New tile: HELP! - Should Water be Seeping into the new GROUT?

[stevelk]

Hi everyone. New poster here.

I just had new tile/grouting installed. Everything is pretty much done. The actual work *looks* good.

The possible problem is that now that water is again in the pool, I'm seeing dark areas in the grout, starting from where it meets the water, up a few inches from there - the water is creeping up, into the grout. The installer said that *always* happens. After a few questions from me, he settled on saying the grout needs to cure, and then that will not happen anymore. The pool was empty for 3-5 days before we filled it, so the tiles and grout had that much time to cure before water was added. Hot days here in San Diego.

Help!

Although I have some (old) experience setting tile, I'm totally unsure about this. I don't remember ever seeing water soak into my pool grout (certainly not, for example, in my kitchen), once it has dried/set. Since the grout is medium brown in color, the water turns it dark brown, and it is pretty easy to see the contrast. Am I being paranoid? Should I wait for a few more days and see if the water 'absorbtion' goes away? Should they have sealed it, or waited longer before adding water? Or is this natural, and I'm being too picky?

This guy is experienced. I looked at other jobs he's done in the area, and he was recommended by a client, a local pool store owner, and knew the most of the three guys I talked with before deciding who would do my pool. His guys spent a few days just doing my spa tile - as I said, looks great.

Please comment if you know about this stuff. Thanks!

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Steve

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. Grout is porous and will always absorb a small amount of water. It's perfectly normal.

 

[stevelk]

Thanks a lot for the reply. I appreciate it.

I guess that has always occurred, and I just didn't see it with the previous lighter tile..

This is actually the second re-tile in one year. The first time was a nightmare, where the company used a 'slip sheet': Since the original tile was beginning to fall off, I was concerned that perhaps there was water coming through the wall; we live at the bottom of a little mountain. The installers suggested the slip sheet, and I, in my ignorance, agreed; they said they had used it before, etc. So, after removing the original tile, they thin set this red, rubbery plastic sheet onto the wall, and then set the tiles on the sheet with more thin set. Guess what? No worky workie. Scaling appeared immediately and grew like weeds..

Long story short, after a few more weeks, the tiles started sounding like an empty cardboard box when I knocked on them with my knuckle. After many attempts to ignore me, blame me, and give me stupid explanations, I finally got them to give me back my $$. What a mess. The new guy's work looks good. Wish me luck.

Thanks again!

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Steve