Sealing Unglazed Ceramic Floor Tile

Adhesion wanting to seal your ceramic floor tile surfaces because an existing floor sealer is peeling off.

Sealing unglazed ceramic floor tile.

Gloss finish ceramic and porcelain tile sealer. They can either be unglazed or glazed and are available in a variety of colours textures and finishes. Porcelain tiles are ceramic tiles with a water absorption rate of less than 0 5 percent that are used to cover floors and walls. Grout according to manufacturer s directions clean as you grout to minimize water contact.

A sealer is a liquid coat applied to the porous surface of the tile or grout to protect them from oxidation natural deterioration and day to day wear. Ceramic tile sealers and porcelain tile sealers are used to protect unglazed tiles and grouts from absorbing stains. Cleaning unglazed porcelain tiles is trickier. Porcelain read more cleaning sealing porcelain tiles.

For that reason cantini says it s critical to test a cleaning product on out of the way tiles before using it to make sure your scrub pads don t scratch the tiles. Sealers or coatings do not adhere or stick well to ceramic floor tiles. There are some exceptions to this so check with your manufacturer to be sure. There are no industry standards governing porcelain tile quality so you can t be completely sure what you re dealing with.

If your tile is ceramic or porcelain it probably won t need to be sealed. Sealing is done to strengthen tile or grout s defenses against dirt spills and erosion of grout but not all tile needs to be sealed. The water absorption rating for porcelain tile according to ansi 137 1 and ptca porcelain tile certification agency is 5 or less. Porcelain tiles do not require sealing as they come with a factory glaze that is 99 9 waterproof and do not allow water or anything to penetrate it.

Glazeguard gloss sealer is developed specifically for ceramic and porcelain tiles. When to seal tiles. Be sure tiles are clean free of grout haze and dry before final seal of tile and grout. Even if you can find a sealer to adhere to the surface it will most likely peel or wear very quickly usually in 2 12 months.

Typically unglazed porcelain tile comes in polished and unpolished formats. Wait at least 24 hours or more. Apply one liberal coat wiping off excess sealer before it is allowed to dry on surface. But like any floor a ceramic tile floor can become soiled or stained if it isn t sealed properly and regularly.

Ceramic tile floors are an attractive and durable addition to high traffic and wet areas in a home. Sweep or vacuum surface. However with unglazed porcelain tile the use of a sealer may or not be needed for several reasons which we will discuss here.