Orange patches hours after grouting shower tiles

rvnmax

Hi all

My shower has been leaking for years and I've had numerous attempts at sealing bits and pieces up, but new leaks keep popping up. I realised the grouting was also faulty and letting through water at a couple of places where the water was coming through.

So 11 months ago we called a handyman who just slathered some grout on top of the area we told him was leaking as well as on an area he shouldn't have (lid of toilet cistern) so I quickly realised he had no idea what he was doing. But neither did I, and 24 hours later I took a shower from which I saw the water carrying some of the grouting away with it. It led to a bronze like colour in a couple of spots, and leaking continued since from those spots.

1. So I finally got around to forking out £300 for a professional regrouting service and did the job yesterday. Although I didn't notice anything immediately at 18:00 yesterday when he finished, I realised a couple of hours ago on further inspection that there are quite a few orange patches.
   
   I obviously haven't ran a shower this time, and I wasn't planning to until Sunday morning even though the grouter said that 24 hrs was enough. So the grouting can't have been washed away. I was wondering if I didn't see the orange spots yesterday due to the light and that actually it wasn't applied to sufficient quantity with the orange showing through from the back as it also seems as if there is volume at those spots.
   
   However, the grouter says that dampness behind the tiles causes them to stain and that everything should be "sealed" and I can use the shower.
   
   I'll wait till Sunday anyway but monitor if it continues to leak.
   
   
2. Also there is conflicting advice about applying grout sealant.
   
   If grout is porous, surely it's a necessity?
   
   Some say that even sealant doesn't seal, and then at least you aren't blocking water from evaporating back out. I'm so torn!
   
   
3. Also spotted a couple of spots last night where the grouting is seemingly crumbled. (final two pics)
   
   If I touch new grouting anywhere it leaves a bit of powdery residue on my finger.
   
   (This happens to be the case on the lid of the toilet cistern weirdly from 11 months prior).
   
   I read that grout shouldn't be powdery/crumbly, but I wasn't sure how powdery was too powdery iynwim.
   
   Again, most websites say it means the grout mixture was too dry. One says it could be because it was too wet also Soft Powdery Grout (morganadhesives.com.au).

Anyway, pics below. Would be grateful for any advice on those three points above.

Orange bits:

Crumbly bits:

plumb1_2

The orange bits I suspect if from the ceramic tiles where he has racked out the grout and some of the tile dust had leached into the grout.
Crumbling grout, to dry of a mix, most probably from the bottom of his grout mix.
That silicone shouldn’t have been do for a min 48hrs and the grout needs to harden,the grout residue should have done polished off first. You might find that silicone will stop to peel. So you’ll end up with it leaking again.
Get that so called professional back.

rvnmax

plumb1_2 said:

The orange bits I suspect if from the ceramic tiles where he has racked out the grout and some of the tile dust had leached into the grout.
Crumbling grout, to dry of a mix, most probably from the bottom of his grout mix.
That silicone shouldn’t have been do for a min 48hrs and the grout needs to harden,the grout residue should have done polished off first. You might find that silicone will stop to peel. So you’ll end up with it leaking again.
Get that so called professional back.

Hmmm. damn. Not great, but that's better than some of the scary comments I received on another forum.

So one suggestion from a few other forumites was that it was a mould from supposed rotting of the wood at the behind the tiles.

They were telling me that I need to act fast and get it checked out before the damage gets worse.

But you're a plumber right?

Anyway, the grouter should be coming back in few days to touch up those bits. Lets see if we it leaks or not over the next few days.

Apodemus

rvnmax said:

plumb1_2 said:

The orange bits I suspect if from the ceramic tiles where he has racked out the grout and some of the tile dust had leached into the grout.
Crumbling grout, to dry of a mix, most probably from the bottom of his grout mix.
That silicone shouldn’t have been do for a min 48hrs and the grout needs to harden,the grout residue should have done polished off first. You might find that silicone will stop to peel. So you’ll end up with it leaking again.
Get that so called professional back.

Hmmm. damn. Not great, but that's better than some of the scary comments I received on another forum.

So one suggestion from a few other forumites was that it was a mould from supposed rotting of the wood at the behind the tiles.

They were telling me that I need to act fast and get it checked out before the damage gets worse.

But you're a plumber right?

Anyway, the grouter should be coming back in few days to touch up those bits. Lets see if we it leaks or not over the next few days.

I'd think of mould first, too - but not in the scary way that you are imagining.  Simply the colours that the mould in the old grout had produced, leaching back out into the new (wet) grout.  To have prevented this, I would think that whoever did the work would have had to remove more of the old grout and possibly have sealed the gaps between the tiles to prevent any staining coming back out.  If you think of how our ancestors used dyes made from moulds and fungi to colour clothes, you will understand just how pervasive these stains can be - in both a positive and negative way.

plumb1_2

I have seen pinkish mould like that before. The tiles need a good clean to remove any grout dust with a dry cloth ( microfibre are ok) then clean it again after a couple of hours as the dust will settle again.
Then maybe the next day rub your finger over the orange bit’s if mould it should leave a mark on your finger, if it’s tile dust then no mark so to speak.

All in all it’s a poor job, looks like there’s grout on that metal basket thing. Did he not remove it while doing the job.