tumbled emperador, tilelab, want wet look

[dock]

Hello, im new,and impressed with your site, i just wish i found it sooner. I have a few questions/concerns.

We have reciently installed tumbled med and dark emperador marble though out house on floors and bathroom walls and showers. They were sealed with tilelab enhancer. Two problems, they still seam to have a bit of grout in the "pits", grout didnt get cleaned off off quick enough, and should have been cleaned better before enhancing. They look allright however they look so much better when wet, this is why we went with the enhancer. But with the enhancer we still dont have the real wet look, is this comon with tilelab? What should i do? I was wondering if i can use vinegar on tumbled tile, and would it help remove the bits of grout left on, or is it too late now that its been sealed. I have spent hours on my knees with a nylon brush already.

Also i have a bathroom vanity and fireplace in polished emperador, has not been used yet or sealed, any recomedations on sealer, since i now realize your not fond of tilelab.

Thanks a bunch, LeeAnn

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[Davestone]

There are much better enhancing sealers.Usually the solvent based enhancers seem to be better.You can probably still get a decent enhancement even though you've already sealed the tiles.You could test a spot with some enhancing sealers like..Aquamix,catalina,stonetech,to name a few.Usually i grout the holes in on tumbled marble to keep the dirt out, myself.On the polished stone i would try an impregnating sealer,made by the same companies i listed.

[StoneBuddy]

Best enhance I've ever used is Aqua Mix Enrich N Seal. Pricey, yes, but worth it's weight in gold.

Only problem will be whether or not it will penetrate enought to achieve the level of enhacement you are after because of the tilelabs product already there. Depending on the wear characteristics of the tilelab product and the application methods, you should expect to have "some" change. It is also a top-notch sealer to boot!!

[dock]

so there is no problem placing a new product over the old, without some kind of removal? To be clear the origional produt was penetrating sealer, stone enhancer &sealer
Thanks for the info

[MasterGranite]

What Dave said... DO NOT use vinegar on any of your marble as this will give you the exact opposite finish. Vinegar and acids will ETCH marble. Etch won't be as noticeable on the tumbled marble and will ruin a polished finish. Regarding tumbled marble and grout, I would leave it that way, I'm sure it's not very noticeable unless you used a grout that doesn't match the color of the marble which I doubt is the case here. We install tumbled marble all the time. Some folks like the natural look so we impregnate/seal, others like the wet look and we use a topical sealer and that may need a second application. Be sure to READ the instructions, some sealers require you to put the second coat on in a specific time frame so if you don't have the time to do it per the instructions, you're better off waiting until you do. There's a ton of info on this site regarding sealing, it's the easiest step but it's the one that causes the most heartache so take your time, do your research, test on a sample to be sure you're getting what you want and good luck.

[claycarson]

Lee Ann -

As far as your tumbled Emperador is concerned - to some extent, you have 2 types of stone finishes 'fighting' each other.

Shiny stone is usually achieved by polishing it, smooth scratches that reflect a lot of light. Sometimes by topical coatings.

Tumbled stone is achieved by rough scratches that dull the shine. (Virtually impossible to keep grout out of the deep crevices, though. Grout some and you will see why. It's possible, but just really, really annoying and slow. Most people grout them and leave the grout in on purpose, as was mentioned).

Now for the record, I like both, and I can easily understand why you would want the best of both combined. But you may need to go beyond enhancers, which sink into the stone. In tumbled, they can sink in so far that they may not help much with the shine. You may need to take enhancers as far as possible and then consider a topical coating if you definitely want 'wet look'.

An idea. :idea: Do you have any scrap you could experiment with? That way, you could try any product/procedure out first to see how it would look.