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

[Paula]

Do You want me to send larger pics? Those above were made smaller to email to Cam, but I can send him larger ones? He also has pics of the whole shower tray at various stages if you think that would be helpful (I'm afraid whatever I do, I can't seem to use your system for uploading!)

Paula

 

[John Benton]

Concur with Stef there. I've blown up the images and it does appear that the grout has cracked along the side of the tile. The tray although having a gradient to allow water to flow to the drain there is no reason why you cannot get a full bed of adhesive beneath the tile as the gradients are perfectly flat.

Do you know the method used for fixing the tiles, even in the dry area of the floor i.e. was the right size notched trowel used and were the tiles back buttered with adhesive prior to fixing. A good way of telling if they were is to tap on the tiles with your knuckles at various different points and if the sound is hollow then there is a chance that water could sit beneath the tiles in any voids left. If there is a hollow sound then chances are they were just dot n dabbed to the floor. This is the wrong fixing method and although possibly not visible to the eye there may be a small amount of movement but enough to crack the grout and allow water to directly pass the grout and sit underneath.

 

[Paula]

Thanks for this, John

The tiler is adamant that he correctly buttered the tiles, and that there should not be any voids underneath, although he says that the fact that the tiles are still stuck down and the grout is not obviously cracked must mean that he has bedded them down properly, which you seem to suggest may not be the case?

Are you sure you can see cracks, and not just darker lines along the grout? I'm happy to email you larger pics just to be sure? Let me know.

When tapped, there is no obvious hollow sound (unlike on our kitchen floor, which he also did, but that's a different story!). He is also a plasterer, so well used to "dotting and dabbing" I would imagine, but claims not to have done here and as I wasn't standing over him I can't comment on what he did.

Thanks for taking time to reply, I really appreciate this.

Paula

 

[cam_low]

 

[cam_low]

aye looks like a regrout is in order, firstly leaving the shower for a week or so for any sitting water to evaporate, maybe two weeks to be sure. However if dot and dabbed, this may not be a long term solution, or it may work out fine, you just never know when its not done correctly.

ps sorry for the delay, just got in from my first powerleague game. Im well unfit and tired !

 

[Dash J]

I always use epoxy on my wet floors

 

[Paula]

thanks, Bob. We have now sprayed on a sealer, but to be honest I chose porcelain rather than natural stone tiles to avoid maintenance, so it's disappointing to hear that I will now have to seal the grout at regular intervals! If there is any way of avoiding this, I would rather do that…unless you are saying that everyone who has a tiled shower tray should seal the grout regularly? This is certainly not publicised by bathroom designers or tilers in general: perhaps it should be, then?

 

[Paula]

Thanks, Cam, but why do you say to re-grout: do you also think that the darker lines are cracking? They just look like lines of darker pigment to me. I know I'm going to have an uphill battle to convince the tiler and builder on this, as they have both stared and it and declared that there is no cracking at all (as did the BAL "expert"!). I need some ammunition if I'm going to go down this route!

Is it worth you uploading any of the other photos I sent you?

thanks again,

Paula

 

[John Benton]

If you could try and upload closer photos of the grout joints just to be 100%, It did look like fine cracks.

 

[Paula]

DashJ, would you recommend this on a suspended timber floor? Builder seems to think this would be a no-no for us, even though there is no obvious movement of tiles/floor at the moment