I have this issue with my current shower that was redone. From what i saw then install they used sand pack or whatever then put the marble right on top and grouted over the tile. He was unaware that marble had to be sealed but i caught it before it was an issue and sealed it. Is the discoloration something i have to have them pull it all up and fix or can i live with the color issue or will it get worse and cost me more later?
Choosing carrara marble tiles for my shower has been a total stress-bomb for me, now almost a month into the project. PLEASE everyone, do your research and consult a reputable tile/stone dealer, designer and experienced professional installer before you settle on this product. My installer had NO idea why the stone went dark and discolored upon install and didn't even stop to question what was completely obvious until I came home and was like WHOA! He also used "mud" colored mortar/thinset to mount. I had to deep dive online for information. I was made to feel like I was overreacting. It took almost a week for the tiles to dry out to regular color (with fans blazing day and night) and then some were from a different dye lot and had to be replaced AND dried out again! If I hadn't found online blogs like this and Reddit, videos etc. they would have pushed on grouting without cleaning or sealing the marble and I would have been screwed. After arguing back and forth through an interpreter as whether or not they need to seal it before grouting, the installer finally admitted TODAY that he has never installed this type of tile/stone. AARRGHH!
There's a few different reasons it happened, the number one reason is there is no pre-slope, so as water sits as a moat usually at least a half an inch thick before it can climb up to get to the weep holes it's going to hold water it will drain but it's going to hold water constantly and always. That will discoloring the marble. Secondly stop sealing marble or natural stone that is in a shower it is natural it needs to breathe. Use a traditional system with a pre slope vinyl liner post slope elevated concrete board liquid waterproofing over that and protection and do not seal Natural Stone in a shower. That's it in a nutshell...... also using these preformed foam pre-pitch pans are a big problem, with a traditional system it has room underneath for the water to go down and it doesn't sit constantly in just thinset
Hello! Watched your whole youTube video on tiling research. And thank you! Have a quick yes/no question if I could impose on you? What is your take on this scenario to use sealer or not? And thank you in advance if you answer... I am a rookie and now know this is a big deal a little too late for me in some regard. I used a preslope base made by KBRS which is what you describe as a sealed system which is similar to Schluter. Here's where I screwed using Ciot mosaic marble tile sheets in the shower base. Instead of using Epoxy mortar, I used the same Mapei Large Format Tile mortar I used on the walls never thinking this might be bad. I'm at the point no grout yet, planning to use epoxy. But should I use StoneTech sealer beforehand???? And I'm hoping the weep holes are not clogged still allowing the water to seep through the LFT thinset...? Thank you if you decide to answer.
This is happening to my marble shower floor & I have only lived in this brand new home a week. The discoloration is about 12-18" in diameter of the main drain. Extremely frustrating and scary given we have been here so short a time and this is already happening. Questions I'd LOVE an answer to!!: Will the area where the discoloration is continue to spread to the rest of the shower floor bed, or up the shower walls, or even outside the shower? We have the same marble floor tiles in the rest of the bathroom and there is no step up to get into the shower - it's all seamless & 1-level, so my fear is that if it "wicks" it might even spread to outside the shower stall. I don't know much but I do know my builder used the Schluter Kerdi system w/ tileable drain. Another question I have is - if this is caused by trapped water, then how does that bode for the long haul? This bathroom is on the 2nd floor. What are our options at this point? We paid a lot of money for this bathroom and I am sick about it. Thank you.
I am sorry to hear about your situation. It's hard to predict by how far the discoloration will spread since there are many unknowns. It usually doesn't spread outside the shower area and tends to stay closer to the drain. If the waterproofing in your shower was done correctly, marble moisture discoloration will only be an esthetic issue.
Thanks for all the information. I am also in the middle of a diy project and have a Schluter pan and just installed and light color mosaic marble floor with Schluter all-set but have not yet grouted. Based on your video it sounds like this discoloration is definitely going to happen. Am I better off ripping this up and starting over with porcelain tile instead of wasting more money tiling the wall and getting custom glass? Is there anything else I can do to save it?
Kevin, do you have any spare marble mosaic tile left? If you do, look at the backside of it and let me know if there is a layer of transparent glue covering the mesh. That layer usually reflects light at a certain angle. How long has it been since you finished setting that shower floor?
@@kevineggleston3040 resin-backed tiles technically cannot even be installed with a cement-based thin-set mortar. Also such tiles have higher risk of trapping the moisture under them. At the same time, since the bond of the mortar to resin-backing is usually lower, it is pissible to remove them with a proper tool without damaging the waterproofing membrane below. If that's still possible I would recommend you to consider replacing such stone mosaics with marble-looking porcelain tiles.
I have this issue with my current shower that was redone. From what i saw then install they used sand pack or whatever then put the marble right on top and grouted over the tile. He was unaware that marble had to be sealed but i caught it before it was an issue and sealed it. Is the discoloration something i have to have them pull it all up and fix or can i live with the color issue or will it get worse and cost me more later?
dude carrara is not good for places with a lot of moisture and watter becaous its porous
Choosing carrara marble tiles for my shower has been a total stress-bomb for me, now almost a month into the project. PLEASE everyone, do your research and consult a reputable tile/stone dealer, designer and experienced professional installer before you settle on this product. My installer had NO idea why the stone went dark and discolored upon install and didn't even stop to question what was completely obvious until I came home and was like WHOA! He also used "mud" colored mortar/thinset to mount. I had to deep dive online for information. I was made to feel like I was overreacting. It took almost a week for the tiles to dry out to regular color (with fans blazing day and night) and then some were from a different dye lot and had to be replaced AND dried out again! If I hadn't found online blogs like this and Reddit, videos etc. they would have pushed on grouting without cleaning or sealing the marble and I would have been screwed. After arguing back and forth through an interpreter as whether or not they need to seal it before grouting, the installer finally admitted TODAY that he has never installed this type of tile/stone. AARRGHH!
There's a few different reasons it happened, the number one reason is there is no pre-slope, so as water sits as a moat usually at least a half an inch thick before it can climb up to get to the weep holes it's going to hold water it will drain but it's going to hold water constantly and always. That will discoloring the marble. Secondly stop sealing marble or natural stone that is in a shower it is natural it needs to breathe. Use a traditional system with a pre slope vinyl liner post slope elevated concrete board liquid waterproofing over that and protection and do not seal Natural Stone in a shower. That's it in a nutshell...... also using these preformed foam pre-pitch pans are a big problem, with a traditional system it has room underneath for the water to go down and it doesn't sit constantly in just thinset
Hello! Watched your whole youTube video on tiling research. And thank you! Have a quick yes/no question if I could impose on you? What is your take on this scenario to use sealer or not? And thank you in advance if you answer... I am a rookie and now know this is a big deal a little too late for me in some regard. I used a preslope base made by KBRS which is what you describe as a sealed system which is similar to Schluter. Here's where I screwed using Ciot mosaic marble tile sheets in the shower base. Instead of using Epoxy mortar, I used the same Mapei Large Format Tile mortar I used on the walls never thinking this might be bad. I'm at the point no grout yet, planning to use epoxy. But should I use StoneTech sealer beforehand???? And I'm hoping the weep holes are not clogged still allowing the water to seep through the LFT thinset...? Thank you if you decide to answer.
Hello, Eric!
I just replied to your email you sent me earlier.
This is happening to my marble shower floor & I have only lived in this brand new home a week. The discoloration is about 12-18" in diameter of the main drain. Extremely frustrating and scary given we have been here so short a time and this is already happening. Questions I'd LOVE an answer to!!: Will the area where the discoloration is continue to spread to the rest of the shower floor bed, or up the shower walls, or even outside the shower? We have the same marble floor tiles in the rest of the bathroom and there is no step up to get into the shower - it's all seamless & 1-level, so my fear is that if it "wicks" it might even spread to outside the shower stall. I don't know much but I do know my builder used the Schluter Kerdi system w/ tileable drain. Another question I have is - if this is caused by trapped water, then how does that bode for the long haul? This bathroom is on the 2nd floor. What are our options at this point? We paid a lot of money for this bathroom and I am sick about it. Thank you.
I am sorry to hear about your situation. It's hard to predict by how far the discoloration will spread since there are many unknowns. It usually doesn't spread outside the shower area and tends to stay closer to the drain. If the waterproofing in your shower was done correctly, marble moisture discoloration will only be an esthetic issue.
Thanks for all the information. I am also in the middle of a diy project and have a Schluter pan and just installed and light color mosaic marble floor with Schluter all-set but have not yet grouted. Based on your video it sounds like this discoloration is definitely going to happen. Am I better off ripping this up and starting over with porcelain tile instead of wasting more money tiling the wall and getting custom glass? Is there anything else I can do to save it?
Kevin, do you have any spare marble mosaic tile left? If you do, look at the backside of it and let me know if there is a layer of transparent glue covering the mesh. That layer usually reflects light at a certain angle. How long has it been since you finished setting that shower floor?
@@TileProUSA Yes, it looks like there is a layer of glue on the back of the mosaic tile. The floor was set about 5 days ago.
@@kevineggleston3040 resin-backed tiles technically cannot even be installed with a cement-based thin-set mortar. Also such tiles have higher risk of trapping the moisture under them. At the same time, since the bond of the mortar to resin-backing is usually lower, it is pissible to remove them with a proper tool without damaging the waterproofing membrane below. If that's still possible I would recommend you to consider replacing such stone mosaics with marble-looking porcelain tiles.