White grout dries brown after a few hours - Tile Advice

[Chris B]

Thanks Tom, I really appreciate your checking this out for me. I think I'm going to find a local tiler and get it done properly, not sure I trust myself with the multi tool, I'll end up cutting through the tiles lol!

Final question. I know the cracked grout is going to let water through, but would those cracks allow enough through to cause this problem? There's no direct water jet onto that wall, it's only going to get sprayed (although we do admittedly have a 4 bar pump pushing the water upstairs). I'd have thought that any water would drop vertically but is it possible there could be a leak from behind the hand held shower outlet that's causing water to run down a pipe behind the affected area? Or is that too far fetched?

 

[One Day]

Water will indeed "suck" in through any tiny cracks. Capillary action!
Infact, people forget that grout (unless epoxy) isn't waterproof but will soak water up and pass it through to the background.

Worth checking for leaks - maybe cut out the wall behind?

 

[Tile Shop]

Are you 100% sure there is no leak coming from the shower outlet?

To me it looks like water has jetted out at a downward left angle from the outlet and trickled down the grout lines. Only asking because similar marks I have seen like that in the past in almost the same position have turned out to be rust..... maybe check the internals of the shower outlet to make sure there's no corrosion of some kind and try a rust cleaner (if you don't want to spend anything, you could try white vinegar) to remove the stain?

Worth a go before ripping the lot out. I could be completely wrong but just saying what I see.

 

[Chris B]

Once again, thanks everyone. I’ll have a look at the internals first and try some vinegar but I think we’ll need to sort the cracks too.

It’s just strange how the staining disappears when wet, that doesn’t feel like rust or water stain to me. I’ll report back!

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Is there silicone around the cover plate for that shower head outlet. If not the water from the head above could be running down behind it.

 

[Chris B]

I don’t think there’s silicone around the cover but it’s not caused any problems for 8 years so I’d have thought it unlikely that it would start now. But definitely another thing to rule out.....

 

[GAZ5518]

I'd at this stage carefully rake out the stained area and hairline cracked areas... Re-grout in a good flexi grout.. Fingers crossed .. May be the ticket.. Worth a try!...but most certainly cracks due to movement/ delamination and staining more than likely from behind ( Impo)...