Patchy uneven grout?

[Rnm6262]

Hi,

Can anyone help please? Just grouted our kitchen floor with No Nonsense grout from Screwfix in the colour cement grey. But it’s dried all patchy, some areas a lot lighter than others.

The first 2 pictures are when it was first put down, so all even and not patchy at all, and the last 2 pictures are when it’s dried.

What’s the maximum time you would give for it to dry to see if the colour evens out? What could have caused this? And if it doesn’t dry all even, how would you sort it? Grout magic?

Thanks.

 

[Dave]

Looks like it’s been over wet when washing off. Leaves polymer residues. Hence the white effect.
Try scrubbing the effected areas with a scotch pad.

 

[Rnm6262]

Thanks for your response.

So does it look like the darker grey bits are what it’s supposed to dry to and to look like, and the lighter bits are the polymer residue your talking about?

 

[Rnm6262]

Also what’s the maximum time you’d give it to dry?

 

[Dave]

Thanks for your response.

So does it look like the darker grey bits are what it’s supposed to dry to and to look like, and the lighter bits are the polymer residue your talking about?

Yes. 👍

 

[Dave]

Also what’s the maximum time you’d give it to dry?

24hrs should suffice

 

[Rnm6262]

Thanks so much for your help and responses. Appreciate it 👍🏻 We’re going to get it all out and regrout it all again. Any tips to stop it from happening again?
Based on doing some research, we think it was either washed down too soon, or too much water was used in clean up. As you can see, we’re new to all this! Really want to get it right this time as we have a baby due in a few weeks so we want the house looking right and not like a building site basically lol. Sorry for all these questions! After mixing the grout in the bucket do you leave it to set at all for 5 minutes before you start using it? Thank you.

 

[Dave]

Mix the grout as ratio on the bag. Then leave to slake for a few mins. Then re-mix. This allows the polymers to mix in better. Apply the grout and leave to set up in the joints ( a quick drying grout helps ). Then without soaking the joints, clean excess off and leave to dry further before cleaning down again. The key is too not leave water sitting in the joints.

 

[Rnm6262]

We tested a very small area to see what it turned out like. We mixed the grout then left it to slake for 5 mins then mixed again. Then followed what you’ve said and it’s turned out like this again. We made sure the sponge was well ringed out as well so there wasn’t too much water. Could it be haze that’s settled in to the joints? There’s quite a lot of haze on the tiles which is making me think it’s that. In your professional opinion, what does it look like to you? When we went to bed it was fine, even and all one colour. Then woke up this morning to it like this 😟 it’s so frustrating.

 

[Rnm6262]

What’s weird is we’ve just wiped over with a dry towel, and the dark bits are turning a light grey? It’s definitely dried and set as well. Any ideas?

 

[Dave]

What’s weird is we’ve just wiped over with a dry towel, and the dark bits are turning a light grey? It’s definitely dried and set as well. Any ideas?

Is the colour of the powder ( grout) the same as the lighter section of grouted part.

 

[Rnm6262]

Is the colour of the powder ( grout) the same as the lighter section of grouted part.

The first picture is the colour of the powder and the second and third picture is the overall look of the tiles/grout. As you can see, there’s quite a lot of haze, could that have settled on top of some of the grout lines causing the unevenness in colour as we haven’t done a 2nd wash yet? Thank you for all your help btw! Really appreciate it.

 

[Dave]

Try washing down till clean , striking with the joints to remove residue. See how that dries.