It was one of those muggy, humid mornings. The air was so thick with moisture you could have cut it with a knife. The short walk across the street to get a cup of jo was exhausting. Note to myself: get on the treadmill this afternoon (LOL). Like that's going to happen.

What would today bring? I thought. I have seen and experienced so much in this industry, I wondered if there was anything new and exciting that would challenge my gumshoe talents. Within minutes from entering my office the phone rang and this case would not disappoint.

The lady on the other end sounded like she had been a heavy smoker. Her voice was similar to Bee Arthur's from "The Golden Girls." With her harsh voice she said she had a beautiful red marble vanity top but every time she cleaned it, it would bleed.

"Excuse me?" I asked. "Did you say it bleeds?" My first thought is she should be calling an exorcist and not the Stone Detective. She continued, saying that she only uses neutral cleaners that her fabricator recommend. In fact, she uses it on all her stone in the house, but when she uses it on this vanity top, she gets a red color on the cleaning rag.

Well, I thought she more than likely had a bad case of doctored stone, but I have never heard of a stone doctored red, and never marble, so this was something I had to see. I jotted down her address and headed right over there.

I pulled the ole Woody into her driveway and noticed she was waiting for me on the front porch. It was one of those Old Lady, painted Victorian homes. She was wearing a long dress and, I kid you not, was smoking a cigarette with one of those long cigarette holders like Mrs. Morticia Adams used in "The Adams Family."

She said hello and led me into the home and up to the master bath. I entered the bathroom and my eyes went right toward the vanity top. I have never seen a marble with the particular, bright reds of this vanity top. I would call it artifical-like a white Easter egg that had been dipped in red Paas dye is pretty, but artifical.

I looked closely at it, figuring that it wasn't real marble but some type of an engineered stone. So, I took out my test kit and performed some quick tests and, to my surprise, it was the real McCoy!

Now I was really puzzled. It had to be dyed but why would someone dye it like that? I asked where she bought it and she gave me the name of the fabricator. I told her I would get back with her once I talked with the guy.

I said good bye and just as I was getting back into the woody, a light bulb went off in my head. I remembered a few years ago while attending a show in Carrara, Italy there was a company who was taking white Carrara marble and dying it several different colors. I was sure that this was one of those dyes. I picked up my new cell phone (yes, I finally joined the digital age), managed to push the right buttons, and called the fabricator.

Low and behold, that's exactly what it was! I told him it was bleeding and if this was going to continue to be an issue, he might want to stop carrying it. He agreed and told me they had problems with almost all of the dyed marble that they had installed.

I suppose the real lesson to be learned here is that all stone has its own natural color. If that color is in any way enhanced with dyes, you can no longer safely use the same cleaners as with undyed natural stone. The reaction from the chemicals in the cleaner will cause the dyes to "bleed," every time. The (unhappy) owner can either decide to live with it, sue the installer, or pay someone to tear it out and start over.

Let's face it, if your client wants a specific color of stone that is not available in nature, it might be wiser to educate them to the other options, like ES or polished concrete, which can be created to match any color they want and can be as attractive as natural stone.

Well, another unfortunate case conclusion. Now if I could only figure out what all this cell phone can do...

The Stone Detective is a fictional character created by Fred Hueston, written to be entertaining and educational. Frederick M. Hueston is the founder of Stone Forensics (stoneforensics.com), a nationally known stone consulting company, and also the technical director for Stoneandtilepros.com. He has written over 33 books on stone and tile installations, fabrication and restoration. He also serves as a expert for many legal cases across the world. Email comments to him at fhueston@stoneforensics.com

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