Dark brown delima

[The Kid]

Hi all,
Just subscribed, spend alot of time hear and thought it was time to particapate.
My problem. Ive grouted thousands of square feet of tile and the only color I have problems with is shades of dark brown. It doesnt matter the brand, these colors seem to always have inconsistant results.
Today I grouted a shower with Laticrete River rock, washed went to lunch came back and the joints were inconsistant. mind you, this is the only color shade ive ever had trouble with. Greys are ok, blacks always consistant.
WHats going on?

[Davestone]

Yeah, i've noticed the dark beiges seem to show up problems more.I guess real lights don't have darker pigment in them to show upand the real darks are more consistent cause it's easier to hide imperfections.Now causes,you probablt know them...not mixing well enough and having dark pigments come through...mixing too wet or too dry,causing inconsitencies...wiping with too wet of a sponge...excess thinset causing some joints to be deeper than others..overglaze on tiles causing inconsistent sucking out the moisture in the grout,and on and on.

[The Kid]

Thanks for your reply,
Its crazy to me, all that youve mentioned ive already accounted for. cleanup is always consistant and very dry, joints consistant in depth, etc.
I use 9235 on all my showers so i know its not the substate sucking moisture out of the grout.
and the funny thing is where its worse is on the counter top which is ditra over ply.

[Davestone]

Well, a Ditra /porcelain tile sandwich tends to lengthen curing times for thinsets,hopefully you didn't use a modified.

[The Kid]

sure didnt, I use 317 with the ditra, but thanks for the heads up.
I guess its just one of those things that keeps me wondering why!
I mix with a margin, for about 10 min. the only thing that i wonder is my water. Maybe i aught to start using the additive.

[Davestone]

I've mixed with a margin for years for small batches, but ya ever see those little beads of color that smear when you wipe the grout, apparently it doesn't get mixed that well without the electric mixer and paddle.I dunno, i get a lot of questions about this problem and i guess there are too many variables but i can tell you one thing,before the invent of latex i never had these problems.

[The Kid]

Yah, to many variables is right. Interesting about the latext coment though. Like I said the problem only occurs with this color shade. Maybe when a customer requests these colors in the future we will go the unmod route, any suggestions?

[Mike2]

Jeremy, have you tried Hydroment grout? Mix it with water instead of their latex admix and it meets ANSI 118.6 requirements for standard un-modified cement based grout.

[The Kid]

mike2,

do you know anyone who carries hydroment in the pdx area?

[Mike2]

Jeremy, try:

Dal-Tile
3240 NW 29TH AVE
PORTLAND OR 97210
(503) 236-4585

Wanke-Cascade
6330 N CUTLER CIR
PORTLAND, OR 97217
City PORTLAND OR 97217
(503) 978-8340

From your first post, given your experience level grouting thousands of SF, I'm assuming you are a contractor. Therefore you should have no problem buying supplies from either one of the above wholesale distirbutors.