Care and Maintenance

Q. My friend cleans houses for a living, she mentioned she has seen marble showers become porous with time. Is this due to having a sealant?   A. Marble is a porous stone. Sealers can enhance stain resistance by filling the pores of the stone and... Read More

Someone recently commented on SurpHaces social media, asserting that Grout Color Sealer cannot be considered a permanent solution. Here is their comment and our response. Comment: Grout Color Sealer is Topical. Will peel or uplift sooner than later.... Read More

Q. I'm a park educator (park naturalist) working at a fossil site in Canada. I'm putting together sets of fossils for use in classrooms, including some Green River fish fossils, which are in very soft limestone that flakes in delaminates... Read More

Q. Hi, the very first time I set a cutting board on the 6" hang over on my new sun gold quartzite island top, I noticed a crack 3 hours later. The crack extends 10" into the island top and also straight through the separate 2 1/2" beveled edge. This... Read More

Q. How can I tell if my natural stone needs to be sealed?A. There is a good rule of thumb to find out if your marble, granite, travertine, or other natural stone should be sealed. Spill some water on it and wait for approximately half an hour, then... Read More

Q. Hello-we recently moved into a brand new construction home with polished travertine tile floors. In general the tiles look good but there are areas that have what look like water spots that I cannot clean! I purchased a spray stone cleaner, but it... Read More

Q.  I just bought a house that has very dated floral designs baked into various kitchen tiles on the counters and backsplash. Is it possible to remove the design and repaint the tile? I would be ok with a different color tile as long as I could... Read More

Q. I have used grout with a silicone additive on travertine flooring which is laid over heating. Unfortunately the grout has dried rapidly so I have not been able to wipe it off as I normally would. Please can you recommend a cleaning product or... Read More

Q. Hello - I'm a handy homeowner looking to repair what appears to be wrong leaning material etching (and kids toothpaste "misses") from my 18 month old crema marfil vanity top. I looked at several of your products and it looks like I need one... Read More

Q. I recently installed new tile and mosaic glass tile around my bathtub encloser. should this new installation be sealed. A. Typically glass does not need to be sealed since it is not porous. However if you used cementious grout you may want to... Read More