You might be seeing that the tile absorbed some moisture. If so, he could be right that drying will make it look much better. If the tiles are cloudy, they might need further cleaning to get the grout off the faces.

The pictures don't look as bad as I expected from your description. I think it looks amazing... But I realize I'm not seeing them in person and the change from what you saw before. I do know that a grout job looks quite different, and usually better, when dry.

Hang in there. What a beautiful kitchen. I'm sorry it's not going or turning out as you'd imagined.

i would go to the tile store where he bought the grout, and see if they sell a product to remove the haze. or what about after it dries and settles for a few days, use white vinegar? i think once you can get that haze off and get it shiny/polished like it was you will be happy.Good luck, Michelle

I agree with Rhome. If they are cloudy it's probably just grout haze (residue) which should come off when you clean it with a damp sponge and some lukewarm water. A bit of a tedious job and you may need to do it several times -- and you'll probably need to wring out your sponge about a hundred times (at least it will feel like that!) -- but it will be worth it in the end.

How long does the grout take to dry? I was cleaning my grout haze the first evening after the tile was installed. I think that's pretty normal for standard non-sanded grout. You should be able to give your tile a wash by now unless there was something particularly different or "slow-drying" about your grout.

Good luck!

The tile has already been washed by the installer. You can see wetness in the actual tile behind the glossy finish. Maybe it will come around. I am just at the end of my rope. It just looks so cloudy. The picture looks better than actual tile job. This week our concrete stairs were ripped out because they were done wrong. When they started jack hammering the rock on the front of the stone wall separated. The back deck they forgot to pour the piles for the lower deck out to the distance of the upper deck so we decided to shorten the deck. The flooring has been delayed yet again. Our move in date just keeps get pushed back more and more things go wrong. I am so done with the process. I can't handle any more mishaps. When we started planning this build my daughter wasn't even born and now she is 17months. I just want everything to turn out perfect and it is not.

Marble is somewhat porous. It's not supposed to be sealed on the edges/sides, or the grout won't adhere to the tile as well. I do believe that moisture will dry out of the tiles and you'll lose the gray edges.

It's normal that tile needs washing more than once, so maybe he wasn't thorough enough. But you get to the point when you're close to finished that It's hard to tell if it's completely gone until it dries, so maybe he thought he got it all even though there is enough to haze it now.

I can understand you're tired and upset with all that's happened. We started our build months later than I thought we would, and it took over 6 months longer than I hoped... And I thought that we would be FINISHED when we moved in, and were far from it, because we DIY'd almost everything, including building cabinets. It's now 4 yrs later, and there are a lot of things still not done. But yours shouldn't be like that, since you have things hired out, and presumably a contract for a finished house.

I was a mess for several weeks as little things kept cropping up and lengthening our progress to occupancy and loan closure. But as soon as we were in the house, the previous 2 yrs seemed like a dream that flew by. You'll get to that point, too, I'll bet. I hope you can love the things like your creamy cabinets, and look at it as a lucky mistake instead of hating it and wishing for your white.

I stared at the tile behind my stove for a few weeks after it went in. DH decided to 'finish it for me' while I was at a bridal shower, and I came home and had to rip half of it out to get it lined up the way I'd planned. In the midst of that, I neglected to look at how the variegated tiles were getting spread over the area, and ended up with tiles I thought were too dark in the mix. Not only were they there, EVERY time there were dark tiles, there were 2 in a row, which made it worse. It really irked me. Then I realized I was letting it irk me, and every time the thought started, I shut it off and focused elsewhere. Now I never notice the 'problem' pattern in the tile. I'm just too busy with life to stare at that tile any more. ;-)

Please make sure you have the time to enjoy your daughter. That time is what you'll regret losing while you worry about the house. My first baby girl is now 24 and in another state. The time my kids were little was far too short!

I'm so sorry about your problems and hope everything is finished for you soon. Hugs and best wishes.

My husband is a GC. He says that the haze is a son of a gun to get off.There is a grout haze remover. You can get it at a tile store or HD or Lowes. You will also need a white scubbing pad, they have a rough side. It takes alot of elbow grease.

My husband is a GC. He says that the haze is a son of a gun to get off.There is a grout haze remover. You can get it at a tile store or HD or Lowes. You will also need a white scubbing pad, they have a rough side. It takes alot of elbow grease.

Rhome thanks so much for you post. I hope that when all is and said is done that we just enjoy and not have the angst about everything we do now. Wine and golf are just going to have to get me through. I have a great builder but it just seems no matter what something goes wrong. We are completely finishing the house so we wont have to do things once we are in thankfully. I can't imagine continuing the process once we are in.

You are right about savoring the time with my little ones. I have an amazing son and beautiful daughter. Everyone tells me how time flies. I can't imagine them leaving. We built them suite style bedrooms in the basement for when they are older. My hope is that they will stay home as long as possible and we will have the type of home they want to spend time with their friends in. We are building once with idea of a family forever home. I love going back to my childhood home because I have so many good memories.

I hope the stress and frustration seems like a distant memory. I am just so glad that i have a builder that is more than willing to fix things till I am happy. I just have to trust that this will work out even though I am panicking. If it doesn't clear up then I will just have to get it fixed. I just didn't know if this is normal or not.

Shar - I will ask the tile guy to use haze remover and see if it makes a difference. Never heard of that before.

I do alot of tile and let me tell you what I see in the pics alone.
I see reflection of light through window, telling me the tiles are glazed
#1 they could not be sealed before install by installer they are already sealed
#2 ALL products that contain portland haze over, to remove this haze they only need cleaned. once cleaned the 1st time, they rehaze in less than 5 minutes, the fact that you are complaining is a good thing. that meants the tile guy did not reclean over and over in the 1st hour. that much water on the tile will #a thin the dye out in the grout, making it incosistantly colored #b make the grout lines deeper and deeper into the tiles. I am contracted by the hour, so if someone wants I will sit on the front steps smoking ciggs. for a hour before i clean the haze off. if it is job contracted it saves them money by sending him back the next day to clean the haze off. usually it only takes 1 more sponge and water cleaning, then wait for it to haze over again in 5 minutes, and wipe it off with a terry cloth. haze remover is last choice, but a choice if there is a problem (I have never had to use it) the truth is, grout- sanded or unsanded is not waterproof. you are worried about the haze, lol. If there was a ball of grout left in the center of those glazed tiles the size of a quarter, it could be washed off tommarrow with some elbow action.
let us know how it turns out, we can all laugh about the little scare together.

Sunny, I've done a fair amount of finish carpentry over the years. I once had the misfortune of tiling a bathtub surround with white tile. Getting the haze off almost reduced me to tears and took days.

Hopefully the following will make you feel better: I am currently remodeling my own house. This summer I am replacing the windows and siding. I had planned to install a square 8" block of wood on the wall I am currently working on for a mount for a future outdoor faucet but got in a hurry last weekend and completely forgot the piece of wood. Oh well. It happens to the best of us.

ps I love your kitchen.

Um, people, that tile is marble. It is not glazed, do not try to clean it with vinegar and do not put any product on it without testing it first.

I thought I would give a bit of an update. The builder had to replace some tiles because they were not installed properly. The drywallers covered an outlet and then the tile guy tiled over it. When the ungrout tile was put in it was obviously the colour significantly changed. The fog mostly went away but the color and life of the marble didn't come back. We made some boards and are going to try a few different enhancers and restore products to see if something will help and then we will go from there. I will make a decision from there to redo do it or not. Thanks for the help.

Oh, that sucks. Any luck restoring them?

Im SO sorry for your disappointment and let downs, but I just have to say your kitchen is GORGEOUS! I love the cabinet color and the tile you selected is amazing! WOW, your kitchen might now be one of my inspiration kitchens!! Would you mine sharing your island counter top and name of your tile? I know your not happy with your tile but it looks simply name beautiful to me- is it cararra marble subway 3x6???

hang in there!

Im SO sorry for your disappointment and let downs, but I just have to say your kitchen is GORGEOUS! I love the cabinet color and the tile you selected is amazing! WOW, your kitchen might now be one of my inspiration kitchens!! Would you mine sharing your island counter top and name of your tile? I know your not happy with your tile but it looks simply name beautiful to me- is it cararra marble subway 3x6???

hang in there!

Im SO sorry for your disappointment and let downs, but I just have to say your kitchen is GORGEOUS! I love the cabinet color and the tile you selected is amazing! WOW, your kitchen might now be one of my inspiration kitchens!! Would you mine sharing your island counter top and name of your tile? I know your not happy with your tile but it looks simply name beautiful to me- is it cararra marble subway 3x6???

hang in there!

I didn't see your tile before so can't comment on the difference, but the way they are now sure is pretty with your cabinets. Your kitchen is gorgeous! I'm sorry you are having so many disappointments with it.

I am still in limbo land right now. I loved the tile before that is why i so disappointed in the muted appearance. Everytime I walked in the kitchen I just felt like it was the most beautiful thing. They are picking up the Dupont product called restore to try to fix it and return the life back to the tile. We are waiting until the new shower tile comes in(another hiccup). This process has been painfully slow. On the upside my hardwood is being installed and I don't think I could love it more than I already do. I joked to my husband that we should just sit on the floor so we don't have to cover any of it up. My mouth dropped when I saw it because it is so beautiful. I cried happy tears when my backsplash first went in. Hopefully they can get it to look alive again.

Floors that wonderful and no pic? I just ruled out tile floors, I would love to see what floor would make someone that happy.

Can you share the name of your backsplash tile and size and the island counter material you used? THANKS MUCH!

Williamsem you wont regret wood in kitchen. I have lived with wood kitchen floors for almost 10 years and love how it feels on my feet and have not had any trouble with it.

The flooring installers were working so I stayed out of the way but will post a picture tomorrow after I take some. They are quite dirty with all the dust from installation but you will be able to get the idea. The floors are throughout the main floor and are a 8" hickory wide plank with lots of knots and grooves.

The countertop is Caesarstone Nougat.
The backsplash is Random Strip Mosaic Venatino Marble from Terra Sol.