Sealer for Polished Granite?

[Davy44]

I recently fitted glass mosaic wall tiles to my kitchen following excellent tips picked up from this forum and would now like to venture forward and ask for advice with floor tiles.

Could someone advise me on the best way forward (if indeed possible) to protect polished granite floor tiles please. I ordered a sample of a 305x305x10mm tile, called "Imperial Granite Pure Black" from a supplier and was about to place the order, but decided to do a few 'spill' checks on the sample first. I placed drops of cola, red wine, acetone and water on the tile and left them for 15 minutes. All four spills were then cleaned off. The Acetone and water left no marks but the cola and red wine had removed the polished finish, which could not be recovered. As this is for a kitchen floor, my concern would be a small spill of either the cola or wine could go un-noticed for a few minutes, with disastraous results.

A look on the internet revealed a product called 'LTP MPG Polished Tile Sealer'. Am I on the right lines? Is this the product to stop the polished granite staining and is it normal to have to seal granite tiles? Or is it a problem with this type of tile that warrants a complete rethink?

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

[Dave]

Stainstop is good but anything acidic should be cleaned up asap anyway...

[Davy44]

Thanks Dave,

I notice that Stainstop is an impregnator, which I guess lasts much longer than a surface type of sealer. Is that right?

[Dave]

Spot on......plus topical sealers are not much cop for polished stone...

[frankenfurter]

Geologically 'true' granite is resistant to acids, with hydrofluoric as an exception. Wouldn't have thought the diluted phosphoric acid in coke would touch it.

But then again 'black' granite isn't black but grey or even geologically classified as granite but rather gabbro, norite, dolerite etc, its the polishing that gives it the look of black, that and the shiny black wax they apply to make it look black.

So chances are the coke and wine has removed the black gunk and the tile is showing it's true colour. Even though granite is porous, it's also one of most dense stones even solvent based sealers don't actually impregnate granite, just sit on the top - no matter what the manufacturers say.

Please remember a sealer will only give you reaction time.

[Davy44]

I think you have highlighted two areas of concern that I have.

1. If the granite is true 'polished', then surely the surface is honed to give a high gloss finish and the acid should not affect the finish. Whereas, if the tile is finished off with a coating that gives it a polished appearance, then I can understand the mild acid in cola and red wine taking this coating off.

2. As I understand it; an impregnator attempts to do just that; impregnates the tile and so lies just below the surface, ie the coating that is giving the polished appearance. So what is to stop a spillage having the same effect as though the tile had not been sealed? Assuming the tile is not a true polish but a polished coating?

[warehouseman]

I think there is a bit of confusion creeping in here.
Firstly, a polished tile can be as porous as an unpolished tile , but to varying degrees. Pol Marble is more porous than Pol Granite which in turn is only slightly more porous if at all than pol porcelain.

An impregnator is normally not a total sealer. It merely closes off the large pores which if not closed off, cause deep ingrained dirt to develop on/in the tile. It also allows the stone to breath , which is sometimes preferable.

Many people think an impregnator is the finished seal. Its not for quite a porous stone - it will help, but it wont totally seal . HOWEVER, for much less porous stone, an impregnator may well suffice.
Personally I have found that LTP mpg impregnator to be the best sealer for Polished Granite and polished porcelain -- simply because it is closing off the remaining large pores that exist. 2-3 coats should do the job.

Finally, people think that an impregnator or top sealer will stop stains. NO. They will help to prevent stains - if a teabag or can of coke is spilt on such a floor, a seal will 'help' to stop a stain, but you still need to clean it up pretty quickly. It gives you breathing space --- its not a miracle worker and the tile will eventually mark (for exampe, if a slice of beetroot is left on floor overnight)

For all these reasons, I am always hesitant in suggesting stone in kitchens.

[Davy44]

Thank you to all of you who commented on this dilema. I decided that the potential problem that sooner or later, I would encounter, really was not worth the outlay and worry and have decided not to put granite tiles on the kitchen floor. Instead, I laid black ceramic tiles over the last two days and will be grouting them tomorrow. They may not have the wow factor of polished granite, but then they will hopefully not have the woops factor either. Again thanks to all.

[Dave]

post some pics......plz...