How is everyone doing with their patio / stone issue? Is everyone still having issues? Anyone have any luck with any specific product or technique?

Would love to hear updates. @reedrxrep @Teresa Chaplin @Jana Snyder @kberry4b @Diana Flottmann @lisaslzy @A W

I have had my contractor pull up our stained stone. Replace the sand from a Masonry supplier and not a landscape supplier and mortar down the moat outer coarse of the stone where the largest gaps in the pattern were. B/w the foundation and the decking.

we also had the stone sealed with a penetrating sealer within 24-48 hours

It has been 6 weeks and no signs of reoccurrence.

🤞

Here they are pulling up some of the pavers and you can see the staining of the sand.

Here you can see the staining of foundation or concrete base.

I certainly feel that it was combination of factors That lead to this but I certainly believe the mineral content of the sand was the greatest contributing factor.

Also, removing the greatest way that moisture was getting under the pavers by wet setting the outer coarse And sealing the pavers has made a difference.

we still have not settled with the contractor as it took about 2-3 months to show up and get addressed so we will see how the next 1-2 months go.

B F ...Please keep us updated and thanks for the info and photos.

Did you used the same stones again or did you put new ones in?

White mason sand makes all the difference for most issues

They did replace all of the overtly stained and or discolored pavers and the. Mixed them into the pattern with the remaining pavers from the original lot.

I made sure that my contractor used WHITE sand underneath, but still having issues. What kind of white sand is typically used from contractors? Is there a landscape WHITE sand....that is different from a WHITE mason sand?

Message to BF -

That's great that this seemed to resolve the problem. So, the pulled up the pavers and what exactly did they do? I read your initial post and it sounds like they used a Mason sand, so what kind of sand did they use now when they reset your pavers? Or was it the color of the sand that was maybe causing the staining? And they mortared all of the edges, correct?

This is so frustrating!!!

This is what you want to see under your stone pavers, no staining and just replacing an ugly

Response to jhcbflorida

We are still struggling with the staining. Cleaning with bleach or peroxide only helps short term. I think we need to remove the sand and replace it with mortar. Has anyone heard of using Dribond for installation? One of the paver installers we originally were considering used this product. They were more expensive so we didn't go with them. Lesson learned the hard way.

@Jana Snyder hi, how is everything with your pavers? Which pavers do you have....Shellstone?

Hi! How is everyone’s deck doing?

Here are some picture of ours grip marble. We are having exact same issues, installed 4 weeks ago.

Jax... how did you installed the marble?

I’m not sure, here are somw pics from installation

For those of you that have 12x24 pavers, do they lift up a little bit on one side when you step on one side? they just installed mines but i feel like they rock back and forth a little. please let me know asap because they are coming over tomorrow. and it is dirt conpacted then sand compacted, then the shellstone pavers in top

Has anyone had success eliminating staining by replacing the sand under the pavers with either white masonry sand or with mortar Is it worth the expense?

So we just had our home built in Marco Island and after 3 months of moving in our deck is showing signs of what looks like rust coming thru. Ours was set in sand set on top of concrete so now we are being told it should have been a mud set does anyone know what is the right way to install this

@lisaslzy we had our lanai under roof taken up, old sand removed and replaced w white sand, crushed limestone, and it’s still happening:(
Has anyone tried CLR?? We’re at our wits end, builder says they’ve discontinued our shellstone (I can’t imagine why!) so we’re trying to think outside of the box to fix this issue bc we really want our grill put in finally. My husband loves power washing and our lanai stone not under roof looks beautiful, everywhere else, not so much.

@Kim G Sorry to hear this. We haven't done anything yet and its a mess right now. I have tried CLR and it doesn't seem to do much. The best thing that works for me is 12% food grade hydrogen peroxide mixed with a little ammonia, sprayed on, scrub after 20 minutes, then mop off. I don't know if its the best solution, but it seems to help ours. Be sure to wear a mask and wear gloves when spraying anything strong. I'm still considering removing stone and having it reinstalled with mortar.

@lisaslzy thank you! My husband sprays chlorine on all the stone, let’s it sit then Powerwashes it off. Of course the stones exposed to sunlight look great, the others like a posted have no change. He was asking about the CLR, he did say the builders had some guys come out and used the solution you mentioned to no avail. Our home is pure white and it just looks even worse up against. Tempted to glaze the stone in that area a different color (if this can even be done or look right), or change the type of stone, just trying to think of something else since nothing else we’ve tried is working.

So my understanding is that CLR is way to strong to use and will etch the stone badly.

That being said, ours has returned as well but not nearly to the extent the it was previosuly.

"Kim G", can you tell me where you got your stone from?

We also have "Shell Beige" from the "shell stone" collection and this was through Stone Line Group.

https://www.stonelinegroup.com/portfolio/shell-beige-paver/

We have received such a run around b/w the pool contractor and the stone contractor/installer as well as the "Stoneline Group" representatives. This includes proposterous statements from the Stoneline Group saying this is a terrible product and they don't recommend it all the way to the other end being their most popular product and my pool contractor installing enough to line up end to end coast to coast with no issues!

We are the excpetion to the rule! Of course they have never seen anything like this before.

I could go on but I digress.

Please let me know where your contractor sourced the stone and who told you it was discontinued etc. I would appreciate the details.

We are about 5 months now since they replaced some of our sand and some pavers as well as sealing.

TY

@B F of course I’ll let you know. I came back to add that our stones were laid down like this and they told us to give it a year and we would assess at our one year, tired of the run around and trying to cover all our bases, we’re super easy to work with but are over it.

Hi everyone!
We have Talya Gray marble and after a few weeks after installation, the rust stains were horrible. We used the 50/50 water and bleach mix that was recommended by Wayne and that would temporarily remove the stains.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I think the staining / discoloration ran its course as here we are 6 months later and we don’t have to use the bleach mixture any longer. We still have some very minor discoloration that occurs but nothing like we did initially.
Just wanted to let everyone know that it does seem to work it’s way out as others have mentioned.

Hello! I just got the french pattern Talya Gray marble travertine (from Stone Mart) installed last week and it looks beautiful- and I want to keep it that way. What kind of sealer should I put on it for best results? Any recommendations? Also- what kind of routine maintenance should I be doing for it? I'm one week in, and no staining yet.

Evan - unfortunately it doesn't matter what type of sealer you use or how you maintain it, its a natural process that happens from inside the stone. We had our installed in February 2020 and it was also purchased from Stone Mart and it still looks awful in all the covered areas. We were told not to use bleach on it so we haven't tried what some of the others have but are waiting it out. We were told it would work its way out within a year but its still going strong. I absolutely loved the Talya Gray when we saw it and when it was first installed and now I hate it. Our entire outdoor kitchen area looks dirty and the portion under our lanai is the same. Maybe you will get lucky and yours will not have this issue! Best wishes!

Hi Evan! It’s such a beautiful stone isn’t it. I did a ton of research and spoke to a lot of different people in the stone industry. We decided to NOT seal our marble as the more I learned and researched, this was the advice.

jhcb, would you mind sharing what you found out about not sealing? We had ours sealed with an impregnating sealer, as thats what everyone told us that we spoke to. We will need to have it resealed in 2022 if we decide to continue so I would love to hear what you found out about that! Thanks!

Teresa did you ever find out about

sealing marble from Jhcb?

No I don't see any reply to my question

Best source to decide on Seal or Not to Seal

Search Keyword "Seal" or "Maintenance"

I always recommend Sealing as the pros outweigh the cons as long as the correct sealer is applied. Coating type Sealers create the largest issues with natural stone

https://pubs.naturalstoneinstitute.org/resources/library/index.cfm?event=getSimpleSearch&mode=simpleSearch#keywordSearchTop

Hi Teresa...I'm sorry, I didn't see your question. I received varied opinions about sealing or not sealing our marble. Someone suggested I reach out to a man named Fred Hueston who is a stone expert in Central Florida. When I asked him about sealing our marble...he very clearly stated "No, PLEASE do NOT seal it!"

Im having the same issue! Need help!

Amy, a friend, actually neighbor across the street w the same lanai tiles as yours, and mine (hers has more of the black and doesn’t get as much sun as we do), sent me this text just the other day…
“In the continuing saga of
Orange shell stone pavers on our lanai, our friend said that when they make the pavers they put the shells thru a metal sieve and some
Of the metal flakes off into the stones. It then rusts when wet longer under cover of lanai. Hence why ones in sun don’t go orange because they dry faster when it rains. Have you heard that before?”

Idk but I bought some Whink and am going to try it in a small area on one of the stones. I’m desperate at this point, I know it’ll break down the stone, but I’m curious to see if it gets rid of it!! I’m so sorry you’re dealing w this too:( how long have yours been down?

@reedrxrep How are your pavers? I am looking for the best solution to this staining problem. i believe my pavers are exactly like yours, purchased from the same supplier.

Amy Dennis, call me when you have a chance. I will explain it to you 813-406-0399

Wayne, can you explain here? Please?

I've explained it in this thread

We have Talya Grey marble pavers in a french pattern and when it rained the brown stains appeared. i read through all the comments, solutions and remedies on this thread. Our installer has been using chlorine in a sprayer to remove/kill the staining. its working. Some have used bleach and found that works too. As far as sealing, we havent yet until the rusting stains are eliminated but we will be sealing. We will also be sure to avoid the sealers that only coat the pavers.

I notified Baystone, the distributor of our marble and they have been working with Magic Marcite our installer to make sure the pavers are rid of the rusting. According to our installer, we are not the only clients he is assisting with this problem. I am grateful that Magic Marcite is an honest company. My advise to anyone with marble pavers is to not give up on treating the pavers to elimate the rust. There is chlorine in the pool water so it seems logical to use chlorine to elimate the problem as chlorine has mot harmed our tiles but kills whatever organic material is causing the staining. Good luck everyone!

Give me a call if you like to discuss which sealer I use that I have had good success with. It's not 100% effective in every case but I have a good success rate.

Hello everone. Reedrxrep here. Soooooo sorry I have not responded in quite some time. I have not been on the site for awhile. As you know, I am the one who started this conversation and I am happy to say that after 2 years, it appears we no longer have the staining issue. As you can see in the photos I originally posted, our marble looked awful and I was freaking out. Many experts had said it just needed to run it's course as it was a natural product and it appears that was definitely the case. In the beginning, we used everything from bleach, to rust remover, etc. You name it, we tried it. Anyhow.......I can honestly say we have not had any more staining for close to a year. My husband does pressure clean it about twice a year with a small amount of bleach and water just to brighten it up from all the dirt and pollen that has accumulated over the year. One thing to note.......after checking with numerous vendors, we decided NOT to seal them. Everyone told us with such light colored marble, we run the risk of the sealer turning yellow and lord knows, we don't need anymore issues. We love how beautiful it is and we get tons of compliments. Here are a few photos of how it looks now. Sorry for all the family in the photos but you get the idea. Hang tight my friends, it will get better and we have no regrets.

Hi! Curious ReedrxRep, What color marble did you go with and who did you purchase from?

I was told that that the rust happens from when the sandblasting process is done to the marble. Small metal flakes get thrown on the surface of the marble during the sand blasting and that is what ends up resting… Makes sense to me.

I love to hear that it ran it’s course and Eunice have got a beautiful home! We are also looking at White and just curious as to which why you chose?

ReedrxRep your marble (home too) look gorgeous, you’ve given me hope! Our under lanai still looks dingy compared to the stones exposed to sunlight.
Kori, exactly what you said. There are tiny metal pieces that flake off and cause the rust, we lifted up a few stone tiles a couple months back, and sure enough, tiny rust spots, craziest looking thing, but that’s the reason!!

Hi there. For those of you that asked what type of stone I used......it was Aqua Gray 12x24 tumbled marble that we purchased from Baystone Tile.

So the consensus is not to seal? We have sandblasted marble that was sealed and started yellowing. We’ve asked the installed to pressure clean to remove sealer and reseal. But if resealing is not the way to go then we’d rather not do it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as this is driving us nuts

The issue seems to be under the covered roof area. Anywhere the sun shines on the flooring it’s perfect.

Hi all and thanks for all the information. i laid down Ibiza white marble (16x24x1.25) on my pool deck a few weeks ago. we had it sealed and i now have brownish/redish stains coming through. i was told the sealer would prevent this? some here say its the setting material used and others state not to seal and let the iron deposits work them selves out. Very fustrating….

It does better in the sun and it comes and goes…. Unfortunately think we all have to live with it. The distributor should know and tell prospective buyers

So much misinformation, sealing helps but doesn't stop it. It's basically Tannen stains from dirty water and organics from setting materials. Since you sealed it it cleans up with 12% peroxide. In time after the stone acclimates and the setting materials cure it will go away.

So much misinformation, sealing helps but doesn't stop it. It's basically Tannen stains from dirty water and organics from setting materials. Since you sealed it it cleans up with 12% peroxide. In time after the stone acclimates and the setting materials cure it will go away.

Thanks Wayne but the stains came up under the sealer and i cannot clean it it seems. the company that sealed it (oil based solvent) stated chlorine could damage the sealer but ill try peroxide like you suggested.