The kitchen, laundry, and WC are so interconnected that working on one impacts the others. We had taken up some porcelain tile at the entrance to the laundry revealing 1908 quarry tiles in good shape under a layer of cement render. The next step was to pull up the rest of the kitchen tiles to assess what really lies beneath.
They looked awful but we were determined to see them close to original. Some muriatic acid was recommended to etch away the stains and loosen the larger blobs (note, this was a couple of months before the brute force method I employed on the dining room quarry tiles).
Still, there is much to do (cabinets; plaster walls and ceiling; put in an access hatch to the ceiling crawlspace; level the subfloor; and, install underfloor heating, sink, stove, dishwasher) but it is all on hold until we finish the wood flooring, built in closets, and subfloor heating in the dining room. Baby steps.
Endless British Pub Crawl (Part 3) 
Your timing is perfect. I have finally started staining and sealing the saltillo tiles in our rumpus room. Most of it is pretty good and will most likely end up with a rustic appearance. Some of the tiles, however, were beneath concrete and I will definitely have to use acid to clean them up. Good luck – to both of us!
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To put in the heating pipes, I’ll have to lift all the quarry tiles which are an inch and a half thick and probably quite damp in the lower inch (they are meant to “breathe” allowing control of moisture — predates a damp course but quite a bit more effective than retrofitting same). “Luck” is not what it takes…a way around the inertia to get started and the terror that we are going to fuck things up would be a blessing. Enjoy the scrubbing on yours, though.
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