water no longer beading?

[elmofongo]

Hello,
I just re-sealed my ceramic unglazed hex tile bathroom floor with Stonetech Impregnator Pro.
I followed the instructions to the word and applied 2 coats.
I was very pleased to notice that water was beading for the next few weeks.
I just noticed yesterday that water stopped beading and it's only been 2 months since I re-sealed the tile.

Does it mean the floor is no longer sealed? Should water be beading for the lifetime of the seal?

Thanks

-Adriano

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[Davestone]

Wellll,no.But sealer won't work on ceramic, and it may have just sat on top, and beaded, till it wore off.If you're talking about the grout joints,you may have wore some of it off with cleaning,especially with an acidic or citrus cleaner, or a slight soap scum film may be covering the joints.The sealer soaks into whatever it's sealing, and if it can't it don't work long.But if it did soak into something it will still work below the surface...at least to some degree.But even water with heavy chlorine, which is acidic tends to eat away at selaers, so a cleaning and resealing may be in order.

[doitright]

Hi Adriano, Welcome! :)

Are the grout joints darkening? :shades:

If not you're fine. If they are, how long does it take to lighten after the moisture is gone. Most sealers will allow surface wetting, but as Dave mentioned, they are still working. Everything else Dave mentioned pertains as well.

Are you using a tile & stone specific neutral cleaner to maintain the surface?

[elmofongo]

Yes the grout lines are darkening when the floor gets wet after a shower or a bath.
It worried me since it wasn't happening for the first week or two after sealing.
It takes about an hour to go back to its original light grey after I wipe the water off.

I haven't cleaned the floor yet since I applied the impregnator about a month ago.
I was thinking of using the cleaners offered by StoneTech.

Do I need to seal the grout with a different type of sealer? I was under the impression that the Impregnator Pro was good enough for both tile and grout.

In my origonal post, I said ceramic hex tile, I think meant porcelain, like the one in the photo I am attaching. Is it even possible to seal these unglazed hex tiles?

Thanks

-Adriano

[doitright]

Hi Adriano :)

Let the grout dry out thoroughly and give it another application of Impregnator Pro. Let it saturate the grout (it will darken again with the sealer), and buff excess off tile and grout after about 10 minutes. You're right, that's a porcelain tile (which won't absorb much [if any] sealer). Just don't let the excess sealer dry on the surface.