Wait time before grout?

[tvrgeek]

Laid my bath floor over liquid membrane. Totally moisture proof. 12 x 12 tiles in thinset. OK, set in the usual time, but how long does it take for the moisture to wick out to the edges and evaporate? I don't want to seal it in with Spectra Loc or epoxy grout.

Never thought about it before as I only laid over hardi-board.

 

[mkepke]

You should check the thinset instructions and the liquid membrane's instructions too. Polymer-modified thinset especially, may have special requirements.

-Mark

 

[Oka]

1-7 days depends on the thinset. If you grout too soon then, you get these little white boogers showing up because the acrylic adhesive did not fully dry (surfactant)... just like Mark said follow the instructions exactly.

 

[tvrgeek]

There was nothing I found in either instruction. A week sounds reasonable. I may give it much longer. I have the walls to do, more trim...

 

[tvrgeek]

Finding out more about products by testing. For one, Spectra Loc is NOT, again NOT waterproof. It is porous and not very strong. A bead of water on it soaks right in. It is NOT stain proof. Coffee stains it. It has a very rough sanded finish.

I am wondering, if the very stain resistant and easy to scrub grout used in my kitchen is some un-sanded grout with an additive. The surface is quite smooth and it does not soak up water. Laticrete 1600 with 1776?

The epoxy grouts are also all sanded. So no "cream" to bring to the top for a smoother finish. My only experience with epoxy was about 10 years ago and it was a real pain to use and not very smooth.

No, their on-line chat help is not.

Seems Tile Doctor Starlike EVO is the preferred brand. It is also half the price of Laticrete or Mapi.

 

[tvrgeek]

CONFIRMED. Not only will water soak into Spectra Loc, but so will oil and coffee will stain it. FALSE advertising as far as I am concerned. Maybe it is advertising to up-sell owners as )"good as epoxy" but it is absolutely not. Starlike for the floor. Maybe I'll use Specta Loc on the walls.

 

[Oka]

You have to Seal it when you are done installing, .... true for all grout except 2 part epoxy type

 

[tvrgeek]

Sewall? A sealer I assume, but google did not lead me to anything that made sense. I found Trident Sea Wall, which looks like what you use outside on concrete. I used the little bottles of basically junk in the jack and jill, so a much better sealant would be a good move for that.

Laticrete CLAIMS it is non-porous, stain proof, and a full equivalent of epoxy. Clearly it is not.

 

[Bernhard]

I had the same situation: Using Kerdi as underlayment (totally water proof), used modified thinset, layed travertine tiles...and let it cure for 1 month before grouting (expoxy in wet areas, regular sanded grout in all other areas). Then I sealed everything with 511N Porous Plus; not exactly cheap and is solvent based (very strong oder during application), but it is easy to apply, goes along way and seals well. Since travertine is porous, needs to be re-sealed every now and then: In my walk-in shower, water still beaded up after 2 years, so I am on a 2-3 year reseal schedule. That stuff does quite well preventing stains, especially on 'regular' sanded grout (I only use Mapei products, but expect will work just as well on other stuff)
Good luck!

 

[tvrgeek]

I'll try some of that 511 on the jack and jill. Sounds like it would be a good solution to using sanded on the walls. I am going epoxy on the floor.