Don’t worry Megan, it’ll lighten up. Mine never fully lightened back to the white that the slabs were before they were installed.. and it makes sense that they wouldn’t since they now have a wall behind them also making them look darker anyways. I’ll see if I can post before and after pics tomorrow.

We waited 10 weeks, and the marble did not lighten any more beyond the lightening that had occurred by week 3. While the marble was still pretty, it did not look right with the veining in my quartz countertops. Sadly, we had to pay to have it taken out.

This may have happened to us too! Arabescatta marble tiles are much much darker than samples. It was professionally installed, but not groutes yet. I hate how dark it is, and bluish. Will lighten, or should I tear ot out?

You're seeing the gasses from the setting materials passing through the stone. It will lighten up over time. Go ahead and seal the stone and grout. Sealers slow stains from penetrating but allow the gasses to pass through.

I need help ! We just had this marble installed on our fireplace it was pure white . And now portions of it are turning orange / yellow . What can we do ?!

Houzz user, start you own post. also give info on what the stone is, what the install process was and what products were used.

Jurica,

That odd piece of Carrara should have been noticed on pre-layment and not used unless other light pieces are also scattered randomly. Always order more overage for natural stone as it gives you the ability to pick and choose the best pieces for installation. Gray mortar will bleed through darkening the stone and white mortar should always be used for anything other than dark stones; if white was used give it some time and it should lighten up a little bit. If you've got a stone that has light and dark pieces, mix them up so that they aren't grouped in one area of the installation.

Is it just the light or is that whole top row just as light as that one stand-out piece?

@Jurica30 - Personally I would leave it. Could be that that one piece is more dense than the others around it. Not all stone is identical. Once the setting material cures and the gasses pass through the stone, it all should blend together.

This is why every tile setter installing marble should have the home owner sign a waiver. People see these fake or staged pics and don't realize there are variations in stone. Everybody swears there is just that one stone in every job.

The stones will all lighten when moisture evaporates. It is a natural product and the worst product to use in any wet area for the exact reason you are having. Try and explain that to someone though and they swear they know all the pitfalls. Then you install and you get the call, there is this one section or there is this one tile.

It is a natural product it will vary between stones.

Most of those "fake or staged" pics aren't even photos; they are computer generated renderings made in India/Pakistan/South America for the tile manufacturers :D

Help! I am in the process of a shower remodel. I bought a beautiful marble floor. I had the contractor use a platinum gray grout (very light). He left the grout all over the marble for days without cleaning the tiles. Even when I showed concern, he said it doesn't matter.

I wiped a section of the tiles on the floor and they look dirty and as if they weren't wiped at all. I placed a sheet of unused marble over to compare, and there is a huge difference. He used grey mortar instead of white underneath and the marble has not been sealed yet. Do you think they will turn white again or should I remove the whole floor and start over? I feel like contractor's should know what to use under white marble.

Tina,,if he used gray mortar, right there it shows he's a hack. he prob didn't seal your tiles before grouting either. for him to say, "it doesn't matter' when cleaning grout off the tiles, speaks volumes. trying to clean dried grout off of marble, days later, is difficult and totally avoidable.

they will always have a gray cast to them because of the mortar underneath. they will lighten when the water dries, but it will never be the pure clean white again. Contractors aren't tile setters. why would you think he would know how to tile? I'm afraid to see how his tiling job looks.

please tell me you haven't paid him in full?

***also, start a new thread w/your own post and pictures. this is someone else's post.

Beth, he pretty much gutted the whole bathroom, removed an existing bathtub and made a shower. He has another guy working with him. I assumed since he has been building houses and has done many bathroom remodels that he knew what he was doing. He has been in business over 25 years. I called references too that highly recommend him. We still owe him 2K. The marble tile cost $30/sq ft. Its a 4 x 4 shower. I want him to remove the whole floor now and I will have to go with porcelain or ceramic tile instead. I don't know if I want him to be the one to redo the floor now.

I will start my own thread too. Thank you.

I had crema marfil with thassous dot which is white installed. Every single white dot has turned gray .....there are some lighter than others but others are dark gray. It has been installed over three months and no change in color. Installer used white thinset. It is a visual disaster. I have soaked unused tile in water and when it dried, the dots were white.

I have the same issue, but I do figure out it’s beca of the thinset. I purchased two different brand of thinset, one is from orange store ($17.xx) and another one is from a world of tile ($52.xx) , both of them are white. Those tiles lays on the expensive thinset have their beautiful original color whereas turned grey. I will definitely choose better quality thinset next time.

for a $52 bag, that's ALL the thinset they got??enough for those 10 tiles? just wondering why the entire bag wasn't used for the entire floor? Are you sure that's the only place it went?

the tile guy used it for the shower floor (inside the shower curb) and those tiles I circled in red. I don’t think he finish one bag. Then next day he installed the wall, shower curb, and the rest of the floor. The salesman from A world of tile recommended 3 bags for my project. My project is about 140sq ft.

I just had white carrara installed on the walls and a mosaic herringbone on the floor. Had the floors sealed and I tested the seal myself, all water beaded up. I did a test this morning with a Polyblend non sanded grout in Platinum gray and thank goodness I did, it is instantly staining the marble! Now I'm not sure what grout should be used!

patty, on the test piece, did you use your actual floor or a spare piece of tile by itself? if the latter, maybe the spare piece wasn't sealed enough.

if your marble floor/walls are properly sealed, the grout should not stain them. are you sure you're not seeing the darkening due to water?

No, the test was done on the inside of a small linen closet sort of inconspicuous, or as inconspicuous as I could get. The tile was all sealed. It was laid on a white thin set and has cured for weeks prior to sealing. It could be that the little test amount I used had more water in it. It was just a spoon full of grout with a little less water but maybe a tad thinner than what it should be? Thats my only thought. I'm just scared to death to have it done. I really don't want white grout but man, I've seen some horrible pics of this very thing from others and they all used white thin set and sealed also. Pretty nerve wracking.

patty I used Mapei Flexcolor CQ on all of my sealed marble. didn't have any issues w/it. I used Warm Gray

I also used Polyblend in Delorean Gray on a carrara shower/bathroom that I did and also didn't have any issues.

why don't you post pictures of this 'stain' so I can see. and also make sure that specific spot has been sealed correctly.

BTW, what kind of sealer did you use? a penetrating or impregnating sealer?

As I have already mentioned, the stone was ALL sealed, correctly, and tested to make sure the water beads off and not soaks in.

Used Professional Aqua Mix Sealer's Choice Gold for natural stone, tile and grout. Called The marble store before use and was cleared to use, called another marble store and was cleared to use so I went with it. It's always worked well on my Quartzite counters. It was applied, waited a little over the 30 min recommend and applied a second time, wiped off excess. Waited 2 hours and did a water test, all water beaded off like it should have. The tile is in a small closet and I intentionally only did a small little corner to test as they recommended so it's hard to see....but it's clearly turning dark around the edges like a picture frame effect. I'm waiting to see if it lightens, if it's just the moisture from the tester grout I used.

Does this color change happen to all natural stone with install? I sealed an all natural stone/pebble floor tile in my shower prior to install. I used the non-enhancing sealer @Beth H. : recommended before they were the perfect color. They didn’t look wet/dark. After install, no additional sealer was used but the stones look darker than any of the extra pieces I had that weren’t installed.

Patty, can you please post a pic?

Beth, i'm a little confused on the sealing process. Do I seal before or after grouting? Wont sealing before grouting affect the adherence of the grout to the grout line? Also what sealer do you prefer (penetrating or impregnable) ? I have used bianco carrara throughout the bathroom.

I also noticed you preferred some grey grout color instead of white. I'm trying to go for a more natural look and its hard to tell if grey provides that better than white just by your pictures as they are quite small.

Last question, assuming you seal pre-grouting, do you then re-seal after grouting, to seal the grout? Any feedback helps, Thanks!

After reading about the many varied issues with marble installation, marble color-changing, marble sealing and marble grouting, I have put MARBLE on my “Not In My House” list. Give me reliable porcelain and granite every time.

Felizlady

seriously! Porcelain all day. I’m kicking myself and my tile guy warned me too ugh

Aziz,,,,you're fine. marble gets sealed prior to grouting and you can seal afterwards. (although I don't think i did w/my floor because it took 4 coats prior to install). And sealing should only be done on the tops of the tile, taking care not to let any drip down the sides. grout won't adhere as well if it does.

if you use a regular grout (not the epoxy or urethane type grouts) then you'll want to apply sealer after the grout has dried. this way your grout will get some benefit of the sealer.

what you're probably seeing is the moisture from grouting. the marble sucks up the water from the process and turns the stone darker. after it all evaporates, it should lighten up.

I didn't want white in my bathroom because, well, white grout is horrible to keep clean. I used Warm Gray from Mapei, which is almost like a creamy white anyway. here's a closer pic of it

Beth, thanks for the reply. I sealed with 511 impregnator then Grouted. Will seal again but I wanted to ask for your opinion on sealer, 511 vs aqua mix? I have two sample tiles that I used both sealers on. The one with 511 has two coats, waited 24 hours. Did not seal. Absorbed water like a sponge. The aqua mix was hydrophobic almost immediately after applying one coat. I’m very disappointed with the 511. I already applied two coats bathroom but thinking of applying AM after grout now. Thoughts?

I've used both. sometimes marble takes more than 1 or 2 coats. I used this one on my marble floors and it took 4 coats

it just depends. both companies are very good. are the both impregnating sealers? Like the last one? the first two will enrich but the last one actually penetrates.

I've used this on many projects and find it works well.

Ya gotta check with the manufacturer of the grout as to what sealers are approved.

I found this thread because I just personally installed an Asian Statuary white marble tile for my kitchen backsplash. https://tilebar.com/brushed-stone-asian-statuary-2x8-marble-tile.html. I have done 9 tile jobs to date including two other backsplashes but this was my first go around with marble. I used white thinset, I let it cure for 6 weeks then sealed it twice with 511 sealer and it looks absolutely stunning. Today, I grouted with Platinum unsanded grout.... and I immediately got a "picture - frame" effect where the outside of my gorgeous and understated white tiles became deeply shadowed all around the edges. I only did a 6 foot section before I realized what was going on. I have scraped out all the grout and am currently waiting to see what happens to these marks. If the shading fades, I'm going to conclude it is water absorption from the wet grout through the sides of the tiles which are not sealed (to allow for grout installation). If the shading remains, I'm going to rule it as the marble absorbing dye from the grout.

melissa, more than likely it's water absorption. you can't seal the inner sides, otherwise the grout won't adhere. once the water evaporates, it will turn back to white. I've used delorean gray on white marble and it reverted back.

That is exactly what ended up happening - it reverted! Thanks, it was shocking to see when all I've ever worked with is porcelain and of course it's easy to jump to worst case scenarios. But, it's all just water absorption.

@Melissa Ernst, how long did it take to revert back? I just had this marble installed in our foyer using white thinset. As you can see on the right side of the image, the thinset caused no staining (and I was super pleased with it). The installer applied Mapei Silver (Ultracolor) grout to the left side you see on the picture and it completely stained all the marble this dark gray. It was sealed prior to grouting. I am not feeling hopeful that it will really lighten up. That picture was taken 24 hours after the grout was applied. The staining is bad. Is there hope still? Anything I can do at this point? Any advice?

Salar, wasn't the entire thing grouted? are you saying only that darker, left side turned colors?

It's all of the water used during the grouting and cleaning process. the marble absorbs a lot of the moisture, turning it darker

it can take as long as a week (depending on weather/humidity) before the moisture evaporates. Put a fan on it to speed it up

I recommend consulting with the manufacturer the marble.

I’m also having a similar problem with octagonal white Bianca marble in shower floor. Sealed it and used group per tile store. Beautiful and white after install and then over the next few weeks/ months gray staining started “creeping” across the floor until it was all gray. Contractor came back and stripped sealant off in hopes of “drying” tile out but we’ve had a heater/fan in it for 2 weeks now and no improvement. It’s a brand new shower!

The bottom photo is before floor started turning gray.

Epizz, you really need to start your own post. but I will tell you it's water from underneath the tile. (if it was a sealer issue, ALL of the tiles would have turned dark) It's underneath.

have no idea how the shower was waterproofed or built, have no idea if the floor was sloped, mortared, has weep holes, etc. It appears you have water building up under the floor tile and it has no where to drain. that's why they're turning dark.

start your own post w/pics during the build.

I’m going through the same as everyone else here, trying to be patient while waiting for my marble to dry out and brighten up. It’s on my kitchen backsplash. The very subtle grey veining is now dark grey.

This is day 3 now and it is only slightly brighter. I’m prepared to wait a week. I’m just wondering if I could use a hair dryer to help it along?

Heartbreaking experience using marble mosaic on my small bathroom floor - i did an amateur job where I should have had sn expert! or just used porceline tile like a normal diy’er. Too much mortar squeezed through, wiping off from the top, now looks stained and dirty and mortar impossible to remove between tiny spaces. Can’t redo it - - will just throw area rugs and pray - new sink arrived broken from blue store - can’t win with this project - husband’s last words before I started ”Go ahead and try it - just do it right!” well, guess he put the wammy on me! Disaster!

@Beth H. : - Hey! I’ve not been feeling well this past week - I’m behind on reading posts!

In this post - one of the comments was from someone who posted a photo showing how some tiles turned darker while others didn’t. The person said a more expensive white thinset was used to install the tiles that stayed white. My marble will FINALLY be installed in my master bathroom this week. What brand white thinset did you use for your bathroom floors? I believe your tile is honed - and that you used Aqua Mix Sealer’s Gold Cloice. Also, I think you used Mapei Flex Color CQ - Warm Gray. Your floors look perfect - I just want to minimize issues as much as possible. I‘ve written down several tips that you’ve posted over the years - but I don’t have my project notebook with me currently. I apologize for bothering you with Qs when you’ve answered them many times before - not being lazy - just feeling HORRIBLE. Thanks - Dani

Hey dani. sorry to hear you're still feeling so poorly.

I used VersaBond white mortar. it's used for stone and marble. this went directly on the cement slab.

this tells you if you need the fortified version

Laticrete is also good. I've used that too.

Hey all, just installed marble mosaic backsplash and all was well I had two random sections appear WHITE comapred to rest of wall. is there any fix? I would really hate to totally rip out the entire wall since its a herringbone pattern. a dye? light wash of grey paint withh water? its not in a high focus area…. but it woild calm my OCD at least.

compared to everyone elses posts I essentially want to make mine MORE grey in these sections but grout is already done :(

HU-907161025 this is another posters dilemma.

You will get more help (because people will not see your question at the bottom of this post) if you start your own post with pictures and all the products that were used. without pics and the info, there is no way of knowing. So, create your own post under Design Dilemma, and we can help

(could be the marble, could be water absorption, could be the thinset, could be the grout, could be lack of waterproofing/or wrong materials, could be too much water used in the mix or clean up, etc. This is why we need info and pictures. On your own post) Although, did you read through all of these comments? None of them applies to your problem?

will do! I did read through everything, i lIt was the same materials the entire way through and like I said its two very small sections on entire wall. it almost looks likw two different tiles but theyre not.