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Expert Answers
How to fix Grout Color Variation?
QUESTION
How to fix Grout Color Variation? - We had a bathroom tiled and the grout was done on different days...the colour is washed out in some areas...what is the fix?ANSWER
ANSWER - I assume you are saying that the grout color in your new tile installation isn't consistent, and has light and dark areas.Cementitious grout color isn't expected to be completely consistent. The grout will vary in color more often than not to some degree. Although the grout color can vary excessively due to poor workmanship practices.
The grout color can vary due to how fast or slow the grout dries. One area of the tile installation may dry faster or slower than another area that can cause the grout color to look somewhat different. Why one area dries at a different rate than another could be due to sun exposure or how much heat one area is subjected to versus another or how much wind one area is subjected to versus another. Some more porous tiles will have a glaze overspray along one edge versus another that will cause the moisture from the grout to be drawn from it at a slower rate, which can affect the color of the grout in those spots.
If the tile installer uses too much water in mixing the grout and/or during the cleanup of the grouting process they could inadvertently pull out color pigment from the grout that will cause some areas to be lighter than other areas.
To remediate this type of problem to make the grout to be more consistent in color there are products called "grout colorants" that are epoxy based and match some of the typical grout colors. After properly preparing the existing grout joint you paint it over the joint which could be a bit tedious of a process. Sometimes an enhancer type of penetrating sealer will help even out the color of cementitious grouts. Ether method should be tested first to make sure it meets your satisfaction. For a list of manufacturers who produce the grout colorants and sealers go to our website at www.CTaSC.com and go to Expert Answers. In the Resources column, select Cleaners and Sealers Resources for a list of companies with links to their website. Good luck!
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Thank you for all of that. My problem is several pieces were done a week later with a similar temperature and all areas, the part at the niche, the one tile on the wall and the one tile on the floor, all are darker, not lighter. So strange. How would I fix that? Going from light to dark seems possible but not the other way around.
Cementitious grouts are more susceptible to color variation depending on what the conditions are when they do the grouting. If the installer uses too much water it could make it lighter. If the grout dries at different rates due to the temperature difference, or the type to tile differences, or due to how it dries that particular day it can cause the grout color to vary even if it is from the same container of grout.
The grout colorants are an epoxy based paint that will allow you to make any color grout a different color. Even making a dark color a light color.
I have a similar problem. I tiled and grouted my kitchen backsplash. Mapei polymer-modified mortar, Mapei color U27 light gray unsanded grout. Pretty standard tile and grouting job, seemed to me. But sections of my grout are dark and wet looking. The dark sections are within mix batches, do not correspond to different mixes. The difference is striking; sections of grout are light gray or dark gray, not some intermediate shade.
The dark sections are predominantly in upper corners under cabinets. There is some subtle environmental/locational effect. But I’m very unclear what it could be. Seems permanent. If I were to remove the dark sections, pretty painful, but I’m willing, what would I do differently to prevent recurrence? Thanks!
The color of cementitious grouts can vary even when using the grout from one batch. There are different reasons of what cause it. It could be because you used too much water in mixing that causes the grout to dry at different rates.
Sometimes it is because there was too much water used to clean up the grout during the installation process and you pull out color pigment in some areas of the grout and not so much from other areas.
It could be because the grout dried/cured at a different rate. The upper corners under the cabinet may have caused the grout to take longer to dry than other areas. It is know that if grout dries at different rates because the absorption of the tile is different in different spots or if there is a draft of air causing an area to dry faster or if there is a condition that prevents the grout from drying as fast as other areas it can cause the grout to be darker or lighter in color.
That is why the manufacturers of grout recommend cover curing with plastic or burlap, so the grout doesn’t dry too fast and all of the grout dries uniformly.
We just had our kitchen done with grey porcelain tile and grey grout and the grout color is dark grey and almost white in areas. It looks terrible, we had the supervisor back to look at it and are waiting to see how they will fix it. What would you expect them to do? He said he did not know the cause
It isn’t unusual for cementitious grouts to vary in color to some degree. It is the nature of the beast. Although extreme color variation as you described suggests that the tile installer used too much water in the grout when mixing it, and/or they used too much water during the cleanup process. Using too much water in the cleanup process will cause the color pigments in the grout to wash out.
The only remediation solutions is either replace the grout, which is messy and they might damage the tiles during the replacement process. Of course if they re-grout the way they originally did they might get the same results.
The other solution is to have them purchase a grout colorant in the color that you want. This is an epoxy based paint that grout manufacturers produce in colors that match their grout. It is a tedious process to apply the colorant and it can look bad if the applicator doesn’t do a good job keeping the colorant in line with the grout. Although it can make your grout joints consistent in color.
In effect, grout colorants will also seal the grout and they might be easier to maintain if the colorant is applied correctly. It is possible the colorant can wear over time depending on what kind of conditions it is subjected to.
We have similar problem – our grout color is very different from one area to the next on our newly tile floors. We were hoping for a very light grey color, close to white, but many of the areas appear dark drey. I see the option of epoxy-based grout colorants, but our floor tiles are cararra marble (small 2inch hex cararra). Are there any grout colorants that you know of that would go dark to light that would not bleed into the porous marble? Thanks so much!
My understanding of the epoxy based grout colorant is that it should not bleed into the marble, but you need to read the manufacturer’s directions to make sure. Plus test it first to make sure it meets your expectations. With 2 inch hex tiles it will be a very tedious process.
Hi, I have this problem on a newly grouted cement tiled floor and these exchanges are very helpful as ideally I’d like to avoid my fitter embarking on a re-grout.
I’m thinking of proceeding to sealing the floor and fixing the problem with application of epoxy colourant in due course, but just want to check this solution works for encaustic cement tiles?
Pauline, Encaustic tiles originally were produce with clay a few hundred years ago. Today the encaustic look is produced with cementitious base tiles as well as porcelain clay bodies.
Cementitious Encaustic tiles tend to be more porous so they are more susceptible to staining. They are also more irregular in sizing and more difficult to install.
Assuming you tape the edges of the tiles well and make sure the grout is clean and dry, the grout colorant should work ok.
We had our bathroom tile floor installed with darker grey grout and it stayed uniform and the desired color for about 8 to 10 weeks. Then, slowly at first and then more rapidly, areas started to turn mottled and whiteish. Does the delay of the start of the color change mean anything as to cause or is it still the situation that you explain here? Also, there are a couple cracks in the grout.
Normally when you see the whitish staining on the surface of the cementitious grout it is an indication that moisture is passing through and evaporating precipitating minerals.
More often it is from moisture beneath the tile that picks up minerals as it migrates to the surface to evaporate. It could also be from cleaning the floor with water and letting the moisture evaporate rather than vacuuming it up. The water can natural contain minerals or there could be residuals from the cleaner used or from the dirty floor that was cleaned.
You can try cleaning the grout with a tile cleaner and scrub brush on an extended handle. Be sure to pick up the dirty water with a wet vacuum and then flush it with clean water and again pick up with a wet vacuum.
one the grout is clean and dry, you seal the grout with penetrating grout sealer. This will help keep the moisture from going into or out of the grout joint and will help make it easier to maintain the grout.
I have two different colors of grout on my shower floor…or it just looks that way. The drain area was done later in the day and I think the installer mixed more grout for that section. As soon as that section gets any water on it, it turns a darker color and stays that way for days, with some grout never changing back to original color. The floor just looks really dirty. He came back and re-grouted that area, but the same thing happened as soon as any liquid hits that area. The rest of the grout does not noticeably change color when wet. I’m just disgusted at this point.
There are many possible reasons why the second application of the grout later in the day doesn’t match the color of the adjacent grout. The installer could have used grout from a different container that was produced at a different time than the other grout. Since the second application of grout seems more porous, the installer may not have compacted the grout as much as he did the other areas. The more the grout absorbs the more likely it will darken.
If the grout around the drain stays dark for an extended period of time, that might be an indication that the installer inadvertently plugged the weep holes around the drain clamp, so water can not readily drain away.
Using an epoxy based grout colorant might be the best solution to getting the grout color to look uniform. It will also limit water absorbing through the grout joints.
If I use the epoxy base colorant, do I still have to use asealer?
The epoxy based colorant is impervious so you shouldn’t have to use a sealer.
Hi. My shower floor was regrouted a couple of days ago and a glaze, not sealant, applied on top. The installer said the grout was dry before applying the glaze, but now I have areas of grout that are considerably darker than other parts and some grout sections with dark spots. My floor is pebble/river stone and sanded grout used. Would the cause be the grout didn’t cure completely? The grout reacted with the glaze? Should you even use glaze on pebble tiles? Or just sealant? What can I do to fix this? I’m not handy but this looks like crap. Thank you!
Not sure what a glaze is in the context you use. Glaze in the tile world is a glass-like substance that is applied to a clay body and fired in a kiln.
Sealer is the common term for the liquid applied coating that is to provide some moisture and stain resistance to grout and porous tiles and stones. Sometimes they are referred to as a sealant, but more commonly sealants are considered a caulking.
Assuming the glaze is similar to a sealer, it is possible they didn’t let the grout dry out completely and there is water trapped beneath the sealer causing the dark spots. Depending on the type of sealer it might dissipate over time.
Seala
Hi,
I changed the tile in the house one month ago. we installed carracata which is a beautiful tile but now I notice they are different part in the house where the tile is changing color. Please, is that possible. What can I do? I would like to consult an expert, any advise with welcome.
Thanks,
Not sure if you are referring to the quartz man-made material or Carrara marble or Calcutta marble natural stone. All three materials are fairly dense material so they have low absorption. Although if there is high moisture in the concrete slabs below them it can cause water to migrate into the tile and cause it to darken.
To stop the moisture migration you need to determine the source of the moisture and whether you can stop it. If you have a high water table or water is migrating laterally from around the outside perimeter of the house you can install trench drains to try to divert the water to drain away.
Before tile is installed you should check the concrete slab for relative humidity to determine if there is a potential moisture problem. If there is there are moisture mitigation systems that can be installed over the slab that you can then adhere the tile to.
Hi, I just had snow white grout installed on our limestone pavers. It looks way to dark. It’s only been a few hours and it looks grey, definetely darker than the pavers. When the pool guys used it on our coping, it was immediately the snow white grout I wanted. The pool guys used prism snow white and the recent contractor used polyblend snow white.
Should there be a difference with the brands? Will this grout lighten up or will it remain grey? Thanks in advance for your help! I’m really hating this dark grout.
Normally grout when first installed will look darker. Give it some time and it should lighten up.
Different manufacturers of the same grout color name are not intended to match each other.
I had to replace some grout in my shower, part of it appears to be darker/not fully dry. Is it possible that water is behind the tile wall and should I remove all the grout and let it dry?
If the cementitious grout is hard, but darker that doesn’t mean it is damp. Often when patching grout into an existing installation it will dry darker if it dried faster or slower than the original grout.
If the grout is soft it might have been over washed with water that pulls out the cement and weakens it. Or if the grout tries too fast it can make it soft and in some cases powdery. Cement products will get harder over time if left damp.
If it doesn’t get hard after a day or two, then dig it out and redo it. But make sure you mix it per the manufacturer’s directions and don’t use too much water as you clean off the grout from the tile.
We didn’t like the grout color so we used black colorant over the existing grout to make it black however, I can tell where the color was overlapped and now it looks streaky. Any advise?
I’m not sure exactly what you mean by overlapped. If you overlapped the grout colorant as you applied it and those areas look different, you can sand it down, clean it, and reapply the colorant.
If you overlapped the grout colorant over the tile itself then use an exacto knife and gently scrape it off the tile.
I had to get a couple of tiles replaced in my living room a month or two ago. The grout on the other tiles are quite dark. The tiler told me that the reason the colour was so light was because its fresh and it should darken over the next couple of months. It hasn’t darkened at all. Was he telling the truth and I just need to wait a bit longer (it hasn’t darkened yet) or did he stuff up and make something up?
Generally speaking grout gets darker over time as it becomes soiled from regular use and also do to improper cleaning. People tend to use mops that move dirt around and they don’t pick up all of the dirty water with a wet vacuum so the dirty water absorbs into the grout making it darker over time.
When you replace tiles initially the grout never matches because it isn’t soiled and because it was installed at a different time and maybe with a different bag of grout. Probably after many months it will blend in. Of course you could get a neutral detergent and add to water and soak the floor for 10 minutes or so and then use a scrub brush on an extended handle and scrub the tile and grout. Then use a wet vacuum to pick up the dirty water. Rinse the floor with clean water and vacuum that up too. More than likely your darker grout will look closer to the new grout.
Hi, We are about to finish our new extension project and we bought 20cm porcelain cream tiles, I wanted my grout to be similar cream color so we bought Ultra Scape Flowpoint Rapid Setting External Grout 25kg Natural Grey; which is supposed to be grey in colour when in powder form but i was told when it dries it will become cream. the installer decided not to follow flowpoint method. instead they made a paste and added grout to the tiles with 5mm spacer.
Now it has dried but showing patches of ugly grey everywhere. I am really sad with the look of my newly created garden tiles.
can you please help and give us some solution. thanks
First of all, the installer should have followed the grout manufacturer’s directions. I haven’t seen a natural grey grout look cream in color. It is a light gray color normally.
Cementitious grouts do tend to very in color depending on how it is applied and depending on what are the environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and wind. If the installer uses too much water in mixing the grout and/or uses too much water in cleaning the grout; particularly if they clean it too soon before it gets set up it can draw the color pigments out of the grout that will give you a blotchy appearance.
The only thing you can do after the fact, is use an epoxy grout colorant and paint over the grout to give it a uniform appearance.
thank you very much for your help and advice. we will try out the suggested solution. hope that solves the issue.
So glad I found this site, just got tile installed by a good friend who is very good at what he does and did do a wonderful job. Unfortunately the grout didn’t all cure the same color and my heart is so heavy, waited 13 years to have my awful floors done 🙁 Don’t want to make waves with my friend and after reading so many similar posts guess this is “normal” ? but a new floor should not look like that and I’m having a hard time not looking at all the variations which is killing me. Our children are grown and we are not “hard” on our floor, what can I expect from using an epoxy paint on the grout ?Really didn’t think I should be doing this on brand new grout /flooring. Long term reviews ? Thank you so very much
Using an epoxy grout colorant is about the only option to getting a uniform grout color on a new tile installation where the grout color varies excessively. It can be a good solution if done correctly and if it isn’t subjected to excessive wear it should last. It is a tedious process. You have to clean the grout and make sure it is dry. You should tape the edges of both sides of the tile so when the grout is painted it doesn’t get on the tile and then give an uneven sloppy look.
Typically, over time the grout will even out on floor installations. As the floor gets used the grout gets dirty. Most people mop rather than scrub their floors so this further gets the grout dirty and tends to give a uniform appearance.
Hi Donato
I bought a premixed product white grout premixed with epoxy and hardener was separate.
After mixing the white epoxy grout with hardener and applying it to mosaic shower pan tiles, 24 hrs later and its still so moist as Ive just laid it down. Not hard at all.
Any suggestions. Mixed the entire contents, so its not a ratio issue i dont think.
First of all it isn’t what we call premixed if you have to combine the epoxy resin and hardener. Premixed is when you just remove the lid and apply.
Normally the reason an epoxy does not harden is because you didn’t combine the part A resin and part B hardener at the correct ratio. Maybe you didn’t use the entire contents together as they are pre-gauged at the correct ratio? or maybe you didn’t remove the entire contents from each container. So you likely need more of the Part B hardener to be added.
Hi Donato, I glued white subway tiles on a kitchen splashback with white tile glue and the next day I put in bright white grout. 3 days later clients called to say my grout was turning an orangy/brown (terracotta colour?) all over in patches. This has made the grout look dirty and not new. I have never had this problem in all of the years I’ve been tiling using all of the same product except the type of tile used. Tile manufacturer says it’s a grout supplier problem and grout supplier said it’s a tile issue. Could the tile biscuit backing (same colour of stain) have leached into the grout or could it be a bad grout batch? I’m stumped.
I have seen where grout has changed color similar to what you have described. There are several possibilities.
The water used to mix the grout could have been contaminated causing the stain. I have seen were a ceramic tile and the carton it came in had gotten wet while in the cardboard packaging. The carton bleed a stain that was absorbed into the tile. Later after the tile and the box was dried and that tile was installed the water from the grout activated the stain that leached out of the tile.
Another possibility is if the grout joints had debris that wasn’t cleaned out prior to grouting that could be the source of the staining.
It is possible to test the stained grout in a testing laboratory to determine the chemical makeup of the stain to help determine its source, but it probably isn’t worth spending the money to do so. You can always use a grout colorant to paint over the stain grout.
Just had some repair done to tile grout where the repairman put some new grout to patch some spots. Now those spots look very dark. He said over time they will match the old grout. From your experience how long does it take for new grout to dry to their true colors ? And if the colors indeed don’t match, what can be done? It’s hideous to look at right now with the darker new patches amongst the old lighter coloured grout
It is normal that when you repair grout that the new grout will look different to some degree. Even when you use the same grout out of the same bag it will often look different.
The reason the grout looks different is due to a number of factors. The new grout dries differently that will affect the color from making it darker to lighter in color. The original grout is worn and likely dirty to some degree so the new grout doesn’t match. Most people don’t clean the floor properly and will use a mop that spreads the dirt around. When the residual mop water dries it leaves a dirty residue. Of depending on how frequently you clean the floor, how you clean the floor, and whether you have a lot of foot traffic, it will take awhile for it to blend in.
There are grout colorants that are basically an epoxy paint that matches grout colors. You can paint over cleaned grout joints so they all look the same. The process is very tedious to do it right.
Hi Donato,
A tile guy installed subway tile with white grout for a kitchen backsplash. Over a few months, the grout discolored and turned orange only directly under a section of upper cabinets (plywood) that were not primed. A different section of backsplash with upper cabinets that were primed stayed white. The corner, where the grout is stained, stayed white. That corner of the cabinet has an angle and doesn’t directly touch the wall. My theory is that the grout soaked up the color from the plywood in the cabinets and it travelled down, staining the grout uniformly all the way to the countertop. Tile guy never seen this before and other tile guys and suppliers have never encountered that either. They say that it might be moisture in the wall or bad grout. The backsplash has cement backer board and the exterior walls have vapor barrier behind the backer board. Can the wood really discolor the grout that fast and that evenly from top to bottom?
That is odd, but lets go through a process of elimination to try to understand what caused it, and then the question is what to do to remove the stain.
Plywood is an acceptable substrate for bonding tile to it. Because of the way plywood or OSB is manufactured it is not known to cause staining in tile or grout.
You said that the under section of one cabinet was primed and tile below on the backsplash did not stain, but the tile on the backsplash under a portion of the cabinet that wasn’t primed did stain. So I am assuming the unprimed cabinet also was not painted. I don’t think it is likely that a horizontal plywood surface above and adjacent to a tile backsplash it likely to cause a grout stain on the backsplash wall.
If you used an epoxy white grout, they are known to turn yellow under various conditions. Could be from that area of the backsplash getting more direct sunlight. Or there was some chemical substances that mixed or used in that area where the fumes from the compound chemically interacted with the white epoxy grout.
If you have a regular cementitious white grout, then the only time I have seen staining is where contaminated water was used to mix with the grout that resulted in staining. Or if there was some contaminate in the grout joints that was not cleaned out before grouting that caused the stain.
You can experiment to try to clean with grout with various cleaners. If you try an acid, make sure it is a highly diluted acid that is manufactured for cleaning grout. Initially you should use a neutral detergent in water and scrub the grout surface to see if it will remove it. Depending on the type of grout there may be other solutions for trying to clean it.
If you can’t clean the grout, the consider buying a white grout colorant and paint over the clean grout.
We remove the bathtub and had a shower installed with porcelain wall tiles and hexagonal porcelain floor tiles. Within weeks after guests had used the shower for a week dark spots appeared in the silver coloured grout. It was throughout the 3’ X 6’ shower. The contractor didn’t know why this would happen. The tile store gave my the “ paint “ the colour of the grout and I painstakingly covered all the spots. However when more guests used it more dark spots appeared. So I covered them. After the last guest I have more spots and in places I already painted. I have noticed the grout between the was and floor is cracking. The contractor has said the grout can’t be removed without damaging the tile and is suggesting laying a new floor on top of the problem floor. I am concerned as I don’t know what the underlying problem is
Without actually seeing what you are describing and performing some destructive testing, it isn’t possible to say what caused the stains.
If the dark spots were at the intersection of grout joints it could be the installer left plastic spacers in the joints and grouted over it.
If the installer didn’t protect the drain weep holes water could be prevented from draining under the tile, but in that case I wouldn’t expect dark spots, but rather the grout being darker around the shower drain.
It could be a contaminate, but the only way to determine that is to do laboratory testing that would cost a couple thousand dollars.
Normally the “paint” given to change the color of the grout is an epoxy colorant, which should seal the joint so that nothing would show through.
It is possible to install a new tile over an existing tile installation of the existing tile installation is structurally sound. Of course that doesn’t fix the problem it just fixes the symptom of the problem and hopefully isolates the problem. You have to make sure that you have the room to add the thickness of another tile and setting bed down. You would then have to extend the drain up to be flush with the new tile surface.
If you were to install tile over tile. I would scarify the existing tile. Then skim coat the tile floor with an ANSI A118.15 polymer modified thinset. Assuming the shower floor is already sloped to the drain between 1/4″ per foot and 1/2″ per foot, I would apply a liquid applied water proof membrane over it. Then I would bond the tile to the membrane. I would make sure that all the perimeters and transitions joints are filled with an ASTM C920 sealant caulking that is normally a 100% silicone or polyurethane material. Then you could grout it with an impervious epoxy grout as an added precaution or install it with a polymer modified cementitious grout.