How to Fix Color Rubbing Off New Tile!


  #1  
Old 03-23-09, 10:40 AM
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How to Fix Color Rubbing Off New Tile!

I am installing tile in a new bathroom/shower I have constructed in a new luxury bathroom we are adding to our home. However, some of the pewter accents are defective. The black color is rubbing off some of the 2-tone pewter tiles.

Does anyone have any suggestions on either making the color permanent, re-applying black to attempt to make the tiles like the original, or how to go about requiring Home Depot to do $3,000-4,000 of replacement tilework?

Here are my main facts:
1.) The ENTIRE bathroom was designed around the specific color of these pewter tiles;
2.) SOME of the pewter tiles are perfect, but most of the others are now a different color (silver), so it DOES look very odd;
3.) The black rubs off the tile with water or by rubbing it with your finger;
4.) This is in the shower, so it will get wet;
5.) I still haven't done the other 1/2 of the room with it, we will be installing the roman tub soon.

Photos:

(Above) Some good and some bad tiles. Looks bad to us.


(Above) This is the original look: new in package.


(Above) Tile after water washes off non-permanent black.


(Above) Original 1-foot tile assembly.




(Above) The bottom most pewter tiles are the original color. They match the two liners we have chosen. The others look silver and some have lost 1/2 of the black, so are 1/2 silver and 1/2 pewter.

We are sick to death over this. -Tony17112acst
 

Last edited by tony17112acst; 03-23-09 at 11:02 AM.
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Old 03-23-09, 02:41 PM
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Nice looking shower you got there!

Never personally dealt with these insets, but I remember selling them when I worked at HD. I can tell you one thing, HD will not be spend the money to replace the whole shower, but just the offending pieces. This of course, if it turns out there is a defect with the tile.

I'll try to find out more and report back.
 
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Old 03-24-09, 12:05 PM
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At some point soon I will have to go to Home Depot and see what they say. Probably in a day or two. I don't know HOW they'd fix the problem since ALL tiles now in stock are these defective ones. If the manufacturing process has changed, there's no remedy, because no tile exists to finish the job, which is only 1/2 done.

If I can paint them somehow to make them look somewhat the original color, is there somethign that can seal them so the paint is protected from the soaps and water from the shower?

I am trying a sealer right now as an experiment but sealer doesn't seal OVER the tiles, it sinks in like a stain. Funny thing, when I spray the sealer on, the black comes off with just by dabbing the tile dry. The cloth/towel is black with the color.

Any ideas to seal OVER it?

Thanks for any responses: -Tony
 
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Old 03-24-09, 04:42 PM
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Tony

My guess is that your decorative tile is some kind of painted on finish and not suitable for wet areas.

If I can paint them somehow to make them look somewhat the original color, is there somethign that can seal them so the paint is protected from the soaps and water from the shower?
Painting the tile in a wet area wont last very long and sealer wont help.

I am trying a sealer right now as an experiment but sealer doesn't seal OVER the tiles, it sinks in like a stain. Funny thing, when I spray the sealer on, the black comes off with just by dabbing the tile dry. The cloth/towel is black with the color.
If the black is coming off when you apply the sealer, that pretty much confirms that this is some kinda painted finish applied to the tile after its made. This kind of tile is not suitable for wet areas.

Aside from the decorative tile, thats a great looking shower.
 
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Old 03-24-09, 09:11 PM
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Thank you for the compliments on the shower. It took a LONG time to do it.

I have an idea to run by you tile guys. What if I got this kit:

American Accents Antique Pewter Finishing Kit - eBay (item 220378707062 end time Mar-22-09 15:53:18 PDT)

It is a pewter kit and it says Indoor/Outdoor on it, so maybe the paint would be OK in the shower? I could rub the black on and off which would give it the look I am looking for but it's just a question of whether the paint would work in a shower.

-Tony
 
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Old 03-25-09, 06:11 AM
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Give it a try, you have nothing to loose at this point. Do a test sample with left over tile, and then subject it to the same conditions as your shower.
 
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Old 10-02-09, 12:08 PM
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Udate:

I DID use that product (Pewter Finishing Kit) becuase it said it was indoor/outdoor. It came out amazingly like the original, but if you look closely, you can tell it's not as slick and the originals. I put the test tiles under water for about 7 days and saw not degredation in any way.

I also found that if I put high quality sealer on new ones, the black does not rub off. This is 20 year sealer from Home Depot, so I'm guessing I'll get 7 years out of it.

I went to HOme Depot and told them about the problem and they treated me like an idiot and told me I installed them wrongly. I then went to the OTHER Home Depot in Harrisburg, and they were super apologetic and even took the tile off the shelves and got the manager involved. They ended up refunding my money only (over $700). I accepted their offer and I finished the rest with new tiles which I sealed which prevents the black from rubbing off. That will at leaset let me apply grout without ruining them. The rest are in the hot tub area, so almost no moisture will touch them (as opposed to the shower).

Here's a photo: I still must grout the whole thing:



Thanks folks! -Tony17112
 
 

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