Mapei Ultracolour Plus

[Christo1]

Hello there.
I've been having some problems with grouting my bathroom using mapei ultracolour plus in white. I have whiteish tiles with a row of blue in the corners. There is no problem on the blue rows but the finish colour on the areas of white I have done is not consistent at all. There are areas of up to 400mm of the joints are a dirty browny-grey. I have been mixing small batches and have heard that this can lead to colour variation but the difference in colour seems too significant to be this, also there is a variation in areas done with the same mix. Have any of you got any advice on how t put it right and how to avoid this happening again on the rest of the bathroom.

Thanks

Chris :8:no reson for the smiley apart from I like it

 

[kilty55]

hi mate,what colour was the adhesive you used on the job and were the grout lines cleaned out before grouting?

also recently there has been a thread on mapei white grout with a few people having issues with colour including myself as it seems to dry dirty/off white.

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Christo

This has affected me too. I did my bathroom before Christmas with white tiles and white grout. The mapei ultracolour white is not a pure brilliant white like other manufacturers produce. My bathroom now has patchy white/grey/beige grout all over.

I even got a Mapei rep out to have a look at it. it's swings and roundabouts. Mapei say you have to mix it correctly to get all the pigments to blend properly but if you're a DIYer like me, how on earth would you know whether you've mixed it correctly other than by following the instructions :mad2:

I tried the keracolour in my en-suite when I retiled that in January and although it's fairly white in areas there are some spots that I'm not happy with.

When I complained to Mapei before Christmas, they sent me a bottle of their Fuga Fresca. I haven't tried it yet but when I do, I'll post a thread on here to let everyone know how I got on.

Unfortunately the Mapei white grout is like marmite - you either love it (cos you've had no problems with it) or hate it (cos it doesn't look white)

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has had this problem

 

[mikethetile]

I found with the white you have to be carefull on the mixing, too much water and not enough whisking brought it up a dirty grey colour

not impressed, had to regrout with bal

ive had no problems with the other colours though and it is a nice grout to use

 

[jimbob]

Did you clean out your bucket thoroughly after each batch??

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Did you clean out your bucket thoroughly after each batch??

Jimbob, I used my best cake mixing bowls for mixing the grout for both the bathroom and en-suite :lol:

But yes you're right, a nice clean bucket will help, as will nice clean grout lines and nice clean tiles

The choices you have Christo are to either a) regrout with a different grout or b) try the Fuga Fresca in white to see if that colours it up better.

 

[stevee]

i had it again yesterday, im stickin with granfix now when using white

 

[Christo1]

Thank you all for your responses. The bucket i used was clean. The adhesive was water resistant mapei redymixed stuff in white, I did clean the joints out (with the bathroom cloth and plenty of water) It sounds to me this stuff was not intended for diy'ers. I deffinitely mixed it well enough, if anything I may have used a little too much water in places, as towards the end of the mix it was thinning due to the water from sponging off. I spoke to the Mapei rep who was no use, only repeating the mixing instructions and refusing to test the bag as he would not accept the product was at fault!

 

[Christo1]

Also i used ultracolour in grey for the floor with no prodlems. Next step is goback to the shop, kick off and hopefully they'll give me some Fuga Fresca. Does anyone know if it's any good?

 

[trevortine]

To me the problem lies in the mixing bud, 5kg of mapei needs a litre of water, mix, leave 2 to 3 mins and mix again. This will give a good open time and if grout starts to go off in bucket simply whisk again breifly. If you mixed in batches then you are never gonna get same consistency. Did you leave it long enough to go off in the joints?

 

[macten]

To me the problem lies with Mapei ultracolour white grout. Used to be a brilliant white a year ago now it mixes like a mushroom grey colour. I use UC for all my jobs and have enough experience to mix by eye and all their other colours are great and it's a lovely grout to use.
When I had a problem with the white I mixed some up back at home with scales and a measuring jug, brand new bucket and clean bucket trowel. Let it sit for 3 mins whilst the polymers 'wetted out' and remixed.
At no point did the mixture look white - and sure enough it dried the same crappy colour.
Will continue to use UC grout because I think it's the best but I will never touch their so called white again.

 

[DHTiling]

In the instructions you will need between 1.1 and 1.3 ltrs of water to a 5kg bag..And a mixer is required and not by hand..

For all other futures users of mapei grouts then read this>>> Mapei ultra colour plus ...how to use.

 

[mikethetile]

In the instructions you will need between 1.1 and 1.3 ltrs of water to a 5kg bag..And a mixer is required and not by hand..

For all other futures users of mapei grouts then read this>>> Mapei ultra colour plus ...how to use.

I found this and rang mapei, after regrouting in bal, and they told me where I had gone wrong

I mix grout to the consistancy I like you cant do that with mapei you have to measure with a measuring jug

I tried this at home and it came up white

mapei sell a measuring jug with it all marked on but I use a cheap kitchen one

 

[trevortine]

I found this and rang mapei, after regrouting in bal, and they told me where I had gone wrong

I mix grout to the consistancy I like you cant do that with mapei you have to measure with a measuring jug

I tried this at home and it came up white

mapei sell a measuring jug with it all marked on but I use a cheap kitchen one

Yup, tells you on the back of the bag!

 

[kaharrison9]

Dilema!
Have used Ultra Colour many times though not white and found it great.
Have a large white bathroom to grout on Saturday using white ultra colour grout which i've bought.
Do i take the risk?
I mix there grouts exact so will be peeved in the least if have any problems after reading folks experiences.
Doing a white grout i expect it to be white

 

[kilty55]

let us know how you get on if you choose to use it mate,i mixed it to the tee and still found it off white

 

[kaharrison9]

Not worth risk K55.
Having had trouble a while ago with Bals colour range-limestone,brown,charcoal and switching to U/C and it's been superb.
Don't fancy going down the route of chancing this saturday with Mapei white and risking 10 days work.
Would be worth input from Mapei having read the earlier threads

 

[kilty55]

fair doos mate,most of the grouts i use are mapei but i dont use white anymore for the reasons you just said i dont want to re do a bathroom due to grout,,i use pci or bal white now

 

[kaharrison9]

The only colour i had no trouble with Bal was there white i think it was the microflex though if i remember it seemed to dry quick on the tile face.
Is a true white though.
Not used PCI

 

[Daz]

I've never had an issue with Mapei U/C white or Ardex FS brill white, for that matter. I have to confess that I usually mix by eye as I feel confident in what consistency needs to be achieved. I guess I've just been lucky and will pay much more attention to mixing ratios in the future.

 

[macten]

I have 3kg of the stuff left. I challenge anyone to mix it and get it coming out brilliant white. Maybe I have a bad batch - but if that's the case their must be many bad batches out there because I know 6 tilers personally who won't touch it anymore and many more people on the forums I have never met.
Don't like to have a pop at Mapei because I truly am a fan and think their products, especially their UC grout is the best out there.

kaharrison9 - not worth the risk imo

 

[Scott]

I used Mapei UC a couple of times now and hated it! Wont use it anymore, shame really as the 111 grey is a really nice colour. Each to their own i guess

 

[macten]

I used Mapei UC a couple of times now and hated it! Wont use it anymore, shame really as the 111 grey is a really nice colour. Each to their own i guess

Understand where you're coming from but if you persevere with it you can get such a lovely finish with this stuff compared to other grouts that look grainy/sandy.

 

[DHTiling]

The thinner the grout joint that the white grout is recommended for the whiter it will be..

mapei ultra colour plus is a wide joint grout and to have this ability the grout has a courser grain of sand and on white grouts this is why you see the dull white finish, it is the sand.. Bal micro colour wide joint is the same in white,coz i just done a floor in it..

Mapei do other ranges of grout that you can use for white , the keracolour FF range is white as it is a finer grain for narrow joints..

So grouts that are designed just for walls will have a finer grain and in white the will be brighter and multi wall and floor for wide joints will not be as they are heavier grain and don't dry as bright.

So worth thinking about when selecting your grouts....different grouts for different purposes..

 

[macten]

Does state 2 -20mm on the package though Dave which is another reason I use it.
Like I've said I must have use about 9 of their colours now with grout joints from 2-8mm and the only one that I have a problem with is their white - though a year or so ago I never had a problem with it.

 

[DHTiling]

I know it says 2 mm but it also says 20mm..???... it is just the whites as that is the lightest colour and the sand shows more.

Now a grout that only does up to 5mm say.. is gunna be a whiter grout down to the sand used... think about it..

 

[Scott]

I didnt like the sand in it, found it too gritty and almost felt like it was scratching the tiles. Grey was the only one i got on ok with, jasmine was abismal!

 

[macten]

The grout stick samples I have are not brilliant white for the reasons you mention above which I accept - but they were definitely many shades lighter than what was achieved on my blighted grout job - I even took photos so still not an explanation as to what is going on.

 

[kaharrison9]

Bathroom finished and no headache!!
Used Bal microflex and got a great result.No issue with whiteness,true consistancy,nice feel to it.
Apart from white grout did use Mapei Kerraflex Maxi,Kerraquick and ultracolour black.
Great result again with the black and have to say once had a terrible time with Bal's black!
Out of interest has anybody used the Kerracolour FF white as i intially was going to give this a try as i have a bag but couldn't find anybody who stocked it as i need 3.
Cheers

 

[White Room]

I used it had no problems and good grout to use