Sealing a white marble shower

[alexoz]

Hi friends,

I just finished laying the shower floor tile in a shower stall converted from a bathtub. The walls are white carrara 12x12in. marble and the floor 2x2in. ceramic tile. I want to be sure I do the sealing well. The marble is polished but it does absorb water, as it evidently gets darker when it gets wet. I also had to round some sharp edges by sanding them down and then polishing with 100, 150, 250 up to 400 grit wet sand paper. The edges are very smooth but they've lost the luster of the flat parts of the polished marble tile.
Ultimately, I want to seal the marble wall tile really well, seal the grout on walls and floor and also get some shine on the edges I rounded.
I will be using sanded grout for the 1/8 grout line and I'm still not sure whether to use regular cement grout, modified grout or epoxy grout for a better final result. Should I pre-seal before grouting?
I have used Michael Byrne's "Setting Tile" book, the forums and liberry for everything I've done so far, including the shower floor deck mud, the shower curb fat mud, waterbarrier and every other issue related to this project.
I cannot, however, put all that is sealer related in these forums together to get a practical solution. I can't see the forest from the trees perhaps. I could definitely use a brand name and specific product/s if permitted. I shop at HD, Lowes, MorrisTile, Dal-Tile, The Tile-Shop and others in the Wash, DC area
Well, any help would be appreciated.

alex

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[prashster]

A sanded grout will increase the probability of scratching those marble tiles. Same with Spectralock epoxy grout. I'd test sanded on some scraps b4 committing.

Spectralock will cost you 5-10x the cement + admix, but you'll never have to seal it.

I have honed white marble in my shower. I used sanded + admix with my 1/8" spaces. I presealed one of the walls. It didn't make a difference in ease of grout cleanup. My guess is that if you wait too long, it'll be less forgiving in releasing the grout than ceramic. I buffed with a dry dobie scrubbie pad (internal sponge removed first). The sanded grout did not scratch my tiles.

IMHO, if you are quick to clean and buff, then you won't need to preseal. In fact, if you are not neat when you preseal, and if you get a lot of sealer in the grout spaces, you might impede the ability of the grout to bond with the tile edges.

[alexoz]

Shawn,

Thanks for the info on the pre-seal . I'll probably hold off on that and just dampen the tiles as I go.

alex

[Davestone]

400 grit is just the beginnings of a polish.The final step would be a product like 5x,or Diaglo,and a buff pad.Likewise, don't use the sanded grout, it can make repolishing a hastle, and you will indeed have to repolish,within a couple years.I would opt for the honed look myself.But anyway,definitely try an impregnating sealer from one of the big boys, Aquamix,Stonetech,Miracle,Granquartz.

[alexoz]

You're right about the 400 grit being just the beginning. I dug out from my shop a small marble polishing kit which has a buffing pad, a couple fine polishing creams and a gloss sealer. That should work because the surface area I need to repolish is only about a square foot in total.
The sealer brand names you gave me are a lot of help as I am at their websites right now reading up on them. Aqua Mix's AQUA MIX HIGH GLOSS SEALER & FINISH looks pretty good so far for the marble and I can get it from a nearby store.
BTW, if I wasn't about to seal these tiles in a couple days I would have opted ordering from the TYW Store.

Alex

[doitright]

Hi Alex, Welcome! :)

I advise against the use of that particular sealer for two reasons. First ,you don't want to use a topical sealer in a wet area. Second, you already have a polished stone, so there is no reason to use anything but a impregnating sealer (preferably solvent based).

With 1/8" joints, you can go either way. Unsanded grout is going to tend to sag, and two applications will probably be necessary. You can also add some fine silica sand to the unsanded grout to give it more body. Using something like Laticretes 1776 grout additive will also help.

[alexoz]

John,

I decided on going without the pre-seal because my stone is smooth and pre-sealer was relatively cheap and I didn't want to clog the stone with this stuff and not get a good penetration from the better sealer later on, so I went ahead and grouted with Custom's Polyblend sanded grout. I did not use any additive, although, I do have some laying around, because the material specified not using other additives, other than clean water; if you pros still add some in the water and it works, I'd sure would like to know. The grouting went well and without a scratch.
Either my technique is improving or the technology is improving because I dread grouting for the clean-up. I guess that's because I have used premixed stain-proof grout in my last four projects (non-bath) and that was tough to wipe clean. I liked it because of its stain-proof claim, but it is no longer available and I will not miss it.

As for the sealer I already got Miracle's Seal and Enhance sealer. The following is what they say about it in their website:

"511 Seal & Enhance Is a unique, solvent-base formula designed to eliminate the need to use an impregnator before using a color enhancer for maximum stain protection and superior color enhancement. 511 Seal & Enhance is safe for use on granite, marble, limestone, natural stone, slate, ceramic tile, quarry tile, grout, concrete and masonry surfaces. 511 Seal & Enhance will enhance the color and rejuvenate the appearance of tumbled, honed, acid-washed, sandblasted, flamed, textured, even polished stone and tile surfaces. In addition, 511 Seal & Enhance revitalizes old and worn stone and tile installations. It can be used successfully in both interior and exterior environments and is freeze/thaw resistant."

It sounds good, so this Thursday I will be sealing the grout and the marble using this stuff.
Thanks for the help.

Alex :)

[doitright]

Hi Alex :)

Don't you love marketing? :shades:

Why do you think Stain Proof is no longer availabe? :D

Polyblend grout already contains the additive, so no addtional is needed. All you need now is a good fresh water source. Many areas have what appears to be fresh water, when in fact it is a contributor to discolored grout. Best remedy is distilled water, or using 1776 in place of water.

While your Seal & Enhance may work, it will probably not have a dramatic effect on your particular stone. I strongly suggest you do a TEST first.

[alexoz]

John,

Good point about Stain-Proof. And thanks for the info on 1776, I'll look it up.

As for the Seal & Enhance, here's my take on it now that I used it.
I applied it on the grout and the marble tiles using their directions, in two coats. It appeared that it absorbed into the grout readily but not in the polished tile. The proof of that was that when I applied the sealer, the white marble tile did not discolor as it normally did when in contact with even the slightest bit of water. Although one would argue that solvent behaves differently, it did appear to absorb and discolor the tile in some tile edges that were cut such as faucet and shower-head cut-outs and in some areas where the tile's factory polish was scratched (ahem :shake: ). So unless this sealing works on the microscoping level, I don't feel confident that the white marble tile surface was sealed well, but I know the grout sure was. This stuff would be excellent for anything unpolished and absorbent.
Now I got to get to the liberry to see if I can top this with a water based sealer for the tile :scratch: . In the painting business --my forte'-- latex over oil is anathema.

Alex

[Davestone]

You won't get most polished marbles to absorb a sealer, there aren't any pores, they've been melted together by the acidic polishers.

[alexoz]

Yep, always somethun! :nod:

[doitright]

Hi Alex :)

Don't search too hard. Water over water, solvent over water, solvent over solvent, are all ok. NO Water over Solvent. Very similiar to paint.

[alexoz]

Well, it appears that two coats of this stuff (Seal & Enhance) did leave a gummy residue on the polished marble which after a little buffing returned the shine and upon testing it did seem to seal the water out as it beaded on the surface and did nor absorb into the stone.

Thanks to all for your help. :tup2:

Alex

p.s.
After having done this bathtub to shower conversion following the suggestions in the forums, liberry and other publications, I can say that I am ready to try the kerdi shower kit.

[doitright]

Hi Alex :)

You'll enjoy working with the Kerdi (after you get used to it). If you're at all uncomfortable with it, you can always purchase John's E-Book. ;)