Help With New Travertine Tiles--sealing

[Heather]

Ok, I appologize for being a novice. We bought a new house with cream colored travertine tiles in the kitchen, butler's pantry and dark colored travertine tile in the bathrooms. I'm concerned about how to seal the cream colored tiles and the grout. We asked the builder who just said to "get a natural sealer" but we have no idea what he means by that or if that is in fact what we should do. Also, do you use different products to seal the tile than the grout? The tile has a stone-like appearance, not shiny or glazed and I worry that it will be porous and get stained easily if we don't do a really good seal (tile and grout). Plus, it's in the kitchen/dinette area--most likely to have food dropped on it by anyone cooking and by our toddler.
We move in three weeks so any help is appreciated.

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[FlooringDesignCenter]

Go to Home Depot and buy a natural stone sealer. TileLab, I believe is what they carry.

[Davestone]

I would test a small area with some drops of water to see if there is a sealer already on it.Drop some water on it, and see if it is absorbed,after a few minutes,if it darkens,the stone could probably use a sealer, and even if it doesn't you could apply a sealer and see if it will soak it in.There are still differing opinions on whether to seal some marbles, but i think sealing is best,for most. Most installers i know use a sealer before they grout (honed) stones.That is stone that isn't polished, and you're right honed stones are more porous, and definitely need a sealer. The impregnating sealers do a good job, and we have them on this page in the TYW store, above.The tile lab sealers from H.D. in my opinion are inferior and aren't used by any pros i know,personally.The instruction are on the bottles, or read around the site for different ideas. :nod:

[Stonehenge]

Hi Heather,

Your honed Travertine installation may have already been sealed by the installer, if not I suggest that test some spare tiles with an impregnator or color enhancer. You may wish to contact a stone restoration contractor for this service.

Michael of Stonehenge

[RubberFrog]

Hi Heather,
You may wish to contact a stone restoration contractor for this service.

Michael of Stonehenge
You always say that. Isn't she contacting a professional by being here?

[Stonehenge]

There are several reasons why I recommend a visit by a stone restoration pro, first and foremost is the onsite inspection.

Michael

[Shaughnn]

George,
While we do try to offer the best possible advice, Michael is correct about an on-site inspection trumping most of the advice we can offer here. There are factors which a questioner may not consider relevant, and so not mention, and there are conditions which we answerers might not remember to inquire about. A reputable pro, standing on top of an installation, is going to have all that they need at their disposal to make the best call.
Shaughnn

[Heather]

Our builder suggested a natural stone sealer (I will look at the TYW first as I also don't particularly trust Home Depot to have my best interests at heart--not that we don't use them for tons of purchases, It's just that the in store "experts" have frequently given mis-information on a variety of installation and product things). Anyway, we will also check with the installer about whether or not it's already been sealed.
If it hasn't, and we get a natural stone sealer, can that be put on right over the grout lines or do I need to worry about doing each individual tile and taking care not to get the sealer on the grout? We will check on the grout too as to whether it's been sealed. If it hasn't, do I need a second grout sealing product in addition to the sealer we use on the stone? I have read on this site that you need to take care with the grout sealers to make sure it's wiped off the tile before it dries--I assume that's something that is then done slowly in between each tile. With a taupe colored grout, I didn't think it would show much in terms of dirt--are there benefits to sealing even if it's a darker color grout?
Also, some of these tiles are in the bathrooms. Do I need a different type of sealer on the travertine in the bathrooms or will the natural stone sealer be ok there too?
I will definitely test with the water you suggested--we have spare tiles in case of need for repair, so I can use one of those.
Thanks again for such good advice and help! And sorry for all the questions.