Hi, My bathroom fitter finally finished the tiles last week after a bit of mess up. He left the grout on the tiles for about two hours as he basically finished two walls then went back to clean. It didn't come off and he spent literally the next 5 days scrubbing and scrubbing the tiles. It was eventually acceptable to me that they were clean so he sealed them. The sealer bottle said to leave it for 60 minutes but we gave it a good 24 hours. A day later when first using the new bathroom any water on the tiles at all they turned immediately white. Both the floor and wall tiles, which the floor ones didn't have the grout issue do exactly the same. The wall tiles are grey and floor black, not that it matters. Literally a drop on the floor tiles and it goes white in about 3 or 4 minutes like it's reacting to something. It looks absolutely horrible at the moment and I expect the whole job will need to be redone. Does anyone have any advice? Matt
What sealer did he use? Sounds like it might be PVA! I thought the whole point of tiles is that they don't need sealing.
Why what? Basically, I meant we didn't use the bathroom for 24hrs whilst we waited for it to dry. We could have used it within 60 mins according to the bottle but felt it better to give it longer.
On the advice of the tile shop where we got the tiles, it was Lithofin Multi-Seal and water-based sealant. I wonder if we can actually get it off now or are they ruined?
How many coats were applied? Did a bit of googling, the tiles going white could be an indication that water is getting through the sealant into the tiles, so if its just one coat applied you may be need 1 or two more to properly seal it. Apparently 75% of the sealant needed with be applied on the first coat...total of 3 coats needed perhaps. Also.... Advice: All porous surfaces should be impregnated with the appropriate Lithofin product prior to sealing with Lithofin MULTI-SEAL Was this done too? Directions for Use The surface to be treated must be clean and completely dry. Apply Lithofin MULTI-SEAL undiluted and spread evenly with a brush, roller or sponge. Two to three coats will generally be needed in order to achieve a uniform appearance. Allow one to two hours drying time between coats.
I'll check with him how many coats but the bizarre thing is it goes white within about 2 minutes. I don't think an impregnator was used as the bottle only says "On a highly absorbent surface such as terracotta, we recommend an impregnator"... The tile shop can't understand either and have suggested that they will send a representative out to verify it all, so I am getting somewhere.
Apologies Dr B, I lost my connection,plus a bit of my sentence,which was badly worded for some, porcelain tiles don't need to be sealed, but can be sealed to stop staining,make them no slip,etc, it's same for quarry,ceramic,natural stone,etc. Also sealing will protect the grout from staining or discolouring.
Not my area of expertise but you say he scrubbed them for 5 days. What did they look like prior to sealing? were they glazed etc before and he has removed some of whatever the top surface was? Your second picture looks like a drip of something- is that the appearance after contact with a single drip of water or is the whole tile been wetted and that the only area that is affected?
I'm just wondering if the 5 days of scrubbing off the grouting material has similarly scrubbed off the top and consequently the sealing of the tile?