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tick-ticktock
Hi, please help... I have a had 30mtrs of beautiful grey polished porcelain tiles fitted in my open plan kitchen/conservatory & the tiler has done a fab job laying these tiles except he failed to seal them.
Obviously within 2 weeks marks were showing all over them... it appeared like grease marks/spots & nothing would budge them... I went on this site to find the answer & contacted the supplier to check & we have found out that they are porous. The supplier said that they have a notice beside the tiles on display indicating that they recommend sealing. As the customer ... I just chose the tiles & the tiler ordered & collected them.
Our tiler came to look at the marks & he initially said it was the 1st he had heard about polished porcelain requiring sealing etc... (this is a 30yr + experienced tiler who even worked for national heritage completing mosiac tiles in stately homes etc.. but I showed him this site & the posts which indicated the need & why you need to seal etc..
To cut a long story short he came back 3 days later with a 5lt tin of sealant & he said he would seal them now to stop any further marks appearing with a view to replacing those which were marked (approx 30tiles)
He sealed the tiles but before he commenced sealing he just used a light brush to wipe the tiles of dust & never cleaned them he just set about sealing..... he buffed them 20 mins later and told me not to step on them for 2 hours.. he said he would come back tomorrow & give them a 2nd coat.
At this stage we both spotted that the marks were not as noticeable & we both thought... wow this will probably mean that we don't need to replace the tiles after all.
When he came back the next day I stopped him from giving it a 2nd coat because there were still cloudy from the seal the day before & I was concerned that the 2nd coat may seal in this cloudyness... he re-buffed it again & then I asked him to leave it with me for a few days for me to buff again & see the end result. He then looked on the back of the sealant tin & then said... " oh, just read the instructions on the back ... we are meant to leave for 3 days before walking on or using properly ... Yep... idiot never even read before commencing ... now I am left with tiles which at night time look ok but in the day you can see footprints, trainer marks, hubbys work boot footprints etc.. & a general cloudy mucky finish... I have just rung the tiler to come back round whilst it is daylight to see the finish .... he is not happy but... I need to know if this sealant can be safely removed . the tiles cleaned thoroughly then re-sealed without doing any more damage to my tiles... please help as this tiler now tells me he didn't re-new his liability insurance as " i only do domestic work now so didn't think it mattered"... So jo public does not deserve to be protected ...arrrghhh. I want to try to avoid having them ripped up & starting again for my sake & the tilers ... any advice will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance
Obviously within 2 weeks marks were showing all over them... it appeared like grease marks/spots & nothing would budge them... I went on this site to find the answer & contacted the supplier to check & we have found out that they are porous. The supplier said that they have a notice beside the tiles on display indicating that they recommend sealing. As the customer ... I just chose the tiles & the tiler ordered & collected them.
Our tiler came to look at the marks & he initially said it was the 1st he had heard about polished porcelain requiring sealing etc... (this is a 30yr + experienced tiler who even worked for national heritage completing mosiac tiles in stately homes etc.. but I showed him this site & the posts which indicated the need & why you need to seal etc..
To cut a long story short he came back 3 days later with a 5lt tin of sealant & he said he would seal them now to stop any further marks appearing with a view to replacing those which were marked (approx 30tiles)
He sealed the tiles but before he commenced sealing he just used a light brush to wipe the tiles of dust & never cleaned them he just set about sealing..... he buffed them 20 mins later and told me not to step on them for 2 hours.. he said he would come back tomorrow & give them a 2nd coat.
At this stage we both spotted that the marks were not as noticeable & we both thought... wow this will probably mean that we don't need to replace the tiles after all.
When he came back the next day I stopped him from giving it a 2nd coat because there were still cloudy from the seal the day before & I was concerned that the 2nd coat may seal in this cloudyness... he re-buffed it again & then I asked him to leave it with me for a few days for me to buff again & see the end result. He then looked on the back of the sealant tin & then said... " oh, just read the instructions on the back ... we are meant to leave for 3 days before walking on or using properly ... Yep... idiot never even read before commencing ... now I am left with tiles which at night time look ok but in the day you can see footprints, trainer marks, hubbys work boot footprints etc.. & a general cloudy mucky finish... I have just rung the tiler to come back round whilst it is daylight to see the finish .... he is not happy but... I need to know if this sealant can be safely removed . the tiles cleaned thoroughly then re-sealed without doing any more damage to my tiles... please help as this tiler now tells me he didn't re-new his liability insurance as " i only do domestic work now so didn't think it mattered"... So jo public does not deserve to be protected ...arrrghhh. I want to try to avoid having them ripped up & starting again for my sake & the tilers ... any advice will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance