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.