Bostik TruColor premixed urethane grout: opinions?

Shanah

So, I guess your saying to try Baking Soda? If that doesn't work call the guy in CA. As I said this is a brand new floor, it cured for at least 3 weeks. I did call Bostik. One guy at Bostik told me to use Krud Kutter, it worked nominally on the tile but not on the grout. The other guy at Bostik didn't want to talk to me and wouldn't recommend anything, so when you say to call the manufacturer I have to really laugh. The second guy I talked to freaked out when I talked to him. He acted like I was a liability and couldn't get me off the phone fast enough. He said they had nothing to recommend because they made no cleaners. He said I'd probably have to regrout my floor and refused to recommend anything else out there. He said I could call Miracle Sealants Company and talk to them, see if they made something for urethane that might clean it up. This was last week. I feel like they are selling a product that they say is one thing but know it has a problem and wanted me to go away and didn't want to help. I'm disgusted. Anyhow, I have to get this fixed somehow. Thanks for any help.....

diy888

At the risk of repeating myself...

Judging from your description of the electricians' work, they did not adequately shield the newly grouted floor when cutting the drywall, and the fine gypsum powder has been tracked into the (microscopically) irregular surface of the grout.

Their claim that they "cleaned up" or "put tarps down" -- whatever they may have told you -- can be shown to be true or false by testing for gypsum dust in the grout.

You can let the electricians know that you believe they did not protect the floor before cutting the drywall, and your intention is to have the grout surface lab-tested for embedded gypsum dust. But to spare you (and possibly themselves) the expense of the test itself, and the cost of having a third-party clean the floor, they could come over and gently scrub your floor, by hand, with a soft-bristled scrub brush, no mechanical devices, and lots of warm water (no chemicals), which they must wet-vacuum up so the dust particles suspended in the water don't just settle back down into the nooks and crannies of the grout surface. It might take three or four or even six such gentle scrubbings and wet-vacuumings to remove the dust.

That approach gives the electricians an honorable, non-litigious way to try to fix, with the sweat of their brows, a problem they have created. If they balk or stonewall you or finger-point at the grout manufacturer, then you can proceed with the lab-test and take appropriate legal action depending on the results of the test.

This is not a grout product-defect, judging from everything you have said.

Bob...

True. The electricians, however, might see this as an acceptance of liability. So might the courts.

Thanks for the info on Trucolor. I've been soliciting bids for a small tile installation using Urethane, but the contractors in my area aren't too hip on using it. They believe it to be more trouble (although some use epoxy).

Assuming you're a pro (from your knowledge on the topic...), is there any reason to go with one over the other (urethane vs epoxy, that is...)? Since I don't like mold or stains, I refuse to go with portland based grout.

diy888

Epoxy is by far the more robust, very resistant to abrasion, and can be cleaned/sanitized with industrial-strength methods. Excellent stain resistance. Of the two, the more difficult to install with a much greater chance of haze, the time-window to remove the haze being relatively brief, measured in minutes not days.

Urethane has good abrasion resistance under normal use conditions but nothing like epoxy's. It must be cleaned gently with a soft-bristled brush so as not to abrade the cured urethane protective layer, and enzymatic chemicals must be avoided. Very good stain resistance too. I let mustard, ketchup, concord grape juice sit for hours on a test panel and it wiped right off. Almost no worry whatsoever about haze. I did a test and was able to remove haze easily more than a month after installation. Must be very vigorously pressed into the grout joint with a hard epoxy float or it can become "crumbly" in the grout joint. Although the manufacturers claim that urethane grout has some elasticity, in my experience that elasticity is not enough to warrant use of urethane grout at changes-of-plane in a wet location such as a bathroom shower.

Bob...

diy888: Thanks for your commitment to this thread over the last few years. As you (I think it was you...) mentioned earlier, the archival value of information is significant. Good information!

copek

bump 1

diy888

"To facilitate cleaning, pre-seal all porous tile and natural stone with a water-based sealer before grouting"

http://www.bostik-us.com/sites/defau...uartzLock2.pdf

http://miraclesealants.com/download/stone_use_chart.pdf

For urethane grout I'd choose 511 H20 formula. Which 511 did you apply?

copek

bump 2