W
wetdec
Got this in my inbox and thought the answer might be useful to others.
Travertine is regarded although full of holes as of medium hardness. When its honed porosity is reduced as it builds up what’s called surface tension, if you wipe a piece of honed trav with mud then wipe it clean the mud is seen to fill visible pores it doesn’t sink in to the surface. Looking at it like this trav doesn’t need sealing it needs the unfilled pores which are left after honing filled. With me? This is why I shout about grout being fine to fill the missed holes. In reality if you spill anything on trav you will wipe it up and so it doesn’t get absorbed whether you seal it or not. So you grout it filling the pores then you seal it.
( Travertine is the new slate and there is a tone of crap & commercial Trav comming into the uk which is not as good as the Travertino Romano I would advise always sealing when the floor is finished and dry)
Ok
Silly limestone like white or cream which is sold as linen, Antalya etc are a tilers nightmare and I personally pass them on as they are like sponges and suck everything up.
German honed limestone now coming into the uk like the Jura’s & blue are propper limestone and can be sealed after grouting.
Marbles such as Crema Mafil or bottocino honed can be sealed after grouting,
Polished stone has such a high surface tension it doesn’t really need sealing but sealing is ok after grouting
Granite, only 20% of the granite available needs sealing at all but again sealing is ok after grouting.
Basalt if honed should be sealed before grouting
People believe that expensive items need protecting hence the paranoia over sealing, we are digging up mosaic floors the Romans laid you think Caesar carried a tin of Lithofin ..................doubt it
tiler
..
Hi
Travertine is regarded although full of holes as of medium hardness. When its honed porosity is reduced as it builds up what’s called surface tension, if you wipe a piece of honed trav with mud then wipe it clean the mud is seen to fill visible pores it doesn’t sink in to the surface. Looking at it like this trav doesn’t need sealing it needs the unfilled pores which are left after honing filled. With me? This is why I shout about grout being fine to fill the missed holes. In reality if you spill anything on trav you will wipe it up and so it doesn’t get absorbed whether you seal it or not. So you grout it filling the pores then you seal it.
( Travertine is the new slate and there is a tone of crap & commercial Trav comming into the uk which is not as good as the Travertino Romano I would advise always sealing when the floor is finished and dry)
Ok
Silly limestone like white or cream which is sold as linen, Antalya etc are a tilers nightmare and I personally pass them on as they are like sponges and suck everything up.
German honed limestone now coming into the uk like the Jura’s & blue are propper limestone and can be sealed after grouting.
Marbles such as Crema Mafil or bottocino honed can be sealed after grouting,
Polished stone has such a high surface tension it doesn’t really need sealing but sealing is ok after grouting
Granite, only 20% of the granite available needs sealing at all but again sealing is ok after grouting.
Basalt if honed should be sealed before grouting
People believe that expensive items need protecting hence the paranoia over sealing, we are digging up mosaic floors the Romans laid you think Caesar carried a tin of Lithofin ..................doubt it
tiler
..
