What is the right way of sealing natural stone for shower?

[larrylamb11]

As topic really... how would you normally go about sealing natural stone tiles for use in a shower enclosure? Should they be taken out of the box, sealed and left to dry, then fixed to the wall, grouted and sealed again?
OR take them out of the box, fix them, seal them, let them dry, grout, then seal again?

 

[tictic]

i usually fix first,but depends on what type they are...some stone tiles can be very thirsty...take a good few coats of sealer...
unfilled travertine you would grout first to fill in the pours/holes,so they are not weakend then seal etc...

again down to type of tile and the fixer.

always work clean with stone..washing as you fix..

then you might need to use grout remover/protector etc before seal etc..

 

[jctilingservices]

as Davey said, depends on the type of stone and the fixer, personally with limestone i like to give it 1-3 coats of sealer before starting to fix it. But clean hands and tools is really imperative on most natural stone

 

[larrylamb11]

I am laying limestone in one place and polished travertine in another. Should I whip the limestone out of the boxes, brush them off (with a new paintbrush or something) and give them a coat of sealer before fixing them up then?
Out of interest, what gaps would you go for? I am leaning towards 2mm, but is that too tight for a shower enclosure?

 

[tictic]

for sealing i would go for aquamix penetrating sealer..

apply using a sponge/sponge pad/brush/small roller or what i use is a small spray bottle then wipe/dab with a sponge...

you will want to apply a few coats so do your first one leave for about 45-1 hr then apply your other one etc...mind and wipe any excess of when applying your coats...

then after installation do the water test...drop some water droplets onto the face off tiles..if the tile absorbs,then apply an other coat of sealer till the tiles no longer absorb....

looking at my 1st post i meant to say the sealer will act as a grout protecter..


as for spacers min 2mm for walls and min 3mm for floor...
dont forget to use a white raidset flex addy.

"then you DONT need to use grout remover/protector etc before seal etc"..

 

[tictic]

need to plug this pc in...battery went there...

other one i used recently was" lithofin stainstop mn" on a slate floor,only thing was the drying time between coats..think it was about 2hr"...if i remeber
rightly???..

that reminds me..need to get more marigolds/surgical gloves....

 

[jctilingservices]

i prefer the lithofin stainstop Davie mate BUT as you point out, it does have a long drying time