Porcelain tile: Forgot to seal before grouting

[Susanne77]

Hello,

we just installed porcelain tile in our apartment, and the people who installed the tile didn't realize that it needed to be sealed before grouting. We used a dark grout with our light beige tile, and as a result, the tile is now badly discolored--there is a general dirty look to it, as well as many distinct stains. Is there any way to clean this tile?

Thanks for your help.

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[Tool Guy - Kg]

Hi Susanne,

Is this polished porcelain? Textured? Glazed, or unglazed?

Most porcelain tiles don't require sealing before or after grouting (though it can help out somewhat). But polished porcelain tiles are a different story can benefit from sealing. Let us know what you have, and if you are able to post a picture, that is very helpful. :)

[Susanne77]

Hm... I'm not really sure (which is why I didn't install the tile myself :-)). The tile has a smooth but matt finish, so I assume it is unglazed. I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it.

By the way, I tried the porcelain tile cleaner/conditioner sold to us with the tile--the stuff that is supposed to protect and clean the tile at the same time. It had absolutely no effect on the discoloration.

Sorry I'm not more knowledgable about all this--I'm a layperson just trying to get my mind around what happened here...

[Davestone]

Susanne you probably have some grout residue on the tiles.You'll need a haze cleaner, a cleaner designes to remove grout residue, they usually have these at HD and Lowes,just follow the directions on the bottle.Normally only polished porcelains require a sealer, and only the grout is sealed.