Slate usually doesn't show dirt. I don't think that a glossy sealer would make a big difference in that regards (likely to the worse, though).

You can probably apply a glossy sealer over the matte one. Why don't you try it on a scrap piece of tile?

Glossy finishes show dirt, etc. a lot more than matte. The exception is water or oil, which can blend with the gloss and be harder to spot.

If you have a scrap of your slate left over, try a high gloss sealer on it, and leave it somewhere it will get normal foot traffic [without getting broke or hurting anyone, of course]. You'll be surprised at how much harder it is to keep it clean.

Your floor is beautiful. I wanted slate on my kitchen floor, got talked out of it (too uneven, likely to trip, chairs won't sit flat, too rustic for DH, etc., etc.) Then I decided okay, I'd put slate on the patio. Now we really can't afford to do that either. I'll click on your pix once in a while to remind me how gorgeous it is. Also, it looks like your chair is sitting just as flat as a chair should! Hmmmm. Maybe DH and the tile guy were in cahoots!

Bridget, you might want to get the gloss look on the cheap by finishing it with Future Acrylic Floor Finish. First vaccum the floor well, then wet mop it with a standard cleaner, then let it dry. Then squirt the Future floor finish on the floor and using a wet mop spread it evenly across the floor. I use this on my non-gloss slate entry tile and noone is the wiser. It looks very shiny and clean and it will keep for a while even with vaccum and mopping with a wet mop and mild detergent. If you spill anything on it that etches it off, you can just redo in that area or use a stong stripping solution and start over. VERY CHEAP and LOOKS GREAT!

demifloyd, your slate is beautiful. Nice texture and color variation. Thanks for sharing. How often is it necessary to replace a sealer on slate? Can you use a polyurethane on slate?

we used a more matte sealer on our slate floors in our last house and the result was similar to demifloyd's gorgeous floors. I loved it and didn't consider it dusty looking, just natural.

Thanks, all. My husband loved the slate and I'm glad we decided to go with it; we've had no problems tripping or leveling furniture from the variances. I would recommend making sure the slate is gauged.

I do know that slate will absorb oil; even with the sealer we sometimes have small oily spots, but they seem to dissipate after a period of time. I'm not sure what time of sealant my tile guy used or when it will have to be reapplied; we moved into the house two years ago this week and it still looks good. I've found a link that discusses this:

http://www.theflooringlady.com/sealing_slate_tile_floors.html

thanks for your replies. I'm sticking with the matte. The bathrooms look great because of their location. It's the kitchen that looks so dusty, but it's because of the dirt being tracked in from our not yet sodded yard. I mopped 5 times in a row the other day to try and get all the dirt up. The proof was in the bucket! Nevertheless, only a day later, they were just as dusty. I've decided to not care until we have grass.

For those of you with slate, did it cost you a ton for installation? Or was it just a line item price with labor and materials lumped together? I really love the look of slate (I know we are not supposed to covet thy neighbor's wife...but I covet Demifloyd's house!) and would like to have it in our home but the cost of the install was quoted to me at $15 per square foot...not including the slate...I think I should learn how to do it and could make a very good living!

luckymom23, that's insane. The tile layer charged an extra 50 cents per square foot to lay slate rather than ceramic or porcelain, bringing us to 2.75 or 3.00/sf for installation. I can't remember which.

The important thing is to purchase gauged slate. By that I mean that the bottom sides are already cut flat for you, so the installation is not that much more difficult than ceramic.

Every weekend I see the multicolor slate on sale at Lowes and HD for around 2-3 dollars/sf. I purchased mine online at stonelocator.com for 2.72/sf. They were great to deal with. Everything arrived on time and in good condition. Because of shipping, it would have been cheaper to purchase locally, but I could not find anyone who carried the blue slate (without any color variation).

Anyhow, stonelocator.com sells all sorts of slate. Tiger, Rajah, california gold, montauk blue, multi-color, cream etc. It's not that expensive and installation shouldn't be too much more either. Get another quote. You should not pay more than 1.50 extra per sqf. if the tiles are gauged.

good luck,
bridget

here's a picture of ours--because the slate is covered in dust, the pic doesn't do it any justice

Thank you so much! I couldn't believe it myself. I got that quote from Home Depot. The guy must not want business or just didn't know so he gave me an astronomical number to cover himself. I am just trying to 'ballpark' certain costs to put together our rough budget. I am relieved to know we can afford slate without my diy labor! Yours looks great I love the offset pattern. Are you going to put a 'finish' on it? Did your tile person seal it before laying? Thanks for the info, you have made my day! :) This is what I love about this site, we can all benefit from each other's knowledge and experience.

Ok, Bridget, I just realized that you are 'bmh4796' so scratch my question about the sealer and forgive my mistake! I guess I got a little excited about the install price...gosh :0 *blushing*.

luckymom, our slate was more expensive to install--I'm thinking it was about $4 for the material and a surcharge was added to the normal price to lay tile--this was two years ago. We recently had the same slate installed on the back terrace and the price had gone up to $5.80, labor was about $5 psf.

We do have the gauged slate, as well--ordered through a tile company. One of the reasons ours was more is the size--16 x 16 in the house and larger, irregular patterns outside.

Demifloyd, I just love your home, every picture I have seen is beautiful. I had been thinking of slate for our home and your pictures convinced me that I must have it! I showed my DH and he is now convinced as well, so thanks for that. :) Even at $10 or $11 psf that is better than the cost of slate PLUS $15 psf! I just knew that had to be wrong. I have seen slate used over large areas in local spec homes and I can't imagine a builder putting it in for that cost. May I ask what your slate is called?

Thank you, luckymom. This house is still a work in progress; no doubt I'll be ready to remodel by the time I get everything like I want it, LOL.

The slate is called Multi, and has charcoal, rusts, greens, golds, deep aubergine, and a little cream tones. As I mentioned, it is gauged.

It is not the Chinese Multi that you see at Lowes and some home improvement stores, although it is similar.
Some of the Chinese Multi has purple, or irridescent colors (very pretty) but is more fragile and flakes more.
Also some of the Chinese Multi I looked at is not gauged.

Here are some closeups of the Multi--hope this helps!

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Slate 1, 2, &3 saved to my decorating file, Thanks Demifloyd! I know what you mean about the house, we have been working on our current home for about 6 years, just finishing up so now it is time for a new project...building our house.

We have put high gloss finish on outdoor slate tiles and it looks really wet, we want to reduce the gloss,can we put matt sealant over it, will it stick?

bona0-

Always best to start your own thread rather than piggybacking on one that's more than a decade old.

ok thanks did not realize i was doing that

It's beneficial to all of us: you'll get better answers if other people don't have to wade through a lengthy thread to get to your concern.

BonaO commented her outside slate looks wet. What is the product you used? That’s how I want my kitchen slate to look.

Chose matte finish. Did hallway and the 3 bathrooms ..... they aren’t quite done obviously we need baseboards and threshold is completed yet… But it’s beautiful slate. Emrson - Rustic Gold