I use magic erasers on everything have u tried them?

Do over. Why didn't you have the conversation about installation requirements on the front end? A specialty tile like that isn't suited to just any tiler. You need a real Pro for it.

Thanks for your quick response. I did give the contractor the information and it was not passed to the installer. The contractor said they do these tiles all the time

I did try magic eraser which did help get the tiny pieces of grout out of the pits, but did not cure the overall staining

Your GC is responsible for the subcontractors that he hires. Send him that picture and ask him if he finds it acceptable.

kmcarney thank you for your reply. The grout selected was to match the light grey in the tile. The grout inside the package was darker than its color chip. I am also unhappy with the grout.

If they do them all the time they should have known you cannot leave grout haze on cement tile is gets absorbed so IMO no they don’t do this tile all the time this is a do over and with the right tile installer

These tiles have clear instructions for install and cleaning. I was considering these exact ones for my basement bathroom and I looked into it. They are a bit more tedious, but if instructions are followed, it shouldn't have been a problem. I don't know if you can fix this. They look dirty. Call the manufacturer and tell them exactly what happened. They will let you know if there is anything that can be done. If not, then your contractor will have to have the entire thing redone

Well, they look ''antiqued'' like they would look after many years of wear and tear. If that instant age, with all the pitting from the acid, isn't what you were going for, then it's a redo. But, remember that the stained look is where they will end up, eventually.

Sophie W.- It is a valid point that eventually the tiles may have wear and tear. I was hoping to create the wear myself after many years of ownership. If you have experience that this same thing will happen even if properly sealed and maintained, it is something I want to hear please.

From what I read, you need to seal them regularly to maintain the clean look. I, for one, would not accept the work they did.

The patina that develops on cement tiles is part of the charm. It's like having a butcher block counter that is used, or marble floors with many stains and etching. Or old holey jeans. If that isn't the look that you love, then perhaps choosing encaustic tiles was a mistake for your goals. You have an opportunity for a do over. Consider a glazed porcelain if you want it to not show wear. It would be fair to buy new materials and have them provide the labor.

Most tile installers are used to installing fire glazed products, not cement tiles which are unfinished. Cement tiles are another animal within itself, reading the installation guidelines are a must. This is a costly mistake by the contractor since he failed to pass on such important information to the installer. This is his mistake and he needs to be the one to fix it. Product will need to be ripped out and replaced. Installer should seal the tiles prior to grouting so that you, the customer, aren't stuck with what you have now. Read the instructions, they're there for a reason.
(Comment directed towards the contractor)

Cement tiles are not pre-sealed at the factory. Therefore, sealing with a penetrating sealer is necessary. Make sure to seal with a impregnating or penetrating sealer after cleaning and before grouting. This acts as a grout release to prevent the tiles from being stained with grout. Do not use any acids or alkalines to clean tiles. Use a PH neutral cleaner.

If you can live with the Patina then you can ask for a MASSIVE discount. If you cannot, then go ahead and have the redo done on the Contractor's dime.

And a massive discount should be equal to the cost of sourcing the tiles and reinstalling them. What the GC would gain is "time". He may lose out of pocket (he removes the cost of this off the books) but he is on time for his next job. That is worth some SERIOUS money to these guys. We are getting into the busy "indoor" season (interiors get dealt with during winter) which means he does NOT want to be stuck with your job.

I would personally want a do-over....but there are enough people out there who would accept a BIG discount that they can take to the bank. Money left over at the end of a renovation is nothing to sneeze at.

To restore your tiles you will probably need the services of a marble restoration company. Any product that is safe for marble is also safe for cement tiles. The color layer is a blend of materials and one part is ground marble.

We see this kind of problem a lot in N. American installations, particularly residential. In the US, tile setters are not required to have any particular training and they are not required to do continuing education. Anyone who can buy a trowel at Home Depot can call themselves a tile setter.

And for some reason, many of the tile 'contractors' that I have met have a bone-headed attitude and say things like "Lady I have been laying tile for 18 years, there ain't a tile out there that I don't know about" , so they want to skip reading the instructions. Maybe they speak English but don't read it. But mostly they think they don't need that info, they 'know it all already'. But they DO NOT.

You can google your area for marble restoration companies and ask if they have experience with cement tile. They will probably grind off a slight amount off the surface. They have machines that grind with water and suck it back up as they go, etc...

Now if your installer used a penetrating sealant, and it went deep, then you may be locked into using only penetrating sealants from now on. If that is the case then your best bet is to put a final coat of paste wax, we like yellow can MinWax Finishing Wax ($10 in paint dept usually or Amazon) then buff the floor like just as you would a real hardwood floor. Penetrating sealants only protect from certain kinds of spills, and only if gotten up immediately. The wax will help a lot. Example, urine drop or mustard or red wine will eat right into your tile with only a penetrating sealant. And believe me, we have done hundreds of tests on all brands we can find.

A better choice is a topical sealant. But since your floor has been already treated with 'something' , you will need to do a small test patch to see if a topical sealant can adhere properly after refinishing is done and the floor is completely dry again. .

We ship a great topical sealant in a satin finish with our tile orders. We just find that in our no-wax society that a topical provides a layer of protection that no penetrator can match. And it might only have to be renewed every 4 or 5 years in high traffic areas, and maybe never in a powder room.

Never use a dark grout with a light color cement tile. And always protect the tile's surface from the grout as up close, a cement tile surface is like an orange peel with tiny openings. Our recommendation is for first coat of topical sealant to go on after the tile is set and dry and before grouting, last coat goes on tile and grout after it is dry. Commercial usually gets a final coat of a heavy duty 2-part sealant.

You should not have to accept poor workmanship. We need to demand higher standards of N. American contractors.

Good luck !

Best wishes, Lundy Villa Lagoon Tile

One additional comment, if the restoration people do any grinding, you need to tell them not to polish your tiles unless you plan to continue with penetrating sealants and maybe wax on top as final coat.

If you decide to do a topical sealant, then you need a raw 'chalk board' finish on your tiles so you get good adherence. Topical sealants come gloss, satin and matte, so you can chose but gloss shows scratches more, so we don't recommend that.

But really , in your photo, your tiles don't look bad to me. Just typical. Cement tiles always are a 'funky' type of tile and no one should expect the perfection of machine made ceramic tiles. Lundy

I decided to have the contractor start over instead of putting more money and time into something that still may not be acceptable in the end. Thank you for the insightful and instructional comments. I will post a photo of the finished floor when completed.

I'd hit some of those with a knuckle dragger with diamonds before tearing them out. Might be fine.

your installation looks great!

Hi ActivistMom. Thanks for your input. We are about to install cement tiles in our bathroom floor and shower. We are also getting our tiles from The Tile Shop. How has your floor help up since you've installed it a year ago? Has maintenance been easy? Thanks

Hi ActivistMom. Thank you for replying.

We haven't laid the tiles yet so I have a chance to experiment. So far I've used 5 coats of the 511 Porous Plus Sealer by Miracle. We are using Kyra II Terazzo from Cement Tile Shop. After four coats of sealer the water beaded on top of the tile (yay!), but when I spread the water over the tile, so that the water is in a thin layer, the tile absorbed the water right up (booo). I just applied another coat of sealer. Will test again. I want to be able to test with red wine, grout, etc, before we actually lay the tiles. Because we are laying the this tile on the floor of the bathroom and the shower floor, I want to make sure that water will not stain the tiles. My husband already states he cannot see himself mopping up the shower after each shower. Maybe cement tiles is not such a good idea in the shower?

Another thought, at roughly 8" per tile, with a grout line of 1/8-1/16", will cement tiles be too slippery in the shower? Any one with experience of cement tiles in the shower? Thank you

I’m just experimenting with four tiles that we purchased as samples. My main concern is that they hold up in the shower since we likely will not be wiping the shower floor dry after each use. If sealing it several times and it still stains with water, then maybe we shouldn’t use it in shower.

After 5 coats of sealer I tested the marble with water, hand soap, toilet bowl cleaner, red wine, ketchup, lotion. I left everything on the tile for 5 minutes and then wiped off. The tile looks fine. The water is still sitting as a big bead. It did not stain. I will test with bleach next.

I read of someone (I believe it was on another Houzz thread) who had to put 9 coats of sealant on her cement tiles in the bathroom before water would bead and not stain. I've just installed them in my front entrance and plan to do the same just to be on the safe side - I'm on my third coat. I'm curious, HU-879506463, exactly how you're going about sealing them. There appear to be different methods.

Hi Romai. I talked with the manufacturer of my tiles (TheCementTileShop.com) and read a lot of other posts. What I ended up doing is sealing twice with Miracle 511 Porous Plus before installing. I used a brush to apply the sealant. You can also use a roller. I let the sealer set for 5 minutes, then wiped off all the excess. I let this sit for 3-5 hours, until the tiles are dried, before applying a second coat. I let the second coat dry at least 24 hrs before starting on another set of tiles. After tiling, seal again 3-4 times before grouting. This time, used a roller since there was more surface area to cover. Overall will have at least 5 coasts of sealer on each tile, since water starting beading after the 5th coat on the test pieces I did.

When applying sealer, be careful not to apply so much that the sealer will drip down the sides of the tile. This will make it harder for the grout to stick to the tiles when grouting.

How did your tiles turn out?

Hi HU-879506463. They turned out well. I applied one coat of sealer - also 511 Porous Plus - and then about 7-8 coats after they were installed (I lost count), but I think it was around there. About 1-2 coats per day. I did the water bead test before walking on them, and have been using them for about two weeks now. I think I'm also going to put another couple of coats of sealant on them just to be on the safe side. I have some left, so I figure, why not? In terms of method, the people at the shop said just to use a cloth to coat the tiles, and then to wipe off with a clean cloth. (It's a small entryway). So that's all I did. Also, other than the one coat of pre-installation sealer, I applied the balance of sealant after the tiles were installed and grouted. At the instruction of the installer, I first waited a few days until the grout was completely dry. In terms of dirtying and cleaning sealed/unsealed tiles, the difference is huge. Some of my tiles got dirty before they were sealed and when they had just one or two coats, and the only way to get the dirt off was to sandpaper it off. The dirt was literally embedded in the tile, and it was just your regular floor dirt (my dog walked on them.) After multiple coats of sealant, I just wipe off the dirt with a wet paper towel and it comes right off - same as it would on a glossy ceramic tile. So I'm really pleased. I keep holding my breath every time, worrying that this dirt won't come off. But it does. I've read horror stories of staining, but based on my experience (so far!) I think it's a question of repeatedly layering with sealant beyond the advised amount if necessary. Just keep doing it until you've got a really good bead, i.e. until nothing penetrates. Otherwise it's just a porous product that soaks everything up.

This is the best video blog I have found on Cement Tile Installation: https://www.prettyhandygirl.com/how-to-install-cement-tiles/