Limestone picture framing? - Tile Advice

[urban stone]

Hi guys i am new on here but reading to all the responses on here i can see there are an awfull lot of stone fixers and tilers on here with decades of experience, and i would like help and advice to this major problem. I have laid a 30mm limestone floor on to a concrete screed with underfloor heating the stone was not 100% dry when laid but the contractor insisted it was laid even though i advised leaving it to dry for a week in the property. The stone was laid with white flexible stone fix s2 adhesive this was left untouched for a week to dry then sealed twice in two days with lithofin stain stop. I have used this stone before and was worried how pourus it was so grouted 2 m2 at a time so there wasn't any stainage which previously was fine. This time however the stone has horrendous staining were i have just grouted the joints have cleaned with lithofin power clean as i thought grout was trapped in the cappilarys but this hasnt touched it if anything it looks worse a the stone surface is now really clean?! what can i and should i do to try and rectify this and were do i stand if what i have done is correct regarding the buider if this cannot be rectified the stone alone was about £11000 for 35m2?!

any help and advice is much appreciated:mad2:

 

[Ian]

Welcome along to tf. Do you have any pictures please?

 

[urban stone]

hi here is the image of the limestone floor

 

[DHTiling]

Ok you say picture framing...

So is the stone wetting from the grout creating the picture frame effect or is it grout staining at the surface..?

 

[urban stone]

sorry i say picture framing but it resembles that but this occurred after it was grouted and dried back tried cleaning with lithofin power clean after the rep implied it was on the surface in the cappilarys ?

 

[DHTiling]

Ok, how soon after sealing was it grouted.. ?

 

[urban stone]

it was grouted 24 hrs later

 

[DHTiling]

it was grouted 24 hrs later

can i ask how many coats of sealer were applied and what sealer was used, also what grout was used plz.. ?

 

[urban stone]

it was a flexible nicobond jasmine grout and before it was grouted i used the lithofin stain stop sealer which had two coats it was foaming up a lot and was doused in it so i thought it had plenty!

 

[DHTiling]

Ok .. i appreciate your concerns but certain limestones do require sealing to the point of saturation and by this i mean they wil not except any more sealer and this is sealing at the point of drying time between coats and then they cannot be wetted upto 48 to 72 hrs .. so this means they also cannot be grouted as the sealer is not at full protection to prevent staining... BUT this also depends upon the suitability if the grout to be used with moisture sensitive stones.. as you need a fast drying grout to prevent ingress at the edges.


So much to say but this is the basics..

 

[urban stone]

appreciate those points, and it was carried out in the manner with timings and application that i thought was okay? so maybe not? but i have used this limestone before and exactly the same products and time frames werew implemented and i didnt have this kind of stainage is this possible treatable in your view or perhaps is there any possible way to gauge if the stain has sunk deeper into the stone? in your experience how would you know proceed?

 

[DHTiling]

Right.. if it is the grout moisture, then wait 72 hrs ish for it to dry but if you think it is on the capillaries of the surface then you could try a suitable grout/polymer release cleaner for calcium stones..

 

[urban stone]

okay i will try this, really appreciate your input.

 

[DHTiling]

no probs at all , i will say it is hard to say without actually seeing it at face value and how each step was performed but i hope my advice helps.

 

[Pebbs]

I hate to be the doom and gloom merchant around here, but I just re-read something regarding the sealing of this stone. You wrote that the stone was still a little wet when it was laid. You gave it a some time, and grouted and sealed it. If that stone had any moisture in it, where do you think this was going to go after you had sealed it? The fact is it has no where to go, it rises and lies there underneath the surface of the sealer and starts pooling, You now have water trapped underneath the sealer, and it cannot go anywhere. I would have had heaters in to dry it out.

What can you do? strip a section back and get some heat on it to dry it out, cut the joints clean the stone back and regrout and seal. I don't know if this can be salvaged, but you can only try.

Pebbs