Dakota Mahogany - grout first or seal first?

[brianj]

I just got done setting the tile for my counter top the other day. It actually went down easier than I expected. Right now I'm just curious if I should grout first, or seal first. The tile does absorb some water, but not a lot. I was thinking of using StoneTech's Enhancer Pro to give it a bit deeper look.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Brian

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[Mike2]

Hi Brian:

Does your tile look like the picture below? With many small fissures between the crystals on the surface which can/will collect grout during the process? If so I believe applying a coat of Enhancer Pro before the grouting process might assist cleanup. If you do decide to pre-seal, do it with the Enhancer Pro and not with a reqular impregnating sealer. And try your best to keep it out of the spaces/running down the side of the tile.

[brianj]

Hi Mike,

It is similiar to that. It is highly polished, but yes you can see the fissures between the crystals. That's part of what got me wondering...

Here's some pics...

http://webpages.charter.net/avidmtbiker/kitchen/closenoflash.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/avidmtbiker/kitchen/closeflash.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/avidmtbiker/kitchen/counter.jpg

They're a little big so I didn't link them. So far I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I still need to do the back splash as you can tell, but I'm going to try out a few designs first.

Thanks for the advise

Brian

[Steven Hauser]

Hi Brian,

If your fissures are large then some grout can go into them, a grout release can be used, but I don't recommend a color enhancing impregnating sealer. It may not evenly enhance the material.

We don't usually though, we just carefully apply the grout with a grout bag.