expert help? cant get rid of grout haze

[gazzalad]

hi
ive tiled my wooden floor recently with granfix flexible adhesive and flexible grout, using slate tiles. ive tried to clean the grout haze off even using aqua mix phosphoric acid (strong mixed )and ive still got the powdery appearance on the tiles themselves and the grout lines just keep drying white.

i sealed the tiles prior to grouting (topps tiles matt glaze) and i cant even seem to get the tiles back to that finish. they looked great when that was dried.

what product do i need to use to get rid of the latex showing through the grout? im assuming thats the problem anyway.please advise as im sick of looking at my floor in this state

thanks

gaz

 

[Highlander]

Some pointers mate:

There could be various issues
1. The slate needed washed down a couple of times before sealing as you may have sealed in the dirt
2. The slate may not have been a dense slate and just sucked up the first coat of sealer and required a second
3. By using Phos to deep clean you have now removed the colouring from the grout this will now need to be regrouted
4. You should have used Aqua Mix sealer remover and allowed it to dwell for minimum 40 minutes not allowing it to dry out keep agitating it

If you could attatch a few pics it will give us a better idea. I would suggest Sealer remover this may take two or three applications and then use Aqua Mix enrich n seal and this will balance the tiles colouring out.

Highlander

 

[gazzalad]

There could be various issues
1. The slate needed washed down a couple of times before sealing as you may have sealed in the dirt
2. The slate may not have been a dense slate and just sucked up the first coat of sealer and required a second
3. By using Phos to deep clean you have now removed the colouring from the grout this will now need to be regrouted
4. You should have used Aqua Mix sealer remover and allowed it to dwell for minimum 40 minutes not allowing it to dry out keep agitating it

If you could attatch a few pics it will give us a better idea. I would suggest Sealer remover this may take two or three applications and then use Aqua Mix enrich n seal and this will balance the tiles colouring out.

Highlander[/quote]

thanks for that highlander,
1- after i laid the tiles i washed them off a couple of times before sealing
2- the slate did seem to absorb more sealant in some places than others, but i went over it twice in most places i think
3-when its wet it still looks dark grey as it always has so not sure??
4 when should i have used the sealer remover? before the acid you mean?

ill enclose some pics, maybe youll know better then if i need to re grout or not

hope the picture shows up, and thanks

gaz

 

[Highlander]

Aye you should have used the sealer remover before the acid. It may still be worth doing and if I were you I would then rake out joints regrout and then use Aqua Mic enrich n seal on a test area as this will bring out the colour of the slate. If you look in my recent album there is a slate multi colour slate that has been sealed with enrich n seal.

Highlander

 

[MICK the Tiler]

You shouldn't use acid on stone, unless you know what your doing as it can etch the stone which looks like it has happened here. Only use alkaline based cleaners like pool chlorine, and make sure you clean as you go. Don't try and grout the whole floor in one go and just point the joints with grout instead of splashing the grout all over the tiles.

 

[gazzalad]

thanks for that guys,
but if i regrout, using flexible grout wont i be back to the same problem again?ie ill have white lines instead if dark grout showing through?

also do you know where i can buy pool chlorine or similar alkaline stuff?

thanks
gaz

 

[pauljtiler]

hello
What you may have done was to over wash the tiles. With material which should be sealed you should use a minimum amount of water. Then allow it to dry out for a long time, i know this is a pain. But once dry it can be sealed normally ( aminimum of two coats ) then grouted. If water is present in the tiles when you seal the water will try to evaporate past the sealer. Sometimes this will cause a haze or a misty look. If this happens you might need a sealer remover, as the other fella said. Oh the grout going white may be from the over use of acid, or not washing the acid off enough. Did any of that make sense. Over the years ive worked out this little problemete..

good luck

paul

 

[Rab78]

old topic sorry