Slate sealers? Wet, shiny, dull, enhanced?


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Old 07-13-09, 07:12 AM
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Slate sealers? Wet, shiny, dull, enhanced?

We're redoing the kitchen and are putting slate on the floor and backsplash. For the backsplash we used the Superior Adhesives Enhancer - two coats - prior to grouting. It darkened the stone quite a bit, but did bring out the color. This sealer leaves no shine on the surface. Once we grout with the gray grout we plan to use the Superior Adhesives Gold NON-enhancing sealer on the whole backsplash so the grout doesn't change color.

Now we're trying to decide what to do with the floor... I took a couple scrap slates of different colors and put different products on it:

Superior Adhesives Enhancer - darkened the stone quite a bit and left no sheen on the surface

Superior Adhesives Gold NON-enhancer - didn't darken the stone and left no sheen on the surface

Menard's (I don't know the mfr - I borrowed a small amount of what a neighbor had left over from a bathroom) wet look sealer - darkened the stone just a little and left a moderately reflective sheen on the surface


The kitchen floor, of course, is going to get a lot of traffic so good wearability and cleanability is important. Looking at the test slate my wife finds the NON-enhanced section to be rather "flat" appearing and blah. The area with the Superior Enhancer is darker than she'd like the floor to be. The one she likes the best is the stuff from Menard's, which enhanced the color without a lot of darkening, and left a bit of shine......

Now, I dragged you through all that to ask the following questions:

I want to be sure the floor won't be slippery when wet. From the surface, I suspect either of the Superior sealers, because of the non-shiny surface will provide "good" traction. Will the Menard's sealer be slippery when wet or will it have good traction too?

As I said, it's a kitchen so wear is important. I presume the Superior adhesive products will have good wear. I don't recall how much the Gold sealer was, but the Enhancer was almost $50/pint - yes PINT, so they better still be there after a century! BUT, the Menard's sealer is a very thin, white liquid. Will a few coats of that, before and after grouting the floor, provide really good wearability and cleanability?

OR, is there a completely different product I should look at? I've heard about the Miracle products from HD, but also seen notes in here that NONE of the products from big box stores are any good... Stone tech doesn't seem to be sold anywhere around here - is it significantly better than the Superior Adhesives products? Other choices?
 
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Old 07-15-09, 04:17 PM
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I"ve got the grout on the backsplash so we're getting closer to the point of needing to know about sealers and such....
 
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Old 07-15-09, 05:03 PM
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I'm not familiar with the products you mentioned, but it's really your call. There is no significant "slip" difference between the wet look and just the sealer.

I would however, invest in a good quality sealer/enhancer. Most quality stuff will cost more then $35+ for a bottle. StoneTech or Aquamix are the products I have used with success.
 
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Old 07-16-09, 03:07 AM
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Prior to grouting we used two coats of the Superior Adhesives Enhancer (from The Tile Shop) on the backsplash, which enhanced the colors slightly, but mostly it seemed to darken the slate. This is fine on the backsplash, but not on the floor.

The "non-enhancing" penetrating sealer (again Superior Adhesives but this time the "Gold" sealer) doesn't darken the slate, but it also doesn't enhance the color and it leaves the surface rather dull - no reflectance....

On the floor we'd like enhanced color WITHOUT darkening - or as little darkening as possible. At the same time, we'd like a somewhat reflective surface - a "wet look". Not super glossy, but a little shinier than the flat, non-reflective surface I'm getting from the Enhancer or non-enhancing sealer I've tested so far.

I've looked at Stone Tech, Aquamix, Tec, and Miracle, and their websites are NOT specific about how much darkening their enhancers will cause. I how much darkening the Superior Adhesives Enhancer causes, and we don't want the floor that dark. So, I"m looking for information from people that have used various products to enhance the colors without darkening the slate. And, for products that'll provide really good protection for the kitchen slate with some shine...

Ideas?
 
 

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