Q. How would I get rid of calcium buildup on a headstone? The primary surface is polished and where the engraving is it is rough. The calcium from the hard water has caused a buildup, especially in the rough area. What should I use to get the... Read More

Q. We have mold buildup in grout joints and surface has film on it. What is best to clean mold and remove film from surface?   A. There are several cleaners that will remove the mold but you must be careful to choose one that will not damage the... Read More

Suppose you have an interior granite wall that had some silicon caulking used in the grout joints. The silicon then caused staining along the grout edges. A poultice successfully removed the staining, but then later, the stains reappeared. What... Read More

Q.  I have a new home (1 year old). I chose to have crema marfil marble installed in the master bath. The entire floor and the walk-in shower are crema marfil. Neither the installer or the contractor gave me any warning about care of the stone and... Read More

Q. My master bath was remodeled approx. 8 months ago and we used honed and tumbled travertine. It was professionally installed and moisture barrier was used in shower. Approx a month ago, I noticed a few black "dots" on the floor of the shower (they... Read More

Q. Does travertine pool coping need to be sealed? Can it be dyed? We are not really loving our new travertine pool coping. We love the material but not the color. The stone has a honed finish. We were thinking about putting some kind of dye intoÂ... Read More

Q. I have a Pietra Cardosa countertop, and one handprint sized area has turned almost white on the black counter top because of the spilling of a descaling chemical solution that I was using to clean an appliance. If you have any suggestions for how... Read More

Q. We recently had travertine cross cut Torreon placed in our kitchen foyer and hallway the floor was sealed by the installer. However we would prefer to have more of a shine to the floor then we presently have. Can we, now that the floor is sealed,... Read More

If these scratch patterns are what I think they are then they probably occurred during fabrication. Some polishing machines have ten inch diameter polishing heads. It is not unusual to have these patterns show up after the floor has been polished.... Read More

  Efflorescence - Removal and Prevention   By Frederick M. Hueston www.stoneforensics.com The crystallization of soluble salts in Historic masonry causes severe deterioration of the substrate. This crystallization is called subflorescence. These... Read More