Q.My master bath shower is tiled with tumbled stone on the floor, ceramic (or porcelain) stone-look tile on the walls. I have noticed a white film on many grout lines, and a strong white line has formed leading from two walls across tiles/grout lines to the drain. From reading on this site, I am afraid it is efflourescence from moisture behind the stone. We do have some areas where there are small cracks in the grout (my husband has yet to get around to it...you know how it is). Does this sound like the problem? If so, will simply caulking at the cracked grout areas solve the moisture-behind-the-stone problem, or is it a costlier repair? Once that's repaired, can the white lines and cloudy grout be repaired? Thank you so much for your time and help.

A.Hi-Sounds like crystalized effloresence.It gets very hard and almost impossible to remove.You need to call a stone restoration pro to use the proper chemicals(eaco chem co has some great ones) to remove the effloresence,get the shower dryed,recaulk and or regrout where needed.The water going beneath the stone has to be stopped.Hopefully this is all it will need.You can find a pro at www.stoneandtilepros.com

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Stu Rosen