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So we did our PDI and we notice that our tiles are not shiny and it totally looks different from the tiles at the Design Centre and the Model Home (we have the same tiles from one of the Model Home). Anyways, I asked Jennifer who did our PDI and she told us that they are not going to polish it and that's what it's going to look like. She said that the longer we clean it, it will eventually change colour and becomes more shiny. Does anyone have the same problem as we do? How do we make our tiles shiny? Any thoughts?

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micate

are they dark tiles? the tiles in our laundry room are a dark colour, so the grout residue still showed on them until i washed the floor a few times... and even the light ones may look dull if they haven't been cleaned well. maybe you can ask for a good cleaning before you move in?

After you clean it, one of the best things you can do is pop over and get a bottle of tile/grout sealant from a hardware store and spray all your grout... that way if anything ever spills you won't have stained grout. It's a lifesaver in the kitchen!

They leave you a few tiles as "spares". They should be beside your furnace in the basement. Grab a couple of them and bring them to the design center to compare them to the ones there.

Usually what's happening is the tiles look different once the floor is done with them. It doesn't always look the same when you're looking at 1 or 2 tiles by themselves at the design center trying to "imagine" what the floor will look like, versus all the tiles on the floor completed in our house.

About making them shiny, I'm not sure. Ours are not shiny either, and I didn't hear about tiles changing color and becoming more shiny as time goes by.

Grout sealer doesn't affect the warranty, that I know for sure, and the stuff we used (I'll try and remember to get the name off the bottle when I go home tonight) didn't make the tiles any shinier at all, once it had dried for a day or two it was completely invisible.

Rick, It's the same tiles in one of the energy saving home. So, when we chose that kind of tiles, we actually know what it will look like when there's a lot of them on the floor.

I think it's the grout sealer, too and it's all over the floor.

I have asked them if they are going to polish or clean them again and Jennifer who did our PDI told us that they already power wash it.

themasons,they are dark tiles. They were supposed to be green but you can't hardly tell now that it's green but gray!!!!

Steve Heath, if I buy one of the tiles sealant, Would it make my tiles Shiny?

I was watching HGTV the other day and they were putting something on the tiles for finishing and the colour would stand out. I just did'nt get the name of the stuff because my MIL is very loud gossiping.

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micate

In this situation, you have the same tiles as in a mattamy model home. So your expectation was it should look the same, but it's not.

I'd really grill Mattamy on what they've done to their tiles in that model home. Ask them what products did they use on those tiles. Did they apply a grout sealer or any after-market products that may cause that look? Or are they simply washing & polishing their tiles every night because it's a model home? If your design consultant doesn't know for sure, see if you can find a contact person at Mattamy who's in charge of the model home maintenance. They should know more.

Our model is the Tothburg, and when picking our upgrades we did the same thing you did. i.e. picked some things that were in Mattamy's model home that we wanted in ours. But after the work was done, some did not look the same, so we went back and had them re-do a couple items just like the model.

Is this the same tile as in the Wellington energy star home? (Also in the design centre by the fireplace and TV).

newly laid tiles are always alittle less shiny due to the grout residue.

warm water and vinegar helps, and keep the water clean , dont be surprised if you have to redo it 3-5 times before the shine comes through

micate, I'm just talking about grout sealer, not tile sealers... I've never used a tile sealer so no clue on that. As far as grout sealer, it's great... at my old house wine was spilled and it permanently stained the grout. At the new house we've spilled all kinds of things and the grout is as clean as the day we bought it because the first thing we did is put this stuff on all the grout.

Unfortunately, we don't have any of it left... I remember it was a brown spray bottle, but no clue what brand it was, sorry.