I was sitting in my office watching a huge storm approaching. All of a sudden a big clap of thunder rattled the windows, and simultaneously the phone rang. I 'bout jumped out of my chair! But I managed to pick up the phone and said, "Stone Detective," in a hoarse, shaken voice.

The caller on the other end was a stone supplier, who gave me a tragic tale about a swimming pool deck they had installed less than 6 months ago; the customer was complaining about the stone pitting and falling apart. He asked if I'd ever heard of such a thing happening, and was there was something I could do? I told him it sounded pretty interesting and I could at least take a look at it and see what I could find out. I lined an inspection for the next day, hoping the rain would stop by then.

The next morning, I walked out to the ole Woody to head over to the inspection and noted there were some unusual spots on the hood of the Woody. I touched them and they seemed to wipe right off. I just shrugged and thought nothing of it. Little did I realize that this would be key to the stone problem I was about to look at.

I arrived at the home and was immediately greeted by a short, very skinny gentleman. He reminded me of Barney from the "Andy Griffith Show." For a moment I thought he might be Don Knott's long-lost little brother. He had the same hound-dog look and talked just like him. He drawled, "Howdy, there. Just follow me."

We walked around the back of the house to the swimming pool. As soon as we got there, he pointed at the deck and said, "They sold me defective stone-you can see it's all falling apart!" He went on and on about how much money he had spent and how he had expected more from such nice folks. It was all I could do to keep from laughing, since he was waving his hands around, and talking just like Barney.

Anyway, the deck contained 12 x12 travertine tiles that were all pitted. I have seen unfilled travertine like this before but not as bad as this was. I asked him if he cleaned the deck with anything, thinking that maybe they pressure washed it or used some acid on it. He said they haven't touched it. I looked around and took some close-up pictures of the damage. I must be losing it, I thought, cause I couldn't quite figure out what was causing such a rapid deterioration. I asked all kinds of questions and still couldn't quite put my finger on the problem. I told him I would do some investigation and hopefully come up with a reason.

I walked back to my Woody, scratching my head. Just as I started to pull out of the drive, I noticed the spots on the hood again and a light bulb went off. Could it be possible that the spots on my car were caused by acid rain? I couldn't wait to get back to the office to look at the recent rain data for the area.

I got back to the office and placed a call to the EPA. I guess I could have gone online, but I'm a little old-fashioned and prefer having a conversation with a real person, rather than looking at a glaring, impersonal computer screen.

Sure enough, the EPA guy confirmed it. The pool owner's county was one of the top ten areas in the US for acid rain, with pH levels under 6, at times, and had been for the past 3 years. Bingo! This easily explained why the travertine was deteriorating so fast.

The mystery was solved. Limestone and constant acid rain-bad combination. Because the minerals that make up travertine are highly reactive with acidic solutions (like orange juice, vinegar, and acid rain), a major consideration in installing travertine is what it will be exposed to. The next day, I called Barney and explained my deductions. As for a solution to his crumbling travertine, a sealer would provide some protection from stains, but might not be sufficient to protect it from acid etching.

I concluded that understanding what the travertine would be exposed to should have guided the decision to use such a stone for his project. The stone specifier hadn't done their homework, and they were less than diligent for not sealing the stone, or perhaps steering their customer to a more durable, suitable material for the climate. If I've learned anything from years of stone tragedies, you've gotta educate the customer and give them options to protect their investment. An educated customer that makes wise choices is a happy, paying customer.

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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