To seal the tile floor or not to ?

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Old 04-12-2013, 10:57 AM
JPC55 JPC55 is offline
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Default To seal the tile floor or not to ?

We've been hearing pros and cons about applying seal to the tile floor. I'd like to hear from others on whether we should do it or not. Thank you !
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Old 04-12-2013, 08:52 PM
shalomuall shalomuall is offline
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our builder told us during closing that they will not fix tile floor problems if we seal our floor during the first year.
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Old 04-12-2013, 08:55 PM
ilovetv ilovetv is offline
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Talk to the flooring contractor doing your installation.
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Old 04-12-2013, 08:58 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shalomuall View Post
our builder told us during closing that they will not fix tile floor problems if we seal our floor during the first year.
However, after the first year you will want somebody to come in and clean the grout you've gotten dirty, and then seal it.

We thought no seal with our tile floor up north, then spent beaucoup bucks to have it steam-cleaned and then the group sealed. We will be having ours down here sealed next fall.

You can clean unsealed grout it with an acid cleaner, but each time it removes a little bit of grout. You can't clean non-pure-white grout with a bleach-based cleaner as it will change the color of the grout. I vote for sealing.
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Old 04-13-2013, 05:44 AM
Newbeginnings Newbeginnings is offline
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If your talking about grout sealing, my builder told me that they will warranty all the tile even if it is sealed, he said he can't guarantee an exact color match on the grout since sealing can change that if they have to replace tiles. He recommended doing it because cleaning it is a big job if something penetrates in it. I used Dirty Grout Be Gone, and it was a clear sealer and warranty for 10 years. I just closed this past November so this was recent information. One of the tile installers is telling people is voids the warranty, this is not true. I verified the information on the warranty twice with the builder and once with the warranty dept.
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Old 04-13-2013, 05:49 AM
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What about the tile in the walk-in shower, is that sealed? This is our first experience with a tiled shower so I appreciate the feedback.
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Old 04-13-2013, 04:35 PM
Debfrommaine Debfrommaine is offline
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We sealed our grout but found it didn't keep the light grout as clean a look as we'd like. Given that my wonderful husband retinted (painted), by hand, all the grout in 80% of our 3/2 villa, yikes. It was a huge job but it's done and the darker grout looks fabulous......and we're still talking to each other, ha!
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Old 04-13-2013, 07:25 PM
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We just picked a "dirty color" for our grout and all is well.
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Old 04-13-2013, 07:30 PM
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Asked our builder if floor would be under warranty if we sealed and they said yes only thing was they wouldn't be able to match the color I was changing the grout too. No problem. They came back during one year warranty and fixed grout and I had our grout sealer come back and redo that area. He did it at not charge to us. After building six homes I would never not seal my tile floors. Just my opinion.
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Old 04-13-2013, 08:01 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Newbeginnings View Post
If your talking about grout sealing, my builder told me that they will warranty all the tile even if it is sealed, he said he can't guarantee an exact color match on the grout since sealing can change that if they have to replace tiles. He recommended doing it because cleaning it is a big job if something penetrates in it. I used Dirty Grout Be Gone, and it was a clear sealer and warranty for 10 years. I just closed this past November so this was recent information. One of the tile installers is telling people is voids the warranty, this is not true. I verified the information on the warranty twice with the builder and once with the warranty dept.
We just closed 18 days ago, and our builder told us the exact same thing. He told us to only use water and white vinegar to clean with. He also said it was not necessary to seal it. We may still do it anyways.
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Old 04-13-2013, 08:07 PM
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Default We sealed ours

We sealed our tile right away. We were told by someone that Warrenty would not cover it if we did prior to our one year inspection. We thought "what could,happen to the tile with just the two of us living here?" If one cracked or something it can't be that expensive to fix. Nothing has happened and we are very happy with the fact that we chose to seal the grout. We wanted to seal the dirt out, not wait until the grout got dirty and then have to clean it and then seal it.
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Old 04-13-2013, 08:10 PM
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I also sealed before we moved in. We had cracks in our grout during the inspection... No problem! Warranty covered it!
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Old 04-13-2013, 10:14 PM
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Does anyone have recommendations on whom to call for grout sealing? Thank you.
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Old 04-14-2013, 03:17 AM
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Company is Dirty Grout Be Gone, they warranty the seal for 10 years
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Old 04-14-2013, 08:24 AM
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I sealed my grout on the bathroom floors, but the grout still gets dirty and it's very hard to clean.
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