Granite Tile - G654 Padang Dark Granite

[shaic]

Hi,

I was wondering if someone could advise me on a problem i have been having with this G654 Padnag Granite tile.

We had this tile laid in our kitchen aprox 3 months ago. The tiles were laid and the grouting done there and then.

Once laid, the tiles appeared much darker at first but were a uniform colour.

During the last 3 months, some of the tiles have returned to their original lighter colour whilst others have had "colouration" issues, in that they have streaks, patches and blotches on them of various colours. Some of the tiles look like they have been effected by the sun and gone really pale whilst other have wavy patterns running through them. it just looks horrendous.

We have been advised that this is part of a "drying" process which was supposed to take upto a month. 3 months down the line, we are still concerned that everything still appears to be changing for the worse.

Also as advised, we have applied no sealant as yet which has resulted in stains on the tiles.

Please advise as to what we should do. is there a fault with the tile, the adhesive used or the fact that we haven't sealed yet.

Many thanks

 

[grumpygrouter]

I'm no expert having only done a few stone jobs but granite taking a month to "dry"???

 

[DHTiling]

Is it the light grey you have...?

And have you any pics....It sounds like incorrect fixing method..

Also do you know what type of adhesive was used and what substrate was it onto..?

 

[White Room]

What colour adhesive was used

 

[shaic]

Hi,

thanks for the responses. Originally the men used a grey flexible slow dry adhesive.

They then changed it to grey/white flexible quick dry adhesive

 

[jay]

hi as dave said pic would assist us to help you :8:

 

[shaic]

i will upload the pictures this evening. thanks for your help

 

[shaic]

pictures attached

 

[diamondtiling]

:yikes::yikes: I see what you mean :yikes::yikes:

At first glance it looks like two or three different colours completely, could it be the adhesive seeping into the tile? it can do that with very light granite if you use a grey addy.
The sun/light is not going to cause that, have you had the tiler/supplier out to look at these?

 

[diamondtiling]

Looking again, you have 9 light together and then 8/9 darker ones, that really points to different shade numbers which should have been checked prior to fixing. If the tiler had 3 or 4 boxes open and he was mixing them as he went then you would not have big blocks of them the way you do, they would be far more random.

 

[grumpygrouter]

I may be showing a little bit of inexperience here or even Naivety but I never realised that granite would be that absorbant nor that translucent, that light would show the adhesive through it!!!

 

[diamondtiling]

It can grumps, I have seen a white granite floor fixed with grey adhesive and you could see the rib marks of the trowel in some places. It all came up.

 

[White Room]

Hi,

thanks for the responses. Originally the men used a grey flexible slow dry adhesive.

They then changed it to grey/white flexible quick dry adhesive

Changing the colour and type of adhesive dos'nt help

 

[DHTiling]

Use a moisture meter on the tiles.....if no difference then it is tile shading....but you can also see adhesive shading on the lighter ones....or at least looks like it from the pics.

 

[shaic]

I have asked the suppliers to come and check it out. they've refused in the past on the basis that they believed that all would be solved in time with the "drying" process. Now that its clear that this is not the case, i have requested once again that they come. they have agreed.

from what is being said, it appears that the colour variations seen is due to a combination of two factors
1. Natural stone varaition
2. Adhesive seeping through and colouring the stone

i must point at that at one point all the tiles were as dark as the darkest ones you see in the pictures, and that only with time have some of them become lighter. Bizarre as it may seem, the tile's colour appaers to be evolving but not always necessarily for the better - like i said, some of the tiles which were once the natural "out of the box" colour now have streaks of white and dark grey running through them.

Please advise on what can/should be done about this.

Many thanks for all your responses

 

[Ramag]

I have never seen a granit tile bleed like this in the pictures supplied, if they were marble tiles I could understand the problem. The only granit of such bad quality I have seen is these cheap Chinesse so called granit tiles that are flooding the market in Germany, Holland and Belguim. You only have to spit on the back of a quality granit tile to test its quality, the spit stays put. But on the cheap kunstgranit tile from China the spit soaks in. Granit is waterproof and also good adhesives would never get this reaction. Contact the manufactures direct and tell them you will publish these pictures in the national newspapers. And also any good manufactuer of adhesive would remove a layed tile and test there product. PCI, Sopro and Mapei would do this within 48 hours.

 

[jay]

hi and thanks for pics if the color was dark all over originaly there has to be some reaction going on lookes a lot like the adh is bleeding through if it was moisture they should go darker are they sealed with anything and what are you currently cleaning them with just to cover all bases :8:and yes get all people invokved in the tiling job back supplier and tilers

 

[diamondtiling]

There only appears to be two options, either its a natural occurance that happens with the particular granite you have, I say this because you mention that they were all the same when laid, if this is the case then you either live with them or replace with new, or the shop have sold you two different batches and they are responsible. I cannot see how they can use the rule that once the tiles are fixed then they cannot be held responsible, they have clearly been telling you to wait for the tiles to dry, you have waited and the results are clear.
I would not want a floor like that in my kitchen, if it was far more staggered than it is then that would have looked so much better, has the tiler picked from one box at a time like I mentioned in an earlier reply?
Who was the supplier? can you get an independent supplier to give you their opinion?
Where area are you in the country?

 

[garyc4507]

hi as you can see from the photos the swirling affect is from the guaging trowl obviously the floor was not level or flat in the begining the granit tiles look very thin for this to happen they should of been solid bed and this would not happen i have over three hundred meters of various collerd granit in my house and no problems although the granit is30mm thick most granit is not very porouse so in english weather it will take maybe 5-6 months to dry properly you could get yourself a de humidifier that will quicken the prosses good luck

 

[Nardini]

It has already been said that adhesive color will often affect the final colour appearance of granite (and limestone, of course) tiles. It is very important to match adhesive to tile as close as possible and NEVER change colour in the middle of a job!

Having said that, I would suggest it possible that the stone was from different sources - or different parts of the same quarry - giving you the variation. When the stone was wet it would have tended to look the same, but the natural colour is showing as it is now drying.

If you procured the stone, did you specify the same colour batch to be supplied? if so, the problem is with your stone supplier (assuming you keep quiet about changing adhesive colour in mid-job!).

If not, all you can do is put it down to experience and bite the inevitable bullet as soon as you can to get the pain over and done with.

 

[shaic]

To clarify, the tiles have not been sealed on the recommedation of the tile manufacturer/seller who has until now maintained that the tiles need time to dry and that Granite being a natural stone, will always return to its original colour regardless of the type of adhesive used.

From what is being said, this is clearly not true for these tiles, and this appears to be a "quality" issue.

 

[enduro]

To clarify, the tiles have not been sealed on the recommedation of the tile manufacturer/seller who has until now maintained that the tiles need time to dry and that Granite being a natural stone, will always return to its original colour regardless of the type of adhesive used.

From what is being said, this is clearly not true for these tiles, and this appears to be a "quality" issue.

Go onto www.nsraweb.com it's a very good web site and you will get an answer here its the National stone restoration Alliance, and its an american web site but i use these guys loads for stone info.

 

[Spud]

have to agree with gary c on this the tiles should have laid to a solid bed and the backs of the tiles flatted off with adhesive, i have seen this before with light colour granite and as a general rule always flat spread the backs of natural stone tiles as well as serating the floor