Hello, I am using Honed Travertine and Polished Calcatta Gold in the bathroom, shower and kitchen areas. Do you recommend sealing these stones and if so, with what product? When you use marble and travertine in wet areas, do you recommend honed or polished? Gregory

 

Dear Gregory:

You ask about sealing polished marble and hone-finished travertine.

You ask nothing about the far more important matter (as it should be intuitive), which is the daily care for your stone.

May I ask you what kind of “protection” do you expect from a sealer?

Because, whatever it is that you picture in your mind, I promise you, it ain't gonna happen!

What it is gong to happen – and you can take this to the bank – is that if the installer doesn't do a good job, you will be in a world of hurt “maintenance” wise; and you don't get the right intelligence about the real care that you need to use on your stone, you're going to be again in a world of hurt, no matter how much “sealer” you apply to your stones.

That said, none of those two stone need any sealing (maybe the hone-finished travertine in the kitchen). Furthermore, the last thing that you want to do is applying an impregnator to a stone installed in a wet environment, unless under extreme circumstances.

Answering your second question, I would prefer hone-finished stone in wet areas.

. 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 . It also gives priceless tips on how to install properly a natural stone shower stall.

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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