Pourous porcelain cream tiles with pitted holes to look like natural travertine

[happytoddy]

Hi

I'm praying that someone will be able to offer some advice for us.

We basically had 26 square meters of cream porcelain 60x60 tiles with pitted tiny holes to look like natural travertine, fitted in our kitchen dinner.

We did ask the shop assistant about the after care because of the holes, we were sold Lithofin sealant to act as barrier and no more than that.

Tiles were laid and look beautiful against the limestone grout.

Day 5 the tiles looked dull in appearance and changed from a bright cream to more like a dull honeycomb colour. The holes were black as they had a build up of dirt in them that you couldn't get out.

I therefore rang the manager of the reputable local tile shop and he came to inspect. Straight away he said the tiles should have been overgrouted which would of rectified the black in the holes. I reminded him that the staff that sold us these tiles never mentioned anything about overgrouting, especially as these tiles are being sold as optional with regards to grouting. We then laid a fresh tile down left from the remaining batch and it clearly stood out what a colour difference there was.

He then suggested a rep from the manufacture needed to inspect the floor. His conclusion was that the tile needed a good clean using the provided toxic floor cleaner and that it had been contaminated in some one. I strongly disagreed and said that whats wrong with the tile was purely dirt adhering to it as its so pourous. They obviously denied it and was not admitting liability.

I've had 8 months of battling with both the shop and manufacture who are both adimant the tile is not purous but cannot explained while the tile has gone the way it has.

The only way forward was to have the floor professionally cleaned by a machine operated cleaner. This was done about 5 weeks ago. The manager from the shop contributed £150 towards the £450 costs. I can confirm that every inch of my tiles came up beatifully and all the dirt was removed.

We then overgrouted the whole floor in jasmine grout as recommended by the tile shop. As I have a letter stating that in his opinion once the floor was cleaned and overgrouted, the problem should be rectified.

I'm sorry to say that after the same 5 days dirt has started rebuilding on the tile, so much so that the tile has totally dulled down, exactly what you expect from a tile that has layers of dirt on it. So much so that when you wash the floor, you are left with dirty streak marks.

The jasmin grout lines look awful too, they are extremely grubby. It looks like my floor has been down for many many years.

I've got the same manager and rep coming back to inspect again on Tuesday morning. He has already said on the phone that in his opinion there is clearly nothing wrong with the tile and that they are only come round because I've asked them too. I've asked for an explanation as to why my tile is reacting in such a way and they can't give me a conclusive answer, other than there is nothing wrong with the tile. How can they be so bloddy ignorant especially when I lay a fresh tile on floor and they can clearly see the difference. I have only been cleaning the floor in the products they suggested Lifthofin deep clean. The floor was sealed exactly as was recommended after it was cleaned and grouted.

I did go the legal route with my home insurance legal department but they hit a hurdle as they couldn't prove the tile was faulty as it needed to be taken to a lab which was outside my limit.

Please does anyone have any advice/suggestions or even come across anything similar.

The tile shop have even said they are prepared for me to take legal action. How can they be so confident. Am I fighting a losing battle. Is there no protection for the consumer, what about consumer rights?

I very much look forward to hearing your comments.

[Stewart]

Do you have the name of the tile and a few pictures of the finished floor, with the spare tile on top for comparison.


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[whitebeam]

Are they glazed, any pics might help

[Phil Hobson]

Hi, I can't say I have come across this tile, or this problem before. If by over grouting they mean filling the holes with grout as you would do with travertine, then the grout must be sealed as well as the tile. Do you have pictures? please.

[Phil Hobson]

Sorry my slow typing, post overlap

[happytoddy]

Yes everything was sealed after grouting. They said by grouting over all the holes would alimate the dulling of the tiles. I knew it wouldn't make a difference as dirt is adhering to the whole tile, not just in the holes.

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[happytoddy]

Sorry the tile is called Jerboa, I bought the Shell colour. I searched the net and can't find anything on the tile. Those pictures are what the floor looked at its worst and there is also a picture of when it was being cleaned.

[cheyjey]

I have the same tile and the same problem! Can you please tell me what type of professional cleaning machine they used to clean your tile? Which of those pictures is of the tile after it was cleaned?

I was also considering the same process you did of grouting the holes and then sealing. I did a very small area as a test, and although it looks better, I am sure that the crevices will still get dirty.

[andy allen]

are the tiles glazed porcelain, if so then the dirt will not penatrate in to the tile, however certain tiles will collect dirt due to the make up of the tile, pit hole, ridges ect........i did a job last month for a customer, riped up and replaced her floor, nothing wrong with the tiling just the fact she could never keep the floor clean due to the ridges on the tiles.

[widler]

unfortunately no matter what you will do to those tiles or grout,they will collect dirt,jasmin grout or any grout of a light colour will dull over time,be it a few weeks or months, i always explain this to customers who want light grout on quite heavy traffic areas,and kitchens will be dirty areas
the tiles don't look polished and look quite porous,were they the same from the back? was the adhesive gray?this could add to the slight discolour.

[garythetiler]

my local tile shop sell this tile and call it molise it comes in polished and matt finish the polished ones have a layer of plastic on them which is a bugger to remove and clean off but dont hold the dirt as much as the matt finished ones the matt finished ones we always seal before fitting with impregnator and we fill the holes with grout and seal again with inpregnator to finish ,they are a difficult tile to keep clean especially im a high traffic area it will help alot if you wear non marking foot wear as some shoes scuff these tiles are leave them grubby hope this helps

[cheyjey]

The tiles are glazed, not matte. They are the ones that come with the layer of plastic on them.

What is impregnator? Maybe I could grout the pits, seal and then use that.

[bunnycd]

I have the same problem with black marks in the pitted holes of my natural stone flooring, anyone got any suggestions on how to get this out?

[Dave]

What stone is it.?

and any pics please.?