Yellowing Grout is Acceptable?

[Man With Angry Wife]

My wife and and I moved into our newly built home in December 2004. As people suggested, we immediately sealed our grout with a TileLab product. After sealing the grout, and as time went on, we noticed that the grout had started turning yellow.

Obviously, this was quite upsetting (especially for my wife). We contacted the manufacturers of the product, and they popped by to sample our grout and sealer.

We never heard back.

Later we hired a chap, who came in a cleaned the grout (with bleach!!!!), and resealed everything.

The grout has turned yellow again, and it appears to be from the steam generated from the shower (as it is more apparent in the grout as the steam rises up the walls).

The guest bathroom was always OK as it hadn't been used. It never was sealed until the chap came by to do so. We had a guest stay the night, and showered the following day, and you can now see the yellow showing up. in the grout.

Question#1: What causes the grout to discolor to yellow? (Steam?)
Question#2: Should this be expected from a new and reputable builder?
Question#3: Am I or the builder responsible for this?
Question#4: Are there any 'Tile/Grout-Guru's' out there that can help me out?

My wife is looking at me with daggers right now...

Your time and knowledge is appreciated.

 

[kozzymodo]

I was told that Yellowing grout is caused by bleach!

There will be bleach in many bathroom cleaners so use sparingly.

My tiler mate recommends washing up liquid to clean tiles - it works great with ceramic plates!