I have dried grout on my new travertine.. HELP !!

[jkrause]

1st time tiling a bathroom / bath tub surrond. All in all I really happy with the end results... The BIG problem is the grout on the two small walls... I got way ahead of myself with a faily thick polyblend grout (non sanded) and it dried to my 12x12 travetine to the point that I can't get it off. I have used water / water and a scub pad / Tile Lab heavy duty cleaner and stripper / resorted to a sharpened wood scraper. Nothing seem to be getting it off............

ANY ADVISE from those who know. I will take a couple of photos as well and show you what I'm working with.


Jeff

[Steven Hauser]

Hi Jeff and welcome

Yes, that is a problem, you don't want to resort to any acids even mild to remove the grout.

Now the fact is I've done the same in the past, what I've used with good results is a metal putty knife and occaisionally a hammer but not often.

Please remember two thing.

1) you want to get your blade as flat as possible so the metal doesn't leave a mark on the travertine.

2) If any is left, just carefully continue to get under it and vacuum it off. The sand in grout can scratch travertine.

Good luck.

[jkrause]

here are the photos that I just took... hopefully they post correctly.

Jeff

[jkrause]

Could I use a sandpaper ???

razor blade ?????

anything .. I really want to finish this thing over the weekend.

[Mike2]

Travertine is very soft. It not only can but will be scratched with sandpaper. You could try scraping with a razor blade but I'd say chances are very good that hard grout will cause it to break.

[Rd Tile]

Oh my, what happened there, forgot to sponge it off?

Maybe try this with a good scrubby, most other grout cleaners have acid in them, wouldn't use acid on that stone, Vinegar and water is very mild, maybe try that in a small spot first and see what happens, a sponge won't help now, use one of those grout cleaning scrubby pads.

http://www.bostik-us.com/products/in...egoryPageId=19

Scroll down to Hydroment Remove

[Davy]

I'd try the razor blade real easy like.

[jkrause]

I'll try a razor blasde this morning... Regarding the vinegar and water solution,,,,, what's thet ratio of the two fluids?

the back wall looks great.. I grouted and sponged within a few minutes of the initial gouting.. no problems..... The side walls I let dry to much.... now I know .. The hard way


Jeff

[Davy]

Myself, I wouldn't try the vinegar unless it was on a scrap piece first. I have found that even duluted vinegar has enough acid in it to etch the stone. You might prove me wrong but wash a scrap piece first.

We would usually use a 50/50 mix.

[jkrause]

seem as if a sharp razor held flat to the wall gets it off.... just a pain in the tail to do....

nothing easier I assume

Jeff

How can you tell if a stone gets "etched" is it a really bad thing ?

[John Bridge]

Jeff,

As long as the stone still looks good to you it's fine. If it becomes severely etched, you'll know it.

[ceramechanic]

If you test vinegar solution or any acid to see if it etches, you must let the tile dry completely to get the full effect. Won't show so much when wet. Best way I know is to test solution on half of a tile and leave the other half unharmed, then when the tile dries you will be able to see if there was any affect on the stone surface.