not polished

WIckes do a great sealant. I bought a mini roller and just rolled it on. I did two coats in one eveninga nd it was perfect. I guess I could do more, the more you do the shinier it gets.

I love teh softness of the look of them

[MrsSpoon]

We have had ours cleaned professionally (I love my slate floors even when they are looking a bit rough), they look fantastic now. Would definately recommend it. We used a company that specialised in cleaning and restoring floors. I now wash them regularly with stuff that we got in the tile shop.

Mumpbump, please let us know how you get on with the varnish.

[MrsSpoon]

We use HG stuff, polish I think, just add a capful to a bucket of water, can't find it online but they may have it in your local tile shop.

[shhhh]

thanks everyone.
crunchie "I love that they don't look dirty and actually hide all dirt"

are you being serious..!! Hide the dirt..???!!! Ours looks nothing but dirty and it gets swept daily and cleaned weekly..It still looks like it needs a good clean even then.!! Its black so shows dirt very easily..We also wanted a rustic kitchen look but instead it looks more like a dirty kitchen..well the floor does anyway .

[crunchie]

ah that would be it, ours isn't black it's dark grey and brown and mottled and uneven

[egypt]

we have a natural slate floor in the bathroom. it looks great now its been sealed a few times then a light polish on top. we've used plasiplugs sealer and polish (2 diff products) you can get them in b&q. the polish isnt too shiny at all, in fact i've done 2 coats and its fine. i dont like the shiny look, but this makes them look like just cleaned before they've gone dry type of appearance, which imo is when they look nicest. they are still very rustic looking.

[egypt]

ours is also the mottled grey/brown/even orangy in places colour. will post a pic!

[overdraft]

ours are black and always look a state.I will watch this thread with interest

[redsky]

aaaaaggghhhhh!!!! This is awful timing. My new slate floor in the hall of my new house is being laid this very minute!!!!! Should I tell them to stop????

[Earlybird]

MrsSpoon - if you're in London, would love to know the name of the professionals who cleaned your floor. Did they seal also? Mine is in desperate need of attention....

[MrsSpoon]

We have similar ones to Egypt in the kitchen but black in the downstairs bathroom (however due to a massive problem with a replacement cistern we use this bathroom so little at the moment that I couldn't tell you whether black gets dirtier quicker, although I suspect this will probably be the case). The ones in the kitchen are great, IMO they don't show the dirt. I like it the just washed look too as opposed to a high gloss shine.

[MrsSpoon]

Earlybird I am in Scotland I'm afraid. I did check on-line but they seem to be a local company. This is the company here, a bit of a long shot but perhaps they may know of a company that does similar to them in London?

[Earlybird]

Thanks for information. Will check it out, and see if they can refer me to another company. Thanks for planting the idea in my head!

[crumpet]

B*er. I really really want black slate floors in kitchen/hall. Are they really that bad?

[bosscat]

I've got them in my kitchen and I hate them. they were in when we bought the house. they are a dark grey colour and look permanently filthy. they don't even go with the kitchen which is cream shaker with dark wooden tops. I will try sealing them I think and see if it looks better. does anyone know if you can tile over them or if you have to rip them up?

[MrsSpoon]

They stripped the floor back of all the old polish/varnish as the kitchen floor had borne the brunt of all the rennovations we had done in the house. There was a path through the kitchen that was so worn looking it could have been the pavement outside you were looking at. Then they sealed it and polished it, putting extra sealant (I think, or it may have been polish) on the worn areas to give the floor a more uniform look.

[egypt]

the sealant doesnt do much for appearance as when it dries its just like it looked before only waterproof. its a polish you need to give it the just washed look for ever.