@s1eph - I was looking through some posts for my sister, and I noticed that no one ever responded to this post about your Carrara tile - that’s unusual.

I assume that it has lightened up quite a bit by now - especially since it wasn’t sealed before grouting (I read that in a comment you left at the bottom of an older post by another Houzz user).

My question - did your tile setter have any issues with not sealing the marble prior to adding grout? I’ve read many comments about how important it is to seal natural stone before grouting - but I’m wondering if that is more important for natural stones with uneven surfaces (like slate) where grout can grab onto and be difficult to remove?

Also, is your Carrara honed or polished? The uninstalled piece looks honed - my wall tile is honed also (if it was polished, I wouldn’t worry about sealing prior to grouting).

I’ve been through renovation hell - had to have my bathroom demo done a second time after first contractor messed things up - I feel like I have PTSD! I finally am having my master bathroom finished - and it’s time to grout. I have received quite a bit of advice about how I shouldn’t seal my marble shower tile over on the John Bridge tile forum - in order for it to dry out (impregnating sealers will allow vapor to pass through the marble where it can condense back onto water - and become trapped = take a long time to dry out). I know that my tile will darken a bit again when grouted - but I’d like for it to lighten back up like it did after being installed.

I’d love to see photos of your finished bathroom! We never get to see enough ”finished” renovation photos on here! Plus, it will help calm down a future Houzz user if you update how your floor looked once it had plenty of time to dry out! I’m assuming that it lightened up quite a bit - true Carrara (originating from Italy - this should be regulated so people aren’t misled) always lightens up - unless not set with white thinset.

Thanks!

The larger honed Carrara 12" x 24" tiles on the shower walls lightened to the original color in a few days, and I am quite happy with them.
The 4" hex on the floor lightened some, but most of it is still light grey, which I do not like. I have wondered if it is a true Carrara. In hindsight, I should have used marble-look porcelain.
A friend had a huge master bathroom done, using several high-end mosaics and none of it discolored, so the problem may be I got what I paid for. Buyer beware.
None of mine was sealed before grouting. However, in an adjoining room, I had Carrara tiles and black marble tiles installed that also were not sealed before grouting and the white did not grey.
Another contributing factor may be the sound abatement layer underneath the hexes may have had an effect on moisture.

The shower wall tile looks really nice.

It’s still odd that some of the tiles are really pretty white - while some are fairly dark still. I can definitely tell that many tiles have lightened up - I would be disappointed too, especially since the tile was stained when initially installed (I assume with mastic).

I think it should be considered fraud to list tile as “Carrara” if it is not actually mined in Carrara, Italy.

Are you going to leave it? I’m sure that most people will think that looks fine - and won’t notice the color difference. But when you take the time to actually plan your renovation, it would irritate me (but I am also a bit OCD). I had an installer waste a TON of nice Carrara tile in shower because he used mastic (even though we had specifically discussed white thinset three times + he purchased the correct white thinset which was just sitting there in the garage!)

I do not want to seal my marble - have it turn dark again - and have to wait for it to dry out for a longer time because the sealer has trapped some of the water inside the stone.

I’ve spent a RIDICULOUS amount of time researching this issue (plus, many other issues) - it truly has taken the fun out of renovating these bathrooms.

I really want to start my kitchen (finally) - but I worry about what problems I’m going to run into related to that renovation!