On January 1st, 2019, one of my dreams started coming true.

First 5 modules for our "Marble discoloration in wet areas" research were finished except for grouting. All of them have pre-fabricated shower trays with a perfect slope and no weep holes to be clogged. Mortar ridges were fully collapsed before the marble was placed to achieve full coverage with no voids under the stone. I will pre-seal 3 out of 5 and grout all 5. I then will do a second coat of sealer and will bring all the modules outside of my garage under the deck roof. I will be spraying them from the water hose every day and will keep them covered during the night time and bad weather.

I started collecting the material in summer 2018 and it took so long because it was not easy to talk to so many people asking for donations while working full time and having 4 little kiddos at home. At same time I am so thankful to Schluter, Wedi, Laticrete, Hydro-Blok, Bostik and Ebbe for their readiness to help! Marble was donated by 3 stores and I was able to order the rest of it from Daltile using 2 vouchers from NTCA and CTEF. Sealers were donated by Hawthorne Tile and Robert Davis! And there were many others who helped!

Unfortunately, we don't have an indoor facility to perform such test but I still believe we will see the wet discoloration in the sealed modules vs the uniform and natural look of unsealed marble.

I hope to show a bigger picture of what I had already seen on smaller mockups - sealer traps moisture inside the stone in wet areas such as shower floors. I believe that's the main cause of discoloration we see throughout the country.

At same time, I don't want to just prove my opinion but rather to dig to the truth. If this "experiment" shows different results from what I am expecting to see, I will still be glad if we figure out something.

We just need to take a stand and find the cause and the solution to help so many people to understand how to install marble in wet areas. I still believe natural stone can be installed in showers without major problems. I talked to the owner of a reputable marble store in our town who moved to the U.S from Turkey and she remembered that even though they have tons of marble in wet areas there she believes none of it was ever sealed back then and she doesn't remember any such discoloration.

Read [Marble discoloration in wet areas mockups[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/marble-discoloration-in-wet-areas-mockups-dsvw-vd~5619531?n=1)

Read [Marble discoloration in wet areas experiment (part 2)[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/marble-discoloration-in-wet-areas-experiment-part-2-dsvw-vd~5619539)

Read [Marble discoloration in wet areas experiment (part 3)[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/marble-discoloration-in-wet-areas-part-3-dsvw-vd~5619545)

Read [Why I am doing my Marble discoloration in wet areas experiment[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/why-i-am-doing-marble-discoloration-in-wet-areas-experiment-dsvw-vd~5619547)

Pavlo Starykov, Vancouver, WA

CTEF Certified Tile Installer, Certified Stone & Tile Inspector, member of the National Tile Contractors Association