Maintaining Porous Natural Stone Tiles

gaelicyoda

Hi all,

Searched around a bit there but could not find an answer for this, so hopefully someone can help.

Had a tiler quote me for a job over the weekend - among other things, we're laying a patterned, quite porous, travertine tile with a rough, chiseled edge in the kitchen that we got at what we considered to be a good price (a ye-olde-worlde flagstone effect, which we both really liked) only to be told that the edges and pores would end up filled with grout as a result of the tiling process, so they were pretty pointless.

This has rained on my parade a little - well, a lot really - because we really wanted to keep that effect. The tiler told me that the tiling process would go like this:

(1) He seals the tiles and lets dry
(2) Lays the tiles, and lets set overnight
(3) Grouts the tiles and lets dry overnight
(4) Comes back to seal tiles and grout

so I tried to thrash out with him what we could do in order to preserve the effect. He was, predictably enough, relunctant to do anything that was not what he normally does and not very helpful with suggestions, and the only thing I could come up with was that between steps (2) and (3) myself and herself come with some contact and water resitant adhesive tape and mask off all the tiles before the grout is applied. This would be a serious pain in the b**ls, but worth it I think if we only had to do it once until we decide to change the tiles (I understand that kitchen grout is not often replaced?).

Anyone got any other less tedious suggestions of how we might be able to achieve our goals??

One other thought might be to seal the pores with some kind of clear resin before step (1) so that the effect is retained, but the surface is still even - I assume the tile sealant would not be usable in this way?

Cheers
GY

gaelicyoda

Quick update:

Come across one interesting suggestion on the net - the use of this "Grout Release" product (no affiliation).

We could daub this into the pores just before the grout is applied, and it should prevent the grout from filling them. Only concern would be whether or not it would react with the sealant, and if it would discolour the tiles. Hmmm.....

GY

dunsandin

Blimey, you found both a knowledgeable and honest tiler.
He's dead right, and when your pores are all clogged with gunk in 6 months time, you will see why. Filled and polished travertine is a better option, unless you are dab hand with a cotton bud and have a lot of spare time. Sorry for more rain on parade, etc..

gaelicyoda

Can excessive amounts of clear sealer solution be poured into the pores to transparently fill them level, giving the character (i.e. visible pores) but without the drawback of the 6 month crud build-up? Will it dry out with that kind of volume in one blob?

Heard another interesting suggestion today - can the tiles just be butted up against each other without applying grout at all (maybe just flexible adhesive to "stick" adjacent tiles to each other)? As per the (authentic) olde style flagstones?

GY

gaelicyoda

Another interesting article here

CJhaughey

gaelicyoda wrote: »

Heard another interesting suggestion today - can the tiles just be butted up against each other without applying grout at all (maybe just flexible adhesive to "stick" adjacent tiles to each other)? As per the (authentic) olde style flagstones?

GY

NO that is not a good idea, grout does more than just seal the floor, it actually makes the tiles stable so they don't move and crack.

gaelicyoda

Thanks CJ, will stick with the grouting route in that case.

Just to give an update, I've had another couple of tilers in since:

The first lad says it's more work, but he can grout more precisely so as to just fill between the tiles, and clean as he goes. Not sure if it involves that grout release stuff or not, it might do. Will be a more labour intensive for him, which is fair enough, but he says he can do it to a nice finish so hopefully he can. He also said he did not want to cut the edges of our travertine tiles for our bathroom and en-suites at 45 degress for the window corners where they would meet (instead of using beading) - he reckoned the tiles we have could shatter because there are pores within the tile, though not on the suface, so he suggested just polishing up the trasverse edges and simply butting them at 90 degrees to each other at the corners, with grout between. The tiles are polished, but not to a glossy finish, more like matt really, so he said it would look in-keeping. He was an older fella, and really sounded like he knew his trade pretty well, so hopefully he knows what he's on about.

Got the standard line from the other guy, i.e. non-pore-filling grouting cannot possibly be done. Also told me it would be possible to cut the tiles at 45 degrees. I really don't want to find out the hard way that he's wrong.

It's all down to who you trust really at the end of the day -arrgh!

GY

gaelicyoda

... just come across another product, this one looks really promising.

A clear travertine filler, sounds just the job:

http://www.pureadhesion.co.uk/jolly-natural-stone-glue-filler-travertine-repair-clear-1-litre.html

Anyone heard about or used this stuff before?
From a company called "Jolly"...

Cheers,
GY

skingtile

you have not stated the size of your tile or what colour grout you are using


www.bathroombliss.info

gaelicyoda

skingtile wrote: »

you have not stated the size of your tile or what colour grout you are using

It's pretty much like this (but not this 40 x 40cm size):

http://www.rightpricetiles.ie/tiles/enlarge_image.php?Code=348

The size varies, because it is in a pattern, but I would guess the main tile size would be about 60 x 40cm.

Hadn't really decided on a grout, but probably limestone, or something darker.

Cheers,
GY