Travertine -seal or not to seal.

Dear Maurizio, I jus had travertine stone installed in my shower stall, bathroom floor and bedroom floor.It has very natural look with a lot of hols.I have learned a lot about the stone .Hoever I am still confused about sealing.What would happen if water gets thru the halls ? Is this true that shower stall should be sealed 3 weeks after instalation? How do I know wcheach sealer to use? i s Home Depot a good place to get it?

 

Dear Anna:

You don't really think for a minute that an impregnator (that's what a sealer for stone is about) is going to even begin filling the open holes that you have in your travertine tiles, do you?

One thing is for sure: those holes must be closed, but you will have to do that with caulk, not certainly an impregnator! If you want to preserve the look of the open holes, you could use a latex-based clear caulk, if not, use color matching caulk. But, I repeat, those holes must be filled!!

After that you will not need any other sealing.

Now remember, it's never too early to think about the proper maintenance of your stone. The issue of 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 .  

And remember, every single penny of the cost of the literature will be used to support this site and its cause: your 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 and e-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!

Thank you  

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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