BAL Uneven Grout colour using BAL - Tile Advice

[Mark Parmley]

I've just tiled my bathroom and started grouting tonight with Bal micromax gunmetal. The grouts been down approx. 4 hours and looks to be drying very patchy colour wise. Most of it looks to be drying fairly light, while some smaller areas are a totally different shade. Granted, I appreciate it won't have dried properly yet but I'm worried that I've ballsed it up.

Admittedly, I wasn't mixing consistently by weighing and measuring. I was just mixing batches till it looked and felt the right consistency. I also suspect when sponging down, the sponge was probably too wet...

Could I have sabotaged myself by doing these things? And if so, what are the possible ways to fix?

 

[Dougs Third Go]

I think you've probably answered your own question, inconsistent mixes and too much water on your sponge will probably lead to shade variation. Give it a couple of days though and see how it dries.

 

[Albert]

I had a similar problem with ball i got the rep out
and was told i had over washed the floor. You could try a grout pen.

 

[Dumbo]

Easily done especially working with textured porcelain . They should design grout not to do this .

 

[Mark Parmley]

Thanks for the replies

Best way of removing it and starting again??

 

[Flintstone]

There is no easy way to remove. Perhaps try something like Universeal grout rescue.
I have a job to grout with that exact same bal gunmetal grout next week so I’ll see how that goes.

 

[craig89]

most of these grout/adhesive problems go something like this;
"Hey tiler, what you need for your tiling job is this new all singing all dancing product that's the best thing since sliced bread!"
Tiler finishes job using new product and has a problem with adh/grout
so calls tech rep for assistance.......Tech rep turns up and says "Sorry Tiler, but you've over washed/mixed/emulsified/scrubbed blah blah blah.....It's not our product, it's YOU."

 

[Blunt Tool]

The BAL tech rep that comes up to Aberdeen from the central belt is a cool guy and knows his stuff.

 

[CJ]

Lot of problems with BAL micromax grouts.......if your not used to them.

U need to mix enough to do a whole area at 1 hit........then don’t use a soaking wet sponge.

Saying that.......a lot of the cheap Matt look tiles don’t help much either.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

I wasn’t overly impressed with the Bal gunmetal on the hexagonal job recently posted! It literally took twice as long to do then other brands.

 

[Jon84]

Hi all, just came across this thread as I've had the exact same issue with gunmetal grout on 2 jobs in the last month. I have attached some pictures.

I use the coloured grout from bal all the time and I've not once had this problem until recently.
I even went into my local topps where I got the grout yesterday and they had done a display the day before which had the exact same issue!
Is it really our fault or are bal just blaming us for dodgy batches of grout??

The particular tiles in this photo were cheap Matt porcelain from wickes which were terrible, all varied in size by 1-2mm, a pain when you're using 2mm spacers!

 

[jobdone]

I use bal gun metal a lot. Never had a problem with it. You do need to let it set before first wash.
If it does not dry then try mapai fuga fresca in Manhattan to colour over

 

[Wishiwasatoptiler]

Used bal gun metal last week on this porcelain job. No issues. Did mix the mix in the bag a bit then mixed whole bag. Always do and stuck to the water ratio.