Discoloured porcelain tiles

[Chunkyd]

Hi - hoping someone out there can help


We have recently had our bathroom fully tiled with Jakarta Matt Black (dark grey) full bodied porcelain tiles from tile giant (60x30 walls 30x30 floor). The tiling was only completed about 10 days ago
The problem we have is that the tiles on the walls have become discoloured and patchy, have 'runs' down the tiles and there's also like a milky kinda like skin pealing affect in some parts.


The sealer the tiler used on the walls is LTP Mattstone sealer (I think)


Not sure what has happened to the wall tiles as the floor tiles are perfect and no sign of any discolouration at all. I do know though that the floor tiles have only had 1 maybe 2 coats of the sealer but the walls may have had more (work was done whilst we was away). The tiles on the walls are darker than the tiles on the floor even though before they were tiled they were the exact same colour.


Does a tile stripping agent need to be used or is there any way to correct these problems.....had numerous 'conversations' with the tiler who refuses to do anything about it as he says they were fine when he left them


Any help will be muchly appreciated

 

[Dan]

I dont suppose you could take a couple of pictures and upload them to the forum?

 

[Perry]

why has he sealed your porcelain tiles are they polished ? if they are might be the wrong sealer never used it but i think its for stone Matt Black i see shouldn't of polished them get him back to strip them unless you told him to ?

 

[Ian]

why has he sealed your porcelain tiles are they polished ? if they are might be the wrong sealer never used it but i think its for stone Matt Black i see shouldn't of polished them get him back to strip them unless you told him to ?

My thoughts exactly, LTP MPG for porcelain (if it needs sealing) not Matt Stone.


Sent via Tapatalk for iPhone

 

[Unregistered]

I'll get some pictures up later


Nope they're not polished, the sales guy at tile giant said that they may need a coat of sealer as some fitters have said that the grout is impossible to get off unless the tile had been sealed. I'm guessing he's gone OTT with the wrong sealer??

Trying to get him to come back and look at the tiles but he's refusing to as "it was fine when i left it" so all that says to me is he knows he's messed it up but doesn't want to spend the time fixing his mistake

The patches/runs/pealing affect came after about 3or4 days after he finished ... am i right in thinking that the whole lot will need to be stripped with a stripping agent??

 

[Rich]

Some pics would definitely help. It does sounds like a mistake has been made whilst sealing but couldn't be sure until we have seen it.

 

[Rizzle from the Portizzle]

there are two reasons why your tiles look milky in patches. One is when sealed some had damp patches when seal dried it dried out unevenly in damp patches sealing in moisture solution strip back sealer. two when sealed some grout dust was left on the surface when seal dried this hightlighted these area solution strip back seal. check to see if these tiles are glazed porcelain if so need no sealing. tiles on the wall and floor all way look different shades to tell hold one on the floor check shade then hold on wall check shade again are they the same. hope this helps ps if these are honed porcelain tiles seal with inpregnator seal leaving none to dry on surface do not use over seal .

 

[Perry]

Did you pay him in full ?

 

[Chunkyd]

Yep g/f paid him in full whilst i was away, but to be fair to her it did look ok when he first did the job just after 2 or 3 days the lines/milking affect etc started to appear

 

[Chunkyd]

Some areas are slightly worse than the one shown on the pic above (but the other files are to large to upload)

 

[jay]

Have you used anything to clean them (cleaning products) and does the residue rub off

 

[Chunkyd]

No they've not been cleaned, only the floor tiles have been cleaned, but they're the same as what they were before cleaning - rubbed down one of the tiles (which is hidden by the bath) and some of the residue does come off but leaves even more patchiness behind.
The colour of the patches are the same as the floor tiles (you can see at the bottom of the wall tiles on the pic)
I've also tested some of the sealer on another tile, when the sealers put on it looks great but after 24-48hrs the lines and patches start to show through again

 

[jay]

Did you read the instructions on the sealer and buff of the extra sealer http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...p-ytCw&usg=AFQjCNGI3C0_lKpMZrrxIp_MQ_wV-IQhqg

 

[Chunkyd]

I havent done the sealing, a so called professional tiler has done it all

 

[jay]

No they've not been cleaned, only the floor tiles have been cleaned, but they're the same as what they were before cleaning - rubbed down one of the tiles (which is hidden by the bath) and some of the residue does come off but leaves even more patchiness behind.
The colour of the patches are the same as the floor tiles (you can see at the bottom of the wall tiles on the pic)
I've also tested some of the sealer on another tile, when the sealers put on it looks great but after 24-48hrs the lines and patches start to show through again

sorry thought you said you did a test on a tile.
find a out of the way area to try apply a small amount of sealer as per directions on the can then when it recommends wiping of the exes do that .at a grues the pro tiler hasn't removed the exes sealer
hope this helps

 

[Chunkyd]

Ahh sorry misunderstood you, yep i did a test area and no I didnt wipe away the excess, but it's not just the patchy areas showing through the runs etc are showing up through the new coat of sealer which i'm guessing if the excess was buffed off this wouldn't change that?

(thanks for your help and advice, just need to figure a way to correct this and get the bathroom looking the way it should)

 

[jay]

if you apply another coat of sealer it should activate the old exes sealer witch should buff off when you remove the exes sealer try it in a non noticeable spot first and see if it works

 

[Chunkyd]

Ok thanks i'll give it a try, do i just need to apply the sealer then buff off straight away with a dry cloth or leave it for x amount of time? (complete newbie to tiling and sealing)

 

[Aspect Tiling]

The wrong sealer has been used as mentioned above, and I'm not sure they need sealing anyway. There are products that will strip the old sealer such as LTP Solvex, however this is the tilers problem and he should resolve it.

 

[jay]

Ok thanks i'll give it a try, do i just need to apply the sealer then buff off straight away with a dry cloth or leave it for x amount of time? (complete newbie to tiling and sealing)

you need to leve it as instructed on can ,not sure if your tiles needed sealing or not but it should remove the exes sealer
and yes get him back it is his problem not yours

good luck

 

[Rich]

As above, make sure that you follow the directions on the tin of sealer.

 

[AMtek]

if you were told to seal them only because excess grout is a nightmare to get off the tile then just strip the sealer off now they are grouted?

 

[Chunkyd]

Found out that it wasnt the LTP mattstone the tiler used it was a LTP Ironwax gloss sealer (idiot!!! :incazzato
Been in touch with LTP, emailed them the photo's and they informed me that the ironwax sealer should never be used in wet areas and this is what's causing the problems, so i need to remove the sealer with LTP Solvax sealer remover which is fairly easy to use (apparently) and then test the floor tiles to see if they do need a sealer (by placing a teaspoon of water on the floor, leaving for ten minutes or so, soaking it up with tissue paper then if there's a mark left then to just apply 1 coat of the mattstone sealer).

Thanks for all the help and advice and hopefully this thread might help someone in the future who also chooses to use a tiler with the knowledge of a mentally challenged donkey (no offence intended towards donkeys )

Wish me luck lol

 

[Stewart]

Great result for you, are you not going to get the tiler to rectify his mistake?

 

[Chunkyd]

I'm still trying to get hold of him been trying for 3 weeks but will continue to hound him ... its not the only mistake he's made though