how to seal marble tile with Polyurethane clear coat?

[Elietzer]

ok this is my question,I bought marble tiles that has this Polyurethane clear coat over that makes it look really shiny.
the installer says I can't apply a sealer because it wont penetrate in the stone because of the Polyurethane clear coat that has on it, but the previous estimater that came to me house says that they will goin to seal the marble, I call floor and decor where I bought the tiles says that I need to seal product to protect the finishing, then I read in other forums that seal will stop the breathing from stone and will deteriorate.
now is there any special sealer for Polyurethane marble tiles?
can they be sealed?

or no need to be sealed because no effect will happen in this type of finish?

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[GraniteGirl]

Those tiles are smothered already - don't know why you'd want to seal them any more :stupid2:

Are you planning to use these on a floor? If so, what kind of traffic are you expecting? Reason I'm asking is that most urethane coatings I've seen on floors look real crummy after a few weeks of use and scratches, dull spots and flaking are common and well nigh impossible to fix.

I am not a big fan of coating stone in anything. You really are not allowing for the normal transfer of vapor through the material. This could cause all kinds of trouble in the long run.

[doitright]

Hi Elietzer, Welcome! :)

You mentioned you bought the tiles with the poly coating already on them. Do you have a link to where you bought them, or a picture? :shades:

I've never seen them come out of the box that way.

If this is accurate information you gave us, the poly coating will eventually scratch, and then the entire coating will have to be removed to have the floors properly restored.

[Elietzer]

here is some pictures, I have to fire my contractor after screwing up lots of my tiles and that was the same tile installer sayin he took a piece to homedepot and they told him this was a polyurethane clear coat marble tile, they do scratch easy, my new installer says this is nothing but pure marble stone and the shine on the tile is a buffing job, he said he can buff the back of that tile and bring the same shine thats is on top .
any opininons are welcome, also have more pictures in next tread due to the 5 picture limit per tread.

[Elietzer]

here is some more pictures of tile and crappy job from that "tile installer"

[Elietzer]

im coosing www.protileinstallers.com
they look like they are professional, my other(the fired one) contractor he was not as formal as protile, they promise to get this floor as flat as a glass because they specialize in marble, also check out one of the previous picture with the nickel showing how much mortar he put under those tile, my new contractor says the mortar bedding is too thin that should be at least 1/4 of an inch thick of mortar bedding, any opinions or advices are welcome.

[doitright]

Hi Elietzer :)

Thanks for posting the pictures.

The marble is polished at the factory that way. It has no coating, and more than likely no sealer will penetrate the surface.

This particular material from HD is a low quality stone. I usually comes chipped and scratched right out of the box. It also has open veins that cause it to crack easlily.

This dark stone will also scratch from regular foot traffic.

The orginal installation is also poor. The thinset had only about a 50% bond, chipped material installed, and staircase city.

Do you know if your existing floor has a deflection rating suitable for a marble install? :shades:

[Elietzer]

I dont know what do you mean if my floor has a rating for marble tile,it is a concrete floor,also this stone came out of floor&decor outlets not from HD@$2.49 a piece and they came out 98% without scratches or chips.

Damages on pictures are the installer fault grouting with knee pads on and draggin bucket(he has being fired),they told me the stone can be really fragil but as long is well installed will not cracked in normal use or scratch if no shoes is walked in.
but thanks for the info I knew there was no coat in these stones was my ex-installer bright idea on saying that.
at least I know they can be buffed if scratches becomes too bad.
this is the brand or company that makesit,let me know if you have heard about them or know anything about this company,

http://www.wellmadecorp.com/marble/index.htm

[doitright]

Hi Elietzer :)

:fim: Didn't know it was concrete.

As long as the cracks were properly treated (if there are any), you'll be ok.

I'm not familiar with that quarry, but I'm sure they're ok. Just need to be sure the tiles are square and calibrated. If not, you just allow for it.

[Elietzer]

also I have removed the tiles off the linoleoum to re-do it again, now with a specialized marble tile installer,I was able to save 30% of them,do you guys what's the best way to scrap the mortar off the tile?

[Elietzer]

finally is looking good the marble installation,one thing no one mention here was the marble need to be installed most of the time with"mud" a pretty interesting process,they set a thin layer of thinset in the floor then "mud"then spread some more thinset on back of tile then sandwich the whole thing,now compare the thicknest of the the setting now and the previous picture from previous installer, huge difference!
they also are goin to do marble baseboard and kickboard on breakfast bar, will come with more pictures when everything is done.

[doitright]

Hi Elietzer :)

Now thats one fine looking installation!

As far as a mud installation, it depends if you have room for it. Almost everything in my region is over a wood frame structure. Therefore, double plywood, an isolation membrane, and a medium bed thinset will achieve the same results.

[Elietzer]

finally done with my tile installation and bamboo, it looks awesome we went thru a hard time after first installer didn't knew what he was doing but we get some quality people afterwards and they did a great job, finally we are thru with this project, check out pics lemme know what you all think about it.

[doitright]

Hi Elietzer :)

Glad to see you're completely finished, and enjoying your new floor! :nod:

As I stated earlier, excellent installation! :tup2:

[TRAVIS (I.T.M.)]

Second installation looks great. I'm just curious, was there a difference in the prices of the installations? Am I correct in assuming the first install bid was a lot cheaper?

[Elietzer]

yes 2nd installation was $5.50sqf plus $4.00 for everybag used of leveling mud plus $30 to install each bag of leveling mud.
first installer bid was $3.50sqf using regular thinset which is not the right way to install marble.