How to even out color of honed marble mosaic?
by
Tracy C
+17
After tiling my bathroom floor with honed marble mosaic, it was weird that the next day, some of the tiles dried white & gray (like in the package) and others had a tan/darker color. This wouldn't be so bad either way but this looks so bad with two different colors. In addition to this, as you can see in the picture, it's right in the doorway! Is there a way to either lighten up the darker tiles or darken the whitish areas? I haven't sealed because I'm not sure if there is a remedy for this.
Where do you suggest applying the enhancer? On the dark or the white. The tile is supposed to be the whiter color and I think it would enhance the gray veining but I don't think that product would get rid of the browning/darker tiles. What do you think about my assumption?
I have been trying to look at the photo to determine if the grout has anything to do with the issue. What did you clean with afterwards? It almost appears there is a dark film on some of the tile and it is a tan color. Is it possible there is some residue from the grout?
When did our bathroom tile, we cleaned with muratic acid. You can dilute it. I've even seen a 5:1 water:muratic acid tile cleaning for heavy build up and soap scum.
Here's a link to help you understand the variation in colors of your tiles:
https://www.tileoutlets.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-shade-variation-in-porcelain-and-ceramic-tile-the-toa-blog-about-tile-more/
We went through the same problem when the contractor came in and was about to tile our living room/dining room. He took apart the boxes of tile and saw the same situation as you have. We bought the tiles from a discount outlet. What ended up happening was we took the tiles back before they were installed. Then we went to Lowes and bought a better product that matched. We also learned to watch out for lot number changes, there will be slight variation there.
I agree, there may not be a remedy for your tiles having a variation, you might try contacting the manufacturer of your honed marble tiles and ask if there is anything you can do. Have the lot number ready. Best to you.
I think that you may have gotten tiles from different die lots. It's super important to be certain to get all the same die lot or you can end up with mismatched tiles, wood flooring, etc. See if you can figure out the die lot of the majority of your tiles and purchase more to replace the mismatched areas.
Hi Tracy, you may be able to lessen this look with a deep cleaning and a sealer,
hope this helps you out, If you do decide to sealer your shower or if y ou have a white marble shower, then SenGuard Permanent Stone Sealer is the best sealer for the job. It can be applied to both the tile and grout. Or applying a standard quality impregnating sealer will work too but you just have to reapply it periodically.
I would contact the tile company that made them to ask them what to do
Hi, unfortunately for us, we had to tear up the floor. HD was great and filed a claim with Datile for a refund. I had to show receipts of course, pictures and samples to show that it was much more that subtle variations but that was the easy part. We've bought 25 new tiles (all from the same HD), then took them home, took off the outer wrap and sponged them with water. Waited 2 hours to see if any dried the weird color! Yay, now we are dry-fitting them so we are sure to like the outcome since each tile has it's own unique coloring. I think other than going through this installation again and laying out more money until we get the refund, it will be beautiful. Thanks for your advice Cheryl, you were right.
Tracy so glad HD stood by their product for you. I was going to recommend going back to the store because several years ago I had a problem with tiles I purchased from Lowes being defective. And they were put down. We actually had to take them off the bathroom floor and bring the defective tiles back. They refunded my money because I too had receipts. Interesting fact they were DalTile too.
There is a lot of good information here:
https://marble.com/articles/what-is-honed-marble
I answered your other question but will answer here too. There isn’t a way to lighten marble as it’s a natural material, it is what it is, as far as I’m aware. I suspect this is how it’s meant to be unless something was used that inadvertently stained it or reacted with it. Marble is porous and absorbent. Honestly I think it looks good varied but that’s just me. Reach out to the tile store.
You may be able to stain the whole surface. You could try this....
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/stain-tile-floors-56247.html