Jakarta Black Polished Porcelain Floor Tiles

[Skid Solo]

I have just purchased some Jakarta Black Polished Porcelain Floor Tiles (300x300) from Tile Giant and was also supplied with LTP MPG sealer, should I apply a coat of sealer prior to installing tiles, or seal once I have put them down ? (or seal before and after)

Thanks

[Matt]

If there are put down cleanly (I.E no adhesive touches/stays on the face of the tile) you can seal once they have been laid but before they are grouted. If in doubt, seal before they are laid.

We recommend they are sealed twice as per the instructions on the bottle.

[grumpygrouter]

Personally I would seal before laying. Less risk of contamination.

[Skid Solo]

Thanks for the advice guys, one further thought though, I will seal before laying. Do I grount and then seal again, seal and then grout and then do I need another type of sealant for the grout ?

[david campbell]

seal,grout,clean,seal

[Skid Solo]

I have sealed the tiles as described above and laid them, having now cleaned them again before grouting and final seal, however the tiles appear to have a haze over them now.

Have I mucked up the sealing ? I did as instructed on the bottle.

Is there anything I can do to bring back the shine on the tiles ?

[jay]

any pics would help

[Skid Solo]

OK will take some pic's tonight and post

[jay]

just one question were tiles let dry (24 hours) before sealing

[Skid Solo]

The were sealed and left for 3 days before laying, they were cleaned after laying with water and sponge and polished with kitchen towel. This was 2 weeks ago, I cleaned/polished again (with water and sponge and polished with soft cloth) at the weekend prior to grouting and this is when I noticed the haze on them

[jay]

do you have any unlaid tiles that have been sealed but not laid and do they have the hazing on them sorry for all the questions

[Skid Solo]

I do have some off cuts that would have been sealed, I will check to see if the haze is on them when I get home tonight

[Skid Solo]

Here are some pictures, although they dont really do the haze justice, as the light reflects of the tiles.

I did look at an off-cut tile that would have been sealed, the haze is there, but not to the degree of the ones laid onto the floor.


IMG_2873 - Copy.JPGIMG_2876 - Copy.JPGIMG_2872 - Copy.JPG
IMG_2874 - Copy.JPGIMG_2875 - Copy.JPG

[jay]

when you applied sealer you wiped off the exess sealer and then buffed them it looks as if they have a coat left on them

[Skid Solo]

Yes I wiped off excess and then buffed, they have been washed down again and then polished with a dry cloth, do they need further polishing/buffing ?

[tfs]

Bear in mind that those tiles are not jet back and they have speckles throughout the tile.

The finnished floor doesnt appear to be any different than the tile prior to fitting in my opinion (unless Im going blind lol)

I have used those tiles and they can look different once laid due to lighting, they look darker on a wall than they do on the floor.

If you are in doubt you could try giving them a good clean with grimex and if happy with the result reseal!

[jay]

you could try one and see if that works

the tiles need to be fully polished until dry (buffed) think thats your problem more elbow grease

[Matt]

As far as I know there is no transit wax on the Jakarta. I can't really see from the picture what the problem is.

[Skid Solo]

I am going to try cleaning an off-cut that has been sealed with Grimex and see what original looks like, then tray and seal the off-cut again. I did read on the LTP data sheet for the sealer that it can be removed by applying more sealer and buffing immediately so I will try this on another off-cut.

What do you guys use for buffing and applying sealer ? I was using an old cotton shirt

[jay]

small areas soft cotton rags large areas car buffer (lambswool) good luck

[Scott]

You need lots of cloth as the sealer clogs up the cloth. Keep turning the cloth over and inside out etc. I use large rolls of blue tissue paper to clean it off and you do get though loads.

One other thing, im looking at the jakarta black, are these defintely the black and not the grey? The Jakarta black i looked at the other day looked a true black? The sample was up on the wall and not poorly lit so i could be wrong

[Matt]

You need lots of cloth as the sealer clogs up the cloth. Keep turning the cloth over and inside out etc. I use large rolls of blue tissue paper to clean it off and you do get though loads.

One other thing, im looking at the jakarta black, are these defintely the black and not the grey? The Jakarta black i looked at the other day looked a true black? The sample was up on the wall and not poorly lit so i could be wrong

The Jakarta black is not jet black. It is more of a Charcoal Grey.

[Scott]

The Jakarta black is not jet black. It is more of a Charcoal Grey.

Thanks MAtt, my mistake i went it too look today.It was the Super black i was thinking of