travertine sealant around shower /bath area?

[steve6710]

new to tiling, bought a few tools and having a go doing a few jobs for family members.
fitted a new bath with mixer shower above it, used mapei white flexible adhesive and mapei beige flexible grout is to go in.

tiled but not grouted yet, primed the bare plaster wall with sbr after 3 weeks of plaster drying, the walls were a mess so i straightened them with a skim. i'd never even heared of travertine until this week. it looks good on the wall but i have seen the porus nature of them and i am concerned that the shower end of the bath may get water through the tiles.

is a few coats of ltp matt sealer enough to stop water getting through the travertine?
do all coats need applying before the grout?
will an anti mould forever white type expensive silicone bathroom sealant provide an adequate seal around the bath on the travertine or is there another sealant i should use around the bath

:mad2: thought tiling was a case of sticking squares to wall........2 weeks later:mad2:

 

[Ian]

The sealer is to protect the tiles from staining, it does not waterproof them. Did you tank the shower area before you tiled?

 

[steve6710]

not tanked! is there a post tiling solution to this drama of water penetration in the shower area?

 

[Ian]

not tanked! is there a post tiling solution to this drama of water penetration in the shower area?

Not really, however, at least you have used cement based adhesive. The walls could have done with being tanked, but it's done now, did you back skim the tiles as well as troweling adhesive on the walls? Im sure you noticed the holes in the back of the tiles.

 

[steve6710]

i did back skim the tiles that had larger holes but some of the tighter tiles were just squeezed onto the full bed, does it help that i nearly bust a blood vessel forcing each tile into position and ensured a squeeze of adhesive around the perimeter of each one? can you advise as to which sealant would be most beneficial to the waterproofing aspect of the travertine at this stage if any or should i apply a little cemtex to the room and run! is standard bathroom silcone sealant adequate for the bath seal?
if i didnt have 4 kids and times were not so tough i would stick to plastering!!!!

 

[steve6710]

i have used some tubbed bal white star in some of the dry areas as my cousin had already purchased this before i got there, hoping the grout will keep those tiles on the wall!

 

[Ian]

Another quick question, what size were the tiles?

 

[steve6710]

300mm x 300mm

 

[White Room]

You say you skimmed the walls, did you pva the walls before you plastered them...