ACE said:
I have a residential customer that wants me to put the shine on her ceramic tile. I tried to talk her out of it pointing out that it would create maintenance issues down the road. I was wondering if that super pricy stonetech enhancer would be allot more durable then VCT finish?
Damn. Albert beat me to the
punch!! correct enhanser is not the shine product. It is a penetrating sealer for stone and some concretes where the floor is pourous. A true stone sealer will penetrate the entire tile to seal up as much of the microscopic porosity naturally enharent in stone or concrete. Ceramic and porcelain are already sealed in manufacturing and will not absorb a sealer. This is why on Cermaic and Tile jobs only a grout sealer is needed if they used a sanded grout.
Enhanser like has already been stated by Scott W and shown by Jim, deepens the colors and makes the stone appear richer. The product I posted is stone sealer that adds shine by adding a layer of acrylic copolymer to the surface while the rest of the chemistry penetrates to protect the stone. A third product is a natural sealer which gives the stain protection without altering the appearance of the stone.
The problem with a good VCT finish over most ceramic tiles is not really an issue of the wax on the tile but on the grout. If the grout absorbs any of the chemistry of the VCt and later a customer wants to strip and just seal the grout, or even color seal, alot of times you end up with a blotchiness that won't accept any other products.