Stone Tiles

L_Smith

Hi,

I am getting a new floor and am thinking of natural stone, maybe travertine. My tiler is telling me that as stone is a porous material, it will show the dirt? Does anybody have this problem? Any advice?

majjie

He's right ... that's why most natural stone tiles have to be sealed.

I prefer to use ceramic or porcelain tiles - that look like stone - for that very reason, although there's no doubting that there are some beautiful stones out there.

If you buy a good stone sealant and re-apply it every couple of years then you shouldn't have a problem. A few years ago, you used to have to strip off the old sealant before applying a new coat - so it was a real pain. Modern sealants, though, can just be re-applied over the old, so it's a lot less hassle.

vista123

Sealing is essential for Slate, other types depends on tile finish like (honed, filled, polished etc.) The choice is yours anyway, but technically in the wet area all natural products require a lot more attention and care. Even one glass with dump bottom could affect for instance MARBLES will get stained and extra polishing would be required. However if your budget enables you buying nat stone, go for it, if the tiler is a professional he will make the area very nice and beutifull and there is no way you will get even similar results with REPLICA tiles like simple ceramic, but slate looking. Ofcourse, having ceramics will be cheaper and quicker, less effort needed to keep it in outstanding condition, but think about if you stayed in a 5 star hotel, and went into the bathroom which was all clean, georgeos and shining, and next day you went to another 5 star hotel, paid the same as in previous hotel, but the bathroom was'nt shining, had plain ceramic tiles that grout and silicone has molded in corners, one or another hair laying on the floor from previous guest as the maid didn't clean it properly (hotel saving money)... i'm sure you wouldn't wanna stay there again.

It's OK to be money saver, but when it comes to quality, if you can afford better quality materials, go for it! At the end of the day, you going to be using the area, you gonna feel good about it every time you enter it.

Hope this helps you to make up your mind

winnie101

Hi!

I have a slate floor in my kitchen. We have a dog and everytime she comes in from the garden she leaves big dirty footprints. I feel like I am cleaning it all the time. We also have Travertine tiles in our bathroom they don't seem to show the dirt up as much. But even though there may be extra cleaning involved I love the look and wouldn't replace them!

Can anybody recommend good sealants for slate and travertine?

BobProperty

winnie101 wrote: »

Can anybody recommend good sealants for slate and travertine?

Posted this a few days ago, the stuff is called Lithofin

L_Smith

Thank you everybody for replying. It is most appreciated. I love the look of natural stone tiles but it is very muddy outside my house, so the cleaniness of the tiles is very important. Is the general belief that if the tiles are sealed, they will not absord marks?

majjie

The problem with sealed tiles is knowing when to re-seal them. If you forget about it, you will only realise they need re-sealing when you can't get some nasty mark off.

The better the quality of stone, the more resistant to staining the tiles will be - but the more expensive they will be!

Some porcelain tiles look very convincingly stoney - and they're not necessarily a cheap option - but being very non-absorbent, you can just let mud dry on and then brush it off (I'm all in favour of less mopping!).