Help please - Have I ruined the job?? - TilersForums.co.uk | Tile Forums

mick7 · 08-01-2008

Grouting the tiled floor - a total nightmare,

60 x 60 polished beige porcelaine - 5sq metre - beige Mapei ultraplus.

Had an absolute nightmare grouting!

All tiles laid lovely and level and looked good. I thought the tiles were clean I even hooved them

However I had obviously got some tiny bits of adhesive(grey) left on the sides of the tiles and they have come through on the grout. The grout is uneven, went all over the place using the rubber trowel and there was obviously too much water on the sponge when I've tried to get it up!

Can I rake it out and re-grout. How do I get rid of the grey bits. A total nightmare. Finished 30 mins ago and thought I'd make a cry for help please.

**Dave** · 08-01-2008

Any adhesive that's showing just rake it out with a scraper or utility knife.....take your time and make sure you get it all....then just re-grout these bits and touch in the other unlevel bits before it dries to much or it won't key to it.....make sure you rinse sponges etc out well and lightly wipe the joints don't press on to much....

**pjc** · 08-01-2008

yes Dave's right use a Stanley knife i tile 600x600 all the time using grey adhesive with beige grout just be careful of the corners can chip easy :Pete

**whitebeam** · 08-01-2008

Before I grout allways check joints for any adhesive that may have stuck to edge of tiles, For any light grout I use a white addy. I'd regrout asap before sets hard and use a stanley knife on the edge of the tiles to scrape any grey away or fein multimaster if you have one to get bulk of grout out, or plenty of elbow grease all the best.

DevonChris · 08-01-2008

Hi mick,

Don't worry! Go through and take out all the visible adhesive.
If the grout is patchy coloured or uneven in levels take the surface off all of it.
Best to use a manual grout raker. They work really well and either buy a couple or 1 plus a spare blade. You may need a knife also but be careful not to slip and scratch the tiles. You can get them from a local tile shop.
I once went to a job where someone had left ultracolor on for hours before trying to wipe it off and ruined 100m2 of expensive tiles! I'm sure he felt worse than you when the whole site were washing the floor with brick acid!!
When you regrout, take the worst off first before your finishing wipe and use warm/hot clean water. I've found that's the quickest way to use ultracolour and leave a good finish.
Let us know how it goes!
Chris

mick7 · 08-01-2008

Many thanks all

I've had another go at it and taken off as much of the grey adhesive as I can see and re-grouted.

Totally knacked and fed up now, no dinner. I see how it looks tomorrow and get a grout rake and start again from there.

Thanks for all the help.

**brian c** · 09-01-2008

mick did you seal the tiles before you grouted,if not try this aswell as the above.Ifind that if i seal them then i dont have any problems like you have bud,worth a try but i know not everyone seals polished porcelain as trhey think it dont need sealing but i beg to differ,we had a thread about this two weeks ago,check it out.

**Dan** · 09-01-2008

best thing to do is wash off as you go.

With some of the grout sinking you may have just filled some of the voids under the floor - if there are voids you may find the tiles aren't as tough if you drop things on them (even thick stone if you get it right) so 'sound' the tiles (tap them with a coin and spot the hollow bits) if it is you have an area with a few hollow sounding tiles then maybe before you re-grout you repair that?

I may be barking up the wrong tree so to speak - really depends on how 'uneven' the grout is - and if you mean some has sunk.

mick7 · 09-01-2008

Hi All

Well I've looked at my job this morning. Not very happy but maybe someone can give a bit more advice.

The main problem now is the uneven colour of the grout. It looked fine last night.
Its smooth and level enough, probably not to your standards but I could'nt do anymore last night. The colour is supposed to be Mapei Beige, but it varies from beige to nearly white over the whole floor. No one gout line seems the same colour throughout.
It was absolutely fine in the bucket and looked a uniform colour
What can I do?

Pawelzik · 09-01-2008

Wait another night or two, maybe the grouts are only different wet, it needs time to dry. If you are not satisfied then, wash the grouts again to intensive the colour, this will normally help and is the first + easy thing to do.

mick7 · 09-01-2008

Many thnaks for that.

I cant understand it, I thought maybe it was because the grout wasnt dry. The only thing is the tiles I did last have actually tuned out the lightest!! ie the grout is nearly white.
sorry when you say wash the grouts again, what do you mean. wash them with water?
many thanks

Pawelzik · 09-01-2008

Yes, with clean water and sponge board. This improves the hardening and as a result the colour normally will get equal. By the way: Do you have everywhere over the area the same light? The grouts might look different becaus of different light?!