What would cause colored grout to fade to white in a tile shower?
+15
We had a new walk in shower installed about 10 months ago. We noticed the grout on the walls and floor around the shower were fading. The tile is brown swirl with medium brown grout. Some of the grout is almost white now. We have a softener and we have not used any chemicals on the shower at all. What is happening and what can we do about it?
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https://www.tcnatile.com/faqs/32-white-residue-on-grout.html
Does your tile cleaner have bleach in it? Is so, this may be the cause.
limes scale is white. If you are using a product with bleach or peroxide to clean it you may have bleached it out. There are colored grout sealants you can use to put color back on the grout.
How long is your material guaranteed for? Call the installer, or the company he works for. The tile is made by some company, which should stand behind their product.
I would say the water. Maybe the grout wasn’t sealed? Would clean well with CLR then grout paint which usually includes a good sealer. Then spray seal grout according to directions - I think every 6-12 months.
Contacted the company that installed the tile/grout....they are going to come "recolor" the grout.......any suggestions on how to make it last this time?
Could be a hard water calcium build up
Hard water; bleach; cleanser you are using. Go back to tile distributor or installer for compensation.
The installer is going to recolor/paint the grout. Just concerned that an underlying problem is not being addressed.
Have a water softener. Don't use cleansers on it that have bleach or otherwise. Called the company that installed. They are going to come and recolor and seal the tile. Never had this happen with other tile in the home.
Wasn't the tile...it was the grout. Tile never changed color. The company has since recolored the grout and resealed the area. Fingers crossed this lasts....
Helen, I am having the exact same issue with my new grout in the shower. It's supposed to be almost white grout but one section has faded out almost completely to a gray color. It's been several months since initial install and it seemed to discolor overnight. It is in an area of the shower where water tends to pool so I'm thinking it's got to be related to the water. Did you ever figure out what was wrong/did the recoloring work? Thanks!