Expert Answers in failures

ANSWER – I understand your concern about the discoloration in your granite counter top.

It is not uncommon for natural stone to have veins and areas of different mineral content that causes color differences, which…

ANSWER – It is difficult to fully understand your situation without investigating it first. I assume that these cracks are new, and were not there when it was installed. Some stones do have veining that…

ANSWER – The coating on the back of the stone is likely a resin back that is applied to some type of stones that are more fragile. It may have a fiberglass mesh suspended within…

ANSWER – Sorry to hear about your epoxy grout problem.  It should have been finished by the installer in a manner so it was smooth and would not tend to pick up dirt and would…

ANSWER – There are industry standards (ANSI A108.02-4.3.7-2005) that state that for tiles that are consistently sized the grout joints ¼” wide or more can not have any lippage greater than 1/16 inch.  If the…

ANSWER – Normally when there is a problem it is the result of compounding factors that each contribute to the problem to some degree.

The grout was likely over watered when mixed and during the…

ANSWER – There is no simple answer to your question without thoroughly investigating your situation, but I will make some general comments to help you to decide how to proceed.

There is an ASTM F-1869…

ANSWER – Cracking grout is a symptom that there is excessive movement in the tile. The excessive movement could be caused by too much deflection within the floor. The industry standard is that the deflection…

ANSWER – There isn’t enough information and details to give you a specific answer to your problem. We would need to inspect the site and perform various intrusive and non-intrusive tests to come to a…

ANSWER – If there is something peeling from your ceramic tile, then there must have been a sealer applied to it. The glaze on a glazed ceramic tile will chip off, but not peel off.…