Replies

1. 
   JohnT8 | Jan 13, 2005 12:52am | #1

   welcome to BT

   bump.

    

   jt8
2. 
   JeffBuck | Jan 13, 2005 01:34am | #2

   I'm going to send you to http://www.johnbridge.com

   that's a tile pro web site ... maybe someone over there has run into this before ...

   sounds like some sorta calcium deposits?

   Maybe efflorescence from the portland cement.

   was it a bag or site mixed?

   I use bag's ... never had this problem.

   Jeff

     Buck Construction 

      Artistry in Carpentry

           Pgh, PA

1. 
   EricPaulson | Jan 13, 2005 04:53am | #5

   Maybe efflorescence from the portland cement.

   That's a good guess I'm thinking Jeff. Especially if it's wet all the time.

   JCC, is there pre-slope UNDER that membrane??

   Eric

   Be a pre-slope convert.I Love A Hand That Meets My Own,

   With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.

1. 
   JeffBuck | Jan 13, 2005 06:09am | #6

   can the efflorescense (spelled it different that time .. one's gotta be right?) get that hard? I've never really seen a big enough build up .... usually more of a stain ...

   I'da thought it to be softer when built up ...

   not sure though? it is calcium .. so I suppose under the right conditions it could "crystalize" .... ???

   To the original poster ...

   How many showers have you done using the same materials?

    

   Jeff  Buck Construction 

      Artistry in Carpentry

           Pgh, PA

2. 
   jcc | Jan 13, 2005 07:29am | #8

   Thanks for responding. I think it was a bag mix. But it was four years ago and a lot of showers and little grey cells have passed me by during that time. I was the GC on the project. The deposits are extremely hard and thick, at least a 16 of inch, and completely coated the pipe from the strainer to the bottom of the trap as far as the eye could see before we scraped them off. It was white and hard and reacted stongly to the lime away.

3. 
   WayneL5 | Jan 13, 2005 02:21am | #3

   It could be hard water.  Ask the municipality for the hardness.  It would not be inconceivable that it would be worse in the shower because you use a lot more gallons of water there than elsewhere.

   But, it sounds like you are suspicious of the grout for some reason, and it could be a problem, too, though I've never heard of it.  Could it be something like old grout that sat around and was exposed to moisture in the bag, or mixed way too wet or too dry?  Or lime mortar was used instead of grout?

   Is your client doing something unusual (cleaners, soaps, bath oils) that she is not telling you about?

   One test you can do is try treating the deposits with both an acid, such as vinegar or lime-away, and with soap scum remover.  If the acid works better than it sounds like minerals (grout or in the water).  If the soap scum remover works better than I'd suspect hard water or wierd soaps.

1. 
   jcc | Jan 13, 2005 07:37am | #9

   My client cleans her shower glass with a vinegar and water solution. She cleans the glass every day. She also uses a soap scum remover to clean the tile. She has a lot of allergies and is highly sensitive to mold. I will have to find out if she ever uses bleach or if there is bleach in soap scum remover. We used a Mepei grout. The caulking around the perimeter of the shower floor looked very brittle and dryed out.

4. 
   DanH | Jan 13, 2005 04:45am | #4

   I wonder if she isn't using some chemical to clean or disinfect the shower, and the chemical is causing these problems.

   You said that the caulk between floor and wall had deteriorated. Chlorine bleach, eg, will soften silicone caulk, so that may be what's being used. Bleach can cause some minerals in water to precipitate, and its regular use could conceivably lead to the buildup you see.

   There are probably other chemicals that could similarly be the culprit.

5. 
   ponytl | Jan 13, 2005 06:10am | #7

   i ran into this once and it was the lining of the hotwater tank come'n apart.. never saw it before or since....

   pony