??? for Bill V, Kevin or another Stone Person

15 years ago

Hi,

My bathroom needs to be resealed already. The installer used TileLab sealer (sold at HD) on the bathroom and shower walls and I'm not sure he even sealed the shower floor (wasn't there when he put down the floor). I've noticed some dark grey spots on my calcutta marble bathroom floor and shower floor. Today I tested the bathroom floor (that I know he sealed) with some water. Sure enough there were dark grey spots where I put the water.

I called TileLab because even though the marble was sealed in late November, I only moved in this May. Which means I've only used the bathroom for over 2 months. The technical assistance person at TileLab said their stated 20 year warranty only covers how good the product will be in the container it has nothing to do with the lenght of time between sealing. In fact, he told me that they recommend sealing every 6 months. Talk about misleading advertising! I was furious!

The technical assistance person at Aquamix recommended cleaning the stone with their cleaner and then applying their Sealer's Choice Gold sealer. The rationale was that it didn't sound like the installer put down more then 1 coat of sealer and the marble was very porous. Hence switching products shouldn't be a big problem.

My questions for you are does that make sense? Is this what you would recommend doing or should I reapply the TileLab? Also what is the difference between a water based sealer and a solvent based sealer? How do you know which one to use?

I wish I started reading this forum before the installer used TileLab!

Thank you very much for your help!

Karen

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Comments (6)

ash6181
15 years ago
Karen,

I apologize for hijacking your thread, because I don't have an answer to your sealing question. But what I wanted to ask is are you in Knoxville, TN? If so, I'll be starting a new build in the area sometime in the hopefully not so distant future, and would love to get any recommendations or warnings from you on subs, suppliers, etc. you've encountered. Thanks, and sorry again for the hijack, but I wanted to be sure you'd see this.

Ashley
bill_vincent
15 years ago
Hi Karen--

I've made no bones in here about not caring for Tile Lab, but up till now, it was just a personal preference. As for what they told you at Aquamix, do what they tell you. The Sealers Choice Gold is a good solvent based product. As for the difference between solvent based and water based, there are two important differences. First, the solvent based sealer is a "breatheable" sealer, while the water based is not. What that means is that the solvent based sealer will let moisture transmit back and forth , so as not to trap moisture in the stone or grout, while the water based sealer will not. The reason this is a good thing is that you don't want moisture getting trapped inside of a surface, and growing mold or mildew INSIDE. That's actually even a tougher situation to remedy than if it just grows on the surface.Secondly, both are what's called "penetrating" sealers, meaning they do their job by penetrating into the stone, and stopping solids from getting into the pores of the stone, thereby curtailing stains taking hold. Water based sealers will not penetrate NEARLY as far into the surface as the solvent based sealers will, and as a result, have to be replaced much more often. About the only time I'll use a water based sealer is if I'm installing something like terra cotta tile, or soft limestone, where I need a pre-grouting sealer to stop the grout from adhering to the face of the tile. Any other time, I'll use solvent based.
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A quart will do fine. As for the grout, you CAN seal it if you wish, but most of the grout manufacturers (at the very least, Mapei and Laticrete, and I believe TEC, as well) are adding chemicals to the grout to stop mold and mildew in its tracks. It still wouldn't hurt to seal the grout if you're so inclined. That said, I have to say that in my OWN installations (in MY homes), I've yet to seal a single bit of grout, including the tub enclosure where I'm living now. I'll let you take it from there. :-) If you DO decide to seal the grout, though, yes, you can use the same sealer. Also, if you can't find the sealers any place else, John Bridge has an on-line store on his site that carries Stone Tech.
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the Emser website says it has a water absorbtion rate of 3.75%!!! The picture on their website shows the tile installed in a bathroom with a shower tho and, when we picked it, I figured if Emser's website showed it being used in a shower, it must be okay to use that way. So, maybe the website is supposed to say 0.375%? It's GOT to be a typo. I've yet to ever run across a porcelain with that high an absorbsion rate. Even the .375% would be extremely high for porcelain. Most of them are closer to .02- .03%. Next, could some of you kindly tell me - in baby-talk terms please - just what I need to specify with respect to getting my showers built correctly so that they don't leak? And then, what should I watch out for to make sure that whoever I hire is doing the job the way it is supposed to be done. I don't have the time, energy, or money for another law suit if my showers start leaking and my tile guy won't or can't fix them! THere's a link below with the most detailed instructions I've yet to see on the subject. I had hoped to use the 16" tiles on the floor (except for inside the shower where I figured we would use a smaller mosaic). I am willing to use the 12" tiles instead tho if they will be less prone to cracking. 16" should be fine. Okay. As far as the Kerdi system is concerned, that certainly is a consideration, and yes, it CAN be used for off shaped showers. You just need to build the pan out of mud, rather than using the styrofoam base piece. (I've built more Kerdi showers than I can count at thi point, and I've yet to use those foam bases even once yet.) As for cost, it might be a bit higher, being that the waterproofing has to continue up the walls with the Kerdi, and the drain by itself is about 100.00 or more, but it doesn't necessarily have to be Kerdi to be a good shower pan. Here is a link that might be useful: Harry Dunbar's shower pan install instructions
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chuckwagon
15 years ago
So Bill what brand of grout sealer do you recommend? I had gone to a tiling class and they recommended the TileLab, but I will take your recommendation over theirs. I'm sure they are trying to promote the brand they carry.

On another subject, I got one wall grouted around the tub. Yes, I'm slow. Between my 8, 6, and 4 year old boys, it's hard to get alot done. Question is, what consistency should the grout be? I followed the mixing instructions, but it was really crumblely. SHould it be peanutbutter consistency? I don't want to do something and change the chemical components. Thanks for your help.

Tammy
karenfromknoxville
Original Author
15 years ago
Bill,

Thank you for your help. I appreciate your advice and consider your opinion like the "Good Housekeeping Seal"!

Aquamix didn't recommend the solvent based sealer for my bathroom but the water based sealer. When I asked why they said the solvent was only used for more dense type stones like Granite. But on the marble, they said I'd be fine with a water based sealer.

Maybe I didn't state things clearly or the Aquamix technical person misunderstood my question. Which type of sealer would be best in my bathroom for the marble bathroom floors, shower walls and floor? Sounds like the solvent based from your previous response.

Thanks again for your help!

Karen
bill_vincent
15 years ago
I had gone to a tiling class and they recommended the TileLab

Let me guess-- the class was at Home Depot? I was at a Home Depot one time about 3 years ago when they announced one of those classes were about to start. This guy came out, pushing premixed thinset for the floor, mastic for shower walls, all kinds of garbage that was just that, and I ended up heckling the hell out of him to the point where I thought I was about to get thrown out of the store. I finally just said the hell with it, wrote John Bridge's url on the back of a bunch of my business cards and handed one to everyone in the class and told them if they wanted the straight scoop, either email/ call me, or go to John's site, and walked out. Just for the record, they also carry the Sealers Choice Gold.

As for the sealers I recommend, The Sealers Choice Gold is one of them. Others are Miracle's 511 Impregnator, or Stone Tech's Impregnator Pro.

Concerning the grout consistency, you're right-- it needs to be a little looser. When you say peanut butter consistency, we want CREAMY, not CHUNKY!! :-)

Which type of sealer would be best in my bathroom for the marble bathroom floors, shower walls and floor? Sounds like the solvent based from your previous response.

Yup!! :-)
karenfromknoxville
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi Ashley,

Yes, I live in Knoxville, Tennessee in the Sequoyah Hills area. I'd love to tell you of my experiences remodeling and hopefully you would benefit from my mistakes!

My contractor was great! He was honest, dependable, clean, and did great work! His name is Fred Harvey and his cell phone number is 865 250-3733. I also had a great fabricator, KD, painter, and tiler. But I did have some experiences that I would not repeat. I'd love to tell you who was great to work with and who I felt ripped me off. There are a few places/people I would definitely stay away from if I did this again.

When you are ready for some recommendations, contact me on the GW web site but over on the kitchen forum. I check out the kitchen forum a lot more often then anywhere else.

Best of luck with your project and welcome to Knoxville!

Karen

??? for Bill V, Kevin or another Stone Person

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ash6181

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