I have never heard of sealing the tile, only sealing the grout.

Yes, you must seal the tile or moisture, grease or whatever will discolor the cracks in the glaze. I sealed mine before it was installed,after it was grouted, and then again a few months later because the glaze continues to crack over time. Do a search on this website for sealing crackle tile and you will find lots of discussions on this topic.

Thanks kalapointer. Pretty sure I've drooled over your kitchen (and your puppy!!). You have quartersawn oak cabinets, right? So do we. So, it's no biggy to do this DIY? Some of the posts are really terrifying to me.

We have crackle tile ordered, so have been paying attention to the sealing issue. The manufacturer says seal before you tile and seal any cut edges.

It was 13 years ago, but I think my tile guy sealed it on the wall before applying grout and then sealed it all again after the grout dried. Mine is behind a stove with 5 pilot lights and two big vents, and I've had no trouble with staining.

We sealed it once it was on the wall - once - I know they tell you crackle tile continues to crackle more after installation, but we haven't seen it, and we also haven't had any staining, spotting or discoloration. Ours is Fireclay.

We sealed WZ crackle after it was up. Grouted with mapai flex color. Good behind the range 2 months later but plan to seal again with leftover 511 next time I think about it

I found a You Tube video out of the UK that showed a simple wiping process after it was up. There are threads and manufacturers that say you have to seal both before and again after install, and then 90 days later or so, so I was just wondering how much work I was letting myself in for. I am going to seal it, so thanks and if anybody else has diy tips, please send them my way.

I have Gracia Rixi crackle and we didn't seal it. It's been 7 years and no issues. I'm like Linelle, even the tiles behind the range are fine. I rarely use the back burners, though. And, certainly if cooking a tomato sauce, I would use a front burner.

Check with your manufacturer, really. Some crackle tiles are "pre-sealed" for installation purposes, so that grout will not fill the cracks in the glaze. Others are not, and must be sealed before grouting. It has nothing to do with the cut edges.

My tiles must be presealed. However, those that were cut have unsealed edges. Even those tiles, along the cut, show no sign of grout in the crackles.

I think the only thing I sealed on my backsplash was the grout.

Linelle - I have crackle Sonoma as well. My salesperson was adamant that tile be sealed before grout. My contractor hemmed & hawed about that but did it. He said he was surprised at how much sealer the tile absorbed.

I'm supposed to re-seal at six months, (and, I think, every six months from now on) and I'm about due.

I have Grazia Rixi. I believed it needed sealing from reading here, but the tile guy insisted not. I was sooo tired of the whole reno process, I let it slide. The FIRST time I made red sauce PLOP! Stain. I wiped it, cried, then filled a syringe with hydrogen peroxide and flushed, flushed, flushed. Then I called the contractor back. Yeah. I'd seal it. Because you never know.

I talked to my daughter about this. Since she is finishing a BFA in ceramics, it occurred to me she might know something. I also took kalapointer's advice and went back over old GW posts. As MizLizzie says, one installer compared not sealing to Russian roulette in that you might be fine or you might not be. My daughter had me at her casual mention that the crazing allows water and bacteria to penetrate and then I stopped listening. :)

I was also curious about how a DIY actually does this but I guess we'll just wipe the face of all tile after it's up.

What I don't understand is .. why would you not? It takes about $30, a rag or sponge, and 15 minutes to do....

Now I'm not sure whether the tiles had an extra glaze or if they were actually sealed by the contractor. I told them I wanted them sealed beforehand, but they were so "oh yeah" that I thought maybe they were just humoring me.

I just dug out a spare tile. Here's the front. The tile on my backsplash still looks like this.

This is a shot of the edge. All edges look like this. It's definitely got a layer of something. Clear glaze or sealer?

The back of the tile isn't completely covered but shows traces of whatever is on the sides (and probably face of the tile).

So, they told me they sealed the tiles, but I have been skeptical of that. I had no reason to doubt them, but it seemed to me that tile just came straight out of the box. How could they have sealed the edges they wet-cut in my backyard and brought straight into the house to install?

My backsplash is very simple and straightforward and the only cuts are at the corners and ends of the run where food is unlikely to reach.

LOL, nightowl. I guess I didn't phrase my post well. It was a "how to" question not a "whether to"? Mostly I think I wanted to know whether I had to wipe each dang tile, including all edges, before I even put it up on the wall.

I thought you might need to, but on second thought... Even if you wipe each individual tile before cutting, once you start cutting you will have edges exposed that weren't wiped. So, wipe after install, but before grout?

Ah. I sealed ours after cutting and install. But, before grouting. I don't know if that was best though. Just what we did. The tiles came with a note saying to seal before grouting.

Linelle - my tiles look a lot like yours, and not only were they supposed to be sealed at install, but six months later (I just did my six month - this thread reminded me. ) So, if yours were pre-sealed, I could see how maybe you wouldn't need to do them on install, but wouldn't you have to do the follow up seal?

Here are mine:

Carrie, to me it looks more like a clear glaze than a topical sealing material. I mean, it's hard, like glaze that's been fired. The crackles are underneath, not a bunch of little cracks ready to suck up liquid. I sealed the grout after it cured. Never did a follow up seal, not even on the grout. It looks like new, even in my prep zone and behind the sink. But do what you think you should.

Yeah, I dunno, really. Just doing what the Sonoma salesperson was adamant should be done.

Then you should do it. Down the road, I may regret my cavalier attitude. :)

Mine are Walker Zanger same as nightowls and we also sealed-DIY. I used miracle 511 and a foam brush. I laid an old sheet out on the table and laid out a 'batch' of tiles. I brushed the sealer on and wiped it off with a cloth according to their directions. *It did say if you let it dry too much before wiping it could streak when you wipe so you'd need to re seal and wipe again. I had that a couple of times but really even though I panicked it was no big deal at all. Did it all pre install. We also used Mapei flex color cq white grout which does not need sealing so I left it at that. It's been 6 months and no issues with staining or further cracking either.

You can do it!

edit: oh and I second EAM-follow the mfg's instructions/recommendations.

Wow! Living and learning...

Thanks all and to autumn4 for her step by step.

I should add - ours specifically said seal the FACE of the tile. You don't want it to interfere with the grout or setting material. I wasn't super meticulous about it but just brush the face. Depending on the grout you use you may have to seal that as well so you'd seal once before install and then again after grout. I chose to seal while it was laying down vs. vertical where it would run off. Just personal preference. I hope it helps. I sure received plenty of help on this forum.

I have acres of sonoma crackle tile--including my counters. I learned almost immediately that it should be sealed, after seeing my tile setter's black thumbprint permanently imbedded in a tile. I think the first thing is make sure your tile setter has clean hands and washes them often, or uses white gloves if you have light tile. Be careful of damp newsprint, too. So, yes, seal them and seal them again. As someone said above, it costs very little and is easy to do. Because of my Lacanche gas oven venting, I do have staining on the backsplash behind the stove. Someday I'll redo those tiles….someday...

Thanks vedazu, I've seen your gorgeous tiles. Your tile changes are patina, which is really what the deliberate tile crazing, that they're selling as "crackle" tile, is as well. So, you have extra patina!

I had a crackle tile backsplash installed 3 weeks ago (Rixi Crema). The tiles have a glaze over the crackle, and the instructions were to seal after it was installed but before grouting. Then sealed again after grouting. It's early yet, but so far no staining.

We have sonoma crackle tile. My installer dipped it in a sealant prior to installing it in our shower (per instructions). He said the tile on the sink backsplash and tub didn't require sealing since it wasn't going to be inundated with moisture. 3 years later so far so good.

We have WZ Gramercy Park crackle tile as our backsplash, including behind our range top (which is used a lot, and things do splatter). It was sealed on install and still looks as good as the day it was installed over 3 years ago, including behind the sink. I do keep it clean and wipe up after cooking, but our kitchen gets a workout and the tile has endured. The tiles have not continued to crackle, at least not that's noticeable anyway.

We are also putting a different manufacturers crackle tile in our master bathroom. It can be used in the shower, but must be sealed before and after grouting, as well as periodically per their instructions. I almost didn't put crackle in the shower, you'll find a lot of people who suggest against it. But you'll find just as many, if not more, who have done it successfully when they follow the tile manufacturers instructions. I've done business with this tile store, and they are very reputable and do a lot of business. They install crackle tile in showers "weekly" according to them, and in 10 years of installing crackle in showers, have never had an issue of a customer calling back and telling them that the tile failed, stained, got moldy, etc. They even gave me references of customers who had crackle installed for over 3-4 years. You also have to use a reputable contractor/installer who has experience installing them in this environment. Plus, you need to accept that if used in a shower, they'll require periodic sealing, which is nothing more than wiping the sealer on the tiles with a cloth. Using crackle in a backsplash has not required the same maintenance, and after 3 years looks like it was just installed.