restoring saltillo pavers

[marymadd]

Hi, we just finally finished our kitchen project with the tiled backsplash installed just today. It was always our intent to have our saltillo pavers refinished after the kitchen stuff was done. They are 20 yrs old and have held up really well although there is a heavy wax buildup on them. They have a terra cotta stain on them which is a little too dark & doesn't really blend well with the new lighter backsplash & countertops. My stone guy suggests that we have them stripped and restained. The grout is really dark too. Is there a way we can have the tile & grout lightened by stripping it? And if so, can anyone give me a quick education on what I should know and/or ask about this before I speak to some professional tile refinishers? Thanks, as always, in advance. Mary

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[doitright]

Hi Mary :)

Have you tried the search feature at the top right side of this page? After browsing through there, and you have a any questions, give us a jingle. ;)

[marymadd]

Thank you John. I went directly to search for this and came up with a user 'mistanhope' who had a Tecate tile problem similar to mine as he wanted to lighten up the tile & the grout. The advise was to have it stripped & maybe, white washed.

So, I'm off to find a stripper!

Thanks, Mary

[John Bridge]

Hi Mary,

If it's a small kitchen, you might consider stripping the tiles yourself, but if it's more than a couple hundred feet, I'd suggest a pro at least for the stripping part. It's a mess, really.

Re-finishing is fairly easy with the new products that have evolved during the past twenty years. ;)

[marymadd]

Hi John,

It is a small kitchen, just about 200sf and a dining room with the same paver is about 100sf. I will definitely go the professional route. I was the 'acting' contractor on the just finished (finally!) kitchen. I had enough with that. May take a breather & just put an area rug in there to lighten it up for now.

Thanks for your input, Mary