Sealing Marble Shower Tile & Grout
by MR. GORAN RUVIC
QUESTION:I JUST INSTALLED NEW MARBLE TILE IN MY BATHROOM, ON SHOWER WALL AND FLOOR. WHAT IS THE BEST SEALER FOR GROUT AND TILE IN SHOWER.ALSO, I NEED KNOW SHOULD I SEAL BATHROOM FLOOR AND WHAT IS THE BEST SEALER. BEFORE SEALING SHOULD I FIRST POLISH/CLEANING MARBLE? ANSWER:As a general rule you don't want to apply a sealer to stone in a wet environment because you run into situations where the sealer may trap water causing many problems including degradation of the stone.Yes, I know you may read that ALL stone MUST be sealed no matter what... just not true. It depends on the stone, the location and intended use of the stone installation. Applying a sealer is done to reduce the risk of staining. This is very helpful in areas like the kitchen, dining room or high use floors or countertops in a bathroom. However, the risk of a stain in a shower is near zero unless your regularly toss a salad or drink some wine in there! Think about it... you use very few products in the shower and when in use water is constantly washing them down the drain. You'd have to leave a leaky bottle of something sitting on the marble for it ever have a chance of staining. And even if it did, stains can be easily removed in nearly every case. Some people mistakenly believe that the reason to seal shower tile is to prevent water absorption. No... also not the case. Water may absorb into the tile some while showering, but it quickly evaporates and does not cause any problems. Now, if the tile shower was installed poorly and/or you have gaps, cracks or voids in the grout letting water behind the tiles, that's a problem, but sealing won't help a lick in this instance... in fact, it would make it worse. So, since your risk of a marble stain in the shower is minimal, you don't gain any real benefit by applying a sealer BUT you risk creating unwanted problems by sealing a stone in a wet environment. Plus, even if you wanted to apply a sealer, you may not be able to. Marble actually is not very porous and does not stain easy. It will etch easy and people always confuse etching with staining, but these are two different marble maintenance issues. If you are bound and determined to apply a sealer in the shower then at least you should perform the water test for sealing to determine if your marble could even absorb a sealer in 10 minutes or less, which it must do to work and/or be applied correctly. Sealing the bathroom floor is not a bad idea though. I suggest using one of these recommended impregnating sealers. SenGuard is the best available.... head and shoulders above every other on the market. We really like this product and highly recommend it. However, you must wait a good two to three weeks to allow the floor tiles and grout to completely dry out or you'll trap water. You should sweep and clean the floors very well prior to sealing. The tiles are polished on machines using intense friction. It's not something that you would or could do, so no worries there. Just cleaning marble is fine. Good Luck, Ryan P.S. Get all the facts, answers, explanations and simple solutions with step-by-step instructions for any issue, problem or question with our Granite & Marble Maintenance Manuals.
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