Portuguese Grouting.

[keelbreeze]

I am new to the forum, so hello.:hurray: I have just bought a house in the Algarve, the en-suite shower cubicle is a health hazzard. The tiles are attractive 50mm tiles (brown) the grouting has been done with sand & cement which appears to be holding dirt & has now changed to BLACK, yuk. Yesterday I took into it with a wire brush but the problem was it was taking the sand & cement off the wall & proceeded to block the drain of the shower tray. What might be the way forward to clean this. I was wondering if a brillow pad might be of use, I spotted a steamer yesterday, would that be a way forward? Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[widler]

better off showing some photos 1st.

oh and just cover the drain up,works a treat at stopping dust and stuff going down

 

[keelbreeze]

Thank you, I never thought of that, I will take a few photos tomorrow & put them on.

 

[keelbreeze]

I finally managed to get some photos as requested, the cleaner one is outside the shower cubicle, the dirtiest one is on the floor of the shower cubicle & the other is on the wall of the cubicle, any hep appreciated.:smilewinkgrin:

 

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

well thanks for the pictures keelbreeze , it almost looks like three different strength mixes ,of sand/cement to me, when you pick at the black one is it a lighter shade underneath ?

 

[keelbreeze]

I took into the wall tiles with a brillo pad to try & make the grouting look half respectable, I think that is why there are different shades. The floor is proving more problematic, I imagine in the height of the summer it might smell.

 

[Mike Mike]

I took into the wall tiles with a brillo pad to try & make the grouting look half respectable, I think that is why there are different shades. The floor is proving more problematic, I imagine in the height of the summer it might smell.

Have you tried pouring beach onto them? If not, give that a try. Cover your drain with something that you'll be able to pull up later, then tip a bottle or two of bleach on the floor and leave it a couple of hours. See what happens to the grout. If it works, then you can put some bleach into a spray bottle and spray it on the walls and leave that (possibly overnight). Wear a face mask when you spray as you don't want to be inhaling droplets of chlorine!

If it's organic discolouration the bleach should kill it.