Frederick M. Hueston, PhD

It was a crisp late fall morning. The leaves were still changing in Florida, and I was in the mood for a walk over to my favorite greasy spoon for a cup of joe. I know I drink a lot of coffee. But that’s how this ole man stays alert (LOL). As I was walking out the door, I tripped over an extension cord I forget to put away last night. In case you’re wondering, I am testing out a new portable heater I just purchased for when it starts to get cold. Yes, it does get cold here in Florida. Little did I realize then, but that stumble was a clue to my next stone and tile case.

I picked myself up and walked across the street to see Flo and perhaps see some bacon and eggs, too. I went to open the door to the diner, and I got a small shock. That little static shock was going to become yet another clue to my next case. 

Just I was about to sit down, my phone rang. “Stone Detective,” I said as I waved to Flo and waved to the old admiral sitting in his designated stool.  The voice on the other end sounded a bit shacking (shaken?). She told me she was the building manager of a large downtown office building, and a lot of the tenants were complaining about getting shocked as they entered the elevator and pressed the button. My first reaction was, why is she calling me? I’m a stone and tile expert, not a electrician or an elevator mechanic! 

She then related that the problem started the day after they had their marble floor polished. She thought that somehow this was related. Well, she certainly got my attention, so I jotted down her address and told her I would swing by in a bit. I ordered my bacon and eggs and flirted with Flo before heading out to take a look at this odd request.

I walked into the lobby of the building and noted it had a large tile format stone floor. The panels had to be at least 48 inches long and 36 inches wide. I was familiar with this building since my attorney’s office was here and I have attended a ton of depositions. 

The floor looked normal. It had a high polish on it, and appeared to be recently refinished.  I did notice that there appeared to be a light coating of some type of finish on it. 

I walked across the floor, headed for the elevators. I went to press the button on the elevator bank wall and got one heck of a shock. “Holy crap!” I said as I jerked my hand away.  It wasn’t the little static shock you get when you rub your feet on a carpet and touch someone. This almost felt like I stuck my finger in an electrical outlet!

As I was about to step into the elevator, a tall lady came walking out. She must have recognized me from my pictures on my website. She stopped and introduced herself as the property manager. We walked across the floor and she started telling me that the contractor who did the work on the floor would be joining us.  That was great, since I needed to know exactly what process he used, and what product he put on the floor. As we walked across the floor, and short, stocky gentleman walked up to us. I recognized him right away. He had been one of my seminar attendees a few years ago. 

He put his hand out to greet me and yup, you guessed it – shocked again. This was really strange. So I asked him what exactly did he do to the floor, and the products he used.  He told me they honed and polished the floor with standard marble polishing powder, and then applied a “proprietary finish that was designed for stone and tile.”  I asked him if he could get me an SDS (Safety Data Sheet) on the product. He said he could.  I told them both that I would have to do some research, but my educated guess was that the finish was generating a conductive charge similar to when one is walking across a carpet. I told them I would do some research on the product and get back to them.

I headed back to my office and opened up my email. There was the product information I had asked for. I downloaded the SDS and discovered that the product did have the potential of a static charge. I also did a Google search on this issue and lo and behold, several coating manufacturers reported this very issue.

Once I was done with my research, I wrote a brief report .

Here’s a brief summary of the report:

Static electricity is the result of two non-conducting materials touching each other. When this happens, some positive or negative ions, respectively called protons or electrons, transfer from one material to another. This buildup of electrical charges causes an imbalance of protons and electrons on the surface of these materials, and this can cause a static charge to accumulate until it is released. Certain Floor finishes, like the one used here are prone to hold this charge until it is released. People walking across the surface with rubber soles can generate this electricity which gets stored in the floor finish. 


I suggested that the manager have floor maintenance pros either remove the floor finish or use an anti-static dust mop during regular maintenance, which should release the charge.

Another shocking case solved.


The Stone Detective is a fictional character created by Dr. Frederick M. Hueston, PhD, written to entertain and educate. Dr. Fred 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. Fred has also been writing for the Slippery Rock Gazette  for over 20 years. 


Send your comments to fhueston@stoneforensics.com.