Preamble

The success of a treatment on a terracotta depends not only products and method

- It also requires that the treatment is applied on a soil
perfectly dry, clean, and NEUTRAL.
- The crawl space must be well ventilated and effective.
- If the home does not have a crawlspace, the screed must be placed on a Polyana (plastic)
- The sand used in the manufacture of the tread should be river sand, if sand washed, this obligation shall cease if the lands are cooked put the glue.
- The drying time before applying a treatment will be 3 months after traditional poses, 1 ½ months after laying the sticks.
- The presence of a heater built into the ground is always an advantage to accelerate drying.

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WHAT NOT TO DO ON A TERRACOTTA …

AND WHY

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He should challenge preconceptions and old wives’ remedies that are transmitted by word of mouth and, unfortunately, even in professional circles … The following may surprise!

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1) Never strip a clay with hydrochloric acid. Indeed, sometimes the clay itself, or the bed of cement that the poor bear, contain lime. Without wishing to enter into complicated chemical problems, we can conclude with absolute sure that the hydrochloric acid in the presence of lime will generate calcium chlorate, however, calcium chlorate is only partially soluble in water … So, as drying effloresences white insoluble in water will reappear … So we will recover from the acid to eliminate … And so it is self-generated phenomenon of the appearances of white blooms!

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2) It is very common that the hydrochloric acid causes discoloration and irregular partial joints if parked too long in contact during pickling, and especially so if the joint is dark.

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3) Used in concentrations too high, the risk of separation between the seal and the clay there, especially if the clay is somewhat porous.

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4) We must also remember that to neutralize the hydrochloric acid, it is necessary to use a basic product weight in relation to the weight of the acid used.

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For all these reasons we recommend not using hydrochloric acid, and to prohibit by contract processing companies licensed and franchised by POROTECHNIC.

5) Never put linseed oil, Gas oil, and a way Gneral all fats used as sealers or filler

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Again, do not enter empty chemical considerations and go straight to the conclusion: ALL PRODUCTS raises are saponifiable, WHICH MEANS ONLY WITH THE TIME THEY into soap.

Used as sealers, they have a lifespan limited and conditioned by moisture and the presence (even in minute quantities) of traces of acidic or basic products. In short, a soak oil will have a random life.

The phenomenon sponification results in a change of color located in the square, a local extinction of satin finish, a recurrence of the original porosity, and a quasi impossibilitée to keep it clean.

In addition, oil sealers are fairly poor for their resistance to stains and special stains fat.

Certainly, there was a time where we did not have much else that linseed oil to treat the terracotta, but those days are long gone and modern chemistry provides us with synthetic products that fully respect the material and will last over time.

Hoping that this clarification will avoid the worst incidents, we wish you good luck for the treatment of clay that you have chosen with passion.

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CHRONOLOGY OF TREATMENT: