Stained Floor

[Mike Lamb]

What would or could cause this? The owner says that this has appeared through the floor tiles.

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[AHI in AR]

I'd like to say that it looks like sub-surface moisture. In other words, moisture coming from below the flooring that reacts with concrete and the layer of the VCT in contact with it.

Then again, given the distribution pattern around the throne, and the fact that it heads downhill to the drain, it may only be lousy aim and less than perfect housekeeping.

[Brad Manor]

Using the wrong type of adhesive sometimes causes vinyl floor and VCT to stain.

-Brad

[Mike Lamb]

Thanks. I guess I'll go with subsurface moisture. Rebar rust?

Someone on a flooring forum suggested too strong of a toilet cleaner but that sounds like a reach. There were also lots of votes for urine and/or asphalt stains but that again is very unlikely.

[Chad Fabry]

It's unaffected around the toilet. It's weird.

[Scottpat]

About the only way to tell for sure that it is not from under the tiles is going to be the removal of a few tiles in the stained area and then from a normal area.

The 12x12 vinyl floor tiles that are in the picture are the same color throughout. Most likely made by Armstrong. To make tiles like this they use many types of minerals in the mix for hardness (durability) and to obtain the various colors. They do not show moisture like sheet vinyl. Sheet vinyl has a paper back that covers an embossed pattern with the colors imprinted into it. The top cover is clear sheet of vinyl like plastic. With sheet vinyl when it gets wet on the bottom side, the paper backing becomes dark (mouldy) it is this dark stain that transmits to the top and this is what we then see as dark blue, purple or black blotches.

I would bet that the stain is from somthing being poured or placed on top of the tiles and it has reacted with the minerals or chemicals in the tiles.

[gtblum]

Thanks. I guess I'll go with subsurface moisture. Rebar rust?

There were also lots of votes for urine and/or asphalt stains but that again is very unlikely.

Why not?

[hausdok]

Is it a heated bath?

Could it be a situation where it's a cold basement bathroom and someone had been plugging in an electric space heater while doing their duty and the heater was directing hot air down onto those asphalt tiles and causing them to discolor?

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Chris Bernhardt]

What Scott Patterson said. Looks like someone pouring hazardous waste into the toilet with it dripping down off the bottom of the container forming a pool and then running to the floor drain.

Chris, Oregon

[Mike Lamb]

Thanks. I guess I'll go with subsurface moisture. Rebar rust?

There were also lots of votes for urine and/or asphalt stains but that again is very unlikely.

Why not?

I didn't provide backgorund info. This bathroom is in the middle of a 7000 sq ft warehouse/office of an electrical contractor. It's 5 years old on slab construction. It is a mens bathroom and there is a wall urinal in the foreground.

It's too far to get from the blacktop to this point to make stains only in this spot. Pee is very unlikely. Besides stains, it would leave a smell.

[hausdok]

Hi,

I just blew up the photo to look at it; it looks like there is a round pattern, like a bucket, with a dark stain where a chemical had run down the side and followed the rim and then whatever it was had spread out across the floor and was rinsed into the drain. I'll bet their janitor has been placing a heavy can of cleaning solution right there while cleaning that toilet and the chemical he's using has been sloshing over the edge onto the floor. When he gets done, he just rinses the splashover down the drain. There's probably some kind of emulsifier in the detergent that's reacting with the asphalt in those tiles.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Mike Lamb]

I saw the ring and it is pronounced. The staining is somewhat random and darker in some areas than others. It's a good theory.