dull mosaics after grouting

[oleras]

Howdy folks, first post.

I tiled my bathroom last week with ceramic wall and floor tiles. I put in a mosaic ceiling to floor drop behind where the sink will be and also as a bath surround. natural stone/marble mosaics.

the thing is i didnt seal them before grouting them . Now they are as dull as dishwater !

I went back to the tile place and they sold me a ph neutral cleaner to scrub them with, they look great when they are still wet but dry to a dull again, i have tried buffing them and buffing them but no good.

what will i do next ? i want to get them sorted before i seal them or would sealing them give me back my shiny mosaics ?

http://picasaweb.google.com/rasmusseno/Bathroom

[grumpygrouter]

Sealing will only seal in the dullness. It sounds to me like you need to clean the mosaic bit with a Cement Residue Cleaner. Lithofin do one, as do HG. Follow the instructions carefully as they are acid based. Hopefully this will clean your tiles up ready for sealing. Again, both companies mentioned do good products for sealing stone.

Grumpy

[oleras]

Thanks for the quick reply, i will get some of that cleaner today. Fingers crossed.

Added a pic link to the mosaics.

[grumpygrouter]

Looks a nice job there Oleras.

Grumpy

[oleras]

Originally Posted by grumpygrouter

Looks a nice job there Oleras.

Grumpy

Thanks for that !!

My first attempt at tiling a bathroom floor and walls, only ever tiled a kitchen floor before. Should have know to seal them before grouting them, kicking myself about that.

[sibs]

Aqua Mix do a range of products including a high gloss sealer and also Enrich And Seal. Their products are water based so no nasty fumes

[wetdec]

Can we sort of get this right :

Travertine should be sealed after grouting if you seal it before you are closing the pores of the stone and reducing grout grab.

Fixing stone commands a premium because its a longer process than ceramics and takes understanding, sealing it first to make the job quicker contradicts the latter.

When you seal or intensify after grouting you can only seal in what you have left on the tiles. If the tiles are clean then you dont get a problem.

Using a grout such as Mapei ultracolour with a propper grout float to grout, leave untill tiles get cloudy (15/20 mins) and wipe any grout from tiles with a hydrophilic sponge rinsing it out after every pass. Leave tiles again untill cloudy and repeat. When tiles are dry dust off the surfave removing any stubourn grout with a stanley blade, when clean seal.

This is how it should be done and your not wasting money on cleaners

tiler

..

[sibs]

Well yes on unfilled trav you wouldn't seal before grouting because the grout has to fill the holes. But I think I would seal all other stone before I grouted is this correct?

[grumpygrouter]

Originally Posted by sibs

Well yes on unfilled trav you wouldn't seal before grouting because the grout has to fill the holes. But I think I would seal all other stone before I grouted is this correct?

I agree.

Grumpy

[wetdec]

In the factory the slabs are cut from blocks have their surfaces filled either by hand with a trowel or machine with brushes either way the stone is wet. As the stone is filled if there are holes or large pores with air or water in them they do not get filled leaving empty holes or pores after the process is finished. When you grout a Trav floor you do 2 things you fill your grout lines and any holes or pores that are missed at the factory this is why you should always use a fine grout on travertine.

When the floor is dry you seal it to prevent staining of the tiles and grout or intensify it to enhance the colour.

tiler

..

[sibs]

Most filled trav I've seen is highly polished and some I've seen seems to have some sort of resin in it

[guy1976]

you need to use a ph neutral or alkali cleaner as acid based will etch the stone and leave a rough surface you need to mix the residue remover as directed on bottle apply to stone and leave for about 20mins,dont let it dry on the surface of tiles and work it into stone with a paint brush then clean with lots of clean water, then repeat process untill its sorted