Natural Stone - Defects

Defects

Defects of nature stone tiles

• Nature stone is naturally porous and as such can stain easily usually in bathroom areas, shampoo or color chemical product may cause stain on it.
• Water stain maybe formed if white marble is used in moist area(bathroom)
• Cracks or chip
• chip off of tiles
• Stains seen in tiles

Prevention

These limitations can be prevent by having regular maintenance and cleaning up regularly by hiring a certified repair person to re-buff the surface with a special mixed gel-coat compound. Water stain can be prevent by using a squeegee after each shower to quickly remove water drops from walls Make sure that extra same batch of marble tiles are kept for in case of there is needed for later replacement as marble is a nature stone, as cracks and broken pieces are virtually impossible to repair. It is not possible to apply a complete new clear finish to a cultured marble product once it has left the factory because different batches of marble, their veins and color may differ.



Choosing of grout of nature stone
Types Of Grout
There are basically two types of grout used that are widely used today. They are referred to as Sanded and Unsanded.
Sanded grout consists of: 1 part portland cement, 2 parts fine sand, cellulose (to hold the water in the mix), defoamers (to prevent air entrapment during mixing), and polymers (for strength and flexibility).
Unsanded grout consists of: 1 part portland cement, 2 parts calcium carbonate (used as a filler powder), cellulose, defoamers, and polymers.
Grout Types For Different Materials
Granites, marbles, and other natural stones will require unsanded grout for all practical purposes. Granite tiles with chamfered edges are usually set at very close tolerances to produce a very elegant look. This requires the smooth unsanded grout to fill the void because the sand particles in sanded grout will not penetrate through.
Marble tile share some of the same characteristics of granite tiles but are much softer. For this reason alone it is much safer to use unsanded grout so you don't scratch the marble with the sand particles present in the sanded grout.