sealant advice for sandstone

[jfb]

Anyone with some real world knowledge of sealing sandstone?!

 

I bought a job lot of sandstone (think it was sold as yorkstone) that I suspect was really designed for outdoor use.

Anyway I used it to finish off the downstairs of my house. I bought and applied a sealer recommended for such a job (can't remember which one exactly).

It has never been very effective so 5 years later you can see dark areas where there has been traffic and the original colour where there hasn't. Never really had a go at cleaning it properly but after a bit of a go it looks like it should be possible. I don't want to clean the whole lot till I have a solution to sealing it successfully.

 

Pretty sure the sealant I used was a water based , breathable type (though there is no need for it to be breathable since there is concrete/dpm below).

Unlike the limestone floors on our kitchen where water will pool on top on the sandstone it darkens the colour of the stone and is absorbed at present so clearly not right.

 

Anyone know what will work? Do non-water based sealants work better though with the issue of VOCs?

 

Picture below shows what I'm dealing with - you can see the light corner where there is normally a table that has remained the original colour.

[bassanclan]

I like LTP mattstone