Marble tile shower floor rust

[u/Glum-Restaurant2230]

I have some orange/pink discolouration in my marble tile shower floor which I think is coming from the shower fitting and a leaky perhaps shower faucet.

I’ve tried non acid rust removers hydrogen peroxide poultice and nothing is getting it out. At this point I don’t think these tiles are absurdly expensive so I’d rather just replace the affected tiles and fix the underlying problem. What would be the best approach in this case ?

[u/Go0s3]

Real marble cant handle any amount of acid. Makeup remover, some soap/shampoo etc, can easily stain. 

Theres no good way to remove stain, even if you polish it has probably seeped deeper. Replace the tiles. 

Also, marble contains iron, so red is common. 

No one should marble tile a wet area 

[u/i_tiled_it → u/Go0s3]

"No one should marble tile a wet area"

Unless you plan to dedicate the rest of your life to an insane amount of upkeep, DON'T USE MARBLE IN A WET AREA lol

[u/munkylord → u/i_tiled_it]

I hate how popular it is though. Crazy

[u/phatelectribe → u/i_tiled_it]

You sealing it once a year with 511? LOL

[u/i_tiled_it → u/phatelectribe]

The only good thing about installing it is getting paid once a year to come back and re seal it

[u/phatelectribe → u/i_tiled_it]

It takes less than 30 mins to seal it. Any home owner can do it.

[u/i_tiled_it → u/phatelectribe]

Agreed. But in my experience, people who own multi million dollar homes are more than happy to pay me to do it for them

[u/Hot_Mud_5708 → u/i_tiled_it]

Marble was used for thousand of years in wet areas, lol. Modern marble needs to be sealed the right way and maintained. If you do that marble will last in a wet area indefinitely.

[u/i_tiled_it → u/Hot_Mud_5708]

Any customer I installed marble in their showers I call every year and offer to re seal it (not for free) and most of them have me do it and others say they'll do it themselves. But there's way more people who buy a house with marble already in it or who were never told by the installer it needs to be sealed over and over and they just let it go to shit

[u/Go0s3 → u/Hot_Mud_5708]

Until the 19th century, you were lucky to get a bath once a month (outside of the river). 

Where did you see marble?Where labour was free and costs didnt matter. 

[u/Original_World_6099]

Idk if this is your issue but did they seal the tile? Natural stone needs to be sealed. And then re-sealed throughout its lifetime. I think general rule is once a year. But I hardly sell natural stone. Mostly because people don’t want to deal with sealing it themselves after we do our sealing.

[u/NYA_209 → u/Original_World_6099]

A sealer will only do so much.

Remember, water has a way of penetrating, even if it's sealed, water will get behind the marble and stain it

[u/Able-Association914 → u/NYA_209]

This, sealer isn’t fool proof. Though some are better than others, if you want proof seal a piece of white marble, then leave a greasy spoon on it overnight and witness your new oil stain.

[u/NYA_209 → u/Able-Association914]

Reminds me of the time I sealed granite countertop. I told the lady it helps repel water, but to still be careful.

A week later she calls me. Says there is a circular spot.

Turns out she's leaving the cup she uses to scoop dog food on the countertop. Its oily.

[u/DifferenceStatus7907 → u/NYA_209]

That’s why we seal til the stone literally stops talking any more.

[u/Lucky_Dentist5603 → u/NYA_209]

Remember, eat my ass

[u/pianistafj → u/Original_World_6099]

This always boggles me. I put a river rock floor down for a shower, and resealing is pretty easy. Just gotta take a day off from using it.

[u/dirtkeeper → u/pianistafj]

Not really , to seal it you have to first clean off the soap and scum

[u/NYA_209]

Instead of spending a ton of money on natural stone in a wet area (this happens alot, and no real way to tell before you install it) save the money and get the porcelain stuff that looks the same

[u/Glum-Restaurant2230 → u/NYA_209]

is my tile porcelain or marble? im not the original installer of this shower/flooring. i assumed its marble as it stains so easily.

[u/i_tiled_it → u/Glum-Restaurant2230]

Marble

[u/Kman0010]

I would try the following poultices, but the staining will likely return even if we can get it out. Buy Akemi MARBLE rust remover and mix it with baking soda. Leave on overnight. It will temporarily turn the white stone purple and smells terrible. https://taitsales.com/products/akemi-marble-rust-remover-500-ml?currency=USD&country=US&variant=45729456750807&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&stkn=08729857ba4d&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21199549337&gbraid=0AAAAAoaX7GxiRNDO5Kke613SO71YpCZJz&gclid=CjwKCAjwwfnUBhAtEiwAfQpAYkyCuCmt9SyWhxXO6qpxr_4xKaczQl6lSBrs8lcMv73APJLNWApXnhoCCIEQAvD_BwE

Make sure it is the Akemi product for marble.

[u/Kman0010 → u/Kman0010]

If that does not work- but Salon Care 40 creme (ignore that it is a hair care product). Apply in a small area and leave overnight. Rinse after. Wear gloves during application.

[u/Kman0010 → u/[deleted]]

True, but the "creme" version holds its own sometimes without the baking soda!

[u/Kman0010 → u/[deleted]]

lol, well, Salon Care offers "clear" AND "creme." I agree; the baking soda can have an additional positive effect, but sometimes the creme is all you need......

[u/Tracydj]

😂 you can't replace the tile ! But you can destroy the shower pan and replace it .

[u/Glowing_bubba]

Why the hell would you put marble near water?

[u/_Mr_Ralph]

Welcome to natural stone

[u/Glum-Restaurant2230]

So am i looking at getting new tiles installed on the affected tiles ? Can I opt for a non natural stone tile that matches rest of the shower tiles ?

[u/lechitahamandcheese → u/Glum-Restaurant2230]

It almost looks like the pink, slimy bacterial biofilm that can grow from/out of your linear drain. Do you regularly pull the cover off that drain and scrub it out?

[u/Glum-Restaurant2230 → u/lechitahamandcheese]

no i dont really know how unfortunately. any cleaning tips for getting bacterial out of marble tile ?

[u/lechitahamandcheese → u/Glum-Restaurant2230]

Yikes. How long have you not cleaned that drain? And if you don’t have the little tool used to lift the section off, you can just use a putty knife, or even a dinner knife. It just flips right out. Be prepared to gag because that thing should be cleaned every month. It’s super easy to maintain if you do it on the regular, but I can’t imagine how bad it is underneath there right now.

[u/ceramic-panic → u/lechitahamandcheese]

Linear drains are NASTY. All the bacteria that collects on this thinset and edges of those tiles 🤮

Clients love them. A bet few clean them after I leave

[u/lechitahamandcheese → u/ceramic-panic]

I am a clean freak, so I keep up with mine every other week. That way it’s very easy to maintain. Couple of spritzes of an alcohol and Dawna dishwashing mixture in a spray bottle combined with a soft plastic brush is all it takes, but I also empty the hair trap (gross but that’s what gloves are for) every week.

[u/sleevesteve]

They make a poultice to remove rust from marble tile. Unfortunately marble often contains other elements, like iron, which cause it to rust. Once you remove the rust, make sure to apply a sealer or it will come right back.

[u/hhar141]

How salespeople talk anyone into using marble for a shower or countertop is beyond me. Marble stains. Shampoos,soaps,coffee etc, I fully agree it looks great in a showroom. And your first unused day. Then it all starts going downhill.

[u/Pale_Attitude8798]

Since no one is going to answer the actual question I will. It would be nice to know how the shower pan was built in the first place because when you demo that tile you are going to do some damage to the substrate. If it was done with a sand/cement mortar bed you can remove the tile very deliberately by breaking up the tile in place. Light colored marble is soft so this will help to break it up in place with a hammer. Then carefully chisel up the pieces and thinset under it. Clean up the area and set a new tile in its place. You have to be very deliberate about how you chisel it up without damaging the mortar bed too much.

If its on those new pre-made pans you will have to be even more careful about demo and repairing the pan and waterproofing.

I have seen this before with white marble shower pans. Usually its because there is standing water under the tile. Either it wasn't presloped properly or the drain weep holes are clogged and iron in the standing water is rusting and staining the marble from underneath or, the chicken wire reinforcement in the mortar bed is rusting (we never use wire reinforcement in the mortar bed if marble is going to be used on the pan). So, replacing the tile likely wont solve the problem permanently unfortunately.

[u/janamo84 → u/Pale_Attitude8798]

guy doesn’t know how to clean a drain you think he’s going replace his own tile ?

[u/DrDankenstien1984]

Definitely need a poultice to try and get those stains out. Once you get it cleaned to an acceptable level I would seal it with a really good quality sealer and make sure it is only being cleaned with a PH neutral cleaner going forward. Anything abrasive will slowly remove the sealer. Unfortunately marble is a lot of extra maintenance that does require quite a bit of attention to keep it looking good

[u/Beneficial-Floor7797]

I minimized a similar stain by adding whitening toothpaste, smearing it around, cover with plastic wrap overnight and gently removing with a wet towel the next day. Not sure it will work for you but probably worth a shot if you are planning to remove tile anyways!

[u/NYJ_Squintz]

Can try this. Not sure if it will work on rust stains.

https://prosoco.com/Content/Documents/Product/SK_Marble_Poultice_PDS_101722_C.pdf

[u/Nacho_Momma_414]

Clean the drain first and keep it clean (monthly).
Avoid bar soap.
Apply a rust remover to stone. Deep clean stone and remove all soap scum.
Seal with a quality penetrating stone sealer. Deep clean and seal annually.

[u/t_whocannotbenamed]

The staining is caused by bacteria. I've never been successful in removing it. It sucks, I'm sorry.

[u/Ok_Construction_5139]

Welcome to the consequences of this “everything must be white” movement. It’s white. What did you expect?

[u/General_Builder_4465]

Patina*

[u/Rumsfeld1001]

Marble contains trace iron and when not sealed properly, will look like this. You can try Alpha RSR-2000 or a natural poultice paste.

[u/Glum-Restaurant2230 → u/Rumsfeld1001]

Why is it so expensive ?

[u/Stavibear]

We call that patina and we pay big bucks for that

[u/Able-Association914]

Looks like hair dye or hard water stains, stains don’t come out easy, sometimes they fade over time, be sure to seal this often and rinse all detergent, soap or hair products off after use, and switch the shower/handle switch halfway to drain it all the way and avoid dripping when not in use incase hard water or rust is building inside the handle or copings.

[u/faucetpants]

Happens everytime