Tile discolouration

[fazza]

Hi there,

We had our bathroom refitted in February and yesterday the Mrs noticed a tile that is discoloured from the standard off white to a greyish colour in our shower. The tile is just below the shower bar, however the tiles that the shower are situated on aren't affected and it's only the one tile that has this colour. The grout around it is all intact and looks to be sound.

The tiles we have are: White Satin Ceramic Wall Tile - Wall Tiles - Tiles -Tiles & Floors - Wickes

Immediate thought was that there must be a leak behind the tiles so I've called the plumber back and he has taken off the shower bar and investigated but all seems dry behind. He's gone off to a local tile shop to see whether they have experience of this but his guess was that the tile was a poor one from the pack and the glaze has gone off it, does this sound possible?

Anyone any experience of this? Has the plumber written off leak too quickly?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[enduro]

The tile will need to be removed and replaced then you can see if any water has got behind the tile. What colour was the adhesive used to fix them?

[Gall.B]

Take it the grout has not discoloured? Do you have spares left over i.e. same batch number? What ever happens its going to need replacing.

[Dave]

Soak a spare tile in water and then see if it goes the same colour as this affected one.. if it does then it is water ingression/leak..

[fazza]

Thanks for replies.. so my plumber took spare tile in to tile store and they said it must be some kind of water getting to the back of the tile... coming to take tile off on Friday, fingers crossed nothing too bad!

[Gall.B]

Good luck, plumber sound like a decent bloke.

[Dave]

Thought it would be wetting of the tile biscuit

[fazza]

Story continues, A visit to another tile shop who said it must be the glaze as there's no way water would be penetrating the 12mm Hardie backer board and for us not to know about it elsewhere. Plumber has whipped off the tile and is bone dry behind... do I have any come back on Wickes? I presume the glaze has somehow not worked in the manufacturing process on this odd tile and for the hassle and cost of plumbers time I feel should be entitled to some compensation...?

[Dave]

Does the said tile look any different to the rest of the field tiles..?.. for it to change colour after installation then it must be wetting of the biscuit and this can just be through ingression through the joints and not a leak behind.. but then in theory it would effect more than one tile.. or is it more than one tile..?

[jay]

sometimes with cheaper tiles this does happen. i think its a process missed in the manufacturing process and as Dave has said moisture seeps in at the joint. mainly see it when the tile is cut around the bottom of the shower

any pics might help

[Billy Hunt]

Yeah,I had this before with some cheaper tiles in a shower area,2 or 3 tiles changed colour when wet,they had the deep red biscuit and by all accounts are common with the cheaper tile like Jay said.
I told my customer not to use shower for a few days and the tiles changed back to there rightfull colour,don't think there is anything to worry about as long as it's been tanked the water will pass back through the grout and not through untaped,untanked areas.