I've tiled my bathroom in tiles, which were cheap but seemed pretty
good when I looked at them. Later when it was too late, I realised
they were bowed slightly, which made fixing a hassle. Now grouted
some, and of course the brown biscuit has become an issue, since it is
grinning though on some grout line edges. Most people would hardly
notice, but this just spoils the job which is supposed to be clean and
white. The tiles are not consistent in the edge profile, and I also
wonder about waterproofing of these unglazed corners where the grout
is very thin.
Still, can't change now, so I need to make the best of it. I need some
type of "paint" that will just "catch" the grinning bits and soak into
the biscuit slightly in these areas to pigment them. I will then seal
the thing with grout sealant and it should be OK. Any ideas of how to
deal with this ?
will grin (sic) and bear any comments made in hindsight. Note: I've
now read the horror stories about such white tiles suddenly turning
bright red when water is upon them - not sure whether to believe this
or not. Wish I've spent more on white biscuit tiles, preferably glazed
around the "corner".
Cheers,
Simon.

sm_jamieson wrote:
I've tiled my bathroom in tiles, which were cheap but seemed pretty
good when I looked at them. Later when it was too late, I realised
they were bowed slightly, which made fixing a hassle. Now grouted
some, and of course the brown biscuit has become an issue, since it is
grinning though on some grout line edges. Most people would hardly
notice, but this just spoils the job which is supposed to be clean and
white. The tiles are not consistent in the edge profile, and I also
wonder about waterproofing of these unglazed corners where the grout
is very thin.
Still, can't change now, so I need to make the best of it. I need some
type of "paint" that will just "catch" the grinning bits and soak into
the biscuit slightly in these areas to pigment them. I will then seal
the thing with grout sealant and it should be OK. Any ideas of how to
deal with this ?

Some sort of paint would, surely, make the problem worse in the long
term as it will eventually discolour and stand out against the tiles
even more.

I'm sorry to be negative but I can't think of a way around this.

Steve

sm_jamieson wrote:


Still, can't change now, so I need to make the best of it. I need some
type of "paint" that will just "catch" the grinning bits and soak into
the biscuit slightly in these areas to pigment them. I will then seal
the thing with grout sealant and it should be OK. Any ideas of how to
deal with this ?

Sounds like the best bet would be a combination of keeping the grout
lines as deep as you can (i.e. not shaping or sponging off to much
during application) and then final sealing with something like Lithothin
grout sealer. This will stop the grout and exposed edges from
discolouring later.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote

Sounds like the best bet would be a combination of keeping the grout
lines as deep as you can (i.e. not shaping or sponging off to much
during application) and then final sealing with something like Lithothin
grout sealer. This will stop the grout and exposed edges from
discolouring later.

It seems to be called 'Lithofin' by the manufacturers.

AFAICT, it's only the Bristol Tile Company that calls it Lithothin --
even though their website has links to the http://www.lithofin.de/
website!

--
-blj-

Brian L Johnson wrote:

It seems to be called 'Lithofin' by the manufacturers.

AFAICT, it's only the Bristol Tile Company that calls it Lithothin --
even though their website has links to the http://www.lithofin.de/
website!

Indeed, I stand corrected. I usually order from these folks:

http://www.extensive.co.uk/


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 2007-04-12 10:25:13 +0100, Brian L Johnson said:

John Rumm wrote

Sounds like the best bet would be a combination of keeping the grout
lines as deep as you can (i.e. not shaping or sponging off to much
during application) and then final sealing with something like Lithothin
grout sealer. This will stop the grout and exposed edges from
discolouring later.

It seems to be called 'Lithofin' by the manufacturers.

AFAICT, it's only the Bristol Tile Company that calls it Lithothin --
even though their website has links to the http://www.lithofin.de/
website!

Lithofin is a German manufacturer of a wide range of very good tiling
treatment products for both wall and floor tiles, with different things
for different tile types

Their products appear to be relatively expensive but the quantities
needed are small and the effectiveness very good.

If you look on the Lithofin web site there is a search tool based on
application which will lead you to the correct product. There are
many and it''s important to choose the right one. Certainly don't just
buy "Lithofin" - it could be anything.

On 11 Apr, 17:50, Steve wrote:
sm_jamieson wrote:
I've tiled my bathroom in tiles, which were cheap but seemed pretty
good when I looked at them. Later when it was too late, I realised
they were bowed slightly, which made fixing a hassle. Now grouted
some, and of course the brown biscuit has become an issue, since it is
grinning though on some grout line edges. Most people would hardly
notice, but this just spoils the job which is supposed to be clean and
white. The tiles are not consistent in the edge profile, and I also
wonder about waterproofing of these unglazed corners where the grout
is very thin.
Still, can't change now, so I need to make the best of it. I need some
type of "paint" that will just "catch" the grinning bits and soak into
the biscuit slightly in these areas to pigment them. I will then seal
the thing with grout sealant and it should be OK. Any ideas of how to
deal with this ?

Some sort of paint would, surely, make the problem worse in the long
term as it will eventually discolour and stand out against the tiles
even more.

I'm sorry to be negative but I can't think of a way around this.

Steve

He-he.
The places I had grouted where it showed the most are now behind a
bathroom cabinet (luckily I had only grouted one wall).
And the trick is - I am painting the tile edges before grouting with a
grout pen (one by "International"). It soaks into the biscuit just
enough to be permanent (I've tried on a spare tile and I cant scrub it
off with a scourer), but any overlapping the actual tile can be wiped
off before it sets (or scraped off afterwards). I'll seal the whole
lot with grout sealer before use.
Cheers,
Simon.