wrote in message
oups.com...
Got new ceramic floor in the kitchen (wear rating 4), it is glazed.
However, the grouting used is very sandy, and porous. It comes off
easily where an excess of it was applied, for eg near the base trim.
I'm afraid if I mop too hard, it will come right off. Will a grout
sealer help make it solid? The contractor ran away w/o applying a grout
sealer, and told me that's extra, not in the estimate.

On another note, the floor is very cold (my house is on a slab). Would
porcelain have felt less cold, being that it is denser, and thus forms
a better barrier between the slab and tile surface? Had I known how
cold it is, I would have stuck to linoleum...

Thanks!
Vijay

Bags of grout have an expiration date. Suppliers are supposed to throw out
old bags. Installers are supposed to check the bags. Could be old grout
causing your problem.
Also could be that no latex additive was used with plain grout. Adding latex
has been the norm for as long as I can remember. Check the bag.

All floor materials are the same temperature as the room they are in,
usually around 70 degrees. Thing is, the surface of your skin is about 85
degrees. Tile (ceramic, porcelain, stone, it doesn't matter much) transfers
heat very quickly and easily. Wood, being a slight insulator, transfers heat
more slowly. It is that transfer of the heat from your bare skin into the
material on the floor that makes your feet feel "cold". In either case, if
you stand in one place long enough and then walk away the floor will have a
"warm spot" where you stood. That is the nature of tile flooring. Time to
buy some fuzzy slippers.