seal or enhance first? then what? confused.

16 years ago

Almost, nearly, definitely, kinda, just about ready, maybe, to put in 3x6 travertine subway backsplash. i think it is what you would call honed and filled.

I have read pre seal, lay tile, seal again, grout...

no, wait, its enhance, seal, lay tile, wait 3 days...no...

Ok, lay tile, enhance, buff, caulk the dog...

No, maybe its walk the dog, seal twice, enhance the grout...

can someone please give me the steps in the proper order?

thanks,

L.

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Comments (5)

boxiebabe
16 years ago
I'm certainly no tile expert, and I am sure that Bill will chime in with expert advice. I just had a conversation with my tile guy today (who's coming tomorrow! to do our backsplash). He said that day 1 he'll lay the tile. Day 2 he'll grout. Day 3, he'll use a sealer with enhancer.

Caulk the dog.. hehe.. gave me a good chuckle!

Boxie
bill_vincent
16 years ago
scrapinsal-- if you're doing this yourself, install the tile, seal it (don't worry about getting it in the joints-- the grout'll still stick), grout and clean it, let it dry for a few days, and enhance it.
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OK, so I didn't have time to get to Home Depot before leaving town to do this, so I used the "jellytoast method" of a small artist brush instead. I was surprised to find that after the stuff dried, I could not tell where I had and hadn't applied it. Which is good, because I only did it up to 7 feet or so, but the tile goes to 9. We'll use liquid soap, which is pretty good for not developing scum too quickly, but yeah, the pink mold will want to grow on the inevitable dead skin cells as well. The room will be well ventilated, and the floor is heated, including under the shower. I have become a convert to squeegeeing glass, but have never bothered to squeegee tile. Current bath has epoxy grout, though-- island tile guy would not go for that, so I settled on getting a good and local install, rather than paying a lot extra for someone else's travel time. Anyway, that's all a done deal. Next questions: 1. Any reason to knock myself out sealing the tile above the splash zone (please say no!) 2. Do I need to do a second coat? Now or later? I guess I don't know what the sealer actually does. I visualize it coating the grains in the porous grout, not filling in the interstitial spaces as epoxy would do. Does it last, if not getting abraded? I don't know, I just don't want to set myself up to fight the pink mold if I don't have to! I appreciate your help. I haven't done this before. It was pretty easy, but I still have to go back and work on cleaning up the tile surfaces. I cleaned up the drips, but when the light comes in different ways, I see cloudy smeary areas. I understand it can be reactivated with another application, but then I have to get THAT off evenly, too. Sounds kind of circular!
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Well, here's what went down. I used enhanced sealer sparingly so it would not get down the grout joints. This did not work particularly well, as the sealer.enhancer leaked down a fair percentage of the joints (not grouted). It says in the instructions that it makes a good grout release and you should wait 6 hours before grouting. I waited about 2 hours and grouted. I wanted to ensure that the grout would stick to the sealer/enhancer because if it didn't I'd be really screwed. From the looks of it, it stuck pretty well because it took a lot of work and will take some more to get the grout off the top of the tiles (mostly haze, but well adhered haze. Bottom line: I don't know what the best way to do this,I guess the b best thing to do would be a test with the sealer totally cured, and then grout, and later test to see if it adhered well to the tile grout grooves.
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I was going to say the same thing as Yvette -- That once you've sealed, you generally can't enhance. BUT - You say when you wet the tiles, that they change color, which makes it sound like they really aren't effectively sealed. If they were well sealed, they wouldn't change color with water. My concern would be for a 'blotchy' result -- where some areas take the enhancer and some don't. Do you have the kind of tile where this wouldn't be fatal? IMO, that would be something like a travertine, where the stone's natural coloration would mask which colors are darker due enhancer and some stay lighter? I'd try a Miracle 511-brand enhancer on an inconspicuous part to see what happens.
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Thanks so much for your input, Jim! I wasn't actually thinking about sealing the stones prior to installation; I was going to wait the 4-5 days before sealing.... but now you've started me thinking in new directions. We did a sample piece and it dries really quickly. Maybe I could get up early tomorrow and seal it all before the installer comes. He could do the back foyer floor while it's drying. I'm really glad you gave your advice about not getting sealer on the grout-sides of the tiles. I was thinking the exact opposite! I didn't think about adhesion. I just thought that if the marble absorbed the moisture from the grout, it might crack/crumble fairly soon. I too hope a definitive answer comes through soon. I should have considered all this long before now. Good luck with your project. My guess (which isn't likely worth much) is that the sealer will slightly darken your grout. You probably wouldn't need too much grout sealer for the job... Is there one on the market that is not an enhancer as well (water-based, not solvent based) and therefore might allow your grout to remain its intended colour? Sandra
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scrapinsal
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you so much.
L.

p.s.
the bassets thank you as well. :)
bill_vincent
16 years ago
You and your bassets are very welcome. :-) Give them a treat for me!!
pupwhipped
15 years ago
I'm gonna sheepishly ask this as me and my Cairn terriers are still a bit confused on this issue. Maybe Bassets are quicker on the uptake here. My travertine kitchen backsplash is up. I bought a sealer enhancer combo product from Lowe's but none of you pros had used it so I got spooked by it. Yesterday I purchased Stonetech Rich Color Enhancer Pro from a tile store. Guy said to grout then apply the Stonetech twice without letting the first coat dry before applying the second coat. I've been doing some test runs on left over tile I have (tile is on a 12X12 mesh) trying to pick my grout color. Thus far with the Lowes' stuff, I have been applying a coat of it, grouting, then applying another coat. Now these directions with Stonetech are totally different. Does it really matter? Yeah, why should we ever follow the directions? HA! It's just my tile guy says he usually seals, grouts, and seals again. Is this Stonetech Enhancer Pro a good way to go given I do want to darken my stone and, of course, I want to seal and protect it? Or do I need a sealer and a separate enchancer?

Thanks from the Cairns for any replies. Come on guys, let's go pee on some tiles.

pup

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seal or enhance first? then what? confused.

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boxiebabe

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seal or enhance first? then what? confused.

Comments (5)

boxiebabe

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scrapinsalOriginal Author

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pupwhipped

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