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Marble Tile

Article Number: 275 | Rating: Unrated | Last Updated: Thu, Aug 2, 2007 at 12:00 AM

Hi Maurizio I am a home owner who just had a very reputable tile firm install Crema Marfil Select Spanish Marble in shower and bath floors. He sealed the tile in advance. I did notice little white spots appear after sealer was applied. He buffed tile dry and spots remained. The shower was installed and grouted and looks great. The floor however has issues. What appears to be water spotting or film is on tile. His next step is to grout floor. In all my reading on your site I am not sure how to proceed. I need to confront him tonight. What should I say to him. He is most reputable and has done a great job till now. I thought is was contaminated water on his diamond saw. But I looked at scap tile cut and it is fine. Why is my floor a mess? Did he wipe it down with dirty sponge or towels? I am mystified. Thanks much

Dear Dave:

First off, trust me: your installer did not seal your Crema Marfil tiles at all. Sure, there's no doubt that he applied an impregnating sealer to them, but he just plain wasted time and the whole product (your money), for that stone, when highly polished, does not absorb a darn thing and therefore it can't be technicallly sealed.

Having said that, I have no idea about the development of these mysterious white spots.

Maybe, no matter how hard he tried to remove the sealer from the surface of the tiles, a thin film is still sitting on it and if it were not cured enough it reacted with the water... It's just a wild guess, mind you, but indeed a possibility.

I would insist to have every residue of the sealer removed by stripping it with Methylene Chloride (available at any paint store), and see what happens.

Could you send me a couple of pictures of these whitish stains? And, in the meantime...

May I ask you now to please read and e-sign our Statement of Purpose at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm? :-)

Ciao and good luck,

Maurizio Bertoli

www.marblecleaning.org – The Only Consumers' Portal to the Stone Industry Establishment!