Experience with TEC Power Grout not curing?
renovaddict
7 years ago
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Carol Jones
5 years agom_gabriel
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Best Grout Sealer for TEC Premium Accucolor grout
Comments (8)Hollysprings, I just realized I forgot to crosspost to the Kitchen Forum. Thank goodness I got your post. I told the installer after 5 PM when he called on Saturday that he could start on Monday but now I am getting so nervous as I want a floor easy to keep clean. He says the Power Grout still stains and is not worth the cost and is more difficult to use. I did do some research on it and in 2010, many installers were having so many problems with the Power Grout coming out when showering and staining feet. Maybe it has been improved? The first installer wanted me to pick up the Power Grout myself making his price $700 more. Also I am looking over the other estimate I got a few hours earlier before this installer called and it says that this other installer would prime the floor and supply the primer before installing the tile so maybe that is why the estimate is $300 more. This other installer says I am to buy my own grout. I did not consider him as his reply on when I asked what the grout width would be was that it would not be more than 1/4". I want a think grout line. The other two installers told me they would try to get as thin of a grout line as they can ONCE they assess the situation after they remove the Linoleum floor and see how flat the surface is and how the tiles are when they are placed on the floor in the running bond position. Now I am getting confused as I did say he could start and I felt so comfortable with the installer but I wonder if my floor needs to have a primer on it and I wonder if the other guy could install the Epoxy grout also without charging me more than the $300 more IF I buy the grout which I know is expensive. He would have to tell me how much to buy. The guy that is coming on Monday is supplying the TEC grout with the job and was one of the installers given to me by the store. My Spectralock grout has never turned colors and the front foyer still looks almost new since installed at the end of December 2008. The middle foyer where I keep the puppy pads is staining from the pee from my little dogs and it is difficult to keep clean but never turns black like I see in so many houses with light grout....See MoreGrout madness! Delorean gray or ???
Comments (10)Wow - Houzz is right on those notifications when people post to your threads! Anyhow, we used the Delorean gray - it doesn't match perfectly, but it's neutral enough to be fine and I don't even notice it anymore. I did have an issue with the power grout though - it didn't cure right -- months after it was applied, when it got wet, you could scoop it out of the grout joints with your finger (or in the case of the shower, it washed out of the joints and ran down the wall). We had to go back and forth with the company trying to figure out what to do -- they were helpful but tried to pin the blame on the tile guy not mixing it right, which of course the tile guy denied. Then they said it might have been a bad batch. Or too much pigment. They had no idea, basically. We came this close to ripping it all out and redoing it (which the company had implied they would pay for), but before going with that nuclear option, the company told us to just keep wetting it and letting it dry -- that that would restart the curing process. After several (and I mean several -- like 15+) good soakings and then letting it dry out for several days (meaning we couldn't use our bathroom for months), the grout finally cured and it's fine now. And it holds up well and hasn't gotten stained or moldy like our old regular grout. But the whole experience would leave me hesitant to use power grout in the future. It may have just been a fluke bad-batch kind of thing or it may have been that the tile guy didn't mix it right, but it left a bad taste in my mouth where power grout is concerned....See MoreTile installation planning; grout
Comments (26)" Is it okay to use grout at the perimeter to hold small pieces in place? " NO. Drywall: Industry standard is A 5/8" gap between drywall and your slab and that is a seperate concern from the tile perimeter expansion gap. Drywall can and will wick moisture from a slab and turn to mold. In time that mold will spread behind your baseboards and into your wall cavity until you see it. Tile: TCNA Handbook recommends allowing for expansion and contraction in every tile installation. In small rooms, a gap at the perimeter of the room (often hidden by baseboard or shoe molding) is sufficient. No grout at the perimeter means no grout at any part of the perimeter. Nor caulk. Be it a wall stud or drywall hung to low. As defined by TCNA EJ171 and ANSI this means the tile must have expansion at the the stud itself or the drywall if it is installed to low. Beyond that Your homes framing will expand and contract both vertically and horizontally. The drywall still needs to have a gap and should never touch the tile anywhere just like the drywall cant touch the slab anywhere....See MoreGrouting, time to cure, and tiling issues
Comments (8)1. Epoxy grout is not shiny: it looks like regular grout. But it does require someone with experience to apply it properly because it is very stiff, dries quickly, is harder to force into thin grout lines, and is difficult or impossible to remove if it dries on the surface of the tile. 2. The main health risks from grout are to tilers who don't wear respirators when mixing up the dusty compound, and a slight, temporary offgassing as it cures. For your purposes, grout does not pose any acute or long-term carcinogenic issues. There are thousands of common household products that contain chemical compounds with carcinogenic potential, but that doesn't mean that you are going to get cancer from them. It's wise to be aware of potential risks from various products. However, if you read every product's MSDS sheet, and don't have an epidemiological and risk management background, you can scare yourself for no reason. 3. Grout immediately. Ungrouted tile can result in chipped edges, particularly if you are having people working around and walking on these tiles. I also hope you intend to protect the tile surfaces so they don't get damaged from drywall sanding grit and traffic in the area. I would choose to lay tile after that work was done, but, if you have no choice, make sure the floors don't suffer as a result....See MoreCarl Dunkin
5 years agoKennth Pastoor
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