About Me

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EDIT - Now a 'work at the local school' mum a few days a week while juggling the job of parenting 3 teenagers! I am a SAHM who does work from home occasionally, dedicated to raising 3 Godly, independent, healthy children. Loving the home building process though it is not without challenges. I have fairly free reign over the creative aspect of the project...just not the financial side!

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Alfresco tiles


Some of you are aware of the issues that I am having with the tiles on our alfresco slab, in fact some of you have had to enjoy a relaxing dinner surrounded by a sea of dirt which then gets trodden into the house. You may even have apologized for the mess you are making even though you have no control over it.
I clean regularly with 30 Seconds, scrubbing brush and a high pressure cleaner and it is STILL dirty.
If you too are struggling to keep your tiles clean, it may be because you have a textured or structured tile surface. When you think of ‘texture’ you tend to think of a very rough surface, but sometimes the texture can be so fine that it doesn’t look ‘textured’. In this case, you might not even realise that the texture of your tiles are causing the problem! The main giveaway for these tiles is that they mark very easily, and are very hard to clean. Textured tiles provide grip as you walk on them, but as a result the surface will rapidly accumulate dirt and become visibly dirty. However, the tile is doing what it was designed for – making sure it’s impossible for you to slip on it. This was not mentioned ONCE by the sales team at Di Lorenzo - grrr. It was suggested to purchase the outdoor version of our selected tile to prevent slipping.
In my recent actions with DiLorenzo to try and address the issue, they ALL seem to know the issues surrounding this type of tile. How frustrating. On my last visit, I purchased a product to help me clean it up for Christmas guests (NanoScrub) and I was given the business card of a company that will be able to help me problem solve (obviously at cost)

www.slique.com.au

I found this on their website.....

“I can’t keep my tiles clean!”

No matter how often you clean them, or what you clean them with, you just can’t keep your tiles clean. They might even pick up dirt from the soles of your shoes when you walk across, or they might just stay generally grimy, even if you’ve scrubbed them on your hands and knees.
There are a number of reasons why you might not be able to keep your tiles clean:
  1. There could be a build-up of cleaning chemicals (see "Sticky tiles" problem page)
  2. Your tiles could be textured, so they ‘hold on’ to dirt and grime (see "Textured tiles hold dirt" problem page)
  3. They could just be showing signs of age (see "Dirty tiles" problem page)
  4. The grout might be dirty, which makes the whole floor look dirty (see "Dirty grout" problem page)
  5. The colour might be fading from the tiles (see "Fading tiles" problem page)
The mob at Slique will be visiting our home in the new year for a free consultation to see what can be done - resurfacing I think is the answer.

5 comments:

  1. Im about to start looking at the tiles for the alfresco. I think i know the ones youre talking about, they feel like sand paper? is that right? So i should def stick clear of them? tile places direct me to them when i say i have kids and in summer like to play with water - but thats 3 months of the year! the rest of the year its dry and i have to keep clean. Perhaps i need something else. I cant find anything i like :(

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  2. I implore you to keep away! Di Lorenzo staff even told me how terrible they were when I was in there a few weeks ago.
    I have used travertine around the pool etc and we love that! Research, research, research!

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    Replies
    1. I love the travatine look - that would of been a paver though? Ok ill def stay away, i hate the feel of them even on my hands let alone walking on sand paper. I guess my kids will just have to be careful when they have water play.

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