White carrara marble turned yellow after installation

[Higher Standard Tile]

Mark, I followed your link from the works in progress post. That job I did was the white carrera was also from China, it had some yellowing but it happened before installation. The stone came in cardboard boxes and was left outside. When the cardboard got wet from rain it leached into the stone and caused it to yellow. You could usually notice before installation but there were some that the back of the stone was yellow but the face looked ok so we set them. A few days later the face yellowed. Did your stone come in cardboard boxes?

[MarkTarkus]

Hi all, I just wanted to give a little update on the yellowing Carrara situation. I called the home owner today to schedule a time to go back and replace the yellowed tiles. She said that she had been meaning to call to tell me that all the yellow was gone and the tile all looks fine now.
I'll have to see it to believe it but apparently she is happy with the way it looks. Made my day!!! I'm boggled by it though.

[johnfrwhipple]

Maybe the Tile Fairy switched them out one night when everyone was sleeping.

How can that be? What did we learn from this?

Your tile is yellow? Lets wait a few weeks for the "The Tile Fairy" to fix it if not we will be back to replace.....

[Houston Remodeler]

Perhaps it comes from being Italian, but doesn't Carrera marble have to be from the Carrera mine to be called Carrera marble? Could Michelangelo saved a few bucks by ordering from China?

[ob1kanobee]

China has all kinds of knock offs I'm afraid and you get what you pay for. I know China's knock off Calcutta looks blurry (like Big Foot). Looks like you are trying to view a piece of marble that is 'out of focus' or something or 'distorted'.

I will be very surprised if all that yellow is 100% gone and I mean 100% not 'looks really good' gone...........I'm curious as to what you find when you check this out again.

[MarkTarkus]

I believe in the tile fairy. I will go see it on Monday. I am doubtful that I will find it to be 100% gone but if she is content with it then I will be leaving well enough alone I think. The stuff was, according to the carton, "Carrara marble, made in Italy." Could it have been moisture that finally completely dried out? They still have not used the shower since I installed it, plumbing hasn't even been finished. It has just been sitting untouched in the far corners of their home.

[Stonehenge]

Hi Mark,

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you will still be R&R this installation.

When I first saw the pics a couple of weeks ago I was scratching my head a little bit as to why there was the "variable". I do suggest that with your remnant pieces you may wish to run a mock-up as a direct example to show interested parties.

[MarkTarkus]

variable?

[doitright]

Hi Mark

Your first photo (that had no yellowing present) appeared much lighter than the photo (shot two weeks later). While this doesn't make sense, it's just possible that the stone was slowly releasing the moisture, then lightened again, thus diminishing the yellow back to it's original state.

How long did it take to install and grout this project?

Personally, I don't know that it's a tearout at this point.

Was the stone ever sealed? If so, at what point? What sealer?

[trishglxk]

Just to chime in....about 10 years ago I installed carrara tiles around my fireplace opening. It was my first tile project, and I followed the advice of the pros on this site to a "t".

To my horror, several days after installation bright yellow (like a highlighter) blotches appeared on a number of the tiles. After a week or so, they simply disappeared--to my great relief. They never reappeared, but of course this was a dry area.....

[MarkTarkus]

I'm glad it stayed white for you Trish. It is pretty heartbreaking when it yellows. I actually spoke to this customer last week. It has been almost 3 months now since this incident and they have been using the shower. She says the yellow is completely gone and has not come back.
I'm working on another big White Carrera Marble master bath job right now (for the daughter and son in law of the first customer). They are aware of the chances of this happening again and are willing to take the risk.

[doitright]

Hi Mark

That's great news, and of course a relief!

[chefwong]

Thread Bump ?

I too am looking at Marble and was wondering

- Are you guys stringent on COO of the marble when you buy from the supplier

- Moreso, is anyone doing the practice of installing marble per one of the recommendations in this thread. Which was to seal the back of the tile with Hydroban.

In essence, the sandwich would look like this

marble
liquid membrane sealed on tile
thinset
Kerdi
Wall Base Medium

[doitright]

Hi Alan

What is COO? I'm thinking it stands for Country of Origin. If so, I have good relations with my supplier and if it doesn't say on the box, I ask. I usually don't wind up doing research for my installs. I do tons of research for my restoration projects though.

I would never install with your prescribed method. Well, not unless it was specified, or industry approved.

[chefwong]

I may have misread-misinterpreted post #34.

For your pros doing marble wet areas, what are your prescribed Best Practice on the ~sandwich~. Just a nice sealed tile on the exposed side, thinset and then a good waterproof solution (membrane or fabric) between the wall base ?

Further down post #34, there is some mentioning of epoxy grout as well.

Whereas in other threads post, it's suggested that the chemicals in part A or B (which I am forgetting) may stain the stone.