Hard water staining (?) on slate shower floor - Tile Advice

[nickguk]

Hi everyone, I have been looking here for an answer relating to this problem, but haven't found anything specific so have started this new thread......

About 2 years ago I did a large wetroom floor in riven slate for a client. I sealed it with Lithofin before and after grouting.

Now, the dry area of the room is still gorgeous, but the shower area has large patches of what I can only assume are deposits from water that stands in a few places due to the rough surface of the slate. The deposit is creamy-white in colour and as the rest of the room is still perfect, it makes it not look very good!

Interestingly, the client has actually tried baby oil on one of the tiles that was lightly marked in the semi-wet area and it has come up perfect and stayed that way. I noticed also that the water is still beading quite nicely on the tiles in the wet area so it looks like the sealer has done its job.

What i really need to know now is how to safely remove the water deposits and what I then need to do (and the client keep doing?) after that to keep it stain free. The marking is on the surface as it comes off if you scratch a small area.

Any advice gratefully received, thanks!

 

[faithhealer]

Sounds like regular cleaning would help, but how do you tell a customer that

 

[Highlander]

It could be efflorescence coming through from the adhesive remember the water will get into the slate eventualy and throught the grout wetting the adhesive makes no difference what sealer you used and it can also do with the type of slate ie how dense etc.

There are lots of after market products that can help. If you could post some pictures it might help give a better solution to your problem.

Gary

 

[White Room]

After two years would'nt that be down general wear and tear

 

[Highlander]

After two years would'nt that be down general wear and tear

Could be, but if we had some pictures it would help us to see.