New grout drying different colors

Recently had a small bathroom counter top tiled. The tile is fine and the grout suppose to be a wheat color. I thought originally the color discoloration was the difference of the grout not having dried completely. Unfortunately it has now been a week and the discoloration has not improved. Part of the grout just looks wet in color. Of course the tile person says he did the job perfect and the tile place says the grout was fine but I am left with the problem. Any suggestions and/or ideas of what the problem is. The grout was done one day after the tile was applied. The tile was done with the chicken wire and mud. Any help will be greatly appreciated

There are many reasons for this, what type of grout? You say it looks wet, was it a powdered grout he mixed or pre-mixed, how big are the jonts?, un-sanded or sanded grout used.

Using too much water during clean up is the number one cause, it washes the color out of the top layer, too much thinset left in the joints after tiling is another.

If the installer won't fix this, you can use a grout colorant to get a uniform look and seal it all in one step.

This is a question. I want the lighter of the grout colors would grout colorant lighten the dark grout?

Secondly can you scrape the top layer of the grout and reply a new grout without removing all of it? The darkness is predominently in the front the V caps?

If you use a colorant it has to be used over the whole area, not just the darker ones trying to get it to match the lighter, maybe try some vinigar and water over the darker shades, it might lighten it up some.

Thanks for your answers to my grout issues. I will try using vinegar and water over the dark spots. My question on the grout colorant is will it help in lightening up the dark part of the grout? I like the color the grout has dried in the lighter shade. Using the grout colorant may make all of the grout dark? Would scraping out some of the dark grout spots help and recover it with a new layer?

Rosemary-- grout colorant is made to coat over your existing grout, and make it the color that the grout is SUPPOSED to be. If it's supposed to be a lighter shade, that's what the grout colorant will do. If it's supposed to be a DARKER shade, it'll do that, instead. Think of it like a paint for grout.

Gee, I JUST had the same thing happen. HELP! Had my kitchen tiled and the grout I chose was light also, like the wheat Rosemary spoke of, mine a taupe. I'm so disappointed. Is this something that is more common with lighter shades? And truly, what is the most likely cause? I paid nicely for this job and the way things are now, I'm the only one disappointed. They got paid, I got discolored grout. Rosemary, what did you finally do, did it work, and who paid for it. Them or you? This is certainly not my fault, so shouldn't my floor contractor ultimately be responsible for this? If it's ANY of the things the replyer suggested, they all fall under the contractor or tile layers responsibility, right? Any help appreciated.

Having slightly different shades of grout is fairly common and some variance should be accepted. It even looks good on certain floors, I think.

Perhaps with some grouts, you can't notice it as much as with the straw colored ones. Though most of the causes can be avoided by installers with experience, I don't think it is always caused by negligence; even a different rate of drying caused by particular room conditions can make grout cure out slightly different color. Moisture has a lot to do with it, whether it be from mixing the grout too thin or from drying too fast.

You need to take it up with the person you paid.

I had that happen to a floor with a light beige grout. I think it was caused when I used up a remnant of one bag and then made another batch from a fresh bag; they must have had a different concentration of colorant and didn't blend. But that is only my best guess, since I didn't see it until it cured and dried. I'm more careful about mixing large enough batches now and not messing with remnants at all.

I liked the effect a lot more than my client did.

I am so happy to have found this forum. This is my question: My tiler grouted the shower area and it looked perfect when wet - matched the tile (beige). When it dried it was bright, bright white - what could have caused this. We determined that it was not the grout because we mixed some and put in on some leftover tiles and it dried perfectly. He is supposed to do the floor tomorrow and I do not know what to do. Buy a colorant for the shower walls and try to match the floor grout?

Pat

Pat, I'll throw a reply here, but you'll be better starting your own thread than piggybacking a 5 year old thread. If the grout dried bright white as you describe, and another mixed sample cured the proper color, then two words come to mind "Installer error" too wet a mix to make it easier to work into the wall tile joints, too much water during clean up washed the pigment out. If the sameple dried wrong, I'd say it was a water issue before saying it was a grout issue unless it was a bag past it's shelf life, which that's not really the manufacturer's fault either, is it?

If you wet the grout, does it turn the correct color? If so, you could try an enhancing sealer on the grout. Do a small test area first as you would not be able to apply a colorant over an enhancer.

Oh, when he does the floor, have him wring out the sponge once in a while

Thank you Bljack - I did start a new topic. Yes, if it is wet it is the correct color. I just mixed sample which I will use a too wet sponge on and see if it also turns white. I will try an enhancer where the shower door tract will be so it won't be noticeable and thank you so much for taking the time to answer.