Stone Sealer Dumb question

[larrylwill]

I finally got the tumbled stone tile to do the backslash. It is Sisal which is pretty porous. I was told that some people seal before and after grout and some seal after only. So my dumb question comes about because I started to look at sealers at HD.
Tile sealer is expensive.
What is the difference between sealing porous tiles with something like Beir sealer? They make it for interior/exterior concrete, bricks, tiles and stone in a gallon jug about the price of a quart of stone sealer. It has a water proffer and silicon polymer just like the tile sealer. Even smells the same as some sealers. They have wet look, matte look and standard sealer. I rubbed some of each on a tile and only the standard changes the color much like the stone enhanser sealer.

While Im being stupid, why not use spray lacquer as a finish sealer, the same as is on my cabinets.

Thanks

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[Davestone]

Well,if you're gonna seal just a backsplash you'll only need maybe half a cup,so price is minimal.Some used to, and still do use lacquer as a finish for stone,one problem is most knowledeable stone guys believe it seals the stone so well it can't breathe and release moisture leading to effloresence,stone rot,shading,and usch.As far as the chemical composition of the two sealers, it's my guess they're almost identical,but i'm not sure,and it takes only one minute particle to separate a good one from a bad one, for any particular use, maybe George from Stonetech has some input. :bow:

[larrylwill]

Well. I did a sample. One tile with the wet look, one with the standard and one with lacquer. The standard is the darkest color change, the lacquer is a little lighter looks like wet stone and the wet look is in the middle between the 2. This stone is pretty porous and it would take a lot of coats to completely seal it.
Here's a picture.
left is wet look, center is Lacquer and right is the standard sealer. The diagonal tiles are unsealed.

[Davestone]

I use an enhancing sealer on most splashes, and i use very little, i dab it on with a sponge, and it rarely takes more than a cupfull.

[larrylwill]

Dave don't repeat this but I used my finger in the enhansed tile sealer bottle and did the corner of a tile I took to the store. The sealer cost $35 a quart and looked about like the right bottom tile where I applied it. The Wet look Bier was $22 a gallon. I suppose $35 is not too much if you would only need a cup. I have about 50sft of back splash to do. I plan on using a 1/2 tile to do against the granite and a 5/8" peice cut from the ends for a pencil line across the 1/2 tile to keep the price down. These tiles have a rounded edge both top and bottom. I would like those ogee edges but there too expensive for my budget.

[Davestone]

Honestly,your main problem on a backsplash is grease,maybe the Beir will be great, i dunno,but you won't need much, and frankly a Tilelab from HD would work,i've used it and frankly was impressed,but don't know about long term.If you like the darker look with the fossils accented get a tiny bottle of enhancing sealer.

[larrylwill]

We dont eat any fried foods and we grill steaks outside so I don't think greese would be a problem for us. I checked the tile I applied the Bier to and it is waterproof and looks slightly shiney on the high spots and gives the tile a decent depth. So I will use it.
Thanks for you help I appreciate it. I will have enough left over to do the deck. I guess I'm not as dumb as I look.

Larry

[GeorgeT]

Larry -
Your doing the right thing by testing the products to determine which is best for you. True, the product your looking at is less expensive , but Daves comment about grease is an important one.
An inexpensive silicone sealer will provide water repellency with little oil repellency and the sealer may not last very long... but at that price you can reapply it several times.
Since it is designed for masonry it's not going to hurt the stone.....