Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering Re: Grout Perfect :) 61Oct 27, 2011 3:45 pm Yes the stress is not good, I know ... you just want it fixed!! Sounds like your builder has been good thus far .. For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Grout Perfect :) 62Oct 27, 2011 8:23 pm deb17 Gizmoe, on our color selection schedule, it says midnight 202. I don't know if that will help. On the Beaumont site it says Ardex FG8 on the packet. But they could have used anything. I have sent you a pm. Well its an Ardex product that has been selected, then thats what should be used. http://www.ardexaustralia.com/product_d ... 83&catid=5 To find out more you can:- Call toll free service on 1800 224 070 Email techinfo@ardexaustralia.com I would guess that the tilers use a different band of grout & adhesives & that was the reason they used a different product. Ardex, Davco, Laticrete are not the most economical brands of product out in the marketplace, but its all very good product. The builder maybe very economical with his allowances for the tiler & it could be his doing as much as the tilers. I don't consider that an excuse for poor quality work or incorrect product, but if the Tiler is being paid a low sqm2 rate then like all businesses they need to find ways to be able to make money at the low rate being paid. As an idea I would consider $100m2 or abit more even reasonable for a tilers $m2 rate to be direct sticking to a concrete floor, I would expect them to be acid washing or a quick concrete grind to clean & then using primers, flexible adhesives, grout additives, sikaflex/silicone for all floor wall junctions, tile trims etc. I hear stories of as low as $40m2 to tile area's & thats not a real world do the job right rate. What you can do or can get away with is not the right attitude for a tradesperson, but in larger area's it seems to be the mentallity of most tradespeople. To be fair to them, unrealistic costs or timeframes from Builders, Architects & end users are just as much responsible for the unsatisfactory outcomes... Re: Grout Perfect :) 63Oct 28, 2011 4:20 pm Hey Guys, As promised, here are the pictures of our grout. I have tried to include pictures from each of the rooms with the problem (Ensuite, Bathroom and powder room). I have also included photo's of what happens with the grout when we try scrubbing it with a standard scrub brush and some plain water. The colour is meant to be Artec Pewter Blue. As you can see from the photo's, it is mostly white with some darker areas. Other areas I could consider to be white. Sorry about the size of the photo's. I have taken them on my Digital SLR camera, and I thought it best to not edit them at all, so that none of the quality is lost. http://s1129.photobucket.com/albums/m510/msolok/House%20Grout%20Issues/ Re: Grout Perfect :) 64Oct 28, 2011 4:39 pm Thanks for the pics, that blue looks great by the way, the other areas well what can we say exept what was the tiler thinking, how can they get it right in one area but not the other this is insane. What I did notice is your towel it should not have blue colour dye on it at all something is very wrong here. Craig Re: Grout Perfect :) 65Oct 28, 2011 5:04 pm That's terrible, that blue dye it must be so hard for you, when you get it wet. The bath mats, towels would be ruined. It shouldn't run like that, ours doesn't run, it just stays white, where it should be black. Re: Grout Perfect :) 66Oct 28, 2011 5:08 pm Grout Perfect Thanks for the pics, that blue looks great by the way, the other areas well what can we say exept what was the tiler thinking, how can they get it right in one area but not the other this is insane. What I did notice is your towel it should not have blue colour dye on it at all something is very wrong here. Craig Thanks Craig. That's our thoughts exactly. Where the blue Colour is, it looks great. The problem is there isn't many places it is blue. The builder has said that they find it acceptable...... There is some good grout where they have had to completely redo it (when they had to replace some tiles), but around it it looks so bad. I was fairly sure the water should not come out that blue Colour (it comes out looking bluer than the area I am scrubbing!), which is really ringing alarm bells for us at the moment Also note on the paper towel (not sure if it really shows too well on the pictures though) that there is a whole lot of sandy, grainy bits. Looks like the grout is breaking up as it is being cleaned..... I'm fairly sure, comparing pictures with Debs, that our problem is not Effloresence. Ours seems to cover much more of the grouted area, and is far heavier. We are really hoping the builder agrees to get this fixed soon. We can't live with it like this. Re: Grout Perfect :) 68Oct 28, 2011 5:17 pm There is something going on here and the tiler has some major questions to answer. I really hope they can help you out as this is not what you agreed on at all, go get them and try not to worry to much over this as things always work out down the track but do not let up on them and keep us posted. Craig Re: Grout Perfect :) 69Oct 28, 2011 8:34 pm Another thing that happens from time to time, is the grout user ie: tiler, builder, handyman or diy person does not leave it sit for the 5-10 mins then remix & use as per the instructions. This has led to numerous issues of grout falling apart & combined with over watering & excessive water when cleaning off you have no hope of a successful grout job. Re: Grout Perfect :) 71Nov 03, 2011 8:00 am Southies selina2106, it was provided by our tile supplier. It was an Aqua Mix product which I applied to our floor grout with a paint brush. I did our ground floor - 1 hour a night. Knees couldnt' take more than that Hi Southies, just wondering how many coats have you applied to your grout (I mean when you did your floors last year)? Thanks My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Grout Perfect :) 74Nov 18, 2011 7:00 am Aqua Seal are the most expensive sealers on the market and are not as good as the others we have used. The best priced sealers would be Spirit Marbles Sealers and Rockstar sealers. Re: Grout Perfect :) 76Nov 22, 2011 6:44 pm Bentley Homes had our tiles re-grouted today, they look so good. Just have to wait to have the shower recess done in the bathroom, as we couldn't do both showers on the same day, or we wouldn't be able to have a shower. I am so happy with the job the tiler has done. The painters were in yesterday and have also done a top job. Re: Grout Perfect :) 77Nov 23, 2011 7:37 am That is fantastic news Deb well done glad things worked out for you. Craig Re: Grout Perfect :) 78Mar 09, 2013 6:42 am gizmoe Grout Perfect There website is no more and it came from the owner who use to own aquamix. Craig Is that Ange you are talking about? FYI. Aqua Mix never went out of business! They have been running globally for over 31 years. http://www.aquamix.com.au It's unfortunate that people create rumours like this. Aqua Mix chose to find a NEW Australian distributor for a number reasons, it would be rude to discuss over the internet. It's being distributed and has been since 2011 by Construction Technologies Australia (CTA). http://www.ctaust.com.au. Aqua Mix has never been so strong in Australia, growing rapidly. There is some confusion in the similar sounding and looking other Aqua sealer company, that yes is run by the old distributor. The word Aqua is the only thing similar to Aqua Mix, the products are nothing like the industry leading Aqua Mix products. We used a smaller qld builder who went bankrupt about 12 months after completion of ours. It was a shame as they were good and relatively cheap and I would have used… 3 4665 Thanks splashers, that makes sense. The waterproofing guy used this Davco product, I will raise the issue with builder and hopefully get resolved with him - if not… 2 12884 Hi everyone, Have just put a shower in the laundry and after only using it 2-3 times have noticed staining on the grout. The tiles were glued onto a concrete wall after… 0 5447 |