disaster

[imperato]

hi guys i tiled 1 16 square meeter floor for weeks ago

the custumer has got back to me to take a look at something a bit of grout she said doesnt look right.

i get there and almost the whole floor where i grouted had gone of colour, looks horrible.

in loads of places it has gone a dark brown but it was supose to be cream this has happend every where,

i have never seen this before since i started tiling 4-5 yeas ago

any ideas guys?

[nybor62]

what was the substrate you tiled onto ,what grout did you use
any pics would help

[imperato]

we had to self level the floor first then tiled on top of there i carnt rember the brand of grout its the 1 i always use and never had a problem before i thik its a very popular 1

[Scott]

What colour is it supposed to be?

Only time i seen grey go brown was from a water leak seeping under the floor but that was pigment from the ply bleeding through,

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

me too sum kind of leak, or has anyone in the house spilled something!! over the floor

[david campbell]

thinking along the same lines as the above posts

surely youmust be able to ge the name of the gout if it's the one you always use,this would maybe help a bit more

[merlecollins]

If you're stumped and the customer is convinced they've never spilled anything on it, get the adhesive/grout rep out to inspect.

Was the floor concrete you tiled on and how old was it before you tiled?

[imperato]

yes the floor was concrete before, she did say shes been on her hands and kness scrubbing the floor could this be the reason?

[imperato]

supose to be cream, but has gone a very dark brown. they seem to think im a fault i think but i dont believe its my fault as this as never happend before and dont no what could corse this, they have also had builders and kitch fitters in since i done it, they damaged the floor in some places by dropping a drill on it , wich she told me

[enduro]

I wouldn't say its your problem, if the grout had a problem then it would of dried brown, but if you said its been a few weeks and now they have called you back something doesn't sound right to me...something has been spilt on the floor. You could offer to use Aqua mix grout colorant to sort the problem out at cost to the customer.

[paul flight]

something has come up into grout or down .grout alway drys lighter! so was you adhesive white or gray? was it rapid set ? if white rapid all ok . is it all over the floor or just in one or two areas?

[imperato]

no it was grey rapid, well its a lot of the floor but its not every where it covers alot of the floor tho in different areas

[david campbell]

are you ure the adhesive was dry and all the joints completely clean,you relly should have used white adhesive as mentioned above,i have used grey before when i've ran out of addy for a small area but had to totally clean the joints out as i went

[imperato]

the joints was perfect we went threw and made sure it was clean before grouting,

[Dave]

Scrape the grout in one of the joints, see what colour is underneath.

If this is on the surface then it is customer hygiene/cleaning regime.

Offer a grout cleaner...

[jay]

can you move the fridge or dishwasher an area that cant be cleaned easily to see if grout has changed color

[Adam Coates]

From my experience it sounds like surface contamination but to make sure you could scratch / sand a bit of the grout or use a chlorine based mould spray etc but if you have used a reputable grout the rep sould be able to come out from that company and test it for you. where did you purchase the product from.

adam

[imperato]

The customer supplied the grout, the customer got all tiles and materials from a shop called candy tiles in cardiff, the brand is ultra, i normaly use this 1 and have never had a problem before wich is why this has confused me so much

[doug boardley]

The customer supplied the grout, the customer got all tiles and materials from a shop called candy tiles in cardiff, the brand is ultra, i normaly use this 1 and have never had a problem before wich is why this has confused me so much

I mainly use Ultra products and the only grout I've had a problem with is the limestone one, and on ore than one occasion. Was it limetone tht you used?

[kilty55]

yes the floor was concrete before, she did say shes been on her hands and kness scrubbing the floor could this be the reason?

1st question to ask her....was she using bleach based cleaning products this could well be why its turned

[SandyFloor]

supose to be cream, but has gone a very dark brown. they seem to think im a fault i think but i dont believe its my fault as this as never happend before and dont no what could corse this, they have also had builders and kitch fitters in since i done it, they damaged the floor in some places by dropping a drill on it , wich she told me

Just an idea....Have there been plasterers in since you? If someone tries to mop the dust up it can really discolour anything porous.

[Hally1989]

hello, first of all good luck on the job im pretty new to tiling myself but i dont know if this would solve your problem..

if you have used grey/black adhesive to lay the times and then a white grout if they have mixed with each other that might have caused it to change colour in places usless you used a white adhisive?