Gents,
After slinging 800 sq foot of Porcelain 12×12 tile with thinset over Durock and grouting it with “superior brand” grout Harvest wheat color (if it matters), I am faced with sealing the grout. (1/4 inch joints)
I suppose most of us have toured the selection at HD, Menards, and the various tile speciality stores. Grout sealer comes in many names and solutions. The most common version has some content of Silicone. From there you go to the more specialized sealers that have proprietary mixes of Poly—- something (rather than quote improperly I went for dashes).
Now, asking the tile salesman what to use is like asking the barber if I need a haircut. I need an objective opinion.
This would be a stupid question except for the fact that Menards sells their “right stuff” for $22.50 a pint! Some competing versions are that for a gallon. I will use on this floor and other floors (everything will be glazed tile) probably 2 to 3 gallons of this stuff.
The simple question is what is fluff? and what is fact?
Replies
while you folks are answering boochs q, let me piggyback w/ related q:
cracks in grout in same direction of grout line, will any sealer seal these up? do not want to rake out grout if there is a product out there that can work...
cracks in grout in same direction of grout line, will any sealer seal these up? do not want to rake out grout if there is a product out there that can work...
How big are the cracks? Most likely the answer is no.
If the grout is cracking the only way to fix it is to re-grout. But before doing that you should try to figure out what is causing the cracking. Probably the most common cause is a lack of movement joints in the installation, but there could be many other causes.
you could probably wiggle the edge of a sheet of paper into them, so pretty tight...colored grout (hard to colormatch) for master bath i had remodelled three years ago, cracks are vertical, couple feet long on two jointlines only.
would a sealer bridge this gap and stop water infiltration? if so which one?
My first thought was you were such a pita you could go chase yourself. It seems that all of that has died down, so second thought>>>
Second thought was maybe match the grout color to an epoxy grout; clean the cracks out, fill, wash down. The color doesn't have to be perfect, and a sealer will not work.
why thanks meg!
Lol, you're welcome.
See you around...
AquaMix Gold 15 is the best that money can buy. At $80 a gallon, it ought to be. http://www.aquamix.com/
You can buy c r a p p y sealers cheap, like $10-20 a gallon, and all they are is liquid silicone. They will have to be reapplied quite frequently. The Gold 15 is a one time penetrating sealer.
I believe in buying products from manufacturers that specialize for products dedicated to that industry. Aquamix makes only tile related sealers.
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1927
I'll look for it.
So many labels in the tile aisle describe the material as "tile sealer", "Marble & Tile sealer", Saltilo, etc. then you get to "grout cleaners, tile cleaners, and more". There had to be 20 plastic bottles of liquid for a specific task. Liquid in a bottle. Snake oil or repackaged standard products is my wonder. I appreciate the reply. Particularily in the case of the Menards product there was no information other than Poly--- with petroleum distilates. Theirs had "proprietary" next to the poly. I even saw teflon listed in a product from HD. 3 years down the road if it fails no one remembers enough to go back and complain on the supposed lifetime product.
Could be this is just industries method of distributing toxic waste. I heard a friend speculate we should take all the radioactive waste and place a small amount in peoples keyfobs. Soon it would all disappear.
Seriously I'll run this one down. Seems awful expensive for a gallon of 'concrete' sealer. I'd hate to experiment, but it seems a coat of Thompsons or some other penetrating sealer would work as well.
Thanks. "Gold" at least has a satisfied user. That beats 3 apartment dweller recomendations.
Za Vas!
another vote for aquamix....
and a vote to shop a real tile store next time......they'd already have recommended the aquamix.
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
Update on the price of the gold 15. 40 clams a quart!
I went to Aquamix website found the local 2 distributors and took a shot. One had no stock and the other only had quarts. When I offered the 80 a gallon price and intoned that is the price I was expecting she offered up a solvent based aquamix version that had a ten year rating at 80 a gallon.
Whaddya think? Is the gold over the top at 160 a gallon?
hot-- and whether pigs have wings"
Price of gold has gone up a lot over the last year, so you didn't follow the futures market? :)
Really, if something is so good that it is worth $160 a gallon, so be it. Remember
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't
need.
Tom
yes but I have 18 year old grout in a bath I installed. No problems there.
SOOOO I'm buying 160 $ worth of something to insure I have more of the same?
You know, its all I use. The other stuff must be reapplied and homeowners just won't do it, so I seal with the Gold 15.
I tend to purchase the finest materials that money can buy, knowing that 80% of the bid is labor. Saving $150 on a $5,000 shower doesn't really add up to me. One callback, and I'm s c r e w ed.
The other thing that you should be aware of it the porosity of the tiles. Assuming this about 100 square feet of tile and the tile is porceline or glazed ceramic, you may not use over a quart. The tile itself won't absorb jack, only the grout. If the grout lines are narrow, you just wipe on, wipe off. Just like the Karate Kid.
Is it worth it? Heck, I don't know. But then, I buy kiln dried lumber for framing and use cast iron for plumbing.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1927
I've got a good 700 sqft with the porcelain 1/4 inch grout lines. You are right, but I am torn on the expense. If this was all I'm doing then I'd spend it but as it is there is 30 thousand left to spend and there are many locations to spend it. 20% here and there is no big deal. It is the off the books expenses (grout sealer is one of those) that knock the budget to heck.
This section is probably 50 % of my tiling. I still have 10 buck a square foot marble to put in the shower surround and more porcelain shower base & second bath floor to lay. (The marble and the shower base will be sealed with the Gold 15)
You've made a good point. No decision on my part until Friday when I head up for a weekend of pushing the project forward.
If push came to shove, I would seal the shower, and leave the floor unsealed.
If it is a heavy traffic area, I would seal the floor too. SWMBO will curse your existence if she had to clean grout lines a year from now. If sealed, the job will be easier. SWMBO won't bless you, but I believe just being left alone is the spousal equivalent of an atta boy.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1927
>>just being left alone is the spousal equivalent of an atta boy.
Peace, man, peace.
Tom
Another vote for AquaMix. "AquaMix 15" = 15 year life, I believe. I hate sealing grout, for me it is the most boring and least pleasant aspects of a tile job, so I always try to convince the client to pay for the good stuff, so that I don't have to come back and re-apply anytime soon.
In the end it's like anything else... you can slop on cheap cra ppy sealer, and the results will reflect the investment. In this area IMHO you definitely get what you pay for.
Sounds like Aquamix 15 is the stuff. I've always taken a jaunticed look at the salespeople in the stores . Most of the time I can judge the quality by finish, materials, reputation and subtle details. This love juice is not one of those things.
As for the applying. That is one thing I am confident in. Booring as it is it is perfect for a teenager. I have 2 that I need to find long term tasks to keep them occupied while I work and dream up the next project they can do while I am also involved. Grouting and sealing are great. Drywall mudding and sanding are like herding cats. Tiling they do well. Hanging and cutting rock they do well. (not on setting the screws though)
There are no shortage of places to get the stuff. I've already got the little dribble bottle with the plastic wheel. I give that a 30% chance of being worth the 2 bucks.
Still a bit of haze on the tile but I expect an 8th washing and a coat of wax after all the sealing is dry for a week will bring up a shine.
Is this another of those add water mix and apply things?
I tell ya pal I was pondering the same thing then I was sitting by my work bench and I looked at the bag of grout and there it was..the sealer reconmended by the manufacturer.. I used classics so they recommended tileclub..
At Darkworks Customer satisfaction Job One..Yea yea were all over it , I got my best guys on it.........
You wax Porcelain tile??? I think this is the first time I've ever heard of porcelain tile and my first thought when I read your post was "sounds slippery", but waxing it sounds like a good way to get people to fall down.
Oh, now I see that I have assumed it is a floor. Shame on me.
Rich Beckman
Another day, another tool.
Edited 1/9/2003 9:28:33 AM ET by Rich Beckman
This is pretty rough surface tile. I think a coat of silicone or WD 40 wouldn't cause a slip. Then again I may try it under where the cabinets are going.
Good point. I listened to my wife too much.