Orange Stain On Newly Laid Marble Tiles
by TK
cleaning marble tile floor
QUESTION:We just had installed carrara marble hex tiles three days ago, and in some of the tiles, an orange colour has leached through. I'm assuming they have come from the same piece of marble. When the tiles were first installed, I noticed that the colour of all the tiles had changed to a darker shade of grey, but has since returned to its original colour. I'm not going to seal the tiles until I can find out what the problem is. Do you have any idea what it is or what i can do?ANSWER:Sometimes this can occur when the wrong adhesive or setting material is used, but of course you'd see it over the whole floor.Most often when Carrara marble yellows it's because of exposure to significant moisture. White marble will often contain small deposits of iron. If the marble becomes wet long enough to allow moisture to leach through the marble, the iron deposits will oxidize creating yellow/orange/brown stains. Usually it this process occurs over a longer period, but if enough moisture it could happen quickly and these tiles are thin. I'd agree that the two tiles are from the same cut, but also that these tiles were somehow more wet than the others or you'd expect to see at least a few other spots. You can get the stains out using the procedure in the Removing Stains Manual. Hard to tell by the picture if the marble is honed or polished, but removing rust stains can etch polished marble. So, I'd consider just replacing them. And you want to wait 2 to 3 weeks after installation to seal a floor. You need to give enough time to make sure all the tiles have dried out completely and to clean the floor 2 or 3 times to remove all dust and debris. Regards, Ryan P.S. Get all the facts, answers, explanations and simple solutions with step-by-step instructions for any issue, problem or question with our Granite & Marble Maintenance Manuals.  I highly recommend Stone Care Pro Products to maintain all your marble, stone and granite countertops and floors in optimal condition. I've used other good products (Stone Tech, Miracle) but found Stone Care Pro is the most reliable and effective.
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