The absolute best granite sealer

[Katodude]

Hmmm, now that sounds like an idea. We have a marble shower. I am just worried about it being slippery if I do the floors. But doing the walls might be really good.

 

[Arizonarob]

we get crazy amounts of hard water stuffs

Rich, time to get yourself a water softener installed!!

 

[RMcGirr83]

Stop trying to spend my money like my wife

 

[Arizonarob]

Stop trying to spend my money like my wife

 

[RMcGirr83]

So got around to doing the shower. Not as impressed as I am with doing the granite. Seems to leave a white haze on the pebbles for some unknown reason (may have been application error). We'll leave it for now and just let it wear off over time.

 

[salty87]

Is the Idea Gold a water based sealant?

We have cement countertops in our kitchen. The builder suggested a water based sealant that needs to be re-applied every 6 months (Cementone). Idea Gold looks much better product but I'm wondering if old sealant would need to be stripped first. Same for our cement floors. Thanks!

 

[RMcGirr83]

Pretty sure it's solvent based. You can try sending an email at the link I provided.

 

[Katodude]

+1 on the solvent based. It smells like a solvent based product.

 

[Watershow]

Water test.

On the quartzite the water forms tighter and smaller beads than unsealed stone. Its noticeable but not very. Final review is inconclusive. I already paid for the stuff so I will apply it to the whole bbq area and do a long term test to see how it stands up to dirt. Will also determine longevity.

The marble or travertine is a whole different story. Compared to the unsealed section that just absorbs the water the water beads and it acts like a car wax does. For any porous stone this is probably a great sealer. For all you Texas folks out their with your flagstone coping that I read so many complaints about this is probably a great solution.

I am noticing some flaking of my quartzite ledger stone in my pool. Do you recommend this product to seal it?

 

[Katodude]

First are you sure its quartzite? Quartzite should not flake.

That being said it have very good water phobic properties and I would recommend it. At some point I will probably redo my travertine coping with it.

 

[Katodude]

So, how does everyone feel about the long term results with this sealer?

My experience is that it goes on great, and the water beading is great, but the longevity is not so good. It pretty much loses the beading effect after what I think is about 2 months. I dont know if it is the Florida sun but I was hoping for a longer lasting effect.

Anyway, I will be a little more scientific. I just applied some to two sections and will start taking pictures and posting them here to get an accurate feel for longevity.

 

[Katodude]

So I re grouted a little section of my deck that was bugging me waited 2 days and then applied the sealer. There is also a little quartzite topper piece on my outdoor kitchen that gets very dirty easily so I re sealed that as well.

As you can see pictures after one day the pearling effect is tremendous. Also as a by product I think this stuff works very well on grout. My grouting skills are not the best (but I think they are getting a little better). When hit with the hose the grout stayed firmly in place.