Grout sealant problem

Flooring Forum - DIY & Professional

Help Support Flooring Forum - DIY & Professional:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

angboy

New Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
3
Location
,
I had very shiny tile floor installed recently and went to seal the grout. Used a product that HD suggested. Problem is that there's sort of a "ghost" image along the grout lines from where the sealant ran over, that I can't get off. I tried everything- got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed at it with a sponge, used a cleaner that Lowes suggested and nothing is taking it up. I took a picture that I'll try to attach to see if you can see what I'm talking about. If you run your fingers over it, you can't actually feel anything but when the light hits it right, you can see it and it's annoying me. I also had gone over it with a wet swiffer as my first cleaning attempt and it actually seems to have spread some of the stuff over the rest of the tiles as well, so that there are the same sort of ghost images of water spots now that don't show up on the same tile in other rooms when I wet swiffer. Does anyone have any idea of how to remove this? Also, any suggestions of what alternate product I can use in the other rooms I still have to do, that won't cause this look?

IMG_20130407_090204_464.jpg
 
The white areas are just where the light was reflecting off the tiles. You can see the marks I'm talking about in that reflection best, so I purposely took the picture with a light reflection.

The sealant I used was called TileLab grout sealant made by Custom Building products. This is the link on HD to it:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100041...out+sealant&storeId=10051&N=5yc1v&R=100041610

Then I cleaned it with the wet swiffer followed by lysol scrubbers, then got Dupont Heavy Duty Coating Stripper from Lowes, which can be seen at this link: http://www2.dupont.com/Stone_Care/en_US/products/clean/heavy_duty_coating_stripper.html
 
Thanks so much. Any opinions on what I should use to seal the grout in the other rooms so I don't run into this same problem again?
 
Try vinegar and water. It may not do a thing on a silicone based sealer, but it's a cheap product that is easy to get. If it doesn't work, you haven't invested much.

I've noticed it peeling sealer off of tile in several instances, however that doesn't mean it will work in your case. A commercial grade liquid floor stripper might work, but you'd have to be careful with that so it doesn't ruin the grout.

This is the problem with these grout sealers. The manufacturers say to wipe any excess off the tile, but good grief, by the time you go through all that effort is it really worth it?

I know this is too late to help you, but this is the reason I recommend epoxy grout on almost every job I do now. The product costs more, and it can cost extra to have it installed, but it's light years above regular old grout that you mix with water in terms of durability, stain resistance, and color consistency. Compare the cost and trouble with what you're going through with the additional costs of epoxy grout, and it's an easy choice, in my opinion. Keep in mind that in most cases, you're going to be sealing that job again in a few years, probably less than five years.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top