Sealing travertine

Hi Maurizio, We have just remodeled our home and the bathroom has beautiful travertine countertops, shower and bath surrounds installed. The tile store said to have it sealed and that was very important. The tile installer said that because he does not have anyone to do the sealing now that we can move back in and use the shower, tub, countertops- and he will get to it in the near future. He said lots of people never seal it and it can be done just as well after the sufaces have been used. In your experience, is this true? Thanks, Pat Neary

 

Dear Pat:

Not only what your setter told you is true, but it is also a fact that many people never sealed it and never had a problem. It is also a scientific fact that, especially in a wet environment, the more you leave the stone alone, the better it is for it.

Finally, it is another undisputed fact that stone has been around for ever and got by just fine without any sealer, thank you very much! Then, starting approximately 20 years ago, this “new religion”, the one that I like to call “the sealing cult” came about and sealing stone became a desperate need overnight!!

Why don't you ask the “stone gurus” that sold the travertine to you what is the advantage and the kind of “protection” that a sealer for stone would offer to you?...

Don't expect any intelligent answer, other than some vague slogan learned by heart from some fancy brochure! :-)

And BTW, travertine is not very absorbent – just in case they try to deliver that line to you.

Try to learn how to properly take care of it on a routine basis, which is vastly more important than the sealing thing! (I bet that at the store they didn't give you much intelligence about that, did they?...) By logging into the [url=http://www.marblecleaning.org/helpful-hints.htm] Helpful Hints[/url] section of our website 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 [url=http://www.marblecleaning.org/literature.htm] Educational Literature[/url] section. And remember, every single penny of the cost of the literature will be used to support this site and its cause: [b][i]your[/b][/i] cause.

While you are in the “Helpful Hints” section, do spend some time reading all of the interesting FREE articles you'll find in there!

Finally, keep in mind that we need your support to help us helping you!

Will you please read our [url=http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm] Statement of Purpose[/url]? 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!

Thank you  

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Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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