jerusalem limestone in new bathroom and shower

Hi Maurizio First I wanted to thank you for this site it is very helpfull. I am doing a bathroom floor and shower stall with tumbled jerusalem gold limestone. you recommended using latex calk not grout? that would be a lot of latex with a big tumbled grout joint. not sure what you had in mind. also should I seal the limestone and if so should I seal before installation or should I seal grout and stone at the same time. I am getting lots of diffrent opinions thanks much greg

 

Dear Greg:

Indeed, it's a lot of caulk if you plan to have wide grout gaps. The use of caulking is recommended for grout lines between 1/16” and 1/8”. Beyond that you're going into sanded grout territory. I really don't know: under the circumstances the grout gap becomes a matter of personal preferences. What I do know is that the wider the gap, the easier is going to be to see cracks in the grout developing over time in a shower enclosure. And that is no good!

As for the sealing, you should know how I feel about sealing stone in a wet environment. Not to mention the inherent high-density of Jerusalem limestone which would make the sealing pretty much inconsequential anywhere but a kitchen floor. And if you use sanded grout I don't see any need of sealing that, either. You would only make it more prone to collecting soil, due to the stickiness of the impregnating sealers. It is impossible to remove the residue of the stuff completely from a grout line – especially if sanded and it cam take up months to cure completely.

Yes, I know: there are lots of different opinions out there. But whenever possible I stay away from opinions and try to find the truth in the matter instead.

And the truth in the matter is that what you'll be doing day in and day out to your stone is – as it should be intuitive – vastly more important than its sealing (if and when possible and/or advisable) and it's all too often neglected. As you can tell by reading many of this site's postings, you're not likely to get good information about routine care from your dealer or installer. Don't become another statistic! By logging into the Helpful Hints section of our website at:   http://www.mbstone.com/HH_promo/helpful_hints.htm, you will be able to get the short version of our maintenance guidelines at no charge. The full version of it – a 7-page document considered by many as an industry benchmark – is available in pay-per-download format in our Educational Literature section at:   http://www.mbstone.com/literature/literature.htm.  

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Ciao and good luck,

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