Handy Tips

Re-grouting Bathrooms

For those who may be re-grouting or re-siliconing the bathrooms and ensuite, following are the best colours to use, based on my own experience, after completing our ensuite.

Grout: Dunlop Slate Grey

Silicone: Dunlop Charred Ash

Both available at Bunnings

Changing Light Globes/Painting in Stairwells (Tool to assist)

The step-leveller is available from John in Townhouse#8.

The step-leveller is used to create a large platform area on the stairs, so that you can use a ladder on a flat and safe surface. This is ideal for changing the light globes in the stairwells or when painting, as per the photo attached.

Slate Tile Maintenance - Front Courtyards From Geoff in #10

This is the information I have received from Eco Concepts (1300131413) and Leon of ICP Group Australasia (0409557918) about the cleaning and sealing of the slate tiles. (Eco Concepts confirmed that they are in fact slate.)

 

For general cleaning they recommend “Stain-Proof” Alkaline cleaner (made by ICP Group Australasia). For specific stubborn stains, such as rust marks, they recommend a “Stain-Proof” mild acidic cleaner.   

 

For sealing they recommend “Stain-Proof” Premium Impregnating Sealer. The application is a 2 stage process, wet-on-wet, within 10 minutes of each other, with a lamb’s wool applicator. The rate is 7m2/L. Any excess is wiped off with a towel.

 

This is the gold standard for maintenance of the slate tiles and Stain-Proof is not a cheap product. Other brands are available such as Sure-Seal and Crommelin, but the principles are the same.

And I can vouch for the acid treatment of rust stains. I got all mine out. And also, the “Stain-Proof” Alkaline cleaner is applied with a scrubbing brush.

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Here is the alternative info about slate maintenance.

Regarding cleaning, Peerless JAL Deep Clean Slate and Hard Stone Cleaner, is alkaline and sells for $33 for 5L. As far as I can tell it is effective and much less expensive than the Stain-Proof product at $35 for a 1kg packet.

 

Regarding sealing, Cromellin Diamond Cut Slate and Stone Natural Sealer seems to do the job very well and is a solvent-based penetrating sealer. A 4L tin of that costs $76. (The Stain-Proof penetrating product consists of ethoxylated silanes, ethanol, n-butyl acetate, and fluoropolymer.)

 

Both those products, Peerless and Cromellin, are available from Bunnings.