My partner and I chose some unglazed porcelain mosaic tiles for the small cloakroom that we are currently refurbishing. Work has now reached the tiling stage, starting with a small splash back to the corner wash basin. There is also a small window sill and the whole of the floor to be tiled with the same mosaic tiles.
This seemed a good time to ask advice about how, when and with what to seal the tiles, and which grout to use. There is much advice on grouting in the archives, however I could not find anything that referred specifically to unglazed porcelain.
I have a bottle of Plasplugs Tile Sealant which seemed suited, but the blurb on the container suggests that this is more of a pre-treatment before waxing. There is no suggestion of what wax product should be used ...
Sealing the tiles before fixing them to the wall would seem sensible in order to prevent any adhesive and grout marking the unglazed surface of the tiles. Can anyone suggest how best to approach this, what products would be most suitable and in which order they should be applied relative to tiling and grouting?
The individual rectangular tiles are varied colours, from dark blue to blue-grey to grey to off-white. They are called Hoxton black and white mosaic, although there are no black tiles and the white is very off-white.
We got them at Homebase. There is a similar mosaic of brown/cream tiles that are equally attractive.
They are normally quite expensive at £15 per 0.36m2 box containing four 30x30cm mosaics, which is over £40 per m2. But we got them in the sale a few months ago for £2.50 a box.
They are still in stock but the price has risen back to £15. They don't appear on the Homebase web site, otherwise I would provide a link.
No idea if this is kosher,but I always stick things like that up bare, clean any tile cement off with brick acid or de-scaler, wash them down, seal, then grout.
What effect do you want at the end? Do you want them to come up to a glossy type of finish with a wax?
I've done and/or specified quite a bit of tiling with various types of stone and with unglazed ceramics. Basically, I hate highly polished tiled surfaces and especially screen printed ones - they remind me of a printed photo in a newspaper.
Anyway, that aside, I've always used Lithofin products. They have a very comprehensive range of treatments and cleaners for all types of stone and ceramic.
For stones such as slates, I tend to like to have a rich colour but without raising the sheen too much above matt - certainly not glossy stuff. To achieve that, Colour Enhancer and MN Stainstop can be used. The latter is an impregnator.
For limestone and similar, I have tended to use MN Stainstop only.
The procedure with stone is either to do a first seal before fitting (tedious) or to do that after fitting but before grouting. The latter assumes that you can work carefully with the adhesives and means using the right notched trowels etc. To that end, it really is worth investing in decent adhesives such as Ardex or BAL in powder form - not readymix. Go for the longer setting time version.
Either way, after fitting the tiles, waiting and grouting and cleaning, a final coat of impregnator should be applied, possibly two. This will leave a matt and natural looking surface for unglazed tiles provided that you follow the instructions, using it sparingly and not allowing it to puddle on the surface.
There is a similar set of products for unglazed ceramic and porcelain and yet another for glazed. If you look on
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you will find materials lists and method statements for each product set and material. It appears that Lithofin FZ will be what you want.
One thing that is important for the sealers in a confined space is to make sure that you use a proper solvent filtering face mask. These have filter cartridges that can be replaced or there are semi-disposable types. You definitely don't want to breathe the solvent.
You will find Lithofin stuff in good tile shops. What is important is to try out the sealer on a small area of tile. Sometimes a tile shop will have an open can of the sealer you want to buy and will wipe it over a tile for you. Otherwise, buy a very small can. It is qute expensive but goes a very long way. 500ml will probably do you for a cloakroom.
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