sealing travertine

[willbones]

When sealing trav I seal before grout, then grout, then re-seal. Job im on this week - customer has bought sealguard from TCH. Shop assistant has told him to grout then spray over the entire wall. What do you guys think? Would make the job easier - i.e. to grout before sealing, then seal the entire thing in one. What are the pros/cons of not sealing beore grouting? Its unfilled trav.

 

[Defy]

The idea of sealing (not intensifying) is to close the pores of the stone so preventing staining. When you work with unfilled trav the difficult job is getting the grout to finish nicely in the voids you have filled and get it to stay there.

If you seal the trav before grouting you are sealing grout anchor points so it loses grab and comes out. When you get big voids to fill this is ok but the problem with unfilled and filled trav is there are always tiny pores you dont see so well until they get filled with dirt. There is no exception you seal trav when it is fixed and dry.

 

[Daz]

I've used Sealguard before.
It is very quick and easy to use and causes moisture to sit on top of the stones very much like rain does on a highly waxed car body.

My personal opinion is that the finished job looked average and that I have achieved a much nicer finish when using products such as Lithofin.

I wont be putting Sealguard on any future natural stone jobs.

 

[Defy]

've used Sealguard before.
It is very quick and easy to use and causes moisture to sit on top of the stones very much like rain does on a highly waxed car body.

My personal opinion is that the finished job looked average and that I have achieved a much nicer finish when using products such as Lithofin.

I wont be putting Sealguard on any future natural stone jobs.

The man knows what he is talking about in my humble opinion

 

[bigdaz]

so Defy, just to confirm, are you saying set tiles, grout and then seal?

 

[Defy]

so Defy, just to confirm, are you saying set tiles, grout and then seal?

Thats the way m8 when it is dry which takes a bit of time but worth the wait. (slate, fix seal grout seal)

A good deal of the money we charge for stone that everyone thinks is high should be accredited to the time spent on it. Laying stone isnt like laying ordinary tiles you are being paid for your knowledge and your time because it takes time, rush it and it will kick you squarely up the arse. The majority of messed up jobs are fixed by idiots who have taken the money and provided neither.

 

[bigdaz]

(slate, fix seal grout seal)

so you wouldn't seal slate before laying?

 

[Defy]

so you wouldn't seal slate before laying?

No point its structure makes it easy to work with. ( NOTE do not seal slate outdoors with lithofin slate seal )

Slate is the simple one if you know how its the money maker of the stone world

 

[reaper72]

I sell 60x40 Travertine and I wouldn't use Sealguard for it-I'd use a product such as SOVEREIGN STONE SEALER with a small sponge roller and tray