After deciding to install new, gorgeous natural stone tiles, you now organised your finances, selected your preferred natural tiles, scheduled your appointments, and had your fantastic natural stones delivered and finally installed.
Natural stone tile installation is a home improvement that requires careful consideration of a number of factors. For many, these factors include availability and cost, as well as aesthetic considerations including tile appearance, colour, and whether to use a pattern.
Sealing:
Occasionally though, the most crucial factor gets forgotten or simply dismissed altogether.
Protection and maintenance: We sometimes overlook this crucial step of truly owning natural stone tiles and properly caring for them because we are so preoccupied with choosing the ideal tile, the ideal style, scheduling tilers, deliveries, completion dates, and so forth. In this regard, artificial porcelain tiles are far more lenient, but genuine natural stone tiles require greater attention. Before I, myself, gained knowledge in the field, I made this very mistake and missed out the sealing process, sealing natural stone tiles during installation protects them, I missed this final step and regretted it ever since. The sealing should be done at least once before and once after grouting, before setting a foot on your brilliant new tiles.
But a lot of people have natural stones fitted with even sometimes just the initial sealing, and they simply overlook subsequent resealing procedures. Maintaining natural stones requires more than simply routine cleaning; even after installation, each stone changes, breathes, and evolves over its life. They absorb oils, chemicals, and other substances throughout their life time. Therefore, we always advise you to understand the porosity level of your new stones and take the required actions to maintain them on a regular basis if you want to preserve their natural beauty and initial appearance in your home for a longer period.
What do I need?
The fundamental prerequisites for the sealing procedure are listed below.
1) The right sealer for the type and finish of your natural stone.
2) A little roller or a sponge
3) A small paint tray (for your roller)
4) A dry cloth (in case of spills or excessive use)
How frequently should I seal my natural stone tiles?
The porosity of each stone determines the regularity of the subsequent resealing process. This is also influenced by the foot traffic your lovely stones are exposed to; for instance, hallways and kitchens will expose your new stones to more foot traffic than a bedroom installation. All natural stone is, well, natural stone, but each has a different level of porosity. Naturally this implies more frequent cleaning (ideally using the right solutions), which inevitably necessitates more frequent re-sealing of more these types of natural stones.
Should I seal the tiles on my walls?
All natural stones, including wall tiles, should be sealed; however, wall tiles will not require sealing as often as floor tiles that are subjected to foot traffic. Wall tiles in bathrooms and wet areas, however, do require routine sealing because they will be subjected to more water and moisture and require more cleaning than wall tiles in a bedroom, for instance.
We have seen some bedroom wall tiles that have only been sealed once during their useful lives, and they still look fantastic.
Selecting the appropriate sealant for tile finishes.
Our LTP mattstone tile sealer is the best choice for all honed/matt (non-reflective) finish stones, while our LTP MPG polished tile sealer is the best choice for all, well, polished finish stones (reflective, mirror-like finish). As we all know, natural stones do come in a variety of finishes, so it stands to reason that a sealer is also specially made to match their unique finish.
Maintaining my natural stone tiles:
We have a range of LTP products that will also help maintain your natural stone tiles, such as our LTP Grimex multi-purpose cleaner and our LTP Colour intensifier & stainblock.
After all, you most likely chose your lovely stones from a wide range of options because you admire them, so why not make sure that the easy procedure of resealing them is carried out on a regular basis to prolong the amazing appearance of what you love and admire?
