Hi Everyone,
We were recently asked to provide a recommendation for shining up some
rough "quarry" tile on the main floor of a restaurant.  The restaurant
has approximately 1500 square feet of a ceramic tile stamped to look
like a quarry tile.  It really fooled me until I noticed that the
exact same pattern is replicated on the surface of every tile.  About
half of the tile on one side of the restaurant is really rough.  That
is, rough to the touch and also matte with very  little gloss.  The
tile on the other side of the floor looks identical except that it
appears to have more factory glaze on it which gives it a somewhat
smoother finish and a little more gloss. The manager would like to
have the whole floor shined up to give the restaurant a fresh crisp
look.  Not sure if she knows exactly how glossy she wants it.
So I am looking for some recommendations for sealers that might be
appropriate.  Things that I have been thinking about are:  first, the
tiles on either side of the restaurant  are slightly different from
each other.  Secondly, the tile is ceramic, not quarry or natural
stone.  I'm afraid that a polymer might peal.  Stonelok MLT that was
suggested by John Freitag on another job comes to mind because it
would perhaps bind better.  At the other end, maybe a very light
coating of something that needs to be replenished often on a
maintenance contract would work.  I told the manager I would put
together samples of a few products to show her. Probably a good idea
to give her a range of slightly glossy to very glossy.  I know she is
not looking for an acrylic wax, which I dismissed anyway.  Below are a
few photos.  Thanks much.
Baird