Strange things happening with grouting

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29 Jan 2008
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Hi folks,
hope that no-one mind me picking their brains. We had our bathroom tiled last year with medium sized mosaic tiles. Quite soon after the work was finished, I noticed the sealant around the shower outflow was cracking and the grouting underneath going dark (water pressure and mould, I reckoned). After many phone calls to and no-shows by the plumber reponsible for the work, I removed the sealant, let it dry out, resealed, removed the grout and regrouted. Twice in fact. Both times the new grout has looked fine until we use the shower and then it begins to discolour yellow/brown. It's not mould, but there's definitely something going on that I don't understand.
Anyone have any ideas? I should mention that the plumbing is behind the wall, and was not replaced or altered during the bathroom installation.
thanks in advance
J
 
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Sorry, can't upload at the moment. Think surface water stains (if you scratch the top layer, the grout underneath is white). I should mention that I used powered waterproof recommended-for-mosaics-and-showers grout.
Thanks
 
Ah I'm with you now. That's staining by soap/shampoo. You need to give it a damn good scrubbing with something like Cif bathroom. This is why I recommend not using mosiacs in shower areas - the more grout you have the more you have to clean.
 
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That doesn't really fit, I'm afraid. When I've regrouted, it's looked absolutely fine until the second it comes into contact with water, then it discolours immediately. It looks a bit better when it dries out between showers, but it still very unsightly very quickly.
I take your point about mosaics in showers. Our plumber recommended them as the walls are quite wonky.
Thanks.
 
Ok, you didn't mention that it was happening that fast. Give the tiles a wipe over with a white tissue that's wetted - any stain visible on the tissue?

If your walls were wonky, you should have squared them up - wouldn't have cost much.
 
Sorry, not sure what you mean about the white tissue? I just did it, and no staining, but not really sure what I'm looking for.
Thanks
 
That's a thought, but no, the tiles are white. And it's only the area of new grouting affected.
Thanks for your time. I really do feel at a loss. It's beyond my amateur DIY skills, which is why I paid someone to do a professional job in the first place........
 
Well I'd like to say it's been fun, but it's been like drawing teeth. :LOL:
When you get a minute, try and post a pick - unless this is just a wind up.
 
Of course it's not a wind up! How sad would I have to be to be sitting here all evening making up imaginary tiling problems! I'm not able to upload at the moment, as I said earlier.
 
:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
You'd be surprised who we get on here. If you don't believe me, have a read of a few posts in the general discussion section - that's full of loonies. :LOL:
 

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