Make life easy, search the forum.

Discuss New shower, horrible floor grout. Help please in the Tanking and Wetrooms Forum area at TilersForums. USA and UK Tiling Forum

Reaction score
1
Please checkout the following advertisement.
Hi all,
We had a new wetroom put in a few months ago. The tiler was recommended to us but anothr friend also used him recently and his work was very substandard and I can no longer get hold of him.
The shower floor grout went dark as soon as it got wet (presumably normal) but it quickly deteriorated. It now looks years old, even though it is actually a few months.
We have tried various cleaning products without success so we are hoping somebody can suggest what is causing it and what we should do in both the short and long term. I didn't wish to scrub too hard in case I do more harm than good.
The tiles were laid on a 900 x 1500 kudos floor4ma system.

I have attached photos of the floor including one area which rarely gets wet for comparison.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

IMG_20200115_222252.jpg IMG_20200115_222400.jpg IMG_20200115_222336.jpg IMG_20200115_222200.jpg IMG_20200115_222156.jpg IMG_20200115_222248.jpg
 

Dave

TF
Staff member
Arms
Esteemed
Reaction score
389,871
What have you tried to clean with so far ?
Yes the grout will darken with wetting and shower gels/soap etc will discolour the grout if left to sit on the surface.
The joints should be rinsed of suds after showering, i cant see how your tiler is to blame for your cleaning regime.
Try using a grout cleaner and if that cleans the joints , leave to dry and then use a grout sealer to aid in your maintenance of the floor.
 
OP
S
Reaction score
1
What have you tried to clean with so far ?
Yes the grout will darken with wetting and shower gels/soap etc will discolour the grout if left to sit on the surface.
The joints should be rinsed of suds after showering, i cant see how your tiler is to blame for your cleaning regime.
Try using a grout cleaner and if that cleans the joints , leave to dry and then use a grout sealer to aid in your maintenance of the floor.
Thanks for replying.
I will check with the wife which products she has used so far, but I thought she had used a standard grout cleaner.
To clarify, I was just advising that I couldn't get hold of the tiler to confirm which grout formula he used or to get advice on what to clean it with. We didn't want to do anything which may cause more harm than good.
Ps, the shower is always run for a decent duration after suds are used so there shouldn't be any residue besides water.
[automerge]1579163683[/automerge]
We were also confused because our previous shower lasted years and never went anything like this despite a similar cleaning regime.
 
Last edited:
J

J Sid

If you think there is no cracks In the grout to let water in then it just looks like a good clean as Dave says
 
Reaction score
36
looks like limestone build up are you ina hard water area. dose your kettle have scum in the base this is due to limestone in the water. have you tried using a limestone remover?
 
OP
S
Reaction score
1
looks like limestone build up are you ina hard water area. dose your kettle have scum in the base this is due to limestone in the water. have you tried using a limestone remover?
Thanks Ray.

We are in hard water area though it doesn't seem as off the scale as other places, 120 Total(mg/l Ca). Our quick cup kettle is ruined and the shower heads clog up regularly.

I will purchase the limescale remover too and see if that the root cause. (We were living elsewhere when we didn't have shower issues so perhaps it is caused by the water).
 
Reaction score
26
I reckon also that its a mix of scale and possible shower gel or soap residue.
I tiled a shower recently and then went back to fit a tile morror some 3weeks later and the light grey grout was orange!! I looked at the shower product on the shelf within the shower area and my customer uses Orange Source shower gel. Totally stained the light grey grout but really they just needed to run the shower flex over it for a few seconds to rinse down before leaving the shower.
 

Reply to New shower, horrible floor grout. Help please in the Tanking and Wetrooms Forum area at TilersForums.com

Or checkout our tile training advice or the Tile Standards

This website is hosted and managed by www.untoldmedia.co.uk. Creating content since 2001.
Please visit our sponsor websites, they keep the forum free to use!

New Tiling Questions

UK Tiling Forum Stats

Threads
66,600
Messages
866,701
Members
9,509
Latest member
flooringdemand
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock