I wish I had gone with my gut and used what we‘ve always used in the past. we went on the contractors recommendation. We used this on a newly tiled shower floor as well as the walls. I noticed a bad smell (not sewer gas) every night the contractors left. Its hard to describe. i assumed it was something in the mortar? We let this cure for 4 days. The smell was on and off and didnt have to do with a dry shower. Big thing I noticed was that the grout seemed to absorb the water. It turned from a light to a dark grey when wet. You shouldnt have to seal this Read the bag. Sealant not needed Same with our ceramic tiles our other grout does NOT turn color nor does the caulk This worried me then that the water is going through and under the tiles How would this NOT cause mildew and mold down the line? i just looked on Menards site and thought it very odd they dont gave reviews by their products. How many of us read and rely on those? I talked to a seasoned tiler now retired and working at Menards who insisted that yes, it is sealed. What i see and what Im hearing seem to be two different things This morning, 11 hours after the last shower, there was still some darkening around the drain Standing water underneath? Who knows. This shower is just over a week in use and I dont see a good outcome. I highly recommend using something else. For the floor, especially. Note in the picture the darker grout near the drain. When wet, it all turns this dark grey. My big question - why does it seem to be absorbing water if its a sealed product? And what is the ’stale’ smell that comes and goes? Yes, I always leave the bathroom fan running after a shower And again, this is 11 hours after using the shower

I bought this when I was tired of trying to figure out the best grout for my shower and let a Daltile salesman sell me this product. It was supposed to be close to waterproof, but once you buy it you find out it is not. I have done many tile jobs in houses I have lived in, so grouting is hardly new to me. It is one of the easier parts of tiling and my wife and I can grout and clean tile quickly. After reading all the horrible reviews after I bought it (check all the Flexcolor CQ colors for more reviews), I thought about returning it. But I convinced myself some people never have good experiences and some never read instructions. I read and reread all the instructions and looked at lots of videos. I applied in small (3 sq. ft.) areas and wiped down excess immediately and kept at it. It was too no avail—the tile looks dull and the haze is thick. A white scrubbing pad (the mildly abrasive ones that disappear as you use them) with an abrasive tool and a microfiber cloth will get a lot of it off the next day. Not sure whether I have to get tile haze remover from Mapei for this (I promise myself never to buy Mapei products again). I only did about 15 sq. ft. so far. I will apply Grout Release today to the rest of the almost 200 sq,. ft. of tile I have. They recommend that for bumpy tile, but even with subway tile the haze is very bad. Applying the grout is very, very time consuming on a wall. It is highly sanded and does not adhere to itself well when wet, so pieces of it constantly fall off the float. It is important to add and tape visqueen or other covering to floors and any other surface you don't want grout on because removing it is very hard. It does not easily get it into spaces between tiles, though because it is sanded it works on wide and narrow spacing. The previous owner did this shower and did a bad job—including walls not square or plumb, so tile spacing was very difficult. That is one advantage of this grout—it works from 1/16 to 1/2". It claims to be color consistent and does not stain though it doesn't matter much on subway tile. It took me an hour to do the small amount with constant cleaning. Probably a very, very small amount on the float is all that works unless you are doing a floor. Having to constantly go to the bucket for small amount slows you down even more. This product has been on the market for quite a while. Some love it and some hate it. The reviews on the internet show both contractors and homeowners have the same reactions of love and hate. There is hardly any in between. Maybe after doing this for 5 or 10 jobs, you can master it, but for contractors that means expensive calls backs and for homeowners that means aggravation, extra work and maybe more money. A good product for a masochist, someone with a variety of tile spacing because of poor initial construction and maybe to avoid color issues. For the rest of us, almost anything else has to be better.

treehugger, I don't know where you're getting all that. I gain nothing from trying to help people here. Let me give you just one example of why I don't care for those products. I live in Maine, and I've got a brother in law who lives just north of Salt Lake City. About 4 years ago, he called me and asked if I could help walk him through installing tile throughout his kitchen, front hall, and foyer. I spent over 2 1/2 hours on speaker phone with him, directing him on how to lay his floor out, going through several different possibilities, as well as giving him a shopping list of exactly what he needed to complete the project. About a week later, he sent me a very nice thank you email, and I thought that was that. Come to find out, he'd gone to Home Depot to get his materials, and while there, some numb as a box of rocks salesperson told him that this premixed thinset was "all the rage" that ALL the pros were using it. Well, he decided maybe this was the way to go. Six months later (this was in april the tile went down, and then in october,) he called me to ask my why his grout was all cracking. So, I went through everything, step by step. I had him go downstairs and measure his joists, to make sure they were strong enough. Then he checked the layers of his subfloor. Next, I asked him to tell me exactly what he used for thinset. He told me that wouldn't be a problem-- he still had a PAIL of it.... I told him that was as far as he needed to go. I had him clean the grout around one tile and pop it. He didn't even need a chisel. Six months later, the premixed thinset (mastic) WAS STILL SOFT. Don't get me wrong-- premixed thinset has its uses, but those uses are very specific and limited, and the use for which it was designed (replacing portland cement based thinsets for floor installations) is not one of them. Go to any tile forum, and you'll see that. Same with the premixed grouts. 9 times out of 10, they make a mess, shrink in the joints so bad that the tile has to be regrouted a second and even a third time. Additionally, they make such a mess that they're next to impossible to clean,and they're impractical to use. Let me ask you a question, lady. If these products are all that great, then why is it I knew right off, without you telling me, what it was that you used? Next point-- you think I'm in here to steer people AWAY from doing their own work? Aren't YOU barking up the wrong tree! (all pun intended!) I spend just as much time on line helping people as I do actually setting tile. I'm here for two reasons-- either one, to make sure people who try to do their own tile have a much better chance for success, or two, to help people who have pros install their tile, make certain that their installers have half a clue as to what they're doing. Now, if you have problems in your life, I'm sorry for what you're going through. But I've done nothing to deserve this bullsh*t you're giving me. Don't bother responding, because I won't come back to this thread.

You saved it! Awesome! This is great. You will need: 1. Elmer's wood glue 2. Wax paper or something non-sticky like that 3. A heavy shoe or something else to add weight I would figure out how the chunk lines up. Once you have that figured out, you can then add a small amount of wood glue (just enough to squish up to the surface of the cork...but nothing more) to the raw cork on the back of the chunk. A. Carefully place the chunk back into place. Allow the glue to squish up. B. Us a slightly damp cloth to wipe away the excess glue. C. Place the non-sticky paper (wax or backing paper is PERFECT) over the chunk D. Place the heavy shoe (or pot, or book, etc) over top the wax paper - make sure the weight is over the chunk E. Leave in place until the next day. I like the idea of a shoe because it gives the VISUAL that people should walk around the patched area but if they happen to kick it, it doesn't hurt. Once the glue has dried, you should have a nicely patched floor. If you feel it needs some colour touch up, then go ahead and find a permanent marker (water based markers can work...but they wash off as you clean the floor) in the right colour and do your best to help it blend in. Crayola is AMAZING when it comes to colour choices. I always keep them around for things like this. Done. This is why cork is SOOOO cool! It is DIY friendly and super easy to fix.