www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Hi quick question

Recommendation from Topps Tiles was to seal before and after grouting. My fitter (who unfortunately i feel is pushed for time as he has taken on too much on top of his regular job) reckons one coat is enough after grouting.

Don't want to make a big deal of it unnecessarily, is this ok???

Thanks

Alex

The reason you seal before grouting is so the grout doesn't stain the stone , which can happen! Then seal again after to add more protection.

It is not an absolute hard fast rule that you need to do it like that, however it is good and safe practice to do.

Sealing really doesn't take long, the average bathroom takes less than an hour, a kitchen floor 20 mins...

Read the bottle as to how many coats are recommended

Thanks CR. Will let him crack on in that case and can always put a second coat on myself with the leftovers.

I'll put it in the same category as not sealing the cuts edges of the wbpb ply. Not ideal but I don't think it's worth losing any sleep over.

If that is what you want to do then fine. However if it was me i'd ask him to seal before grouting and then you can do a coat after.

Which is in fact better for him as he will not have to grout, then come back the following day to seal.

Just ensure that when you seal it, that the floor is completely clean and no grout residue remains on the face of the tile.

Which is another benefit of sealing before grouting, i.e makes grouting easier with regards to removing residue.

Re: sealing boards, both side of the ply should have been sealed. This is so the boards don't warp. Sealing cut edges is again recommended but not as risky as not sealing the underside.

All of which is good practice. It's not a guarantee the tiling will fail however when floors are laid to be down for many years, it seems silly to take risks.

It's clear you like your fitter and don't want to put him under extra pressure but if you have paid for a job to be done then it really should be done correctly

Thanks again, I'm going to ask him to seal then grout and I'll do a second coat.

Oh dear it’s all gone wrong. This is going to be a lesson learned...

The bottle says apply with a brush or roller. I scrubbed off the grout, cleaned and dried the tiles, (the underfloor heating was off and tiles cool) and off I went with a new synthetic brush. I woke up this morning to loads of horrible brush marks and a smudgy look.

What did I do wrong?
How does this get fixed?

Thanks

Alex

Oh dear! *cough* I told you so *cough*


It is saleable but how depends on which sealer you use? Name and brand

Ok it's a FILA product.

I think they market/brand the product name for Topps Tiles as I cant find it on FILA's website. It's sold as protector for stone & marble. It recommends 2 coats but I'm not touching it again until I've got some advice!

I cleaned the tiles with a damp scouring pad and got my head right down using a torch to look for any imperfections? I was quite anal about it so I thought I'd be ok

ps should have put one of these in my first post..

Ah here it is:

http://www.toppstiles.co.uk/tprod1295/s ... -1ltr.html

Meh...

"•Penetrates deeply, protects and makes cleaning easy
•Does not leave any film or residue"

Not so sure about the second bullet point..

Really do need the actual name of the sealer to see if it's a impregantor or a topical sealer and if it's water or solvent based.

One thing is for sure, it will need stripping without a shadow of a doubt. Applying more coats will only make it worse. How you strip it and with what depends as I say on the sealers make-up along with the fact it's travatine.

If you can't find the info then it will be a call to Fila's technical department. I wouldn't seek advice from Topps if i'm honest as with all due respect a lot of the staff don't know what they are talking about and are sales based. Some of them do of course but it isn't worth the risk getting duff info.

Where you went wrong is that you apply by brush or roller (I tend to use a roller) then anything left on the surface after 5 mins is lightly buffed off, so you do 1 sqm, then another sqm, then go back and light buff the first, carry on like that until out the room

Ok just seen your post. It's a water based impregnator. Hang on lets see if I can get you a stripper...

Water based????? stinks to high heaven if it is the same Fila stone and marble sealer I have used.

Apply and leave for 12 hours and then wipe off any excess.

Thanks for the replies. Any suggestions for a remover will be much appreciated it didn't look like it will wipe off after 12 hours.

For round 2 when I get there any tips of buffing technique and what sort of cloth to use?

I think it might be a call to fila and ask which of their stripers is most suited to the impregnator you've got. Can't quite work out which of their sealers has been re bottled for Topps.

Just explain what's happened, you're not the first and won't be the last!

I'm not sure if that's a typo by ROC, certainly don't leave excess for 12 hours, water based or solvent.