Yellow Stains on Honed Marble Shower Wall
by Julian
Marble Shower Wall
QUESTION:Hi, two years ago we had a honed Carrara marble shower installed. Over time I've notice that we are getting some staining on the tiles that are most exposed to the water.Some of the staining, where the tiles are darker I assume is just the result of water penetrating the surface of the marble and indeed it does fade to some extent when the shower isn't used for a day or so. However, as you can see from the attached photo some of the staining looks like rust. In fact, there, is a very high iron content in the water and it is an old house so I would not be surprised if there is rust in the water pipes. My questions are can I clean the staining and secondly what would you suggest to seal the surface to prevent the problem getting any worse. Many Thanks! ANSWER:High iron concentration in the water could be responsible, but the rust-like stains you see can occur with white marble that gets saturated with water.White marble often contains iron deposits that can rust is exposed to a constant source of water. You see this most often on floors, but certainly can occur in a shower if water is getting behind the tiles providing enough moisture to leach into the marble tiles, oxidize the iron deposits and carry the rusty water to the surface staining the tile. Water can get behind the tiles through voids or cracks in the grout and/or from a bad install. So, inspect the area and repair any damaged areas you find. Nothing can fix a bad install except a tear out and re-install, but that is a worse-case scenario that I wouldn't worry too much about yet. However, given the pattern easily seen in the helpful photo (thanks!)I'd say that in this case the your diagnosis of the rusty water is likely correct. Although if true, I'd expect to see some rust staining on the floor along the main path where the water runs to the drain. You say the stains fade if the shower is not used for a few days. This is because the marble dries out (at least at the surface) which changes the reflectivity of the surface and makes the color appear less saturated. Wet just about anything and you'll notice the color gets darker. Of course, you may have a combination of both rusty water and water behind the tiles. Cleaning marble rust stains can be difficult. You'll need to follow the instructions in the Removing Stains Manual. You'll likely have to repeat the process several times. Do that and re-grout/repair any voids in the grout. Once the stains are removed, you could seal the marble to help eliminate staining from the rusty water, but if water is still getting behind the tiles you could still get rust stains leaching to the surface. And now the water would be sealed inside the tile, which will cause the marble to break down in time. But if you successfully repair any voids in the grout, seal the marble and still have a problem develop it would be good evidence of a bad install and whether or not the marble was sealed would be mute at that point. Certainly, you should look at a solution for filtering the water to eliminate iron if possible. Then I'd remove the stains and seal the marble using either STONE SENTRY or SenGuard Sealers. Good Luck, 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.
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