EXTERIOR MARBLE PATIO AND DECORATIVE GLASS MAINTENANCE
During the COVID-19 in 2020 we noticed many homeowners set out to beautify the outdoor living spaces by building pools, pool decks, marble patios, etc. Meanwhile we experienced other homeowners seeking to repair and protect their existing outdoor living spaces, homeowners had more time in their homes to review their property and realized the value in their already existing exterior marble patios, the high demand for exterior marble repairs continued to grow throughout the summer months of 2021.
OUTDOOR MARBLE PATIO DAMAGE
What do you need to know about preventive repairs, protecting and maintaining your exterior marble patio in excellent conditions for years to come? For the following reasons:
Wet-laid natural stone, marble, and porcelain exposed to freeze and thaw conditions will experience light movements that will be the start for water and other impurities to cause subsequent damages
Breaking mortar or grout
Cracks on the tile material
Loosening tiles
Calcium or inflorescence
Cement base deterioration
Discoloration, etc
Notice this picture where grout has cracked, broken marble pavers, shifting pavers as water and impurities continue to infiltrate, the marble patio will continue to deteriorate.
Preventive maintenance does not mean power wash, topical sealers, patch mortar or grout repairs, and let it be. Proper preventative maintenance starts by identifying the cause of the problem and addressing it accordingly. From our experience, a stone material or tile set on a cement base will begin to develop settling fissures on joints and seams within two years of the installation. At this point, it is a great idea to perform preventive repair and maintenance otherwise the damages will continue like a domino effect.
HOW TO PERMANENTLY REPAIR EXTERIOR BROKEN GROUT?
Based on our years of experience in performing exterior marble patio repairs the (3) formulas for proper grout repairs no one in the industry is performing are the following:
Remove damaged grout from corner to corner.
While the grout joint is open, apply a premium epoxy to stabilize the tile movement, preventing the new grout from cracking again.
Locate the exact original brand and color grout and pack it in (The new grout can look different but will age the same)
Notice the example picture above, the cement base expansion, the ongoing water infiltration has broken the grout, and loosened marble pavers. Must be stabilized / reinforced and repaired the grout now before the surrounding marble pavers, grout and cement base continues to decay.
OUTDOOR LOOSE GLASS TILE AND GROUT REPAIRS
In this project, the grout initially used was a urethane base grout from Bostick, which performs excellently in an outdoor environment for glass tiles.
The problem here was a movement of the cement base, cracking the grout and allowing water infiltration under the tiles, which caused inflorescence to bleed out and loosening the glass tiles. Once again, save your time and money do not bother to do grout repairs without stabilizing the loose tiles with epoxy injection, as any new grout repairs will break open again in the near future.
Notice on picture number 1 above we can see efflorescence bleeding out through grout joints and loose glass tiles ready to fall off. Then, we identified the loose tiles for premium epoxy injection and finally, we started the skillful and tedious process of epoxy injection.
EXTERIOR MARBLE PATIO GROUT REPAIRS METHOD IMPLEMENTED BY TERSO MR®
This is how the prepared grout joint should look with the dried epoxy on the bottom of the joint before grout application.
The marble pictures are examples of our grout repairs in progress and how we address water damage on marble terraces. In the case of this marble patio terrace, the entire grout was already compromised within the five year time period since construction. We have removed the whole grout on the terrace; we primed all the open joints with a generous amount of premium flowing epoxy to stabilize the loose marble slabs. The epoxy also serves as a water-resistant barrier from the surface and stops humidity from rising from the setting base to damage the new grout.
With our process, the results we are shooting for is a long-lasting repair that will only need surface care maintenance such as purifying and applying a premium impregnating sealer every year or two going forward.
For this project we are using SPECTRALOCK 1 grout as it is the new technology the reputable LATICRETE brand has come up with. The reason we decided to use this grout is that it's made to withstand all weather conditions and will not show signs of discoloration plus with the premium epoxy base barrier we implemented, these repairs are set to withstand the test of time.
With the grout repairs complete, the last phase is to purify the surface using gentle detergents, and a premium impregnating sealer application
MAINTAINING OUTDOOR MARBLE
The final result is an impermeable patio surface as water will just runoff, for ongoing surface maintenance the homeowner will need to have TERSO MR® maintain the surface with our process of surface purify and sealer application every year, or depending on the outdoor environment it can even be done every two years. At the time of the surface maintenance one or two years later, we will thoroughly inspect the grout and marble for any signs of additional base movement; here we can implement preventive repairs at no extra cost to the homeowner.
EXTERIOR MARBLE PATIO MAINTENANCE BENEFITS
Yearly marble patio surface maintenance by TERSO MR® can help remove or prevent the following issues:
Surface calcium removal and prevention
Surface leaf stain removal
Surface oil stain removal
Organic stain removal
Surface rust stain removal
Algae, moss,mold, mildew removal and prevention
We do not recommend power washing or using harsh acidic chemicals for outdoor marble patio surface maintenance.
The outdoor marble, stone or porcelain exposed to the elements can only be managed with proper repairs and maintenance to keep the beauty of your patios for the long term, preventive repairs and maintenance is the best investment.
Contact TERSO MR® to evaluate your marble patios for all your repairs and maintenance.
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