Mark Atkins, LTP director, explains how often sealing stone floors is necessary to maintain an optimal appearance
Sealing a stone floor with a protective sealer or impregnator gives protection against stains. It’s recommended for all types of natural stone installed indoors, where it helps retain a floor’s aesthetic, slip performance and makes ongoing maintenance easier. Most quality sealers will provide good protection for around 3-5 years, depending on wear and tear. It’s not that the sealer disappears over time; it’s foot traffic, cleaning and abrasion that expose new capillaries in the surface and these take on dirt and grime.
A good way to test if a stone floor needs to be resealed is to carry out a Water Drop Test: Clean the tile to remove dust and dirt, then drop a bead of water onto the surface. If it sits in place, the stone is well sealed. If the water quickly soaks into the tile or makes the surface look darker it needs resealing.
Cleaning and Sealing
Before applying a sealer, floor tiles should be given a deep clean. Most cleaners can be used at different dilutions, depending on dirt build-up. If tiles are particularly dirty, they may need to be agitated with a scrubbing brush before the cleaner is left to react – with additional solution applied to keep the tiles wet – and then agitated again before mopping up the solution with clean water.
Once tiles are dry, the sealer can be applied, generally with a foam roller or paint brush for rough-cut, tumbled, textured or riven surfaces or a sealant applicator, lint-free cloth, lamb’s wool applicator or sponge for honed, smooth and polished stone. Application should be generous and even. On more absorbent surfaces, additional coats can be applied at hourly intervals until the surface is fully saturated. Saturation occurs when an even layer is still visible on the surface after 30 minutes. Any excess can then be removed – after one hour – with an absorbent towel, microfibre cloth or large buffing machine.
Extending protection lifespan with a topical sealer
To cut down on maintenance, a topical wax sealer can be applied after the impregnator. This will create a satin or gloss finish which will greatly extend the lifespan of the protection. If the stone is then maintained with a product like Floorshine, which tops up the protection, renovation may not be necessary for up to 10+ years. Otherwise, floors should be cleaned with a pH-neutral cleaner which will protect the stone and the sealer.
