Streaking Sealant

[sijmar]

Have a job where the client wants to restore sandstone (?) tiles. She says her husband left sealant on to dry and it left streaks earlier in the summer. Told it was Lithofin Stainstop or stainstop-plus...

what do you guys think is the best plan here? Greatly appreciate anyhting that will avoid me having to sand down the tiles.

Thanks

 

[MICK the Tiler]

G'Day and welcome to the forums

I won't comment on how to solve the issue at hand as I'm not familar with your local sandstone, But Kev (Tiling logistics) will be along shortly as he is the resident stone refinishing specialist.

 

[TilingLogistics]

Have a job where the client wants to restore sandstone (?) tiles. She says her husband left sealant on to dry and it left streaks earlier in the summer. Told it was Lithofin Stainstop or stainstop-plus...

what do you guys think is the best plan here? Greatly appreciate anyhting that will avoid me having to sand down the tiles.

Thanks

Most sandstone is as porous as a sponge! Consequently the stainstop will have gone fairly deep depending on how many coats were applied. So why not sand it as you suggested? It would be the quickest way IMO! How many M2 are we talking about? What colour is the sandstone?

Kev

 

[LM Ceramics]

i laid limestone a few months ago in a bathroom and the bathroom floor was already tiled by the customer himself pencil marks all over the floor and coffee stains a very porus tile a nightmare trying to restore the floor

 

[sijmar]

THanks for the advice - the stone is a bateig blue. I'm going to look at sanding it out - any pointers... I recon a belt sander could easily put some groves into the tiles although a palm sander could take a long time..

 

[enduro]

I tiled a bathroom with travertine a few years ago, and the plumber wrote on it with a blue felt tip pen a message and a arrow where he wanted a hole drilled...:furious3:

 

[TilingLogistics]

THanks for the advice - the stone is a bateig blue. I'm going to look at sanding it out - any pointers... I recon a belt sander could easily put some groves into the tiles although a palm sander could take a long time..

Use a full size orbital sander with variable speed! Do a test area first you should be OK.

Alternatively if you want to do it quicker you could hire a rotary scrubber with a drive board and buy some 17" sanding discs to attach to it But still do the test area first to determine the grit required.

Kev

 

[sijmar]

the other thing is i spoke to lithofin who said this product was 'immovable' or 'unstripable', but i then spoke to a shop which said 'Aqua Mix Sealer and Coating Remover' would get it off no problem.

 

[TilingLogistics]

the other thing is i spoke to lithofin who said this product was 'immovable' or 'unstripable', but i then spoke to a shop which said 'Aqua Mix Sealer and Coating Remover' would get it off no problem.

Firstly all good quality penetrating sealers are difficult to remove especially Lithofin and Aqua Mix. That said you will never get it all out but you will get enough out to get rid of the aesthetic problem which is the streaking on the surface in this case. So in essence the advice you have been given from Lithofin is correct to a degree.

Aqua Mix sealing and coating remover will get a lot of it out providing you adhere to the dwell times and follow the instructions. If you are left with stubborn parts then simply apply the Aqua Mix S&C Remover again allow it to dwell and then back it up by adding Aqua Mix Nano Scrub to the S&C remover, work it in and allow it to dwell then scrub again and remove with a Wet Vac. Thoroughly wash and rinse the floor and you should have no problems.

I removed 5 Coats of Ronseal Marine Varnish successfully off a quarry tile floor using this method it took 3 applications but it did the job

Kev

 

[sijmar]

great, i'm going to try the ASCR first and leave the sanding as a backup -thanks for the wisdom!

 

[sijmar]

final liberty Kev... for resealing, have you had best results using stainstop-plus or Aquamix enrich n seal? (following instructions so the whole job doesn't go full circle!)

 

[lonetcrystal]

The streaking your seeing is from the sealer being allowed to dry on the surface. Use a penetrating sealer on new Saltillo tiles and grout. Penetrating sealers fill the pores and irregularities to the level of the floor or grout. Due to the thickness and porosity of the tiles, two coats of sealer are usually required. To seal or reseal existing tile, it is important to know what is on the tile.
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Lonetcrystal