Sealing Polished Porcelain Tiles

[grumpygit]

Hi.
I have just finished laying a 30mtr floor using 600 x 600 CIMIC polished porcelain tiles.(Hards as nails and a nightmare to cut. )
The customer purchased the tiles and was told that they are double fired and they do not need any special aftercare.
The customer is now telling me that someone else has told her they have to be sealed.
Any advice would be appreciated. thanks
GG

[Fekin]

Polished porcelain needs to be sealed with a good impreganator sealer.

I use Fila porcelain impreg sealer, lay the tiles, give the the full floor a good coat of impreg sealer then grout.

Reason you seal polished porcelain is that the polishing process open millions of tiny hols in the tile surface and dirt and grime can get into them and cause dulling.

Matt porcelain needs sealing too.

[grumpygit]

Thanks for the info.
GG

[Falcone]

so do you lay the floor then put the sealer on then grout?

I thought you sealed the tiles individually. dunno why I thought that but I assumed so lol.

[grumpygrouter]

so do you lay the floor then put the sealer on then grout?

I thought you sealed the tiles individually. dunno why I thought that but I assumed so lol.

With polished porcelain that is the way I would do it. Slate however, would be a different matter........

Grumpy

[Falcone]

so lay, seal, grout? cheers.

got a porcelain floor job coming up and was just wondering

mate at TOPPS says I wont need to seal them though but they're polished so I dunno why they wouldn't need sealed.

[grumpygrouter]

You might find the tile manufacturer gives instructions with the tiles, maybe they say don't seal. Normal to seal polished porcelain though.

Grumpy

[wivers]

Be carful though. I sealed polished porcelain using a roller and it left too much on the tile which i then spent the next morning rubbing off. I would advise using it on a cloth and putting a thin layer over the tile just to seal the pours.

Then again i'm the forum muppet so your best off listening to the others lmao.

[grumpygrouter]

Be carful though. I sealed polished porcelain using a roller and it left too much on the tile which i then spent the next morning rubbing off. I would advise using it on a cloth and putting a thin layer over the tile just to seal the pours.

Then again i'm the forum muppet so your best off listening to the others lmao.

pmsl.

Grumpy

[Burnsy]

Test test and test again. Get an offcut, put some contaminates on it (things that are likely to get spilled on it) - tea, coffee, ketchup, vinegar or anything. Leave it on for a few hours, wipe it off and it it stains it will need sealing.

Apply with sponge / roller etc, leave it to fill the micro-pores then wipe off with a dry towell before the sealer dries. Could also give the grout a seal with the same method. Job done.

[Fekin]

Absorption rates are low on porcelain so leaving something on them for a few hopurs isn't really going to be a good tester.

[MICK the Tiler]

I personally lay grout then seal but each to there own I think it makes more work to seal before grouting the steps I use are

1 fix

2 grout once allow to harder wipe off grout again allow to harden the wipe off this will leave the joint nice and full with no grout sinks or air pockets, allow to go cloudy and leave to following day

3 apply a wax remover and cleaner with a spray bottle for small floors or a large garden sprayer for larger floors then scrub with a polishing machine for large areas or a hand held polisher for smaller floors

4 seal tiles with the methods of application above allow to dry and give a light buff with polishing pad

5 apply a polish applied as above and final buff with polisher floor will come up like glass.


Easy way of telling if porcelain is porous is to mark an off-cut with a black texture then try and rub off, if it leaves a ghosting mark willneed a good amount of impregnating sealer. I still seal all porcelain though even if it passes the black texture test.

[Burnsy]

Absorption rates are low on porcelain so leaving something on them for a few hopurs isn't really going to be a good tester.

Thought that was the idea of sealing? Generally speaking, if you spill something on any floor, you would leave it longer than 3 hours before you clean it off. Treat a tile the same as carpet - if i spilt something on my carpet i would wipe it off straight away - same applies for a tile.

I agree, the longer the better, so i suppose overnight would be a good test.

[grumpygit]

Another test is permanent marker pen and see if you can clean it off with white spirit.
Also i think the order depends on whether the tiles have a wax protection on them.
If they don't i think your better to seal before grouting as the grout can stain the tiles.
Unfortunately i'm speaking from experience.

[spooner68]

Got the rough finish polished porcelain look on MY OWN tiles at home. My wife is now questioning my professional capabilities. Huh. Cleaned and sealed but they still look patchy. What sort of polish works the best, and should I use my light car polisher as I do for honed and polished travertine (better than an old towel)? The sealant (Lithofin's finest) does a class job on the grout especially if its a light gray, ivory or the like which shows up when wet. Sealing is a MUST on polished porcelain and unlike natural stone need only be done after grouting.

[grumpygrouter]

Got the rough finish polished porcelain look on MY OWN tiles at home. My wife is now questioning my professional capabilities. Huh. Cleaned and sealed but they still look patchy. What sort of polish works the best, and should I use my light car polisher as I do for honed and polished travertine (better than an old towel)? The sealant (Lithofin's finest) does a class job on the grout especially if its a light gray, ivory or the like which shows up when wet. Sealing is a MUST on polished porcelain and unlike natural stone need only be done after grouting.

I am fixing some Pilkington polished porcelain tiles soon and Pilkington Tech people recommend seal before fixing!

[spooner68]

Are they kidding? How long for that job and how to price it? The problem I keep coming across is transit micro-abrasions, i.e very fine surface scratching caused by packing and transit. They do not disappear with grout and cement remover, sealer or porcelain cleaner. Nightmare.

What I seem to have on my own tiles is a lovely pattern caused by the sheets of thin expanded polystyrene used to separate the tiles in the box. Cannot shift the marks and the tile rep is at a loss too. Would be in the mire if I had supplied and fixed these for a client. As it is my wife........well you can work out the rest.


Help.

[MICK the Tiler]

Are they kidding? How long for that job and how to price it? The problem I keep coming across is transit micro-abrasions, i.e very fine surface scratching caused by packing and transit. They do not disappear with grout and cement remover, sealer or porcelain cleaner. Nightmare.

What I seem to have on my own tiles is a lovely pattern caused by the sheets of thin expanded polystyrene used to separate the tiles in the box. Cannot shift the marks and the tile rep is at a loss too. Would be in the mire if I had supplied and fixed these for a client. As it is my wife........well you can work out the rest.


Help.

If the tiles are marked or scratched in any way straight out of the box then you should not fix them. Get the tile supplier to replace with fresh ones. It is still there product if you have not laid them. They cannot walk away. But watch them duck for cover if you have fixed them.

[TilingLogistics]

Sealants are not "Magic in a Bottle" All porcealain and natural stone tiles shoud be tested to see if they require sealing. The next most important decision is to decide which sealant and finally if they require to be pre sealed. al this can be carried out by testing an offcut and it can save you hours of grief afterwards. So Test, Test and Test again prior to fixing

Kev

[TilingLogistics]

Thought that was the idea of sealing? Generally speaking, if you spill something on any floor, you would leave it longer than 3 hours before you clean it off. Treat a tile the same as carpet - if i spilt something on my carpet i would wipe it off straight away - same applies for a tile.

I agree, the longer the better, so i suppose overnight would be a good test.

Spot on!!! It gives you a reaction time to wipe it up

Kev

[grumpygrouter]

Are they kidding? How long for that job and how to price it? The problem I keep coming across is transit micro-abrasions, i.e very fine surface scratching caused by packing and transit. They do not disappear with grout and cement remover, sealer or porcelain cleaner. Nightmare.

What I seem to have on my own tiles is a lovely pattern caused by the sheets of thin expanded polystyrene used to separate the tiles in the box. Cannot shift the marks and the tile rep is at a loss too. Would be in the mire if I had supplied and fixed these for a client. As it is my wife........well you can work out the rest.


Help.

In my case with the Pilkington tiles (regal) there is only about 35 tiles that will need sealing. I can see how it could be a time consuming issue though if it was a big area. No worse than having to seal terracotta though! I have also quoted for the sealing time as an additional item on my estimate which has been accepted so there is no issue.

[Zanria]

Polished porcelain needs to be sealed with a good impreganator sealer.

I use Fila porcelain impreg sealer, lay the tiles, give the the full floor a good coat of impreg sealer then grout.

Reason you seal polished porcelain is that the polishing process open millions of tiny hols in the tile surface and dirt and grime can get into them and cause dulling.

Matt porcelain needs sealing too.

WELL I WISH I HAD READ THIS FORUM BEFORE!!!!

So I bought some textured (apparently polished) porcelain tiles from Topps and was assured they didn't need sealing. Spent hours laying and then when grouted found it was nearly impossible to get the grout haze off. Two years on my tiles have now faded from a gorgeous black to a mid grey and there are stains and marks all over them. From reading this forum my life would have been made so much easier had I sealed them before grouting.

Using the scub pads has helped the stains after hours of hard work but is there anything I can do to get the colour back???

The grout has also stained. Gone from black to patchy grey. I'm debating whether to dig the grout out and start again but this time use a grout sealant or try the grout colourant?

Any suggestions? Pease help!

[nellyb]

re. the black tiles that have faded to grey, try HG Golvpolish on them. I've had a similar problem before and it worked for me. The golvpolish gives a slight satin sheen but enhances the colour of the tiles....if you don't like it, it can be stripped off using HG Remover.

[Zanria]

re. the black tiles that have faded to grey, try HG Golvpolish on them. I've had a similar problem before and it worked for me. The golvpolish gives a slight satin sheen but enhances the colour of the tiles....if you don't like it, it can be stripped off using HG Remover.

THANKS! I'v just bought some from amazon to try. I wanted a sheen!! so hopefully the HG will work and it was a fraction of the cost of some of the other products so really glad of the advice!!!! Arrives next week so I see how it goes!

Cheers!

[Dave]

Golv polish is a topical sealer for stone.....i can't see that holding to a vitrified tile......To seal porcelain you need an impregnator designed for vitrified tiles...

[lifestyle floor]

i would say that you would need to clean the tiles as best as possible first , leave to dry , then seal , leave to dry . grout your tiles and then once the grout has dried properly clean again and once they have been left to dry overnight seal again.
this also prevents your grout from staining over time to.
for the value of a few pounds its best to seal the tile and grout with a total of 2 coats. you cant do anything down the line if you discover staining has appeared.

[nellyb]

it will hold to vitrified tiles....I've used it on orig style victorian floor tiles which are vitrified and also on full bodied, porcelain tiles which were black and seemed to lose some colour once grouted. It isn't just for use with stone.

I've suggested more for it's slight colour enhancing properties than as an impregnating sealer. Either way, because it's a topical sealer, it can be removed if it doesn't work in much the same way as Lithofin slate seal can.

[buffmartin]

ive never heard of sealing porcelain tiles in my whole 16yrs of tiling until B&Q started selling them?

[Dave]

ive never heard of sealing porcelain tiles in my whole 16yrs of tiling until B&Q started selling them?

Well you learn summit new every day.......and it's nowt to do with B&Q coz porcelain tiles ( unglazed) have always needed sealing...

[zoffy]

Just thought I would add my two pence to this debate.

I emailed the manufacturer with the following question:

Información requerida: Hi, I am putting "nazca 40 x 40 cm. (39,3 x 39,3 cm.)" onto my kitchen floor. Do these need to be sealed after laying or are they hard enough to not need sealing? Thanks

The reply was as follows:

Dear Mark,

Thank you very much for using our products. Our polish material is already sealed that is the reason that look a little bit mat, you only need to cleaned well to get the shiny effect.

Regards
Rodrigo Vives
Export Department

VIVES AZULEJOS Y GRES, S.A.
Tel.: 964 360725
E-mail: export@vivesceramica.com
www.vivesceramica.com