I’ve got some foundation settling that hasn’t moved much in years, but unfortunately my marble floor is cracked as a result. I don’t want it to get worse. How should I go about repairing, other than replacement? Are there colored epoxies that can be matched and squeezed in? It’ll need to be leveled and buffed out, most likely.
Thanks.
Seth
“Nothing is a mistake. There is no win and there is no fail . . . there is only make.”
John Cage
Replies
Is this the same Victorian??
You have some issues there, it's hard to tell what's gooing on from here.
Water getting under that TT door?? Ice? Broken floor joists under?
Eric
I Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
Eric,
Tell about a 110 year old house that doesn't have issues!
But seriously, it's slab on grade below and I've never seen water get under the door.
Thanks.
Seth"Nothing is a
mistake. There is no win
and there is no fail . . . there is only
make."
John Cage
The slab has settled, shrunk away from the footing/foundation.
See how far in from the exterior the crack is? This is the thickness of the foundation or the fooeting.
You could take up the tiles and level out the uneveness, maybe use an isolation membrane. I don't think I would try to repair this with out removing all of the tiles.
Then I would diamond lathe and skimcoat of thinset first.
Eric
EricI Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
Seth;
Post this with pic at John Bridge's tile forum...those guys will be all over it, PDQ.
http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1
Thanks. I've posted there before but forgot all about it.
Seth"Nothing is a
mistake. There is no win
and there is no fail . . . there is only
make."
John Cage
If you are sure it has stopped moving and there is no water moving up you can use grout. Go to Home Depot and get a couple of packages of grout with colors close to the color of the marble. Mix a tiny amount of it dry to get as close to the final color as possible then mix it, leave it in a lump, and let it dry. Then put your sealer on it. That will tell you the final color you will get. You can make color mix adjustments from there. The nice thing about this is that if your marble has lots of colors in it you can make several shades and it hides long cracks better.
When you have your color right, mix it. If the crack is very fine make the grout just a little thin. Then jam it in the crack. Once it dries - seal with a penetrating sealer. The penetration should be good because of the thin mix you used to get it in the crack.
If it has not stopped moving use a colored siliconized acrylic latex Calk. I have had reasonable luck with Color Calk Inc. product. If it moves too much though the cracks will re-emerge.
For both methods... If the crack is large enough to do so, blow out any dust first. The crack should be clean and dry for the calk, clean and damp for the grout.