What's The Matter With Stone Water Spots? How To Prevent And Deal With

1、 What are water spots?

1. Water spot definition

The cement wet paste method is adopted when installing stones. Hygroscopic substances penetrate into the interior of the stone, resulting in wet marks on the stone surface that are not easy to dry naturally.

2. Water spot characteristics

① There are visual traces similar to water wetting.

② Always not dry, or not easy to dry thoroughly.

③ Even after the sun or fire, the wet marks remain.

3. Origin of water spots

① Alkalinity in cement

The wet cement paste stones will contact with water for a long time, and the basic components will migrate and solidify to the surface of stone to form "alkali silica gel". This material absorbs water very well. After absorbing water, the reflectivity of light on the stone surface will change, presenting a wet visual effect.

② Exotic saline alkali

Strong alkaline cement, inferior cement, cement additives, cushion soil under stone, sediment, hygroscopic salt left by strong acid cleaning and pollutant reaction, inferior protective agent, hygroscopic salt generated by acid rain or acid mist reacting with stone components, etc.

③ Contact with water

Case 1: direct or indirect contact with water. In case of contact with wet soil, high groundwater level, nearby pool, toilet, roof ponding and poor drainage.

Case 2: too much water during installation and use. For example, if the plate is always wet before installation, is drenched by rain, the cement is too thin or too much during paving, and is not dry after installation, flush or flood with a large amount of water.

④ Pseudowater spot

Situation 1: if the stone is wet for a long time, the surface is easy to absorb dust. Over time, pollutants penetrate into the micropores on the stone surface, and the water will leave traces of water spots when it is dry. Situation 2: some liquid substances, such as glue, pollutants and inferior protective agents, will also leave traces similar to water spots when they penetrate into the micropores of stone.

Strictly speaking, these two kinds of water spots do not belong to real water spots, because their main substances are not hygroscopic substances. Therefore, it is often called "false water spots".

2、 The idea of treating water spots is very simple

Only by strictly following the ideas and steps of "cutting off water, opening the surface, controlling water spots and protecting", can good results be achieved.

3、 Governance methods

1. Cut off water

Water cut-off is the key to water spot treatment. Cutting off water source seems simple, but it is actually a complex process of judgment and implementation. Because it is not only the visible water source that needs to be cut off, but also various sources of moisture, moisture, seepage and so on.

There is no omnipotent method for this step. We need to mobilize our talents and consider every situation and every detail in order to achieve good results.

All kinds of water leakage, seepage, rain erosion, close to water source, window leakage, soil moisture, high air humidity, etc

2. Open surface

Open the pollution layer, crystallization layer and protective layer by grinding, slit cutting, etc. So that the stone can have space and channels to radiate the absorbed water. Without this step, it is difficult for the stone to emit the absorbed water, and the subsequent water spot treatment will lose its effect and significance.

3. Treatment of water spots

① Physical drying

Open doors and windows for ventilation, blow with blower, turn on floor heating, bake with sun lamp or infrared lamp, microwave or electromagnetic heating, and absorb with desiccant (such as calcium chloride or lime) to speed up the distribution of water. Disadvantages: treat symptoms but not root causes.

Physical drying

② Chemical cleaning

Use stone water spot scavengers to clean, remove or destroy the salt and gel in the stone, and make them lose moisture absorption ability.

③ Chemical cleaning + physical drying

First use the cleaning agent to remove or destroy the salt and gel in the stone, and then remove the moisture in the stone with physical method.

④ Brightening and toning

Deepen the light color part of the water spot stone to make it consistent or close to the overall color.

4. Do a good job of protection

After the water spots are removed, they must be protected. Instead of water-based protective agent, high-quality permeable (oily) protective agent shall be selected. Spray with roller, brush or sprayer. Brushing standard: sufficient, uniform and cured for more than 24 hours.

4、 Case sharing

1. Cleaning method

Pathological changes: uneven and missing brushing of protective agent leads to water spot lesions.

Treatment materials: VD stone multifunctional cleaning agent, VD granite water spot cleaning agent, VD penetrating protective agent.

Construction method:

Step 1: remove the wax and protective agent on the stone surface with VD multifunctional cleaning agent.

Step 2: Brush VD water spot remover (A: B = 3:1 mixing) and stay for more than 2 hours.

Step 3: dry naturally for 7-15 days.

Step 4: repeat steps 2 and 3 if necessary.

Step 5: conduct protective treatment with VD penetrating protective agent.

2. Toning method

Pathological changes: uneven and missing brushing of protective agent (especially on the side), resulting in water spots.

Treatment materials: VD stone brightener, VD granite cleaner.

Construction method:

Step 1: apply VD stone Brightener on the whole stone surface with an amount of about 10m2 / L, and appropriately increase the amount of light colored stone.

Step 2: wait for the stone brightener to fully penetrate into the stone (at least 24 hours).

Step 3: if there is still color difference, repeatedly brush the stone brightener at the light color part until the color difference of the stone is completely eliminated.

Step 4: clean the surface with VD granite cleaner.

Step 5: clean the stone surface with water.

[note] as the saying goes: disease comes like a mountain, and disease goes like a thread. This principle also applies to the treatment of stone lesions. The treatment of water spots is a fine job. The removal of water spots needs to go through the process of "absorption, reaction and precipitation". Therefore, water spot treatment is a time-consuming work. We should not be in a hurry and be patient.

5、 Prevention of water spots

The owner, designer and paver have obligations and responsibilities to prevent water spots.

1. Owner

① It is recommended that the owner select stones with compact structure and low water absorption.

② Dry hanging is recommended for the wall, and special stone glue is recommended for the ground instead of cement.

2. Designer

① Damp proof measures under the stone, such as damp proof pad, shall be considered in the design. Avoid direct or indirect links between stones and moisture and water sources.

② During the design, the water vapor channel shall be reserved in the paved cement mortar layer. For example, some breathable pipes can be installed to make the water vapor go away from the pipe as soon as possible.

3. Paver

① Avoid using inferior cement.

② Use less water during paving, such as semi dry mortar and scraping mortar to reduce the amount of mortar.

③ During the paving process and curing period, avoid the stone from rain or washing.

④ Do not use strong acid to clean cement spots and rust yellow.

⑤ Avoid soaking the installed stone in water or being wet for a long time.