Sealer for Slate Shower: to enhance or not to enhance...

[BantyMom]

Using the Aqua-Mix Grout Haze Remover, several different brushes, two days of elbow grease, and then, a lot of water (see my previous thread) (http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=75534) the India Lilac Autumn Slate came out beautiful! I almost don't want to enhance it now.

Except for the few pieces of China Jade and China Lilac Mist.

My thought was to use Aqua-Mix Enhance & Seal (what my wonderful, long-suffering tile guy uses) on those pieces and Sealer's Choice Gold (premium, no-sheen, natural-look, water-based, penetrating diethylene-glycol-monobutyl-ether sealer) for the rest of it.

However, I would greatly appreciate the thoughts, suggestions, and warnings of all the wonderfully knowledgeable members on this.

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[Tool Guy - Kg]

First thing that come to mind is what CX asked about in your earlier thread.With just clear water you can wash and scrub in there to your heart's content. If your wash water is getting muddy, I'm a bit concerned about the quality of your slate, but that's a whole different discussion, non?Have you soaked some of this tile in a bucket of clean water overnight and scrubbed it with a brush to see if the water gets muddy?

:)

[BantyMom]

Thank you for answering!

With just clear water you can wash and scrub in there to your heart's content. If your wash water is getting muddy, I'm a bit concerned about the quality of your slate, but that's a whole different discussion, non?

I washed and scrubbed the tile on the wall very thoroughly and got it very wet. When I was finished, nothing came off in the wash water and nothing came off on the white towels. I thought he meant the wash water from cleaning it on the wall. I didn't realize that he meant I should soak a piece overnight and then scrub it. The long and very very skinny trimmed pieces that fell into the tray of water under the saw didn't fall apart, but I didn't try to scrub them.

The tile began as 24" squares and I cut them into 2", 3", 4", 5", and 7" strips. This meant that a lot of muddy water from the tile saw got onto the tiles. Then, since I wasn't very good with the saw and the cuts weren't straight, after I cut each tile to the length I wanted, I trimmed each row again to the exact same thickness (I got better at it). By that time the tile guys were there, so I was barely keeping up with them, and it didn't get washed before it went up on the wall. (oh, had I found this site earlier....) Anyway, that meant that all the dried silt went up on the wall too. They were having a terrible time getting it off when they went to wash it, but that's why after the grouting and everything, I went back in with brushes and the garden sprayer until it was completely clean. I couldn't even rub anything off onto the towels by the time I was giving it a final rinse.

But I'm off track. I have extra pieces. I'll have to try that experiment tonight, though I'm sure the tile guys want an answer about the sealing soon.

[BantyMom]

I put various extra pieces of slate in a bucket of water overnight and then scrubbed it with a nylon brush. The water didn't get muddy.

:)

Any thoughts the sealer over enhancer question?

My thought was to use Aqua-Mix Enhance & Seal (what my wonderful, long-suffering tile guy already uses) on those (some) pieces and Sealer's Choice Gold (premium, no-sheen, natural-look, water-based, penetrating diethylene-glycol-monobutyl-ether sealer) for the rest of it.

Has anyone ever done that before, either on purpose or by accident? Results? Explosions?

[Davestone]

You can do that.We do some crazy things to get off a job and appease customers, some we won't admit to.