Hello to all.
I simply cannot believe it! This project was almost coming to a close!
Here is the deal…my unsanded, laticrete 1600 series unsanded WHITE grout is turning yellow!!!!!!!! YELLOW.
Lets see: mixed with a clean margin trowel in a clean bucket with clean water. No additives. WAS white a few days ago. Grouting was completed the Saturday before easter. I am just noticing it now. The grout joints in question are 1/16th +/- inch wide joints between 3×6 “subway” tile, on a wall, being used as a backsplash, behind a sink, general countertop, and oven (Kitchen). The discoloration is uniform. No indication of heat related changes, nor moisture. NO significant spills of any nature! Tomato or otherwise. The discoloration is completely uniform. Substrate is the 1/2″ board that is sold at any local home depot ( I forget the name of the stuff). Now, I did not use a mastic, I wanted to make up some depth to bring the finished surface up to an existing plane on the remodel, and I used a 3/8 x 3/8 notch and thinset. The thinset had the latex additive dry, and was just mixed with water. What in the world!! Can I think of anything else that could contibute to a diagnosis? No air leak or infiltration behind. It is an exterior wall. No smokers in the house, and no fires in any other room. (Can you tell I’m slowly going nuts?) My blood pressure is really up here. Anybody got any ideas, thoughts or suggestions???
Sincerely, hank. Was it the thinset??
Replies
Don't pay much attention to me, I'm just guessing here...
Seems to me that most tile products say on the packaging what products might not be compatible. Do you still have the package?
Do you still have any unmixed grout left? Someone may come up with an experiment you could do.
How fresh was the grout? Did you just buy it, or has it been sitting in your garage for a couple of years? Where did you buy it? Did it at all look like it had been sitting around forever?
Did you stir the dry grout up before mixing it? (although, since it is supposed to be white, I don't understand why this would be relevent.)
I'm betting on a manufacturing defect.
Rich Beckman
Tell us about the tile or stone. Color? Material? Glazed? Unglazed? It could be some color leaching off a natural stone or posibly tile that was maybe a bit wet?
To test if its the grout, if you have any left, place some on some spare cement board and let it setup. If that is turning yellow then its pretty much the grout. If not then well it might be something else.
I think a uniform color shift would indicate something odd with the grout mix. Not necessarily the grout but maybe the water? Any high mineral concentration that you know of? Sulphur?
Try a test batch with bottled water side by side with the water from your original source.
Ralph,
We here in Lancaster County (PA) have very hard water, or so I'm told. The predominant phenomena with our water is the limestone deposits that are left behind after evaporation, the coating(s) that are present in our plumbing systems, how fast the anode rods decay in our water heaters, and the layers of sediment (white ironically) that accumulate in our water heaters as well. But would this contribute to a pigmentation alteration in a water-mix, portland cement grout?
Hank.
And by the way to everybody. This new page format is a definite bummer! Why is it as I navigate to and fro around the site, I can't even find my own darn link? It isn't on the side, and if you go Back or Forward, you end up with different displays????
Perturbed Hank.!
The display defaults to show Unread messages. So after you have read it does not show until someone post a new message to it.
You can select to show all or all in the last couple of days. See Dispaly Message at the top left.
Also if you cleck on the header for a folder then it goes to display all for that folder and show the last 50(?) topics. You and to scrow down to the bottom and there is a display next 50 topics.
Also you can Subscribe to the topic. I have not done that, but I believe that it will show up in your My Forums display (upper right).
Bill,
The tile was a 3x6 "subway" tile by; American Olean, Greenwich villiage series, Color-Designer White. It is one of two white color options, this one being matte in finish, instead of a high polish glaze. The clay body itself-if I remember my ceramics classes, was almost white-it was white-therefore, a porcelin body I believe. What is there to leach?
Rich, I appreciate the reply.
Everything was brand new. No incompatability notices of any kind. Good thought. I just can't believe it is the cement board. Hardibacker-I remembered the shelf name, insaying that I was just guessing.
Hank