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

[Paula]

View attachment 74095

That grout doesn't look to clever.

You sure it's not adhesive showing through?

No, I don't think that's adhesive: the dark patches are damp (the dark patch furthest away from the wall you can actually see beads of moisture) plus nearest the wall there is efflorescence, where (I assume) the water has evaporated from the grout and left a deposit. The grout was perfect until a few weeks into using the shower, but then we had problems in the shower tray with damp grout (now fixed by re-grouting with epoxy). Since then, the damp patches outside the shower have become worse.

 

[Paula]

Pics are a bit inconclusive but as @Dan says, it doesn't look too clever. You sure it's damp?

Yes, it's definitely damp: you can see beads of moisture on one patch after a shower, plus if you put a piece of tissue paper over and press you can see that the paper is damp. We had exactly the same problem in the shower tray (discussed at length earlier in this thread!) and when the dark patches were tested with a damp meter they were shown to be damp.

 

[Paula]

one was a leak from the shower control where the plumber had not compressed the olive enough and the water was soaking throgh the adhesive and coming out in the grout joints on the floor and the other was a badly sealed wall jet and the effect was much the same as the first one. the plumer fixed the leak and the problem was solved

I must admit I hadn't thought that water could be coming from the walls...but if it was wouldn't we be seeing damp patches on the wall grout, too? These have not been replaced with epoxy, but dry out very quickly

 

[Dan]

If it's 100% not a leak then the solution is the same no matter what the cause. Put it down as one of life's mysteries. But then grout with epoxy?

 

[Paula]

If it's 100% not a leak then the solution is the same no matter what the cause. Put it down as one of life's mysteries. But then grout with epoxy?

Well, we'll certainly check out the leak theory. But if we can't find one, then are you saying that it's ok to just keep covering with epoxy? I can't help thinking that we are only masking the problem, and that there shouldn't really be any water under the tiles at all. Long term, is it ok then to have water trapped under tiles?

 

[Qwerty]

Shut off water in that room, dry grout, then systematically work through each possible cause to work out the problem. Run shower, but only into a bucket, then the drain so you can rule out tray etc or see if it's seeping under tiles

 

[Dan]

^ he's switched on is our Geoff.

 

[Paula]

Shut off water in that room, dry grout, then systematically work through each possible cause to work out the problem. Run shower, but only into a bucket, then the drain so you can rule out tray etc or see if it's seeping under tiles

Yes, I can see that this is a sensible approach, but easier said than done! We have just come back from a two week holiday, and the damp patches were still there. Previously, when we had the same patches in the tiled shower tray (pre-epoxy) we let the tray dry out for two months and there were still wet patches! I am wondering now whether there is a leak even when the shower is not being used (perhaps from the valves?), but can't help thinking that we would notice damp patches on the grout on the walls if this was the case?

Anyway, would I be right in assuming that you wouldn't consider this sort of discolouration of the grout outside the wet area in a wet room as 'normal'? I know I am fussy (but I think that is justified considering how much money we've spent on this bathroom!), but was beginning to think that perhaps all wet rooms have these problems, and it's just not talked about?

 

[Dan]

I assume if it is a leak then, it's from a feed rather than waste.
Might be worth checking on our plumbing forum for some advice on that one?

Plumbing Forum | Plumbing Advice | Plumbers Forums | A forum for plumbers advice in the UK

 

[Paula]

Ok, just so I know that you all know what I'm talking about, I have taken some much higher quality photos (much better system now for uploading photos!) showing the extent of the discolouration on the dry side of the shower screen. As the screen is 2.2m high and the shower head is fixed at 2m on the wall, the area in question never gets wet from spray (the screen is 1.4m long, there is a small amount of darkening of the grout at the far end, away from the shower head, but not as bad as in the photos). The photos were taken 9 hours after the last shower, for reference.

Would welcome any comments!