dried grout on shiny tiles in travertin medallion

The shiny turquoise diamond-shaped tiles in the travatin medallion are no longer shiny and appear to have little white spots and maybe dried polymer sanded grout on them. I was told to use 1 cup vinegar to 1 gal. water to wash the floor after installion. I was told to use a sealer on the medallion prior to installation to keep from staining from the grout. But now most are dull and I can feel something on them. When I wet the tiles they turn a darker color and become shiny but go back to dull. I want to use an enhancer to keep the surrounding tiles from drying hazy and dull looking. This project is on the front porch. Thanks.

 

Dear Kaye:

Who told you to use water and vinegar?

If you can prove that a specific person told you to do that, you could hold him or her responsible for the damage that the acidity of the vinegar did to your tiles. Basically, it corroded the surface of the stone and now it needs to be repaired. Keep in mind that stone is polished mechanically, by abrasion ad friction, not by slapping some sealer onto it.

And BTW, talking about sealers, was the person who told you to apply a totally useless (under the circumstances) impregnator (what you call sealer) to polished travertine the same “stone guru” who told you to use water and vinegar?!...

Your only option is to hire a bona fide stone restoration contractor who will lightly grind (hone) and then re-polish your stone.

Now, you'd better watch out! I consider stone refinishing as the very pinnacle of all the activities related to stone from a professional point of view. Unfortunately, there are a lot of quacks on the loose out there! You get one of those, and you may even have to kiss your stone bye-bye!

How could you tell a champ from a chomp? Could you trust the recommendation of your local stone distributor, or contractor, or your interior decorator? Hardly!

We have available a very comprehensive article on how to select a bona fide stone restoration contractor, which will give you all the intelligence you need to make a competent choice. It does carry a small price tag, and you can order it by logging on the Educational Literature section 0f our website at:   http://www.mbstone.com/literature/literature.htm. It's available in pay-per-download format and I consider it a cheap “insurance premium” to pay when there are thousands of $ involved! Not to mention the little and much needed support you'd be giving to the cause – YOUR cause, since every single penny of the cost of the article will be used to support it.

Also, will you please read and sign our Statement of Purpose at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm? By spreading the word about this valuable site among your friend & family and the stone trades' people you've been dealing with you will be rendering everybody a valuable service!   

Moreover, do take advantage of the plethora of FREE Helpful Hints available at:   http://www.mbstone.com/HH_promo/helpful_hints.htm. They're on the house!

Thank you.

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri zio Bertoli

 

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