TERRACOTTA

Terracotta is a form of fired clay produced in shades of buff, brown or red, its name literally meaning baked earth. It differs from brick and tile in that its raw material is a finely milled clay with almost all impurities removed, which allows for greater detail and sharper finishing. Glazed terracotta is usually referred to as faience, after Faenza a town in North Italy, renowned for its glazed pottery. Terracotta and faience have been used extensively in the UK since the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Stone Central is experienced in all aspects of terracotta and faience conservation, restoration and replacement. We offer solutions for any variety of terracotta material or repair program, including cleaning, repair, replication and sourcing of new terracotta and faience.

Terracotta

We can carry out full terracotta unit replacement or restoration of damaged sections using a restoration mortar to match. New units are detailed on site by our in house stone detailers, allowing working production drawings to be produced. This information can then be passed to the best supplier that we feel can offer the closest match to the project, both in the UK and abroad. It is important to look at preventative works when working with terracotta such as managing rainwater and maintaining the buildings weathering mouldings in order to protect the material moving forward. We are skilled in the restoration of intricate and detailed terracotta & faience work such as large barley twist chimney pots and decorative facades.

Faience

Faience is formed in the same way that terracotta is from ground clay mixed with sand or powdered fired clay which has enough plasticity that it can be moulded into a shape. The difference between terracotta and faience is that faience is covered with one or more glazes whereas terracotta is not. Stone Central have a wealth of experience in the restoration and replacement of faience work and are able to work on projects of all sizes. Conservation can take the form of introducing preventative measures to safeguard longevity, repair and reconstruction of damaged elements through to the reinstatement of damaged lost specialist glazes. Damaged elements can be salvaged and pinned in order to retain original material. Once stabilised and repair mortars introduced, we are then able to reproduce in-situ cold glazing techniques to repair damaged and lost finishes and prevent further water ingress.