I would not want to permanently seal stone. Sooner or later, moisture will get into the stone. With the solvent based sealers, moisture is allowed to transmit back and forth through the membrane (what's called a "breathable" sealer) so that it doesn't get trapped in the stone, causing mold or mildew to get started INSIDE the stone. I've never heard of this stuff, but there was another one a few years ago in here and the kitchens forum trying to push a very similar product. She threatened to sue me unless I ceased putting her product down. I told her to prove any one of my accusations wrong and I'll stop. She couldn't.

Marble and limestone and other porous stones may be all the designer craze now, but just give it 5 years and the fad will have passed and some other something will be the new fad. You're the one who has to live with all of the maintenance for the next 15 years.

So, if you want faux stone, get faux stone. (I certainly would!) It'll look better and perform better than faux stone made with real stone coated in plastic and baked in an oven.

And start looking at the faux marble from 3-5 feet away instead of 6" away! It's not meant to survive a close up inspection, but to look okay at normal viewing distances such as on the floor or wall or in the shower without your glasses.

We are using q seal on our marble shower floor and bathroom floor. Our marble shower seat and countertops will not be q sealed as they are not tile, but are slabs from a stone yard. It is $3.50 a sq ft and guaranteed for life/never needs to be resealed and anything can be used to clean the stone. We figured the expense was worth the protection. I won't be able to give feedback until late fall though ;)

Our stone vendor said that spilling something like nail polish remover would kill the tile even with q seal on it but I figure that's what the guarantee is for. Let my tile vendor deal with it if it comes to that...

Bill - your work never fails to amaze me. Absoulutely beautiful! And I agree - marble has been around way longer than any of us and is definitely not a fad.

For some reason I haven't been able to figure out, there are many porcelain look alikes for calacutta, but none for cararra. Calacutta is too gold for my project. Do you know the manufacturer of that tile? Maybe they make a carrara look alike?

I don't see myself spilling nail polish remover in my shower :-) But, I hear what you are saying. The Q-seal stuff is intriguing though. I started looking for porcelain subways that are not marble look alikes and I think I found a winner. It's the Villery and Boch Bernina series. Will probably do a strip of decos in cararra to get my marble fix and just have to deal with keeping that sealed which hopefully won't be a big deal. May still do floor in honed marble because it was just so beautiful I can't resist. Shower is small (32x48) so sealing that shouldn't be a big deal.

Holly - I think you misunderstood. I do not want faux stone. I want real stone without the maintenance. I actually do not like faux stone at all and most of the time it looks fake to me and my even more picky husband (Bill's job above is definitely the exception!). The Q-Seal is not faux stone made with real stone. It's real stone. Any stone. And then they apply a sealer and bake it in.

nikinikinine - thanks for the info. Please come back and let us all know how it goes. Would really love to know more about this stuff and how it holds up over time. Good luck with your project!

Bill, can you share the name of the manufacturer of that faux calacatta tile? It really does look beautiful!

The only sealer recommended by my local marble yard for use on white marbles such as calacatta gold was SenGuard (made by Cosentino). It is a permanent sealer (i.e., 15-20 years) and is fully breathable, unlike many. Although it's the same sealer used on Silestone and Sensa granite, you can only buy it online from one dealer or from granite and marble yards that are able to purchase it directly from Cosentino (or so I'm told). It's expensive (~$200) and you only get a tiny bottle, but it covers about 150 square feet.

Water beads right up on my tile (honed calacatta gold), and I haven't had any problems. I applied the sealer myself, and there was no discoloration.

Q Seal is awesome!From what everyone is commenting on are miss informed.The chemical is not baked.It is cured by light/oxygen/nitrogen.This stuff won't mold it has antimicrobials in the chemical.You can't use plain grout.Must use Quartz Lock,Fusion Pro or similar that won't let water penetrate through the grout.Permanent marker can be wipped off with acetone/laquer thinner and comes right off and will not affect the finish.It's child safe,food safe.You can clean with bleach amonia,etc. but don't use anything abrasive ie softscrub,ajax,etc.It enhances the stone brings out it's rich beauty and the finish is a medium gloss.Recommended tiles are travertine,tumbled,honed,marble,stone nothing polished.Never have to re seal.Water based sealers requier resealing,oil based sealers you must strip before resealing.That is costly and time consuming!