Water Under Quarry Tile

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spax0001

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Hello,

For a commercial kitchen in a warehouse, quarry tile was directly laid on to the slab that was in fairly good condition. We used a standard grout and sealed the tile afterward.
After awhile, a juicer was brought in and is a piece of equipment that needs to be hosed down after operation. This in turn brings a good amount of water on to the floor. We do our best to squigee and mop it up, but have found that water is somehow making its way into the next room, underneath the wall and underneath the tile. The tile does have a 6" coved base.
There are no visible cracks in the grout lines, and we are looking for any insight or information on what went wrong, or what we can do to fix it.

Please help.
 
What kind of coved base is it, tile or vinyl/rubber? If vinyl or rubber cove base pull it off and silicone the edge, then re-install some.
 
Ernesto,

The coved base is quarry tile as well, nicely grouted into place. So I don't believe that that is the case. Unless water that is getting through the grout or tile, because I know it is somewhat porous.
 
Birdman,

If this is indeed the case, do I have any options whatsoever? Or is the bottom line that it should have been epoxy-based grout from the start for a kitchen?

Is there a product on the market that can "seal" up the porous grout? Please advise, I appreciate it.
 
Ernesto,

I did indeed use a water-based "generic" sealer. I did not use the 511. They also carry an Impregnator, is that product that should be used as it penetrates and then dries to make the grout more resistant to water.
Has anybody else used this product? Will it withstand the amount of water that I am talking about on this kitchen floor?

Are there any other options to getting a very water resistant floor with what is already there?

Thank you.
 
I've used impregnator, loveisis those VOC's. Buff after and it looks great. However in a commercial setting you may want to look into some epoxy coating if your going to be powerwashing.
 
Tile, grout, sealers, none of these can make the installation waterproof. The job should have been waterproofed before any tiles were installed. All you can do now is caulk and prevent water from getting near a wall. Sounds like the room was not sloped to a drain for your purpose.

Jaz
 
Thanks for the input.

Jaz, you are correct, the tile was layed on the existing slab and was not sloped to a drain.

Ernesto, have you used Armorpoxy before? Would that basically be a 2-part epoxy that lays over the quarry tile? 100% waterproof?

If that is the case, would you recommend a product like this over regrouting 1000 sq. ft. of quarry tile?

Thanks again in advance for any help/answers.

-Dan
 
Dan said:
........ would you recommend a product like this over regrouting 1000 sq. ft. of quarry tile?

I don't know about Ernesto, but I might recommend cyanide over re-grouting 1000 ft. of quarry.

Remember there are several meaning to the word "waterproof".

1. One meaning is that the item is not severely affected by water. Thousands of items qualify.

2. The other means to create a barrier that will not allow water to pass to an unwanted area. Very limited ways to do this.

Again, when waterproofing is required, it must be done before any tiles are installed. Tiles may be waterproof, but they do not by themselves make an installation waterproof.

Jaz
 
I don't know about Ernesto, but I might recommend cyanide over re-grouting 1000 ft. of quarry.

Remember there are several meaning to the word "waterproof".

1. One meaning is that the item is not severely affected by water. Thousands of items qualify.

2. The other means to create a barrier that will not allow water to pass to an unwanted area. Very limited ways to do this.

Again, when waterproofing is required, it must be done before any tiles are installed. Tiles may be waterproof, but they do not by themselves make an installation waterproof.

Jaz

Jazz, I'd rather slit my wrists than regrout that much tile, but it is an option.

Besides waterproofing underneath, seems to me the only sure way to prevent water intrusion from getting in through the surface when using a power washer is to have a water proof coating or sealer on top. Quarry tile is porous is it not?
 

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