Mopar, The worst thing to happen to tile was the adoption of a "shouldered edge". That's a 5-7 degree bevel which was added because it eased the release of the tiles from the die on the presses.

By beveling the edges, a "valley" was created between the tiles. This valley served to create a place for dirt to accumulate, and grout to be applied unevenly.

There are other differences but this one feature is probably the most significant.

Posted by: Oldtiles at April 16, 2009 8:15 PM in response to renew bathroom floor tile?

hi,

Do you need tiles remade?

Posted by: Oldtiles at April 16, 2009 7:40 PM in response to St. George Pool tiles

Hi,

Restoration tile is a good source, but you should try the NYS company first. Lesperance Tile is in the Albany/Saratoga area.

Oh and btw that's my company...

Posted by: Oldtiles at March 19, 2009 12:33 AM in response to Bumble Bee Bathroom Tile Floor

The Albany Parts Wharehouse, a division of the Historic Albany Foundation has an enormous collection of brass door hardware salvaged from too many doors to count. The Albany neighborhoods are a similar vintage to Brooklyn and I would be surpised if they did not have what you need. You may have to take a train ride up, but like we say in Sheridan Hollow... Albany, it's not that bad!

Posted by: Oldtiles at January 14, 2009 9:01 AM in response to Antique Door Entry Set Reinstall

If it is part of a larger branding effort, we can make the design in tile... floor, wall, exterior, etc. and supply field tile to complete the installation.

Posted by: Oldtiles at January 14, 2009 8:55 AM in response to Iron/Sheet Metal Artist

Anybody need tiles to go with their Eastlake maantles? send pics of the hearth tile to www.lesperancetileworks.com

Posted by: Oldtiles at January 10, 2009 12:53 AM in response to Date the Slate

I have been reading about a technique for taking paint off which is to use a steamer....The idea is that the hot steam will condense on the cold marble (under the paint) and lift it. Haven't done it yet, i am working on stripping paint off my tin cielings.

Posted by: Oldtiles at January 8, 2009 6:11 PM in response to Remove paint from marble mantel

www.lesperancetileworks.com, www.oldtiles.ning.com

These are web sites for my upstate company (Albany/Saratoga) that makes tile designed for historic projects. We have specialties in vestibule floor tiles in geometrics, encaustic, and the tile mentioned by 1125.

You will be working with the tile maker directly.

Posted by: Oldtiles at January 4, 2009 11:55 AM in response to ideas for entryway floor

Hi,

In an effort to be up front, I am an artist who specializes in historic tile. I agree with 11:28.

You may consider the satin matte glaze colors as an appropriate alternative tile to white. These glazes were translucent (colors pooled), applied to a flat bisque and installed around colored accessories which then became accents. They became available in the 1910's. It was a great tile and would blend well with your house.

There are some companies that can blend glazes to suit the use of pre-existing colored fixtures. Look for "nys historic tile".

Posted by: Oldtiles at January 1, 2009 5:14 PM in response to bathroom reno--style advice needed

If you don't mind buying from a NYS manufacturer, check for an upstate company called Lesperance Tile in the Albany Saratoga area.

Posted by: Oldtiles at January 1, 2009 4:43 PM in response to Art Nouveau Letter Tile

Donatella,

Our reno parallels are getting a bit scary. We set our entryway tiles on the diagonal, too, although we put a few decorative Mexican tiles in the center and then a ceramic color field around them, all on the diagonal (GC wasn't happy about that one).

Posted by: slopefarm at January 5, 2009 12:02 PM in response to ideas for entryway floor

Several people have ordered encaustic cement tile for foyers in historic homes from http://www.VillaLagoonTile.com .This tile has the look similar to clay encaustic tile and can be ordered in custom colors. All the tile is made to order.

Posted by: Lundy at January 5, 2009 3:31 PM in response to ideas for entryway floor

Slopefarm, what else did we do alike? I hope its all the good stuff... I have to remind myself constantly that "yes, this DID work out, yes, it really is pretty much DONE." I felt so happy because I had a get together on New Years Day and everyone had fun and really enjoyed hanging out in the place and said it looked so nice. Sometimes I think I share a lot of the misadventures but some things actually work out well...

Happy New Year.

Posted by: donatella at January 5, 2009 5:08 PM in response to ideas for entryway floor

I would have to go back through the archives on this site. A few things of teh top of my head suggest some loose parallels -- weirdness with Vinny; we both like John Hlad (our contractor didn't use him, but we use him now and used him in our coop -- we wished he did the job here); we are planning to use Manny for some chimney work when we can scrape up some more dough; I am sure there are others. I seem to recall you making some referrals (and warnings)and giving some advice that struck pretty close to ours, not to mention that you have a world-weariness in relation to the renovation and dealing with contractors that resonates with me in a way that others' comments here do not. We had serious problems in the transaction before we even got the house and started renovating, so we were more tired than most when we started, and we discovered tons of surprises. So this was a really trying process for us.

We entertained pretty actively this season and people really enjoyed our house and I was able to enjoy it more, too, as I get some distance. I think that, in the big picture, we did a good job and lots of stuff came out right. But getting over PTSD is a slow process.

Posted by: slopefarm at January 6, 2009 10:06 AM in response to ideas for entryway floor

It IS, isn't it? Getting over PTSD.... Wow, it was a lot of work and lots of battles in addition to the creativity that people outside of this experience think it is all about. People came over this holiday and I realized that other than a few pick up bbqs over the spring/summer, I had never really had a party at my house. This one was really nice - People really liked the place and I was so happy to see them having a good time there after all the hard work. There are still a number of projects with the house (reinstalling pocket doors with glass which requires some engineering since the house settled - now the doors are in the basement and the openings closed up), bookcases, and a bar/unit on the parlor floor. I also need more furniture, but the place is very pretty and I keep working out kinks bit by bit. Hey, Slopefarm, good luck to us for 2009!!!!
More parties, more fun, more enjoying our hard work.

Posted by: donatella at January 6, 2009 11:33 AM in response to ideas for entryway floor

Peel away is great, it just takes a lot of patience. Don't use the Peel Away 1--use the one for stone, I think it's 6.

It's expensive, but it is ostensibly "nontoxic."

Posted by: vanburenproud at January 8, 2009 6:18 PM in response to Remove paint from marble mantel

Use peel away or there is another one (rock hard? something like that) and wear gloves and long sleeves and pants or you will be a mess and have lots of cuts and burns. Ouch.

Posted by: donatella at January 8, 2009 8:51 PM in response to Remove paint from marble mantel

peel away, just be prepared for way more coats than the label claims..remember that marble is real, real soft and damages easily from sharp tools or abrasives...code word gentle and patient

Posted by: eman1234 at January 8, 2009 9:23 PM in response to Remove paint from marble mantel

It's Rock Miracle, Donatella. LOL! BTW, I recently had a similar problem involving a very dark green paint that had been applied to my white marble windowsills.
Although the woodstripper did a pretty good job of getting most of it off, I can still see some very faint hints of the green in places where it looks like the color was actually absorbed into the marble. Worse, there are now places where the stripper applied stain to the newly-stripped window casings and now there is a bit of that stain that seems to have tinted the stripped marble as well! IOW, depending on the color and how much paint/stain there is to remove, you may not get absolutely perfect results. Eman1234's advice is mine exactly.

Posted by: Brooklynista at January 8, 2009 10:18 PM in response to Remove paint from marble mantel

I just came across this web site about "retro renovation." Their tagline is "Save the pink bathrooms!" That is just so funny, I had to share it.

http://retrorenovation.com/2008/08/05/1959-vintage-drexel-colonial-lives-even-heading-into-the-60s/

Posted by: mopar at January 9, 2009 12:54 PM in response to bathroom reno--style advice needed