Lithofin Stainstop Plus disaster - Tile Advice

[Dean Morrison]

Hi all,

After much research and recommendation from others, my builder used Lithofin's Stainstop Plus to seal and enhance natural slate tiles in the bathroom. He did one and a half walls yesterday but upon drying I noticed that the impregnator/sealant caused the slate tiles to go a few shades darker. The bathroom now feels as if it is a dungeon rather than a copper/rustic hotel spa that we initially envisioned. I have attached photos of the tiles with and without the sealant. The "before" shot shows the natural multi-colour effect.

The "after"shot shows the naturally darker tiles turning a few more shades darker and becoming almost black. This really has a depressing affect on the tiles.


I also found out that Lithofin's Stainstop Plus cannot be removed once dry! Have I caused a disaster? Is there no method or way to remove this sealant the next day? Surely we can grind it off as a last resort? Paint it? Remove the tiles and start again? I am at a loss but I do know that it can't stay.

Any idea?

 

[swanman]

Hi There

Theres a couple of things you can do. If you want to remove the sealer and start again you can buy a product called LTP Solvex

This will remove any sealers waxes and ingrained dirt .Follow instructions on the bottle and you should be ok

Hope this has been helpful

 

[ms.tiles]

you can call Apex Grange in Welwyn Garden City 01707 338800 they deal with lithofin and supply a lot of contractors with it, maybe they have come up against this before.

 

[afright]

I,am afraid you might have to live with it,once the slate has been sealed it would be very hard to turn it around and take the slate back to it,s original state,a lot of natural stone changes colour when the sealer is applied sorry.

 

[cam_low]

looking at the type of slate that you have fixed there it will be nigh on impossible to get it all off.

Very sorry to say you may be stuck with it however it will lighten slightly in years to come and become more matt looking.

 

[Dean Morrison]

We used a blowtorch and a chisel on a couple of the blacker tiles. It removed all the sealant on the tile. It must have burnt the layer of sealant off. The end result seems OK. The stone tile returned to its natural colour and only showed some groove marks where we chiselled off the sealant. It may take a day or so to individual apply the torch to each dark tile but it seems like a solution nonetheless.

Unorthodox but it appears to work.

 

[swanman]

You can thank us all later for the information if you like:wave2:

 

[DHTiling]

You CANNOT remove colour enhancer.

It impregnates into the stone and the colour enhancing cannot be reversed.

The only option would be acid wash to etch lighter but not something I would advise.

 

[Dean Morrison]

Thanks for all the help guys.

The options are
1. use LTP Solvex to remove sealant (thanks swanman)
2. call Apex Grange (Lithofin retailer) for advice (thanks ms.tiles)
3. give up (thanks afright and cam_low)
4. give up but first try to acid wash (thanks Dave)
5. keep blow-torching the affected tiles in order to remove the silicon layer (our idea)

I rang the supplier (Extensive) who provided me with the Lithofin Stainstop Plus. They were very helpful and had their in-house technical expert call me back within 30 mins. Nigel told me to re-apply the Stainstop Plus continuously for about 15 mins, keeping wet and then mop up with a towel until bone dry. He said this wet second coat may react with the previous coating and enable you to wipe most of it off. He also said that it was unlikely to make a difference (but it is worth a try). I really don't understand how this could work but anyway, I appreciated the help.

I also rang Lithofin direct and they said that this product just cannot be removed (you are exactly right afright, cam_low and Dave). But Dave did also say that we could try acid washing the tiles. I also hear that Dave is an expert on Lithofin, so this might be good advice. I suppose the fact that we were successful in using a gas lit blow torch on a couple of tiles is similar in concept to acid washing. Over the weekend, we will try this on a few more tiles to see how it goes.

Will update on Monday.
Dean

 

[swanman]

Hope you get it sorted

 

[Rajtiles]

What was the outcome?