I have newly installed emperador marble in my bathroom (floor and shower stall). I understand that the marble is not supposed to be sealed, but what about the grout? The 12" tile was installed with 1/8" grout lines.

 

Dear Lisa:

1/8” grout gap may be a tad too much for the shower stall. But if the grout was mixed right, kept on thick side and pushed deep between the tiles, it should be all right. Make sure that you monitor your grout lines frequently and address any possible problem (cracking) immediately!

As for the sealing of the grout, unless you think that it is possible that you're going to spill cooking oil or coffee in your bathroom, I really don't see any use. If the grout was mixed right it doesn't need to be sealed. If it wasn't, no sealer in the entire galaxy could make up for the deficiency.

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!

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Thank you  

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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