Roger,
My first question is, why is the stone spalling? Is there
moisture behind the walls? Have you tested it with a moisture meter?
Next if the stone is not wet and is spalling then my nest
question would be what are they cleaning the stone with, they might be using a
cleaner that is causing the problems.
If not of the above enter into the picture than the best you can
do is clean it and seal it to keep the moisture from entering the stone. if there
is a moisture problem coming from behind the stone then that need to be
repaired and once the stone dries the problem should stop.
For repairing the problem, depending upon a polished limestone
or honed limestone you could repair with a polyester fill or on a honed surface
a grout fill or a traver fill mixed with color to match the stone. however if
you don’t fix the problem that is causing the problem then you are only partially
fixing the customer problem and when the problem reoccurs the customer remember
you as the guy that only temporary fixed the problem. I would rather be the guy
the customer remembers as the guy that fixed the problem .
Get you moisture meter out and try to find the source of the
problem, then make the recommendation on the correct action to take. It might
be a simple fix like replacing the grouting in corners and the bottom of the shower
with caulk , this could be where the problem is coming from.
Hope this helps
John E. Freitag
President/Director
The Stone and Tile School
Office 407-567-7652
Cell 407-615-0134
jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com
From: Roger Konarski
[mailto:qm144@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 9:19 PM
To: Restoration and Maintenance
Subject: RE: [sccpartners] Question on spalling limestone
|
What about spalling Limestone in showers ! Can that be
fixed?
I
have a “band aid” approach. Since the problem is from hydrostatic pressure,
if you patch w/ epoxy it will just pop out, rather quickly. So, you can
mix-match some un-sanded grout colors, or use stone patching compounds (Jahn
Mortars) apply by overfilling then sand in flat. This will allow the stone to
breathe at these problem areas. Of course the shine will not be there so it
is not as good of an option on polished stone as it is on honed. From: John Freitag
[mailto:jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com] Lorne, I
agree with Fred once the floor begins to spall there is very little you can
do , recommend the same as Fred said tear it out and replace it.
If they replace the stone the next install, if the moisture is in
the slab I would set the stone in epoxy and would consider using a water
proof membrane. John E.
Freitag President/Director The
Stone and Tile School Office
407-567-7652 Cell
407-615-0134 jfreitag@thestoneandtileschool.com
www.thestoneandtileschool..com From:
fhueston@gmail.com [mailto:fhueston@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Dr Fred lorne once
the stone starts spalling like that there is very little that can be done. My
advice would be to tear it out. On
Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 11:03 AM, <lorne@fabracleenstoneandtilecare.com>
wrote: I
have to figure out how to minimize the pictures I have, but until then... I
saw a sun room that had constantly flooded in the beg. of the summer. They
fixed the issue but then the white appeared and they only called now. Half
the floor has bad spalling and I was wondering if there are options besides
tearing it out? Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry From:
"John Freitag" Joe, There are
several things I will comment on, first usually a good alkaline stripper will
remove most of the seal that may still be on the grout. If you are seeing a
seal on the grout you may have something other than a silicone sealer. You
may have an epoxy or polyurethane sealer on the grout. In these cases you
going to need something stronger than a Alkaline striper and will probably
need a methylamine based stripper. Or the Beanie Doo product I’ve been told
works fairly. One other way to check to see if the seal on topical or not
place some acid on the grout to see what happens , if nothing happens it
probably still coated , unless it an epoxy grout . If you are
going to clean and reseal with an impregnating seal and there is no epoxy or
polyurethane seal on the grout , then go in clean the tile and the grout and
re-seal.. That being
said, the grout over time will get dirty again, my next recommendation would
be to ColorSeal the grout using the Grout Perfect Grout coloring system. This does
several things: 1. Give the grout a new look 2. The customer can change the color if
they wish 3. Eliminate the inconsistency in the
grout when you only clean ( some areas will clean up better then other) 4. Make the cleaning by the customer a
much easier process. If you are
not currently doing Grout coloring services I HIGHLY recommend you start.
Just as stone chemicals the grout coloring chemicals are not created the
same, I have tried several products on the market and found the Grout Perfect
product to be the best in coverage, the easiest to apply and the
easiest to clean up. Currently in
our restoration company we are doing 25 to 30 % of our business Grout color
sealing services. If you are already in the customers home selling your
marble services why not sell your grout services for the ceramic tile? John E. Freitag President/Director The Stone and
Tile School Office
407-567-7652 Cell
407-615-0134
Joe, its hard to tell if its silcone or not, but
place some water on the grout and see if it absorbs,,if it doesnt it is
sealed. try striping first with a good stripper and retest. On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2:17 AM, Stone & Grout Meister <mail@stoneandgroutmeister.com>
wrote: I'm getting ready to clean and seal about 400
sq ft of ceramic floor tile. The grout appears to have a sealer on it, in
some areas the sealer has broken down. I think the sealer is a silicone base.
Is their a quick and easy way to determine if it is a silicone sealer? How
long does a silicone sealer last under normal foot traffic in a residential
setting using the proper cleaning products compared to a penetrating sealer?
Could a fluoropolymer penetrating sealer be applied to the grout without
stripping the silicone sealer? Does anyone know of a silicone sealer that I
could buy off the shelf at a big box store? Thanks......
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