Ceramic floor tile grout cleaning problem

[annemarigold]

We moved into our villa in Spain end July 2004. We have the whole house (about 225 sq m) tiled in pale beige ceramic tiles. As they were "standard" I would guess they aren't top quality. We were told they would not be grouted as they butt them up. However there is some sort of \\\"grout\\\" material between each tile varying from almost zero to about 5mm. The material is very porous and rough and has never really been clean as builders were tramping mud through although it is very pale in some uncontaminated places. The garden (as you can imagine) is a building site full of rubble and mud. The mud is very sticky and rust red colour. We also have a dog and 2 cats!! This means that the \\\"grout\\\" varies from pale cream to rust depending on boots and paws. I spend all my time trying to clean the tiles and have bought a Lavor Sprinter electric washer/dryer which I was told would do the job. However although it cleans better than anything else it barely touches the \\\"grout\\\". The only thing that works is \\\"Astonish\\\" and a toothbrush. We will be visiting the UK soon and I would like to buy some products to deal with this problem even if it means re-grouting the whole lot. The tiles are matt but clean easily. I wouldn\\\'t want to varnish them or anything. What I want is to have a smooth white/cream grout, perhaps sealed but which comes up clean when I use the machine or a mop. In some places the \\\"grout\\\" has come out, in others it\\\'s depressed, some places it\\\'s flush with the surface and in still others has overflowed over the tiles. Doesn\\\'t sound good hay?! I would be extremely grateful if anyone could recommend a way ahead and some products that I could buy when in the UK soon. many thanks, Anne

 

[Autonomous]

Hmmm. Sounds like you have a real problem there.

The builders probably did intend to butt each tile together but some combination of variations in actual tile size, poor workmanship or just the scale of the floor area (butt jointing sometimes gets progressively 'gappy' the larger the continuous area) has probably led to the cement-based tile adhesive being squeezing up into the gaps, forming a very poor 'grout'.

I would suggest :

Dealing with the source of the contamination first - i.e. sort out the building site of a garden.
Using a grout rake to remove as much as possible of what's between the tiles.
Targeted grouting with a high quality cement based grout e.g. BAL products - see their website.
Sealing with a tile/grout sealant.

You'll have to be very careful applying the grout if you have matt tiles - see product literature.

In general, light coloured floor grouts are always trouble. That's why it's hard to buy any colour except grey! Grout sealers are not perfect products and you will have to clean/ reapply at some point in the future.

Any thoughts about getting the tilers back and pointing out that it may not have been their best ever work....?

 

[annemarigold]

Many thanks for very helpful reply. We'll progressivley do as you say - looks like a lot of work ahead! As for contacting tilers - thay are attched to the builders and already it's taken 6 months to sort some problems! All stuff does eventually get done but good old manana intervenes not to mention frequent public holidays. This problem has crept up on us over the winter and we haven't mentioned it to builders yetyet. We might wait until they move our emergency electric water heater/tank which at the moment is way over the far side of our house tucked under 2 levels of "underbuild" so we have to have caving gear to reach it! Oh the joys of buying abroad! Still we have a gorgeous house so mustn't grumble and the road outside was tarmaced yesterday. We get torrential rains when it does infrequently rain so the new road will be great. Thanks again for the advice, Anne