Porcelain tile help

[David-M.]

Hi,

I've just bough some black polished porcelain tiles for my kitchen floor and I'm a little unsure about a few things, so here goes...

When I was buying the tiles today I visited a few different shops, looking at what appeared to be the same tiles, Topps insisted that I needed some sealer at £30 to stop the grout staining the tiles "and nothing more". Another shop claimed the sealer was a one off treatment to prevent stains from liquids and one place (Pilkingtons) said the tiles didn't need any sealer.

So, I'm guessing that I will need the sealer, but is it OK to apply the sealer to the tiles before laying them? That seems like an easier option? Also, I read on here that I may need to remove some kind of coating/wax before applying the sealer? Can anyone recommend a cleaner for this please?

Thanks

Dave.

[Dave]

Hello Dave.. welcome..


Polished porcelain does need sealing but this is to close the pores to prevent grout as you say grabbing these pores and giving that stained look..

Check to make sure there is no Transit wax on them and then seal with a suitable penetrating sealer.

LTP MPG is one..

[peckers]

Polished porcelain does need sealing most companys supply a sealer for polished porcelain. if you work cleanly ie. washing out the joints and cleaning the tile surface as you go then you can apply the sealer after they have been layed but before you grout them. if you want to you can apply the sealer before you tile.
if the tiles have transit wax on them, there might be something on the box telling you if they have or not or the tile supplier should be able to confirm this. if they have then this needs to be removed before you grout them you can use either lithofin abra clean or aquamix nano scrub(thanks dave) once this has been removed then apply sealer and then grout.

[David-M.]

Thanks Dave & Peckers.

So it's OK to seal them before they are layed?, that's my main concern. Assuming the transit wax has been removed of course.

Thanks

[Dave]

Ye! no probs.. or lay them cleanly and seal before grouting..

[David-M.]

Cheers Dave

[Dave]

Make sure you buff any sealer before it dries on the surface..

[tfs]

Some manufacturers are using new technoligies to pre seal tiles such as nano polishing, such tiles will not need to be sealed prior to fixing. The tile retailer will tell you when this is the case.

[tfs]

as mentioned by by someone else there are also transit seals on some tiles which should be removed prior to sealing. You can use strong cleaning product such as ltp Grimex to remove and prepare the tile prior to sealing with a suitable sealer.

[David-M.]

Wow, thanks for all the replies, very helpful indeed

I was wondering though, let's say I get this sealer LTG MPG, will I ever need to reapply it to the tiles, if so, is it a yearly thing or just when it wears off? Also, are there a lot of fumes from it?

Finally, for the buffing, will kitchen roll be OK? or would microfibre cloths be a better bet?

[Dave]

The sealer is just to aid maintenance and should last around 5 yrs depending on cleaning regime.

Micro fibre cloths are good for cleaning off excess residue.

[David-M.]

Cheers Dave.

[David-M.]

Just need to pick someone's brain a second if possible?

I'm just clearing the floor in the kitchen, it is on two levels, the lower level used to be a coal shed and a utility room and that has been knocked through so it's one large room with a step the height of a brick in the middle.

In the lower part, there was laminate down, then the foam underlay and under that were some really old floor tiles glued onto the concrete floor. So, off I go with the scraper and one or two of them came away much easier than the others, and I noticed a smell what I can only describe as that of an old cellar, sort of damp but dusty. There was a bit of white power dotted around under this tile.

Straight away, I thought it might be damp because unlike the other half of the kitchen, there doesn't appear to be any DPC in the floor, the rest of the downstairs has a black rubber (ish) coating on all the floors. But, there is a DPC in the walls.

Would it be advisable to get some DPC and put it down before the tiles, or is the damage already done? There didn't appear to be any physical dampness that I could see, in fact it was very dry and dusty.

Hopefully I'm worrying over nothing again

Thanks.

[tfs]

If there is no DPM you may be able to use a chemical DPM normally a two part expoxy and hardener.

If there is too much moisture there may be more work involved though.

[David-M.]

Thanks ttf

By the way, my local tile place doesn't have any of the sealers recommended here, but they do have this, is this any good, or should I order a different one online?

Tile Sealer - Aerosol Tile Impregnator - Seal Guard United Kingdom

Edit: Actually, sod it, I'll order the recommended one online and have done with it

Cheers.

[tfs]

Hi Mate,

I dont know much about that product but in my own experience if I was going to use that it would be for grout or at the most a top up on to tile that I have sealed already.

You can get a sealer from Topps, Tile Giant or perhaps even B&Q, just ask for an impregnating sealer one that is suitable for polished tiles. (if it was me I would choose one that is applied by sponge or brush rather than aerosol)

That product you are looking may work but I personally wouldnt use this.

hope this helps mate

[tfs]

If you were to use that supplier I would use this cleaning product first Seal Guard - Impregnator Gold Label Penetrating Sealer For Grout, Tile & Masonary - Seal Guard United Kingdom

and then seal with this Seal Guard - Impregnator Gold Label Penetrating Sealer For Grout, Tile & Masonary - Seal Guard United Kingdom

[David-M.]

Thanks tfs

I wasn't too fussed about that brand to be honest, I was going to go for the LTP MTG and LTP Grimex combo.

I was wondering also, the LTP MPG info says it treats 10-20sqm, but it also says that four applications may be needed, so is that four bottles, or will one bottle do all that?

Also, I was wondering in my own scientific kind of way, when I'm removing the wax with this Grimex stuff (tile by tile before laying), it says to rinse off with water, but won't that mark the tiles as they'll be really porous after cleaning?

Found both products together here, so will probably go with that unless someone can convince me otherwise

Natural Stone & Porcelain Tile Sealers - Maintenance Products | Stone Deals

[tfs]

After cleaning the tiles with the cleaner you should wait until they are fully dried and be happy that all residue has been removed from the tile. Manufacturers will normaly specify a time in which you should wait after cleaning before you seal the tile.

Before the first coat you should ensure that all residue is has been removed (just a visual inspection). Give the tiles one coat before fixing, this reduce chances of grout staining etc. Then after grouting another coat of sealer should be applied.

I reckon two coats would be enough for your Polished Porcelain.

When looking at coverage bare in mind the area you are treating, as you will need at least two coats you need to account for double the area that has been tiled.

[peckers]

If you find out it is damp then you can apply a liquid membrane prior to tiling, mapei do one called triblock p MAPEI and ardex do another called aedex dpm Damp Proof Membranes from ARDEX UK

I have used both for areas subject to damp with no dpm installed and they are both good.

[Dave]

You can order direct from LTP.. LTP Online

[David-M.]

Ordered from stone deals in the end, it worked out about £13 cheaper on 2x 1L MPG and 1x 1L Grimex delivered.

[tfs]

let us know how you get on mate!

If you can, upload some pics

[David-M.]

Will do mate

Should I be worried?

I've had three quotes from different tilers this week, all within £5 of each other, but none of them had ever heard of there being wax on porcelain tiles and one of them was surprised to hear that they needed sealing. Seems odd when the merchants and outlets are plugging the sealers with the tiles, and all the info on here too don't you think?

The other thing that I've been pondering is the step that's halfway down the kitchen, it's only a brick height, but I was wondering what the best way for them to do the edge is? One of them suggested using a plastic trim, and the other one said to leave the edge bare and that the trim would get scratched easily as it's plastic. So do you guys leave the edge of a step as just bare tiles, and if so, what do you do to stop the grout on the joins from coming away?

Cheers!

[peckers]

You can get a good quality metal trim for the step nosing i would want one that is solid and hard wearing you can get them from schutler they do quite a few different ones! but you dont want a plastic one or alluminium as they wont last. you could use the edge of a full tile if this works out right when yu are setting out but you dont want an ugly cut left showing

[David-M.]

schutler

Thanks

I'm guessing he'll start at the step and do the edge of a full tile, but what I was meaning was, the step is about 3 tiles wide, so there'll be 2 or so lines of grout running up to the step which will just wear away and come loose? I think I'd prefer a nice metal trim, I'll get looking now.

P.S. Whatever you do, don't search google or google images for schutler!

[squeaky]

they have some stair trims on this site if it helps Boltseal Tile Trims Sealants Tools Drills Tile Care

[David-M.]

The Grimex and MPG arrived today, but unfortunately, the Grimex doesn't have any effect on the sealer that comes already applied to the tiles.

I've gone from 1 part Grimex to 10 parts water to neat Grimex and it's having no effect whatsoever. Tried using a scouring pad, tried leaving it to soak, but it is like trying to remove enamel with water (well, kinda).

I'm a bit stumped now as this stuff came highly recommended. Any thoughts?

[David-M.]

Just got off the phone to LTP, spoke to a nice lady who is sending me out a couple of samples of grout stain remover and I think the other one was called power stripper.

She said that Grimex will work on 90% of the tiles they've tested it on, but sods law, they haven't tried it on tiles from Al-Murad which is where I got mine from!

[astechsolutions]

in a hurry so maybe missed theis in earlier replies, going back to the first blog it was mentioned about a tranisient wax on the tiles that needed to be removed before sealing. How can you tell if this wax is present, there is nothing on the box?