1st Job: How to Seal

[Welltester 1973]

Hello all

Just tiled my bathroom in trav honed and filled,cleaned down with fila residue remover.

Have been told by my local tile shop to seal in the joints and tile surface with impregnator b4 grouting?

Already bought genesis natural stone sealer from walls and floors to do this job.

Called genesis and they say grout first and seal afterwards.

Has anybody used this sealer b4 and would it be ok to seal afterward,will it seal in the joint properly?

Wish i had bought the MN Stainstop instead now,just trying to save money.

Dont want to mess up a good job by putting on the wrong sealer now!

Cheers

Sean

[Dave]

On travertine i prefer to seal afterwards.....on filled travertine you can seal before if this gives you confidence but no need to seal the tile edges...

Allways follow the directions on the sealer container as to dwell times etc...

[Welltester 1973]

Thanks Dave

Did call Genesis and they said seal after grouting,but when you get people at tops telling you must seal in the joints etc b4 grouting,who's advice do you take.

Is it a lot less difficult to remove the grout film from tile surface if you seal first?


Sean

[Dave]

I would not take advice of a sales assistant over a comp like genesis....we have sen some shocking advice from retailers on here....staff training is the key here and not all retailers give staff regular training...

You need to make sure the stone is clean and dry before sealing takes place...

with honed and filled you can seal first as you only grout the joints as with tumbled and unfilled you grout the face of the tiles as well so sealing before hand can cause the grout to pop from those area's that are not filled...

So if sealing first makes you more comfortable with your grouting then it will be fine....make sure you wipe any sealer off the surface before it dries....that's why i said read the instructions...

anymore questions just come back...most of all have fun...

[Dave]

Is it a lot less difficult to remove the grout film from tile surface if you seal first?

Not really if you clean up well whilst washing off....but like i said if you feel sealing will be better for you beforehand then yes go ahead...but make sure the stone is dry and free from dust etc..

[Welltester 1973]

Just finished cleaning them down and will wait couple days b4 i seal them.

Got 80m of 3mm wide x 12mm deep joint to grout on the walls,tops said a 10kg bag of bal peeble should do it and i might be back for more.Is this right or are they selling me too much?


Sean

[Dave]

how many sqr mtrs is it..?

[Welltester 1973]

Dave

Got 22sq m to grout and they are 610mm x 405mm tiles.

Cheers

Sean

[Dave]

10 kg will be fine then...