Replies

1. 
   BarryE | Dec 21, 2002 11:17pm | #1

   9 months?

   ---

   View Image

   Barry E
2. 
   kwilbe | Dec 22, 2002 02:34am | #2

   You apply impregnator after you grout. Are you trying to seal the tile/stone before you grout? Ifso give it up because grout will never bond to a sealed joint.

1. 
   stossel1 | Dec 22, 2002 02:45am | #3

   Now I am really confused. A friend told me to impregnate my tiles (slate) before I grouted so the grout wouldn't stain the slate. So I guess the answer to yuor question is yes I'm sealing the tile. Are you saying that my grout won't stick now?

1. 
   JeffBuck | Dec 22, 2002 11:09am | #4

   all depends on the pre-grout sealer you used.

   Just read the jug.

   JeffBuck Construction   Pittsburgh,PA

    Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite                  

1. 
   stossel1 | Dec 22, 2002 08:00pm | #6

   Jeff I read the jug , it said: Grout release: See instructions on product data sheet. Simple enough exept there is no product data sheet. I even went back to home cheapo to see if I inadvertantly threw something away.

1. 
   Piffin | Dec 23, 2002 04:52am | #8

   If I understand it right, the retailer has a responsibility to make the data sheets available to any purchaser of any product. It includes info about potential health problems that could be related to use of the product and ways to avoid that. selling product without making the sheets available is a viol;ation of the consumer protection act. I can't quote chapter and verse but when I was retailing twenty years ago, this is what I was told by my advisors.

   Not that screaming at Home Depot will gain you anything.

   But there is no reason you should not be able to Google the product to fine the homne site online and download the info or email the manufactureres for instructions along with a complaint about their labeling methods..

   Excellence is its own reward!

   "The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.

   The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."

   --Marcus Aurelius

2. 
   Frankie | Dec 22, 2002 07:08pm | #5

   Is the slate honed or cleft?

   I imagine cleft (ridges and layers revealed). I don't seal until AFTER grouting. It does require vigilance in making sure grout does not get into the nooks and crannies created by the clefts/ layers of the slate. Keep a thin and narrow spatula/ knife next to your trowel and grout sponge to help. When you scrape the slate's nooks and crannies you WILL scratch the surface creating gray lines. Not to worry. The slate "heals" quite well. The abrasion caused by the wiping off off the excess grout and the application of the sealer/ impregnator afterwards will rid the tiles of your scratches - as long as you are not heavy handed.

   The alternative of the grout not adhering to the tile is not attractive. The grout failing in this situation comes in the form of popping out and you will be called back to attempt to remedy the failed grout. This requires much more time and money than the added time required when doing the grouting as outlined above. Not to mention the Client's loss of trust in your abilities.

   If you have already sealed, take some sandpaper and scuff up the tile sides and the side/ top edges to better ensure bonding. Don't worry about the grayness created.

   Be sure to tell the client that when they sweep during the first year of the tiles life they will, depending on traffic, be sweeping up fragments of slate. Until slate becomes worn, chips break off through normal use and the tiles "heal" themselves. Whatever breaks off was meant to break off.

   Good luck.

1. 
   stossel1 | Dec 22, 2002 08:04pm | #7

   Frankie thanks for the feedback. I'll take your advice, sounds to me like you speak from experience.