The Stone Detective: The Case of the Expert Vs. Expert
Frederick M. Hueston, PhD
Fall has finally come to the south and I can’t wait to get out and ride in the open air. I thought this would be a good day for a motorcycle ride. So I fired up the ole Harley, put on my helmet and headed out the door for a long morning ride. Just I was pulling out of the drive my phone started vibrating. I turned the bike off and answered, “Hello, Stone Detective here.”
The person on the other end was a past client. The case was a marble floor failure that I looked at a year or so ago. He told me that the installer hired an expert and he wanted me to be there when the expert did his inspection. Now, there aren’t a lot of stone inspectors in the US and I know most of them. It was going to be interesting to see who this was. I asked him when, and he told me tomorrow morning.
The jobsite was only about a three hour ride away, so I thought if the weather was good, I just might take the Harley. On second thought, that might not look professional. I guess I’d better take the Woody… sigh.
With that important decision made, I put my phone away and I was off for a nice ride.
The next morning I headed south for my appointment. I arrived at the home, when Lo and behold! the other expert had gotten there ahead of me.
Yes, I knew him, and no, I’m not going to reveal his name. All that matters is that this guy is on the up-and-up and knows his stuff (almost as much as me–LOL!). After all, he took my stone inspection class a few years back, so he learned from the best. More importantly, he was also not one of those hired gun-type experts. In other words, he was not the type that will say anything you want, as long as you pay him.
This was going to be interesting because the floor was a total failure. Let me explain. When I inspected the floor last year the entire floor sounded hollow, except for a few areas. I also inspected some tiles that were not installed and discovered that all this marble flooring had a fiberglass mesh backing. I couldn’t wait to see what this expert was going to say when he discovered the same thing.
He started his inspection and I could tell right away that I taught him well. We talked to each other but not about this floor. He turned to the client and asked if they could remove some tiles. Bingo! I thought that was exactly what needed to be done, to get to the truth. A hollow sound on a tile floor don’t always mean the floor is not bonded. Soundproofing membranes, acoustics and numerous other factors can give you a false reading.
We collectively chose four tiles to remove; two of them were hollow and the other two were sound. I thought this would be a good comparison.
He took out his grinder and started cutting around the perimeter of the tile, about one inch from the edge. He finished his last cut and the tile popped up. I kid you not; it actually lifted off the floor. He took a screwdriver, carefully lifted the tile and then flipped it over. The back of the tile had no thinset or setting mortar at all on the back. The look on his face was priceless!
“It’s going to be interesting to hear how he justifies this,” I muttered to myself. Oh, yeah– that tile was the hollow-sounding one.
Next, he made a perimeter cut around the sound tile. This time it did not pop up. I thought we might find that this tile would be bonded properly. After he finished this round of cuts he took a screwdriver and pried up the tile. It came up clean, all in one piece. He flipped it over– and surprise, surprise – There wasn’t any mortar on the back of the tile (see pics). I just looked at him and smiled. After all, we had lawyers watching this whole thing.
It was clear to me and hopefully to him that this floor was not bonded. Most likely the installer used the wrong setting mortar. The mortar would have to be tested to find out for sure.
I have no idea what he told his client but I do know there was no counterclaim report, and the case settled out of court. I’m sure he told them it was a poor installation. Any competent expert would have. I have many times.
Another case solved. You know, it’s nice to be right. I’ll think about that on my next ride.
The Stone Detective is a fictional character created by Fred Hueston, written to be entertaining and educational. He has written over 33 books on stone and tile installations, fabrication and restoration and also serves as an expert for many legal cases across the world. You can send any email comments to him at fhueston@stoneforensics.com.