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Honed Alabama Marble Backsplash in Kitchen

Article Number: 321 | Rating: Unrated | Last Updated: Tue, Aug 14, 2007 at 12:00 AM

We had a honed Alabama marble backsplash installed in our kitchen yesterday. After the installer left, we noticed that the marble was getting darker and darker, turning from the beautiful creamy white colored marble that we purchased to a dingy, uniform gray. Can you tell us what is happening and what we need to do? Thank you Fred

Dear Fred:

" Can you tell us what is happening and what we need to do?"

Answering to your last part of the question: wait for a few weeks and keep your fingers crossed!...

Certain marble get temporarily darker as the moisture of the curing setting material migrates throught the core of the stone into the surface. If the setter used white thin set, there should not be any consequence. It will dry over time (some time a rather long time!). However, if the setter used regular gray setting material, then there could be (but not necessarily) a permanent discoloration because of that.

BTW, I sure hope that nobody had the brilliant idea of applying some sort of impregnator (a.k.a. sealer) to your stone!...

Now remember, it's never too early to think about the proper maintenance of your stone. The issue of what you'll be doing day in and day out to your stone is very important and it's all too often neglected. As you can tell by reading many of this site's postings, you're not likely to get good information about it from your dealer or installer. Don't become another statistic! By logging into the Helpful Hints section of our website at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/helpful-hints.htm , you will be able to get the short version of our maintenance guidelines at no charge. The full version of it – a 7-page document considered by many as an industry benchmark – is available in pay- per-download format in our Educational Literature section at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/literature.htm .

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Thank you

Ciao and good luck,

Maurizio Bertoli

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