Grout issue - advice needed

[Paul Ayling]

Hi all,

The grout in the shower and bathroom is light grey and darkens when wet. If scrubbed the colour runs slightly and I am unsure if this is the grout coming out.

The bathroom was remodelled about 5/6 years ago by the previous owners. All of the tiles seem secure and don't seem to be coming away from the wall.

We use the shower everyday and I just want to be sure that this is not an issue or whether or not it is causing damage to the wall behind.

Pictures below. One when dry and others when wet after scrubbing lightly.

Thanks

 

[opps]

Have you tried to clean the grout, using grout cleaner or even bleach?

Edit, if you scrub it with a webrax pad, it will wear it down very slightly, resulting in what you currently see. It is normal for grey grout to become darker when wet.

If you had epoxy grout, it would not change colour when wet but it is more expensive and difficult to work with.

KERAPOXY CQ

Two-component epoxy grout, easy to apply and excellent cleanability, with a bacteriostatic agent and BioBlock ® technology, ideal for grouting ceramic tiles and mosaics. Can also be used as an adhesive. TECHNICAL DATA: Pot life of mix: 45 minutes. Set to light foot traffic: approx. 24 hours. Ready…

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[Paul Ayling]

Hiya, that's just with water and a bristle scrubbing brush.

I did use a black mould cleaner previously just for the odd tiny spot and I think that may have been too harsh a cleaner.

Unsure what grout has been used as it was the previous owners who did it. it's been like this for 5 years, I'm hoping I am worrying over nothing.

 

[opps]

Hiya, that's just with water and a bristle scrubbing brush.

I did use a black mould cleaner previously just for the odd tiny spot and I think that may have been too harsh a cleaner.

Unsure what grout has been used as it was the previous owners who did it. it's been like this for 5 years, I'm hoping I am worrying over nothing.

The grout looks like a regular cement based grout. I really don't think that you have anything to worry about (based on what I can see).

 

[Paul Ayling]

Yeah I understand what you're saying. It's just it's in the shower and gets wet everyday. I guess an epoxy grout would have been more appropriate. Just don't want it to be causing damage

 

[opps]

Yeah I understand what you're saying. It's just it's in the shower and gets wet everyday. I guess an epoxy grout would have been more appropriate. Just don't want it to be causing damage

Cement based grout is waterproof. Being dark, you will be less likely to notice the orange bacteria that often grows on tile room grout (which can be washed away with bleach/etc.

I have only worked with epoxy grouts a few times. I would only go to the trouble of using them on (high traffic) floors and kitchen tiles subject to cooking/grease splatter.

Supply and labour for epoxy grout is wayyyy more expensive than the cement based stuff.

My advice would be to leave things as they are and ignore the "when wet" colour change.

 

[Eccles]

In the last three houses of my own that I worked on, I treated the grout with a special spray on sealer which will avoid most grout problems in my experience. There are quite a few on the market these days but I still believe "LTP" to be the best even if it is a little expensive. Recently had the chance to have a look at one job I did with LTP around 12 years ago and it is still perfect.