we recently had a travertine kitchen floor installed. before we could seal i had to go out of town. while away the kids squeezed lemons! a lemon juice spill went unnoticed for two days. needless to say - chalky looking tiles. should we replace? grind down? thanks

 

Dear Kim:

Why, did they perhaps tell you that if you “seal” your travertine and then you spill lemon juice on it (or any other acid for that matter) the etching (that's what happened to your stone) would not happen??!... (And, BTW, it takes no more than a few seconds to react.)

There's no “sealer” for stone in the entire galaxy that could do the first thing about that!!

Sealers for stone are exclusively impregnators. What this translate into is that they're solely below-the-surface (of the stone) products – providing that they can go inside the stone (by being absorbed by it), which is seldom the case with travertine. No matter what, no impregnator can ever offer one iota of protection to the surface of the stone – period.

Having said all that, if your stone is polished, considering the severity of the etching as you report it, only a bona-fide stone restoration contractor could repair your stone. If it is hone-finished instead (not shiny) let me know and will teach you how to take care of that yourself in a very easy way.

 

  May I ask you now to please read and e-sign our Statement of Purpose at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm?   :-)

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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