The dreaded limestone!

[kermitdafwog]

Hello
I am in the process of having a 40 sqm patio laid at the back of our new house. I stupidly went for black Limestone without consulting my paver! We have tried to keep the slabs as clean as possible whilst laying and I have since used some LTP grime non acidic stone wash to wash the stone and it looks okayish. I then went ahead and used LTP matt sealer to seal the part finished patio which looked great at first but after a while, the standing water has left greyish residue marks on the stone. Would you say that LTP products are up to the task?
I am yet to joint the patio, I have bought Rompox resin compound for this but the guy who sold it to me said that it also contains a sealer or sorts so I'm a bit unsure as to how to proceed...
Should i reseal with LTP and then brush in the RomPox and leave as is or should i just pour the rompox into the gaps and not use its sealing properties?

Wish I'd gone for slate now!!

Thanks in advance
Sam

[lutonlagerlout]

you cannot seal a patio as you lay it
it needs to be left a while to dry out properly or presealed in dry conditions
LTP is at the cheaper end of sealants,its not terrible but by no means the best
black limestone===> oh dear,be grey very soon
LLL

[Tony McC]

Which Romex product do you have?

Who told you it contains a sealant? That's wrong and whoever is saying this needs re-educating by the main Romex distributor for Britaion as it's a false claim that could land them in trouble.

You should be able to joint first (using lots and lots of water) and then seal a few days/weeks later.

Some installations are sealing first and then jointing, but unless there is a "reasonable period" between sealing and jointing (and just what defines a 'reasonable period' depends on the sealant properties) there can be a reaction between the resin of the jointing material and the resin component of the sealant. If this 'reasonable period' extends to more than a day or two, there's a risk of those empty joints filling up with all sorts of crap and crud.

[kermitdafwog]

Cheers guys

Its Rompox Easy

I really want to get this right so happy to start all over again. What would be the best way to strip everything back and start a fresh?

Could i use the grime remover LTP product and strip back the half sealed area and perhaps pressure wash it to get it as clean as possible and then joint it followed by a quality sealer a few days later?

I can see on the main site that there is a rompox sealer/colour intensifier so will get some of that it

thanks for your help so far!!
Cheers
Sam

[Tony McC]

Rompox Easy is a polymeric. It does NOT seal.

Rompox D1 is a much better product, but even that does not seal. None of the quality resin-based jointing products on sale in Britain and Ireland from *any* manufacturer act as sealants. Some leave a light, temporary film on the pavement surface, but that weathers off after a few days.

I'm not sure that the LTP Grime Remover would work to remove the LTP sealant. You need the appropriate sealant which may well be xylene, but I can't be sure. Ask LTP

[RAPressureWashing]

The LTP grime remover won't remove the sealer, you need to use a coating and sealer remover. Are LTP products up to the task (as in your first post) for me No.
Xylene might remove it, but will be hard work & not really a route I would say a homeowner should go down.
What you need to do is strip all the sealer off, then re-clean the whole area, I'd then let it sit for a month or so, so then the paving can settle or balance up, I say this because you have sealed some but not all, is that correct?
You would still be inside what I call the safe sealing window for this year if this is done sooner rather then later.
Happy to point you in the right direction for products etc to do this.

[kermitdafwog]

Hi Roger

Thanks for your reply

If you could point me towards some products then I would be grateful

I assume that a decent sealer from Rompox cant be used to seal the existing sealed and non-sealed slabs then?

The LPT Grime remover is pretty good, after cleaning some slabs i hosed it down and inadvertently got some ltp stuff on the already sealed stone, when it dried off you could see that the sealer had been removed.

I don't want to throw money away here but want to get it right so any products you suggest I will certainly look into!

thanks
Sam

[RAPressureWashing]

Hi Roger

Thanks for your reply

If you could point me towards some products then I would be grateful

I assume that a decent sealer from Rompox cant be used to seal the existing sealed and non-sealed slabs then?

The LPT Grime remover is pretty good, after cleaning some slabs i hosed it down and inadvertently got some ltp stuff on the already sealed stone, when it dried off you could see that the sealer had been removed.

I don't want to throw money away here but want to get it right so any products you suggest I will certainly look into!

thanks
Sam

The LTP grime remover shouldn't have removed the sealer?? says a lot for the sealer really!!! This LTP Matt sealer? is it an impregnator or a surface sealer, as it sounds like a surface sealer. Anyway, you will need to remover all the LTP sealer so a strip, if it is coming off that easy then Mira Strip will do this,
Here is a link for the product. http://www.tilinglogistics.co.uk/Tile-Fl....miracle
What I would do then is an alkaline clean to clean the surface,
http://www.tilinglogistics.co.uk/Tile-Fl....Cleaner

Now you are going to need to check that there is no resin or mortar stains etc as a sealer isn't going to cover these. If you are happy that the surface is as clean as possible, once it has thoroughly dried sealer with a decent sealer, I use this one on Black Limestone,
http://www.tilinglogistics.co.uk/Tile-St....enhance

There are other sealers that are good, Dry-Treat, Lithofin and I have tested Resiblock's natural Stone sealer and results were good.
Just remember you need a colour enhancing impregnating sealer for Black Limestone.

[George-Stone Gardens]

Can anyone advise me as to whether it is safe to use a sealant (Miracle Sealant - very good btw) on Rompox Easy joints if the paving and jointing has been laid for a good 2-3 years now?

[RAPressureWashing]

Can anyone advise me as to whether it is safe to use a sealant (Miracle Sealant - very good btw) on Rompox Easy joints if the paving and jointing has been laid for a good 2-3 years now?

You shouldn't have any problems with the Miracle sealant just make sure the paving and joins are perfectly clean before sealing.