M
mnemonix
Hi folks, I hope you can help me as I've spent the last 3 months digging out and replacing my kitchen floor with an insulated concrete slab, dpm and tiling it, all myself, only to fall at the last hurdle... grouting.
I'm using these tiles which Wickes claim to be porcelain. I've laid them using BAL rapidset and am attempting to grout them using BAL Superflex Wide Joint GREY powdered grout, which I'm mixing up using a scale to get the proportions spot on, so here's the crack:
1. It's seriously runny. No need to 'push' into the joints, it just runs in to them. Is this right? I've done two test areas so far with the same results.
2. The tiles have a matt, slightly grainy finish which seems to catch and grab on to the grout so I can't get them very clean with the grout float.
3. It's taking an age to set... I can't sponge them after 10 or 15 minutes. I waited over an hour to sponge them for the first time and it was still just smearing more grout over the tiles. I don't want to overwork or over-wet the grout (this pulls the latex or polymers up to the surface yes?), nor pull it all out of the joints so after a second unsatisfactory sponge an hour later I just had to leave it.
4. 24 hours later, it's set but looking a bit light in colour to me; first though, I have to clean the tiles. Water's not shifting it, so I'm using Fila grout residue remove at 1:10 which seems to clean the tiles ok but my grey grout now seems even lighter and a bit patchy now too...
All I want is a nice mid grey grout between my tiles... Can anyone please help me?!?! I'm running out of test areas, and have read that darker grouts are difficult to work with, though I'm not sure I should need one anyway; the stuff just doesn't seem to behave as it says on the bag or as I've read in this and other forums!
Cheers.
I'm using these tiles which Wickes claim to be porcelain. I've laid them using BAL rapidset and am attempting to grout them using BAL Superflex Wide Joint GREY powdered grout, which I'm mixing up using a scale to get the proportions spot on, so here's the crack:
1. It's seriously runny. No need to 'push' into the joints, it just runs in to them. Is this right? I've done two test areas so far with the same results.
2. The tiles have a matt, slightly grainy finish which seems to catch and grab on to the grout so I can't get them very clean with the grout float.
3. It's taking an age to set... I can't sponge them after 10 or 15 minutes. I waited over an hour to sponge them for the first time and it was still just smearing more grout over the tiles. I don't want to overwork or over-wet the grout (this pulls the latex or polymers up to the surface yes?), nor pull it all out of the joints so after a second unsatisfactory sponge an hour later I just had to leave it.
4. 24 hours later, it's set but looking a bit light in colour to me; first though, I have to clean the tiles. Water's not shifting it, so I'm using Fila grout residue remove at 1:10 which seems to clean the tiles ok but my grey grout now seems even lighter and a bit patchy now too...
All I want is a nice mid grey grout between my tiles... Can anyone please help me?!?! I'm running out of test areas, and have read that darker grouts are difficult to work with, though I'm not sure I should need one anyway; the stuff just doesn't seem to behave as it says on the bag or as I've read in this and other forums!
Cheers.