First Tile Job.

[Jim Boyle]

I just did my first tile job and am finding out that I should have done a hell of a lot more research then I did before doing it. I put down 12x12 glazed porcelain textured white tiles using dove gray grout. The day after the tile job the floor looked great. The grout was all uniform in appearance and the tile looked good. With in a few days I started to notice discoloration in the grout and the tile just seemed to look dirty. It’s now been about 3 weeks and I haven’t sealed the grout yet and wasn’t planning on doing it until I figured out what’s going on. From reading your forum I think my problem is that I did a bad job on cleaning up the grout haze. Does this sound like the problem to you guys and if so what should I use to soften the grout haze to make it easier to clean? I just got done spending 3 hrs scrubbing 2 rows of tile using Aqua Mix Grout Haze Clean Up and while it looks better I can still see some grout in the textured surface of the tile and the scrubbing doesn’t seem to be doing much to help the grout lines. Any help would be appreciated.

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[Dog paws]

Hi Jim, try a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water. Let it dwell for a few minutes before you begin scrubbing.

[muskymike]

Hi Jim, welcome! That stuff can be a pain to grout. I'm gonna move ya over to the Cleaning and Restoration forum. One of the guys over there will prolly know what to use to clean it.

[Jim Boyle]

Thanks for moving me to the correct forum muskymike and thanks for the advice Dog Paws. I wish I would have found this forum before I did the job, it probably would have gone a lot smoother. I Have a few oppps to fix and some scrubbing but think overall it looks pretty good. I still have a bathroom I want to tile but now that I know there are outstanding professionals like your selves to ask questions to, you can be sure I’ll be asking a few more. I listened to my son who does this kind of work for a private contractor and am finding out just how little he and the other tile layers who work with him actually know. It seems that they know how to put the tile down but nothing more. I appreciate having a place to come to and ask questions and appreciate the time you guys put in to lending a helping hand to us rank amateurs. Thanks again.