chalky reaction on floor grout

[rossbarclay]

Hi guys,

I tile mu hall and downstairs toilet about 6 months ago. Over the past few weeks I have noticed a small discoloration on one piece of the grout (see photo). It looks like its wet but when I touch it there is like a damp chalky powder on it? The room has a condensing tumble dryer, toilet and a sink.

I was hoping scraping out the affected area and re grouting might help. What could it be? Any help appreciated

Thanks
Ross

[royaloakcarpentry]

Hard to say......post a pic and it may become clearer. It might not though, as sometimes long range diagnosis can be a bit hit and miss. Unless it is obvious.

[haveagohero]

What sort of floor are the tiles laid on? if it is concrete my guess would be efflorescence

[rossbarclay]

It is concrete. It is only in a very small area and only just appeared. Should I be worried about this at all? How do I treat it?

[royaloakcarpentry]

We need a pic really.........


If chalky 'white' residue then it is efflorescence, as haveagohgero has said. A multitude of causes and a multitude of remedies.

Could be a leak tracking under the tiles.

[haveagohero]

Yep like ROC said, it is moisture coming up through the grout and depositing salts etc on the grout as the water evaporates, but where the moisture is coming from could be difficult to find. Pictures might help

[rossbarclay]

You know what, it could be water. I posted a while ago an issue I was having with the toilet waste. The waste from the sink has been strapped to the 4inch toilet waster under the floor, but not far enough down, as the pan connector cover the sink waste exit into the soil, all buried under the floor. This means from time to time, when the misses pours the water from the condenser dryer down the sink, it some tiems comes back out of the waste. I am looking for a solution to this but no one is able to help and I ca't think of a solution either. Heres a quick drawing of water I mean.

This could be the cause as it has dried out now and looks normal aftera quick wipe to remove the 'salts'.

[royaloakcarpentry]

Sounds like the best bet would be to have the floor up and alter the stack to how it should have been done in the first place.

If it leaks, you will end up having to strip the floor anyway.

Presume this is a timber floor and not concrete

[rossbarclay]

Nope, its a concrete floor. And I've just tiled it with 600mm ceramics. Not a huge fan of ripping them up and digging out the floor lol I was hoping to make some sort of adaptor with a hole in the position of the sink waste that allowed me to extend the length of the soil so the pan connector would dit about the sink waste. But can't find a suitable part just yet.

[royaloakcarpentry]

I am completely lost as to what you mean.

Just seems to be a total bodge job, going by the drawing and your description.

Did you not have a qualified plumber do the work. Actually qualified as opposed to pretending to be!


Put a post in the plumbing forum about the problem. They may be able to make a clearer picture of what you mean, than I am managing to do.

If the strap on boss is leaking, adding something elsewhere will not cure the leak. The concrete will soak up the water and in the end the floor tiles will blow.

better to take 3 or up and sort it now, than to have to do the whole floor.

[rossbarclay]

I never had the work done, it's been like that from new build (circa 1997). We've only moved in about 8 months. It is a bodged job like. I guess I'll have to get someone in as it seems like a big enough job. Just thought I might have been bale to cure the problem. It's not the boss that's leaking, it's the pan connector blocking the hole when its inserted into the soil. Not allowing the water from the sink to flow naturally. Forcing it up between the soil and the pan connector. I'd rather just not use the sink TBH lol

[royaloakcarpentry]

Pan connector is pushed in too far. It needs cutting down.

[rossbarclay]

Thanks. Got a new pan connector last night. While I had the old one off I measured from the top of the soil to the bottom of the sink waste. Was 70mm. I then ran the tap and the water was only trickling out as its only a small wash hand basin. I trmmed the new pan connector to 50mm and the problem seems to be solved. No leaks and no smell, yet! I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days and see how it goes. Hopefully that's it. As tiling that floor was a motherf****r lol