# Rock Wall Sealer - Fumes



## Dellian (Apr 26, 2012)

I know it's been asked to death but my question is in regards to a particular product.

What I have is a polystyrene and grout rock wall, vertical with some flat surfaces. I've decided to stay clear of Bondall PondTite because I'm a little nervous about the potential for cracking of the sealant surface.

So I have found this:
Bondall Tile and Grout Sealer

What concerns me about this is the potential for fumes and poisons for my bearded dragon. Is a simple air out really the only thing needed before I put it in the cage or should I take the above option because of it's safe nature?


Cheers for the assistance.


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## mudgudgeon (Apr 26, 2012)

Being water based, fumes should be fairly minimal. Air it until the smell has gone.

I recently used a solvent based sandstone dealer, it looks great, but took a couple of weeks for the fumes to settle


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## Virides (Apr 26, 2012)

You can speed up the drying process by heating the area. Can be as simple as putting a heater in a small room with the enclosure. The solvents in the paint will leech out quicker. Do not bake it though, even 10degrees warmer will help it cure faster.


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## J-A-X (Apr 26, 2012)

Be very careful with solvent base sealer ! Make sure you have a good THICK layer of render/grout/cement on the foam. Solvent base sealers absorb into the render. (its suppose to, but its designed for dense tiles, not render ! )
Any one remember my "Bali Tank" ??? 

I decided to use a tile sealer, "natural non gloss look" - fantastic  looked great........




Went to move it a couple of weeks later and heard a stomach sickening 'Craaaack' when i looked i couldnt see anything obvious, so i started gently pressing on the render....... this is what fell off in the space of 5 minutes :shock:




the sealer had found a thin spot and soaked through the render and eaten the foam out from underneath the render, essentially making it hollow......





once i'd finished pushing the render it was obvious that the two sides would have to be totally redone..... I didnt touch it for a few weeks as I was a "little bit annoyed" and thought if i went in there in a bad mood i was likely to destroy the whole thing....

It has now been redone.... 

Save yourself the headache, stick to water based sealers....... i wont use anything else now !


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## Dellian (Apr 27, 2012)

Ouch that looks saddening.
Thanks for the advice, plenty of airing and it'll be fine.


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## mudgudgeon (Apr 30, 2012)

Good tip Jax. After looking at your pics, I think I got lucky!
I did notice a small amount of foam dissolved right at the base if mine, I didn't give it much thought though.
I think I'll try a waterbased sealer on the next, is hate to have the problem you had.


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## J-A-X (Apr 30, 2012)

If I hadn't heard the noise I wouldn't have known ! If I hadn't heard anything I'd have moved it into the house, put the new occupant in and I would have just found a pile of render rubble and a confused looking Darwin. I think it semi dissolved some of the render too- I definately laid the render thicker than what you can see


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