Re: Problems with grout not drying on shower floor expert advice neede
Hi Angela,
Looks like he has siliconed around the floor drain. That's a bad idea as water that's seeped into the grout cannot work it's way past the Silicon and into the drain from the sides (will cause the Silicon to develop mould. You said in that area, it didn't lighten, even after 2 weeks without use...). Also, Silicon must never come into contact with TileSafe. You're right too, you cannot use epoxy grout with TileSafe (but you can with Impey's newer WaterGuard tanking system).
As for the sporadic discolouration of the grout in the other areas, water is getting in (which it will, that's normal), but it's not drying out evenly (that's life, water does what it wants, not what we might want it to do. Capillary action means water will go wherever it wants, and you might get extra water being drawn to an area from another area, and sitting there and taking longer to dry out). You've confirmed that it pretty much all dried out once you left it for two weeks. If there are lots of people in your household and no one wipes the water down or dries the floor with a towel after showering, then it's highly likely that it never gets a chance to properly dry out.
Wiping down with a squeegee, and drying off with a towel is a good way to speed up the drying process (might sound odd, but give it a try. I do that at home, on granite, and the grout returns to normal colour within an hour or so. If I don't wipe down, then it can be darker for half a day, and cause the stone itself to go darker, in lines, about 1cm either side of the grout lines).
Please don't rip your entire floor out, it's really not necessary, and you'll probably have the same thing second time round, unless you went with epoxy.
