La Casa en Guanajuato

10 June 2006 - San Felipe Tile

Hot Foot!

The floor tiles for the most part are what I would call "Saltillo" tiles, the local word for them is 'barro'. It is the same material that is used to make the orange unglazed clay pots. The barro for our floor comes from San Felipe, where it is manufactures in a variety of shapes

Once the tile is laid on a bed of cement, it is cleaned, and excess water is allowed to evaporate, which can take a couple of weeks. The floor is then heated with a torch, and beeswax is heated to a boil and applied to the floor tile. Excess beeswax is heated up with a torch, and wiped up/burned off.

This leaves a dull but dark ochre color, repeated wear and cleaning will result in a fine gloss finish - in about a year.