Help! Tiled wetroom floor looks perfect but grout doesn't dry out!

[Dan]

I've seen something like this before with mapei plus grout the bottom row on top of the wet floor had been doted and therefor the grout had failed the water was seeping behide the wall tile and under the mosaic wetdeck.
After a week of drying out,removing the base tile,tiling it properly and using an epoxy grout over the whole area.well I haven't been called back .i think the repair was a succes.

Have you read the WHOLE thread?

 

[cbmltd]

I've read most of it and alot seems to go around in a circle,I'm just putting my opinion across .The wetroom I was talking about was 3 metres long and water was visable at the end of the deck well away from the shower with a screen in between the two.
Water will travel anywhere if it has a chance to get through the only reason it never went downstairs is because of the membrane underneath.definitely needs taking up and restarting otherwise the problem will persist.

 

[Dan]

Didn't mean What you'd said was wrong or right. Just mean they'd redone it with epoxy. And the problem moved.

 

[cbmltd]

I know they used epoxy but if there's still movement or void behind the wall tile it will still get through I didn't see anyone say they had replaced the wall tiles as well its a disaster hopefully they get it sorted at the builder ,tilers expense.

 

[Paula]

Just thought I'd give an update......

We let the floor dry out for several weeks, had the plumber in to discount any leaks from the supply side (which he did), bought a moisture meter (which showed that the dark patches were indeed damp) and scratched our heads (again).

There is no obvious movement of tiles, either on the floor or the walls, and no cracking of grout. Thinking things through logically, we came to the conclusion that perhaps the water that was appearing beyond the shower screen was indeed the water which had got underneath the shower tray when it was first installed (when there were bits of grout missing round the drain and tiny cracks in the floor grout, before we re-grouted with epoxy). Apparently it can take up to six months for this water to dry out completely, and of course it was having to travel further (beyond the shower screen) to evaporate as we had re-grouted with epoxy in the shower area.

So, armed with moisture meter readings, we started using the shower again.

Remarkably, the damp patches did not become even damper, and, even more remarkably, over time they have completely disappeared. Admittedly, for the past month or so we have had the underfloor heating on, but we also had it on in order to try and dry the tiles in the summer, and it didn't seem to work then. So it appears that, perhaps our theory is right, and that we just had to play a waiting game. In all, it probably took around six months for the water that originally got under the tiles to find its way out.

The epoxy grout seems to be holding up fine, with no signs of cracking at all, and we have made sure that we have a good Silicon seal along the bottom of the shower screen so that the main shower area is entirely waterproof above the tiles. Yes, we still have normal grout up the walls, but if there was any significant ingress of water coming from there, I think we would still have problems with the floor being wet, which we don't.

It is still a mystery to me why so much water was able to get under the tiles in the first place....I can only think that the grouting was done badly, as there was never any movement of tiles on the tray. It certainly never looked really bad, but having been done very carefully with epoxy the second time, we have not had any further problems.

So, as I said before, I am a big fan of epoxy grout in shower trays. Given how easy it is to allow excessive water to get under the tiles and perhaps travel beyond the shower area, I can't understand why it's not standard practice to use it for wet room showers! If we ever have one done again, I will definitely be asking for it over the whole floor of the bathroom.

Of course I'll keep you updated if things change!

 

[p4ulo]

Phew.....nice one Paula....who could have imagined that grouting a shower tray properly would be so important??!! (lol)

 

[Paula]

Phew.....nice one Paula....who could have imagined that grouting a shower tray properly would be so important??!! (lol)

It does seem so (although apart from a few bits of grout missing around the drain, you wouldn't really have been able say that it was done badly). I'm convinced that changing the grout to epoxy has had just as much of an effect....given that normal grout ALWAYS lets water through, why would you want to use anything else?

 

[Paul72]

Hi. I'm new here and have read this thread and could really do with some advice.

I've had a large extension built and now have 2 wetrooms to complete. I have used AKW tuff form and AKW tri form trays.

I'm at the tiling stage now and have been looking at the Mapei Kerapoxy CQ grout. (I have tanked the wet areas with mapei gum and tape) but I was drawn to the kerapoxy due to it being impermeable.

I called mapei tech and they said it has no flexibility once cured do was just wondering if it would be OK to use on the wetrooms floors as one guy states that he uses it on all his wetrooms and has never had any problems.

I'd also be interested to see if Paula's epoxy grout has withstood the test of time since sorting out the problem.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated

Thanks.

Paul

 

[Paula]

Hi, I don't know whether anyone is still referring to this (very long!) thread, and I'm sure it's too late for Paul, above, but I have some information I thought I should share with you.

I too was told by the technical people at Mapei that epoxy was not as flexible as cementitious grout, but that, unless there was constant movement in the floor, then it should be ok to use it on our tiles which are laid on a suspended timber floor. As there was not a huge amount of movement on our floor, and encouraged by comments on this forum by others who said they usually use epoxy in wet rooms, we went ahead.

About 16 months after the epoxy was applied, I started to notice dark lines along a couple of the grout lines which surround the two tiles we tend to stand on when we shower. Over the following months these lines have got bigger, and they are now full blown cracks. However, they are confined to the area where we stand to shower, so most of the grouting in the shower area is still intact.

Our builder has come to look, and contacted Mapei who have said that there is no flexibility in epoxy, but that the cracking could be to do with any of the following:

- excessive movement in the suspended timber floor under the tray (ply not screwed down properly)
- failure of the Impey tanking
-water/moisture seeping to the ply in the flooring and making it swell

We haven't noticed any leaking in the ceiling below so would be surprised if the Impey tanking had failed.

He is asking what I want to do, but is suggesting that the epoxy is almost impossible to remove without damaging the tiles.

I'm really not sure what to say! Obviously I'm disappointed that the epoxy has failed, given that it seemed like the perfect solution to our problems for over a year, but I still consider the bathroom "new", so am not happy that the shower area has large cracks. Long term, I don't imagine it's a good idea to let water soak down these cracks, even if there is intact membrane underneath?

Any ideas anyone? Should I push for removing the epoxy and replacing it with normal grout, given that we eventually worked out that the original problem (permanently wet grout) was down to the tiler leaving a void around the drain that filled up with water, and that has now been rectified? or do you think that we'll eventually end up with cracked grout, whichever is used, as there is obviously movement in our floor?

 

[Bill]

By the time this gets resolved, your tiles will be out of fashion and you will want a 'new look' for your bathroom.........

 

[Italy]

I used a hot air gun.
To remove epoxy.
Pay attention to the wood below. It could burn.

 

[LM]

Bloody hell, just read this thread

 

[SJPurdy]

We haven't noticed any leaking in the ceiling below so would be surprised if the Impey tanking had failed.

I don't think it is at all likely to fail as a tanking barrier to stop water getting through, (I haven't tried the newer easier to use version so am assuming it is similar to the old). However it is my opinion that it remains slightly compressible under the tiles and this may be why the grout is cracking around the tiles that are stood on most.

 

[J Sid]

have you any spare tiles?
if so lift the tiles with the grout cracking, there will be water under them now so will need drying out. When you remove the tiles you will be able to investigate further to what's going on.

 

[Paula]

have you any spare tiles?
if so lift the tiles with the grout cracking, there will be water under them now so will need drying out. When you remove the tiles you will be able to investigate further to what's going on.

Thanks for that, Julian.

I'm just wondering how easy it will be to remove tiles? It's not like they're obviously wobbling about, and the epoxy grout looks well and truly stuck to at least some of the edges. Should we be worried about damaging the membrane in the process?