Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Stain on bathroom floor grout.
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fxcarden
06-06-09, 10:38 AM
I redid my bathroom last year, and have been happy with it.
Last night I noticed that one of the floor grout lines next to the toilet appeared to be wet (wasn't wet to the touch, just looked darker ), and this was right next to the toilet. The bathroom is 8 months old and has had zero issues, so right off the bat I was skeptical about a leak from the toilet, etc.
I decided to see if it was just a stain, so I sprayed Tilex directly on it, and this brings me to my question....
The 2 inch area that was stained / wet, immediately fizzed over. It was the same as you would see if you applied peroxide to a cut. The remainder of the Tilex that went on the grout in the "non stained" area, just sat there. Further, when I cleaned up the Tilex, the stain remained, and the rest of the grout that had been touched by Tilex quickly returned to it's normal color.
So....that tells me that this area that was stained is probably not a water leak from the toilet, but perhaps a stain from something, perhaps another cleaning chemical that my wife may have used and spilled while cleaning the bowl ?.
My wife uses the Lysol bowl cleaner, and also uses some sort of Lime remover some times. I think it's called Lime-a-way or something like that.
I was just wondering what y'all may think out there. I don't necessarily want to start mixing chemicals in my garage in my quest for an answer. I just thought someone here may have run into a similar thing.
Last night I noticed that one of the floor grout lines next to the toilet appeared to be wet (wasn't wet to the touch, just looked darker ), and this was right next to the toilet. The bathroom is 8 months old and has had zero issues, so right off the bat I was skeptical about a leak from the toilet, etc.
I decided to see if it was just a stain, so I sprayed Tilex directly on it, and this brings me to my question....
The 2 inch area that was stained / wet, immediately fizzed over. It was the same as you would see if you applied peroxide to a cut. The remainder of the Tilex that went on the grout in the "non stained" area, just sat there. Further, when I cleaned up the Tilex, the stain remained, and the rest of the grout that had been touched by Tilex quickly returned to it's normal color.
So....that tells me that this area that was stained is probably not a water leak from the toilet, but perhaps a stain from something, perhaps another cleaning chemical that my wife may have used and spilled while cleaning the bowl ?.
My wife uses the Lysol bowl cleaner, and also uses some sort of Lime remover some times. I think it's called Lime-a-way or something like that.
I was just wondering what y'all may think out there. I don't necessarily want to start mixing chemicals in my garage in my quest for an answer. I just thought someone here may have run into a similar thing.
Just Bill
06-06-09, 05:05 PM
Bleach will remove most organic stains. If that does not do the job, not sure what to recommend, other than digging out the grout in that area and starting over. I assume you do not have water coming up from below the tile??? Put a small fan on it and see it that drys it out.
fxcarden
06-06-09, 07:01 PM
Thanks, but no water from anywhere. It's just a mysterious stain. I think I'm going to scrape the grout in that area and refill.
joeperi
06-09-09, 03:15 PM
After you go to all that work and get your grout looking fine again, don't forget to seal the grout. Good quality grout sealers are available at big box stores or tile store. They do a good job in preventing stains on the grout.