sealed travertine turned out patchy - TilersForums.co.uk | Tile Forums

eamonn · 25-03-2008

hello folks tilersforum newbie with a problem.

last week we laid a filled 60 by 40 travertine floor but when we sealed it, it turned out very patchy. cant remember what kind of sealers i used but i;d never heard of it before (can find out if necessary). the sealers seemed to have soaked into the filled parts of the travertine but not the rest leaving it very uneven, i have sealed plenty of floors before but this is the first time ive seen this.

do i give it a second coat?? or strip the sealers off and hope it doesnt happen again??

any suggestions would be very welcome. thanks

**Dave** · 25-03-2008

Will need to know the make of sealer if poss and also was the travertine dry/clean before sealing...?.

eamonn · 25-03-2008

yes floor was washed very well and was completly dry before sealing. ill be able to find out the name of the sealers tomorrow and let ya know. also sealers were applied evenly throughout the floor.

TilingLogistics · 25-03-2008

Need to know which sealer you used! Assuming it was a penetrating sealer stripping it won't really be an option if you think about it

Kev

**Dave** · 25-03-2008

Ok. mate. will wait till you tell us what make of sealer it was.....this will help peeps to tell you the best solution as to why this happened.........

SnipSnap · 25-03-2008

Onto what base was the travertine layed to? wood, sand and cement, indoor, outdoor?

How long did you let it dry before sealing it and what did you use to apply the sealer?

Lots of questions but may help to give a better anwser to your question.

**wetdec** · 26-03-2008

I would think we have 3 factors going on here.

The Trav is obviously cement filled as the sealer is being absorbed in the filled areas.

The Trav itself is likely a dense quality so absorbtion is very slow this isnt helped by the honing process which will decrease the absorbtion of an impregnator

The sealer is an intensifier rather than an inpregnating sealer so is more viscouse and will sit on the surface. This will also have a knock on effect of making it look patchy.

As Skip says it may still be wet.

Of course I could be totally wrong and its been sealed with Baby Oil

tiler

..

eamonn · 26-03-2008

update on the sealer it is called fila stone plus

snipsnap the trav was laid onto a sand and cement floor indoors we left it about an hour after the second wash before sealing it was well dried at that stage we applied the sealer with a roller

wetdec think you have a very good point about the trav absorbtion being less on the dense parts thats exactly what it looks like

could we have applied too much??
should i contact a fila agent??

going back on sat to (hopefully) fix the problem
hope this extra info helps,

thanks again any help very welcome.

SnipSnap · 26-03-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by eamonn

update on the sealer it is called fila stone plus

snipsnap the trav was laid onto a sand and cement floor indoors we left it about an hour after the second wash before sealing it was well dried at that stage we applied the sealer with a roller

wetdec think you have a very good point about the trav absorbtion being less on the dense parts thats exactly what it looks like

could we have applied too much??
should i contact a fila agent??

going back on sat to (hopefully) fix the problem
hope this extra info helps,

thanks again any help very welcome.

Was the screed fully dry before installation? (I know... silly question...)
I never used Fila before but it could be very likely that you applied too much on. I always use Lithofin Stainstop.... it is a great product.

I hope the others will be able to help you.

eamonn · 26-03-2008

yea screed was dry been in for months,
usually use lithofin myself but unfortunatly this time it wasnt my call, cheers anyway snipsnap

TilingLogistics · 26-03-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by eamonn

update on the sealer it is called fila stone plus

snipsnap the trav was laid onto a sand and cement floor indoors we left it about an hour after the second wash before sealing it was well dried at that stage we applied the sealer with a roller

wetdec think you have a very good point about the trav absorbtion being less on the dense parts thats exactly what it looks like

could we have applied too much??
should i contact a fila agent??

going back on sat to (hopefully) fix the problem
hope this extra info helps,

thanks again any help very welcome.

Wetdecs point is probably correct. The variance is due to different absorption rates and the fact it was applied with a roller rather than a pad probably didn't help.

After you applied it did you go back over it working it in?

I cannot imagine Fila being able to help they will probably blame the stone or you.

The only thing I can think of is to probably hone it! Sorry I can't be of more help.

Kev

SnipSnap · 26-03-2008

I know the feeling... on the job I am workng at the moment, the customer (builder) is preparing and supplying everything (not very happy installing 12mm travertine on to a plastered-on-plasterboard walls) apart from the adhesive and grout but I am not happy with the HG impregnator as it too can give umpredictable result. I will demand that Lithofin be used.