We built a house almost a year and a half ago and we are reviewing concerns with our flagstone porch with our builder. I would love to hear input from others with more experience with flagstone than I.

1. There were white marks on a couple stones that I suspected were from when they powerwashed the porch but they claimed strike marks happen during manufacturing. Unfortunately I do not have photos of the stone before they powerwashed to prove one way or the other. The stone company did some type of scorching to make the marks less apparent and now the top half of the stone is lighter than the bottom half. The builder thinks with time and weathering, it will even out and look consistent. Is this the case or does this stone need to be replaced?

2. Another piece had an area that was able to be lifted and I wondered if the stone was defective. The stone company just scraped off that piece and now I fear it looks worse. Will this look better with time? Is it normal for flagstone to have areas that can be picked off?

3. Another stone has always looked rusty and pieces of rusty stone flake off. They tried removing the pieces but it still has a rusty look. Is this normal? The builder said he will look into replacing that piece but does not want to if it involves removing flashing and board and batten to do so.

4. Lastly, builder said if they replace too many stones, it will look like a patchwork quilt. He also noted the grout is not going to match. I do not want to create more problems by having stone replaced. Do you see this being an issue like he said?

I included a before photo, numbered photos of each stone in question, as well as a couple photos showing the overall look of the porch. Thank you in advance for your expertise!!