Need advice on sealing tumbled travertine w/glass mosaic & porcelain floor

[kimran]

Hi,
I've been lurking here for the past 5-6 months during our remodel. I've spent hundreds of hours :corn: trying to learn enough about granite/tile to make the right choices for our kitchen & powder room. Thanks for the great resource!

Here are my questions:

We had an installer do our tumbled travertine backsplash w/ some glass mosaic tiles accents. When we seal the tile, do we go over the glass areas too?

We need to seal the grout on our porcelain floor.

I talked to a Stonetech distributor, who told me to use Bulletproof on both. Is this good advice? What about using the Bulletproof to re-seal our granite when it's due?

Thanks so much in advance for any help.

[Sponsored Links]

[GeorgeT]

Hi Kim -

Yes you can just seal the tumbled travertine and the glass all together... just wipe off the glass well as you clean up.... sealer will dry and leave a haze on the glass as it can't soak in....

Bulletproof is often recommended for every thing...and in some cases that could be overkill. With the modified and latex additive grouts out there making grout a lot less porous than before, you don't always need Bulletproof.... sometimes plain old Grout Sealer will be enough.

...and nearly always - you don't need to seal porcelain tile.

If you have it left over you can use Bulletproof to seal granite. Lighter colored stones with lots of movement or veins will need more than darker or more uniform stones. Some darks or blacks will require very little sealer...

[kimran]

Thanks for the reply, George. I bought the Bulletproof, so will probably go ahead and use it for the backsplash and be sure to clean off the glass carefully. Regarding the porcelain floor: I need to seal the grout, right? Our tile installer used sanded ceramic tile grout. Will the Bulletproof work for that, as well? Our granite is a light stone with mesh backing, so is probably pretty porous.

Thanks again for your advice.
Kim

[GeorgeT]

Hi Kim -

The Bulletproof will work for sanded grout, but I want you to test a couple of linear feet to make sure of your technique....
Saturate....dwell....wipe it off.
Dwell time may be as little as 3-5 minutes or as long as 10-12 just depends on how the grout reacts...
If there is excess sealer wipe w/ dry towel.
Maybe give a wipe with a towel damp w/ clean water as a last step.....

[kimran]

Thanks for the tips, George. I'm getting nervous about both the backsplash and the grout. I'd sure hate to mess up the beautiful tile jobs! :shake:

[GeorgeT]

Kim -
Your doing your homework... thats half the battle.

If you get in the middle of it and you've got a question, call the number on the bottle. From 7a-7p Eastern you'll get an operator that can find one of us or you can leave a message for me...

'Course if its 7a eastern I'm still sleeping and I'll pickup your message a little later......

[kimran]

Wow! Awesome support. I'll keep that lifeline in mind. BTW, I'm in CA, so no time zone worries. Thanks again.

[cx]

StoneTech Professional has always had very good technical support for their products, Kim, even back before they bought out E.I. DuPont. :)