Sealer turned grout yellow - help!

[MaryO]

Yesterday we sealed our bright white unsanded grout with 511 impregnator sealer. Today, the grout is yellow! It is in a walk in shower with white subway tile.

We used an old bottle of sealer - maybe 4 years old - that the guy at the box store assured me was still good. No need to buy a new one he said. My husband said it was yellow out of the bottle when he used it yesterday, but we don't remember what it was like when it was new.

I'm pretty heartbroken over this as it has been a has been a hell of a project. Not that it matters now, but we had a contractor that installed the tile without a moisture barrier...we ripped it out and re-did it ourselves. Thought we were finally done and had a great outcome (better than the first time) and now we have yellow grout.

Sooo.... what do we do now?? I'm pretty sure this is not going to get better as the sealer finishes curing - is that correct? Can we remove it, and how? Any other way to fix it??

Did this happen because we used an old bottle of sealer?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Houston Remodeler]

Mary,

Welcome to the forum.

You learned the first rule of tiling;

"When speaking to someone in an apron, restrict your questions to ones that begin with - Where can I find the .....?"

You'll fare best by calling Custom Building Products directly to get specific instructions. I don't have their number handy and the one on that old bottle of sealant isn't good either.

[doitright]

Hi Mary

I can really feel for you.

There is no doubt the sealer was bad.

Please post a photo of your completed shower.

In the meanwhile, try spraying some water on the sealed grout and tell us what happens. Hopefully it doesn't bead up (although I think it will).

If this was your 4 year old bottle of sealer, and you went to the box store and asked the advice of one of the aisle clerks than I hate to say it's not the stores fault. You should have called the Technical Assistance number on the bottle.

If you just bought it from the store, I strongly suggest going to the General Manager of the store where you bought the sealer. Document everything. Try to get the employees name also. You might have to look on your receipt for the day and time of purchase.

Not stopping there, I would call and email Miracle Sealants Customer Service and try to get in touch with someone of authority. While they aren't responsible for what happened, one of their Distributors is.

This is where the rubber hits the road. Somebody needs to be accountable.

I ask you these questions for the benefit of others who may come into similar situations, not to offend you.

[MaryO]

The person who is accountable is me. We had 2 half full bottles from previous tiling projects and I wanted to save a little cash if I could, given that we paid a contractor for nothing and purchased materials twice. Bad choice, clearly.

I took a wet paper towel to some of the grout earlier just to see if maybe the yellow would just magically come off (of course it didn't), and it appears that the sealer definitely is working. No water soaked into the grout. Will do the water test, but I'm positive that it will bead up.

I'll also try to get a picture up tomorrow. The yellow is actually pretty subtle - at first I did not notice and definitely it is not noticeable from a few feet away, but when your nose is up against it in the shower it is obvious.

I'll give Miracle Sealants a call tomorrow as well and see what they say.

[doitright]

Hi Paul

This is a Miracle product, not Custom's.

Hi Mary

Yeah, see what they say. Maybe a light acid wash & grout colorant.

[Houston Remodeler]

Didn't Custom buy out Miracle a few years back?

[doitright]

Hi Paul

No, Custom's bought Aqua Mix.

[Houston Remodeler]

My bad

[MaryO]

This company: http://www.groutrevive.co/ claims to have a solution - they're selling "seal remover" and colorant. The Miracle website FAQs say the only way to get rid of it is to sand it off, but who knows. Maybe this stuff is worth a shot. Does anyone have any experience with it?

[silverolas]

Did the grout discolor ?, or did it leave a residue on top of the grout. I think this is an important distinction. I also would try a tile cleaner(alkaline first, then acidic ) with a nylon brush and see if you could improve any areas .
Jimmy


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