Wood Stain in Grout

[Bruce Humphrey]

I do grout sealing on new tile and grout for a builder. One of his workers dripped some wood stain in the grout lines. The new home owner would like the stain removed. I'm not sure on the procedure for removing this stain, by the looks of it the stain has soaked in to the grout. The grout had not been sealed it.

Also I understand that grout should not be sealed for 30 days after it has been put down. In these new condos the home owners are moving in before my 30 day window is up for sealing the grout and they are showering and everything else on this grout. Should I be cleaning as normal, dry the tile and grout then seal?

 

[J Scott W]

The reason for not sealing for 30 days is to give time for the water to all be out of the grout. It is best not to get the grout wet for 30 days.

Where people are moving in and using the shower before 30 days, I would seal before they move in. Allow as much time as possible before sealing, but seal before they use the shower and get the grout wet again.

Wood stain may not come out with cleaning. But you can try a poultice. StoneTech sells a good one called "Oil Stain Remover." Some folks make their own by using mineral spirits mixed with corn meal or diatomeacuos earth (swimming pool filter material). Mix powder with the mineral spirts to get a past a bit thicker than peanut butter.

Apply a layer of poultice about 1/4" deep to the stain. LEave it until the next day. Vacuum up. Repeat if necessary.

If the poultice doesn;t work, you will need to cut some of the grout out and replac it.

Scott Warrington

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

Thanks for the reply Scott. some of the condos I can get into and seal before they move in and sometimes they are moving in as the finishing touches are being done. I figured the wood stain was going to be a problem.

Thanks again for the reply.

 

[Gary T]

You can seal grout after 3-5 days. If the wood stain has dried, you will not get it out. Try to dull it with bleach, or acid clean the spot. You can always color seal.

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

Hi Gary, Color seal is out of the question , this is a brand new construction. If I can't get the stain out of the grout the home owner is going to make the builder dig the grout out and put new in. It's a small half bath so it shouldn't cost him that much to repair

Thanks for your reply.

 

[Gary T]

Sorry, I was referring to just coloring the spot and blending out. I've done this several times and unless you really knew what you were looking for, you couldn't tell.

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

ok gotcha.

Well I didn't have to work on this at all. The install company was working on another condo so the builder had them go over and put in new grout. I'm glad it worked out like that, now I can just go in and reseal it and be done with it.

Thanks for the advice guys.