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Why hasn't my grout harden?
QUESTION
My bathroom marble floor has been grouted twice now and has not hardened. I have a water softener. Would that make a difference?ANSWER
ANSWER - If you are using a cementitious grout it should harden. If you used too much water in mixing the grout and/or too much water in cleaning the grout during the installation of the grout you can weaken the grout causing it not to harden.In some cases if the grout dried too fast it may not have been able to fully hydrate, so if you wet the grout again it can then continue to harden.
I have never heard of water softener water affecting grouting.
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We are using Mapei kerapoxy grout in a new DIY finishing ( general contractor did most of the new build) of a tiled shower and bathroom floor. Once we open the 1 gallon container, are we battling the clock, or can we reseal the container for a short time, say a day or two? Thanks!
Kerapoxy is a two part epoxy. Once you open and mix them together you need to use it all and relatively soon. It is possible to mix a portion of the units, but the ratios has to be perfect or it won’t set up. Read the product data sheet for details.
Hello–we have Mapei Ultracolor Plus FA grout installed by a contractor in our shower, bathroom, and backsplash that has dried soft and powdery and gets softer when wet. Is it possible to harden this type of grout using a sealant? If not, does it need to be removed and replaced?
Normally a grout dries soft either because it dried too soon before it fully hydrated. If this is the case, normally if you wet tile grout for 24 hours or so it will harden.
Sometimes the grout won’t get hard because either they used too much water in mixing the grout or too much water cleaning the grout during the installation process. There are clear liquids like liquid glass or other products that manufacturers recommend that can possibly harden the grout. Contact Mapei and ask them what they recommend.
We are also having a problem with a lot of powdery grout in a kitchen backsplash installed about 5 weeks ago (2×6” glazed ceramic tiled was used for the backsplash). The contractor used Mapei Ultracolor Plus FA grout. The powdery grout is not everywhere but it is in several grout joints and if we run our fingers over the grout we get a fair amount of powder on our fingers and the counter. We are wondering how
this might
have happened and what to do about it. We have also
applied 2 coats of Miracle 511 H20 plus sealer and didn’t notice the powdery grout until
after sealing. Mapei has told us to strip
the sealer and then
try their Grout Refresh or their Ultra Care Grout Sealer – would one of these products stop the grout from being powdery (rust-oleum who makes Miracle has told me that their sealer can’t be stripped bc it is a penetrating sealer and they
do not make a product that strips sealer so additional question – how do we remove a penetrating sealer like the Miracle 511 H20 plus?). Mapei told me to contact rust oleum about what to use to strip the sealer. I also was told if Grout Refresh or the Mapei Ultracare sealer don’t work then the grout needs to come out. Do you have any suggestions for us?
As stated in the above answers, there are a lot of potential reasons why a grout might not get hard. There is a chance that the grout itself has some deficiencies that make it problematic. It can be the installer who used too much water in mixing the grout and/or used too much water cleaning the grout during the grout installation process. If the grout dries too fast then the grout can’t fully hydrate and that can keep the grout from getting hard. Regardless of what caused the problem it shouldn’t happen. Cementitious grout should get hard.
Unfortunately as a homeowner you get stuck in the middle because everyone points the finger at someone else. Your installer installed the grout so he is the one how needs to take the lead to resolve the problem.
Cementitious out manufacturers are use to getting complaints whether it is their fault or not, so they suggest a liquid that penetrates into the grout and hopefully makes it hard enough. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. The penetrating sealer does penetrate to some degree into the grout, but it tends to wear off. If you put a drop of water on the grout and the water beads up tightly and it doesn’t leave a wet spot on the grout then the sealer is working. If it leaves a wet spot then it is absorbing to some degree.