Ceramic tiles

Mildred Tody Cezar <todycezar [at] sapo__pt> writes

>I recently visited Fronteira Palace in Lisbon Portugal and was very
>disappointed to see the condition of the outdoor tiles and the
>quality of the recent interventions.  I believe that far more
>sympathetic restoration can be carried out using epoxy resins.
>Although the tiles are not subject to freezing conditions they are
>outdoors and the repairs to be long lasting must allow for the
>natural egress of moisture. ...

I corresponded with a few conservators on this issue last year.  I
concluded that epoxy putties such as Milliput or homemade varieties
are suitable for use in an indoor setting, but are likely to fail
and lead to problems in an outdoor setting.  I have worked on a few
outdoor tiled sculptures of late and find that a white cement and
marble dust mixture is very good for filling loses in tiles. Patches
can then be painted with colour matched outdoor acrylic paints in a
gloss level to match the tiles. Of course these materials wont last
forever either, but the patches are not likely to cause any water
retention problems and are easily retreatable.

Vanessa Wiggin
Director of Conservation
ArtWorks Conservation (Australia)
+61 8 9593 5718
61 402 137 826


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:43
                 Distributed: Saturday, March 24, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-25-43-003
                                  ***