Disaster! Grout stained porcelain tiles - tiles weren't sealed - Tile Advice

[Meek]

Hi,

we laid some ESL ceramics Molise beige tiles in the kitchen and used Granfix Maxigrout in brown colour (not my choice) and the grout has stained the tiles badly. My builder/jack of all trades didn't follow the instructions to do a test on a spare tile and dived straight in and.. oh dear I feel sick.

We've been scrubbing the tiles for HOURS with grout remover (wickes) and it's not making a difference. The tiles look awful. Any advice on what to do to rectify this or is it hopeless?
Thanks

 

[Ceramico tiling]

Aquamix nanoscrub is an abrasive cleaner that might do the trick.

 

[faithhealer]

hello meek, sorry to hear, could you register and put a picture up, thanks

 

[Yorkshire Tiling Services]

broken link removed

This will do the trick, follow instructions for dilution & washing off.
Ensure you wear rubber gloves and eye protection. Very strong, will burn skin.
Ensure adequate ventilation.

 

[DHTiling]

Hi Meek..

Are these polished porcelain or matt through bodied. .?

 

[Meek]

Hi, thanks for your replies everyone. I've managed to get a photo from my mobile so apologies for the quality. I'll try using the ltp cleaner if I can get it, we've got a Tile Giant locally so should be able to get it from there if it's open tomorrow.

The tiles are matt porcelain but they have small holes in them which hindsight tells me I should have insisted on having sealed.

Anyway, what do you guys think, is it bad?

 

[DHTiling]

oooo!!..

what grout was it.. that is damp picture framing stains..

 

[Meek]

Granfix Maxi Grout

Hygienic Maxigrout

Is picture framing something to do with efflorescence?

edit. I forgot to mention, the tiles had plastic on them which was left on when grouting then it was peeled off. (don't ask, I wasn't there - but I think the plastic was to protect the tiles !)

 

[DHTiling]

It isn't efflorescence.

By looking at the pics it is picture framing stains.. how long since it was grouted..?

 

[Meek]

It was grouted yesterday morning.

 

[DHTiling]

and is the plastic film removed..?

 

[Meek]

Yep, plastic was removed after grouting.

 

[DHTiling]

OK..

what i will suggest is leave it till monday and see if the damp framing subsides, if not then please do come back..

It could just be moisture within the tile edges that has not dispersed yet.

 

[DHTiling]

Just another thought as well..

How soon after tiling did he grout..?

 

[Meek]

It was around a week and a half. He laid the tiles with cement rather than adhesive as the floor was uneven and it's quite a large area. Is there any way to tell the difference between damp staining and dye-staining?