Why are my newly installed Travertine Tiles have a White Haze and Texture?

QUESTION

I am hoping you can help me. I had scabos travertine tile installed in my bathroom. I loved the time before it was grouted and sealed before and after grouting with a color enhancing sealer. Before grouting, it was dark and rich and the beautiful stone patterns were very evident. After sealing and grouting with antique white sanded grout recommended by a tile store, the tiles look much lighter and seem to have a white haze. The floor tiles and some wall tiles also are very rough. Do you know what caused this and what I can do to fix this? I spent a ton of money and am extremely disappointed. I can send pictures of that would help. Thank you.

ANSWER

ANSWER - If your travertine was dark and rich before it was grouted and sealed, then it should be able to be returned to that condition since it is a natural stone the surface can be re-honed and finished.

The white haze could be a residual from the cementitious grout they used or epoxy grout haze if that was used.  Enhancing sealers are suppose to give you a darker richer wet look.  Sometimes if the stone is sealed too sooner before it and the materials under it have a chance to dry, it can cause a white cloudy appearance because it has trapped moisture beneath it.

If the installer didn't clean the tile properly before sealing it he could have trapped the dirtiness below it.

There are strippers that you can buy to remove the existing sealer or the haze, but you need to experiment to figure out what works and what caused the problem so you know what to do to properly remediate the problem.  There are professional stone restoration companies who you can hire to evaluate the floor and refinish it for you.

2 thoughts on “Why are my newly installed Travertine Tiles have a White Haze and Texture?

  1. val crawford says:

    I have travertine tile, have had for 10 yrs now, i recently filled in a bunch of holes and sanded the residue, i now have blotchy white marks on my stone, how do i get rid of it?

    • Donato Pompo says:

      You need to properly grind/polish the floor to the desired honed/polish finish. It is best to hire a professional stone restoration company to refinish the floor. They can remove stains and seal the floor during the process, which should remove the blotchy marks.

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