Tiled Walls in Bathroom

[jtherrien]

We just remodeled our bathroom. We hired someone to lay the tile. After the tile was done, we painted the bathroom. My husband got some paint on the grout, and I am trying to clean it off.

I took a wet rag, and tried to scrub it off the grout, and it appears that the grout is coming off on my rag. I now have tan marks on the rag (color of the grout) and the section that I scrubbed looks like some of the grout is gone. (It is more indented than the surronding grout)

Why is this happending? Am I scrubbing to hard? Is there something wrong with the way that they mixed the grout?

It is a sand based grout, it was sealed, and it has been almost two weeks since it was completed.

Also, if anyone knows of a way to get the paint off I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks.

[pushkins]

Grout isn't concrete or cement, it is hard BUT without a lot of effort you can scrape it away. Grouts basic design is to fill the tile joints and to help repel moisture, even then grout isn't a particularly great water repellent, hence the need for sealer etc...
Grout is porous, although if sealed correctly this porosity is reduced dramatically.
I really hate to be the bearer of bad news but by using a wet rag and scrubbing you actually helped the paint stain the grout.
Spilling paint or paint drops on grout is not a great scenario and if the paint has absorbed into the grout little you do will remove it short of removing the effected grout and re grouting.
If the grout is sealed correctly the paint should have stuck just to the surface and should have been easy to remove by something as simple as a fingernail...etc...

If it were me, I'd scrape out any effected grout and replace the grout in these areas with new grout, as long as you have the left over grout to mix up the color shouldn't be different as it's only been two weeks since they grouted.

[jtherrien]

Thank you for your reply. I was afraid of that answer. Luckily there aren't alot of spots that were affected.

It looks like we will be re-grouting!

Thanks again.

[Kman]

To me, it sounds like your tile installers used too much water on the clean up, or mixed too much water in the grout. This can substantially weaken the grout to the point that it can be easily scrapped away.

Another issue might be that the grout wasn't allowed to dry sufficiently before it was sealed. You didn't mention how long after it was completed until it was sealed.

Finally, it could also be a bad batch of grout. That does happen sometimes, although not often. If this is a small job, it may not be worth it to check into.

Keep in mind that while most grout can be walked on 24 hours after installation, they don't fully cure for 28 days. Try scrubbing it again in two weeks and see how it does.

And next time, see if you can get an epoxy grout. It's a little more expensive, but it's very color consistent because it comes in three pre-measured parts, so it's idiot-proof to mix up. It's also stain resistant and never needs sealing.