Marble with brown stains

[noobtiler]

Hi again guys, I decided to go with the 2mm gaps in the end but Ive now laid half the bathroom floor 2 m2 with white marble 600 x 600 tiles and ia couple hours after laying light brown coffee/tar stains appeared on the edges of my tiles. I can only put it down to putting too much adhesive near the edges of the tiles then when levelling causing adhesive to pop through the grout gap and got quite wet. Its only on areas where this happened. Tiles are 18mm thick, I used ardex x77 and mapei kieraquick both white adhesive. Tiles weren't sealed so not sure if that matters. And was laying onto itra matting..PLease help

p.s clients dont drink coffee so cant blame them

 

[david campbell]

sounds like your tiles have stained with the adhesive,it's always a good idea to seal them first if you can't guarentee you will be able to work cleanly!
you can get a product from lithofin called MN power clean that is for cleaning heavily soiled marble,you can mail order from diatech scotland

 

[noobtiler]

No where else has stained only the egdes. Ardex say it shouldnt stain and another tiler who has laid alot of marble says that can happen and will dry out to white, just want another opinion..:mad2:

 

[DHTiling]

Leave it to dry before you use anything....picture frame wetting can happen on certain types of stone.

 

[noobtiler]

Leave it to dry before you use anything....picture frame wetting can happen on certain types of stone.

and is that sometimes brown? thanks dave

 

[DHTiling]

Not normaly...but depends on the marble and veining...

I would leave it and see if it dries...we had one a couple weeks or so ago on here and it dried out...

 

[noobtiler]

cheers dave, will let u know:8:

 

[CJ CERAMICS]

have had white marble go almost translucent on the edges when first layed due to moisture from addy seeping through fissures/veins in tiles which were not noticable before laying. dried out clean before grouting. id do as others have said and see how they dry out

 

[Colour Republic]

So guys what would you do about sealing here? If it is just wetting from the addy would you wait until it had dried out or would you seal anyway?... (maybe i'm gonna answer my own question here) i suppose you'd have to wait to make sure it really is wetting or you'd seal any stains in.

But if you were sure it's wetting, would you seal? and if so would you still use a solvent based sealer or would you go for a water based one to be on the safe side?

 

[DHTiling]

NO i would not seal on a damp tile....

 

[Colour Republic]

NO i would not seal on a damp tile....

I thought you might say that Dave, can be a bit tricky keeping the customer off the floor until it has dried out but needs must, what the longest you've seen it take, I can think of jobs where it's taken 3 days but there must be times where it can take longer. any expriance?

 

[CJ CERAMICS]

personally prefer to cut and dry lay the tiles and seal before fixing if at all poss, but otherwise i would only seal after they had dried out to to be safe and sure.

 

[DHTiling]

couple days most for me....was limestone but i grouted before sealing and had slight picture frame wetting.....so left it to dry before sealing....but the likes of apple stone need to be sealed before grouting and usually need to handled with gloves also as finger sweat can stain them...:yikes:

 

[Colour Republic]

Ok here is another one for you...

I normally, fix, seal, grout, then seal again.

Have any of you ever sealed the underside of a tile from fear of addy staining and if so did it have any implications for the addy making a bond because of it?

 

[DHTiling]

I have never sealed the underside...not something i would contemplate either...

If a stone is suspect of darkening from adhesive then i flat blade the back of the tile with adhesive then the colour change is uniform...this should be done anyway with translucent tiles..

sealing the underside and edges imo is a waste of time...and could hinder the adhesion process depending on the type used..

 

[Colour Republic]

that's what i thought, thanks Dave

 

[Terry Cottar]

hmmm I thought i had read somewhere that sealing the underside and sides actually assisted adhesion

why wouldn't you seal a damp tile with a sealer as long as it was water based and breathable?

tel

 

[White Room]

hmmm I thought i had read somewhere that sealing the underside and sides actually assisted adhesion

why wouldn't you seal a damp tile with a sealer as long as it was water based and breathable?

tel

I'm sure I did as well quite a while ago though

 

[DHTiling]

hmmm I thought i had read somewhere that sealing the underside and sides actually assisted adhesion

why wouldn't you seal a damp tile with a sealer as long as it was water based and breathable?

tel

I remember the thread as well but more peeps were against the idea than for it...

It's not something i woul do personally but if you feel it is advisable then thats your choice..i cannot see any benefit of sealing the under side of a tile IMO..
Adhesive griups into the capilaries of the tile so sealing them will hinder as far as i'm concerned...a bit like sealing unfilled travertine before grouting then the grout pops out where it can't grip the sealer....

As for sealing a wet tile with water based sealer...the water is the carrier not the sealer...but i don't use water based anyway...have you any product data for a water based sealer that can be used on wet tiles..apart from these aerosol diy stuff thats about..?

 

[enduro]

Aqua mix water based sealer says you need to wait 48hrs after grouting to apply sealer. So even using waterbased sealers you have to wait.

 

[Terry Cottar]

Aqua mix water based sealer says you need to wait 48hrs after grouting to apply sealer. So even using waterbased sealers you have to wait.

true but it also says you can apply as soon as the surface is dry. i have applied gallons of the stuff to damp tiles and never had a problem as long as the surface of the tile is dry it works for me. however it does not become effective until the tile is total dry

tel

 

[Colour Republic]

The product I had in mind when I asked the question was Lithofin Stain Stop (the water based version of course).

Thinking about it now, If you paint over plaster that has a few damp areas with a water based paint like a vinyl matt emulsion if reacts differently and is clearly visable where it doesn't soak into the plaster but rather sits on the top. You would think that it might just be slightly diluted in that area but becuase the area is already damp the product is not drawn in to the surface so it does not bond as well - I suppose the same could be said for a sealer

 

[R Montgomery]

..........

 

[Terry Cottar]

The product I had in mind when I asked the question was Lithofin Stain Stop (the water based version of course).

Thinking about it now, If you paint over plaster that has a few damp areas with a water based paint like a vinyl matt emulsion if reacts differently and is clearly visable where it doesn't soak into the plaster but rather sits on the top. You would think that it might just be slightly diluted in that area but becuase the area is already damp the product is not drawn in to the surface so it does not bond as well - I suppose the same could be said for a sealer

Well pointed out and have no idea about Lithofin as i hate the stuff I would agree in that instance but this aquamix sealer is breathable and allows vapour transmission so thats why its Ok once the surface is dry

tel

 

[jay]

breathable ,does that mean it allows air to pass through but not moisture , id reko leave 48 hours as above :8:

 

[Terry Cottar]

breathable ,does that mean it allows air to pass through but not moisture , id reko leave 48 hours as above :8:

No it means it allows vapour transmission as well as most of the water evaporates anyway. noone said you shouldnt leave it for the 48 hours but sometimes circumstances dictate you cant

tel

 

[jay]

if you seal with water based sealer on to damp stone slate ect chances are sealer will be broken down (non effective )i know sometimes you need to speed jobs along but you run a risk of problems later cloudy effect or grout sticking only my opinion be carful:8: