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Posted by 1969Benz on June 19, 2007, 7:26 pm
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> > > >> Hi all,
>
> > > >> Just bought a house that was "refurbished" by the previous owner. I
> > > >> think she did all the work herself, or with the help of a builder
> > > >> friend. Unfortunately, now it's my responsibility to fix bits of it
> > > >> up that weren't done properly. After a couple of weeks I started to
> > > >> notice that theshowerwall tiles, after a long-ishshower, were
> > > >> showing grey watermarks that started from thegroutline and headed
> > > >> toward the centre of the tile. Tiles are white by the way. The
> > > >> watermarks varied in size from about thumbprint size to around double
> > > >> that.
>
> > > >> I've Googled for hours and been reading this newsgroup for the last 2
> > > >> or 3 hours as well and am still not 100% sure how to proceed. And, I
> > > >> should own up at this point, I've already removed ALL thegrout(not
> > > >> the caulk) in theshowerand done it over once, including using a
> > > >> paint-on sealer on the newgrouta couple of days after thegroutwas
> > > >> installed (?) - which didn't improve the problem!
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> > > >> It IS possible that I screwed up the mixing process for the (unsanded)
> > > >>groutand made it too hard - it ended up sort of like putty and I was
> > > >> told it should have been more like toothpaste.
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> > > >> My question is this: Should I attempt to do the job again, assuming I
> > > >> can do a better job mixing thegrout, or is there a bigger problem?
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> > > >> I'm not a home-handyman by any stretch of the imagination, but as this
> > > >> is my first house I wanted to have a go at fixing a problem myself. I
> > > >> haven't seen any other post about re-tiling or re-groutingthat
> > > >> mentions watermarks (darkened areas) on the tiles themselves, only the
> > > >>groutlines. I think the tiles are reasonably new, within the last 6
> > > >> months or so. The watermarks disappear after a few hours, but I still
> > > >> worry that it can't be good for them to be appearing in the first
> > > >> place.
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> > > > Tile should not absorb water. These must be some wierd tile.
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> > > If the tile is real cheap stuff that the previous owner bought on price
> > > alone, then the tile will absorb water. I have seen some of this junk, it
is
> > > thin, soft and porous, made in some third world country to no standards.
> > > Certainly not hard pressed like the good stuff. Rip it down.
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> > Thanks for the responses guys. I'm in Australia, don't know if that
> > makes any difference to the tile sourcing debate.
>
> > I did try to seal thegroutafter a couple of days, but I recently saw
> > another post about the fact that sealing on a vertical surface doesn't
> > necessarily work that well.
>
> > I assumed that the leakage was occurring along the sides of the tiles,
> > where thegroutand the tiles meet. Even when I laid thegrout, the
> > moisture from the mixture caused this same darkening effect on all the
> > tiles. The tiles are ceramic on top but I seem to remember they
> > looked kind of terracotta-ish along the sides?? Does that sound
> > normal? Also, the same tiles have been used to do the whole room, not
> > just theshowercubicle itself. Actually, the same tiles are used in
> > the main bathroom on every wall, including theshower.
>
> > I just wanted to reiterate that I believe the water is getting into
> > the tile along the side, not from the back, as the darkening
> > (watermarking) only appears along the tile edges next to and touching
> > thegroutlines.
>
> > Cheers,
> > Ben. (with heart in mouth)- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
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> After reading your last post, it sounds to me like perhaps the coating/
> finish on the tiles is not as thick (or even existent) on the outer
> edges of the tiles. Sort of like a clay flower pot that gets darker
> when wet because the surface is porous enough to hold a little
> moisture.
>
> Have you considered taking a picture of the watermarks and taking it
> to a tile shop? Not the tile section of a home center, but a store
> that deals exclusively with tile.
I've taken a picture of the watermarking but hadn't thought of taking
it to a tile shop. Thanks for the suggestion - I'll give it a try.
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