man I hate Tile Shop products. don't use their thinset additive.

As for the grout, what color do you want?

When you sealed, did you seal only the top or did you let it drip down the sides? (if the latter, you may have issues w/adhesion. )

Are you sure the top is sealed? when you drop water on top of the tile, does it bead up or absorb?

You could be absorbing the grout from the top because it's not fully sealed.

Even you little gray sqaure pieces got darker. that's prob from water absorption.

marble is always going to absorb the water and appear darker. what you might be seeing is the darker marble color, not the actually grout.

Why not let this sample dry out for a few days and see if it lightens?

I have used this basketweave in carrara and have never had an issue with or the grout (I used DeLorean gray with it)

This stone may be super pourous though.

is this sealed? squeeze a handful of water on top of it. wait 5 mins. what happens to the water

I would actually use Mapei Warm Gray grout. it's a better color. I think the darker gray isn't the right look for it.

Thanks for the response. I want a very soft light grey, which is what whisper grey is supposed to be. These were done about a week ago. Contractor doesn’t seem to have any ideas how to resolve. They sealed all around the tiles several times before doing the test. I don’t know if they did the water test or not.

I posted the basketweave showing the bleeding grout and then one sealed that hadn’t been grouted yet. I am beside myself with stress about our shower getting ruined. They are trying a test run with white grout tomorrow, which I don’t really want, but they are blaming the grey grout. It’s supposed to very very very light grey, almost white but not. 😞

We used MAPEI warm grey on our porcelain bathroom floor. It’s great, but whisper grey is supposed to be lighter. They also tried MAPEI frost on the marble that bled as well.

Here’s the MAPEI frost, see pics below. Yes, the photos you shared are correct. That is my shower floor tile the meram blanc, and you have the correct whisper grey grout.

And we are waiting for samples before installation. I am so nervous to have the actual shower tiles ruined.

If it is water absorption that would be great. Our contractor has been tiling for 20 years, he has not mentioned anything about absorption and I wasn’t aware

that one looks pretty good.

It's possible the darker grout colors may bleed into the marble causing a "picture frame" effect.

hard to say. Are these tiles going into the shower ?? I'd strongly advise using something else in the shower. Sealing doesn't make them waterproof. and you will need to be careful using cleaning products

try reading this article about "picture framing"

John Bridge tile forum is one of the best sources for anything related to tile

https://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=112013

In fact, on page 1 at the bottom, the guy actually talks about using Tile Shope grout!! he switched to laticrete (user Clare 234

We're getting the picture frame affect using grout we bought at The Tile Shop (brand Superior) and I'd like to change to the Laticrete. Unfortunately, they don't have the "whisper grey" that we started with...

You could try posting those photos and dilemma over on JB. They'd have a ton of experience w/that issue AND TileShoppe complaints.

Yes, it does seem like the grout is bleeding into the tile. They’ve tried laticrete grout as well. The tiles are already purchased and installed in the shower.

looks nice.

I'd go for a plain white grout. this way you won't have a noticeable picture frame effect. forget the gray.

and don't use Tileshope grout.

Try whatever product JB recommends.

I have a black marble shower floor. had to have it rehoned after using the wrong cleaning prodcut (it etched it like crazy). when he was done, he sealed the entire floor w/this. water just beads up on the surface. This stuff is great.

as for cleaning, I use this

I have the black marble basketweave in the toilet area. spilled a toilet cleaner on a portion of the floor and it ruined the marble finish

be very careful w/bathroom products on your marble.

Thanks for the tips on products. The sample of the MAPEI frost grout ended up drying out nicely so we reluctantly pulled the trigger and had the whole shower grouted with it. The grout dried nicely, but we do currently seem to have a framing effect where you can see what I guess is moisture lines around the grout lines. It has been almost 4 full days since they grouted. I’ve had a fan running on part of the shower for the past 12 hours. It doesn’t seem to be improving. I’m absolutely sick and nauseated with stress about whether or not this will dry out, and what to do if it doesn’t.

It looks like a botched job, I can’t live with it like this. 😭😭😭 I would love any tips if anyone or any contractors have any advice. I’m not sure ours won’t want to do anything or have a solution.

why is there plastic over it? can't evaporate. remove everything, turn on the fans and the heat! it will dry

They are sanding the walls. Thats what I thought however the section that I took a pic of has had the plastic pulled back and fan on it, and it has not changed unfortunately.

give it more time. 12 hrs isn't enough. sometimes it takes days depending on humidity and temp. don't freak out just yet!

Ok.. thank you very much for the help. I really hope you’re right 🙏🏻

Well it’s been almost a week now and really no change with the tile. I have no idea what we are going to do. I hate to replace it all, but it doesn’t look good.

it's been a full week since they grouted these walls? (a day or so ago it was 12 hours!)

Some tiles look whiter than others. have they always been like that?

this one is whiter. but what is this round blob? is that mortar ? also, all of these tiles should have been completely buttered on the backs. no spot blobs.

And can you tell me what product was used to set these to the wall? He didn't use mastic, did he?

if not, maybe the rest will dry out.

You've had a fan on this shower the whole time? not that tiny desk fan!

you need a large fan.

I honestly don't think it looks bad. I kind of like the grayish border.

(for the record, I hate TileShope and their products.)

They did the grout last Wednesday. It had been 4 full days when I posted before. I didn’t get the fan out until Sunday morning. It’s one of those Vornado whole room air circulators. Honestly it doesn’t seem to have made even the slightest improvement. From a distance it’s ok. But if you look closer it’s bad.

I think the blob was a camera smudge. I don’t see it in person. They used some kind of white thinset, I am not sure.

Ashley, you need to find out if it was actual thinset. (did you see them pour it from a bag and mix it w/water? or did it come premixed from a tub?

There are a couple smudges on my camera lense on my phone that don’t seem to wipe off. There are no marks on the tile other than the wetness around the grout joints.

you had a fan like this going on the shower?

are these visible IRL?

also, can you answer the thinset question?

I believe they mixed the thinset, I don’t know what kind it was, or if it came from bag or tub.

Those smudges seem to be stuck on my phone. They don’t exist in real life.

well if it came premixed its mastic and that takes months to dry. (and it's not suitable for a wet area anyway, so everything would need to be redone)

Is there someone you can ask???? you need to have an answer.

tell them to give you a name of what they used to set those tiles to the walls.

If they used real thinset mortar from a bag, it's fine. just trying to figure out why things aren't dissapating.

cant be the grout since it's white.

did you call Tileshope back and show these to them?

I just looked in our garage and there’s an open bag of VersaBond Professional Thinset mortar, so that must be what was used. I haven’t gone back to the Tile Shop yet, but I will today. It's very frustrating.

Looking back at pics taken over the past week, nothing has really changed or improved over time. We can give it more time, but it doesn’t seem to help. I had the fan blasting on one wall with zero change.

I am not sure if we should just have our glass installed and see how things may change once we use the shower. If I still hate it maybe we change it in a few years, however this was part of a $50k remodel so I am just distraught to have a result that I don’t love! We bought the tile, and our finishes (vanity, lights, etc). Contractors just doing labor and raw materials, etc. They don’t seem overly concerned with the shower, although they are super nice.

yes, very difficult for you. I get it. I'm hoping those edges will dry out. has the weather been cold at your house? it may be taking a big longer to evaporate.

give it a bit more time and see if anything changes. honestly though, it doesn't look bad at all.

It’s frustrating because none of the photos of the tile from other jobs online look like mine. This is the link to the tile, we got the honed 12x24 tile. https://www.tileshop.com/products/san-dona-honed-marble-wall-and-floor-tile-8-x-20-in-650367?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_content=surfaces_across_google&Kenshoo_IDA=PleaseAssignTagToAd&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyvf8rPvN9QIVj8mUCR2BjAJgEAQYASABEgIRjfD_BwE

this pic of theirs looks like the edges are a bit darker.

at least it didn't turn pink like this person

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5486786/san-dona-marble-turned-blue-and-pink-after-grouting

Hey, i'm just wondering how you got on with this... We have the same basketweave tile throghout our bathroom.... We trusted that our tiler knew what he was doing and we've been left with an absolute mess just like your photos of the samples..... Do you know if theres any cleaner which can remove the bleed effect?? It makes our whole new bathroom look an absolute mess!!

I’m sorry. Unfortunately there is not a fix to my knowledge. Ours has not changed and it’s been about almost a month at this point. ☹️ I don’t think yours looks bad, but I can understand that it wasn’t what you were expecting. Sorry you’re dealing with this, it’s beyond frustrating I know.

Henry/Ashley, sorry to both of you. the issue is the type of marble used w/these mosaics. It's not a carrara marble or a white thassos marble, or any other quality stone. Its some generic chinese-mined white marble used to increase their profits. (his stone is pretty cheap to use.) Sellers won't tell you this though. (I really despise TileShop)

Henry, it's not helpful, but I think your floor looks very nice. Your tile setter did a nice job. I'll warn you though, that polished finish is going to etch. (I have a polished black marble and it etches just from water drops sitting on it) yours is white so you won't notice it as much, but it's going to etch. You have to embrace the imperfection that marble brings to the table.

Marble is inherently absorbent, not a great product for an everyday shower because you will get staining and water spots. Regarding the grout, it sometimes helps to seal the marble first, and always use non-sanded grout as sanded will scratch the softer marble. You will need to re-seal at least 3-4 times a year to keep the marble from staining. Italians love marble and embrace the wear and tear of the natural stone. If your looking for perfection, you should stick to porcelain tiles that tend to not wear and tear or absorb like natural stone. You will also need to ask the tiler if he did seal the marble before applying mortar - as a tinted (or gray) mortar will also tint your tiles. White mortar definitely should have been used along with non-sanded grout, plus sealer before and after. Good luck,

Marie Hebson... if you read the entire post, you'll see that we've already covered exactly what you've written.

Ashley, I have the same tiles, behaving the exact same way. I'm not going to use the tiles shop whisper gray,(they suggested) but was gonna use mapei. yet I see it still has the graying affect along the edges. I assume no change in the past week (fingers crossed?)? I haven't grouted yet bc Im afraid to use anything- You tried 3 separate brands and all had the same result on the tiles?

Beth, do u have any recs of a grout that will not have this affect- should i try a cementous grout?

kari, I think a cementous would be worse. you might have better luck w/the epoxy or urethane grouts. test on spare pieces.

some marble is just lower quality and will absorb. nothing you can do about it.

Hi Kari, nothing has changed for me unfortunately.

Beth, thanks! and do u use the stone pro as a weekly cleaner on your shower?

Ashley, ugh, was hoping it got a bit better. mine did that same thing where the thin set oozed out from behind the tiles, I've scraped it all out n the "graying" effect resolved there bc the grout space was empty, its almost like a shadowing effect when that grout space is occupied, the tiles r so transparent that u can almost see thru them when held to light so iam not surprised that they r getting darker at the grout lines. this sucks. iam waiting on my sample boards to dry, applied grout today after sealing them. wish i read or knew all this before I tiled my entire shower. hoping for my samples to dry better bc i don't know what, if any, other grout to try. as Beth said I think its we got very porous tiles. I wonder what everyone else that posted pics of sandona tile shop tiles used- there's doesn't seem to have a problem. I've read n did so much homework but cant fix this issue--my tiles guys scratching his head as well

Kari, yes. sometimes i'll use grout renew and another product (as the stone cleaner just never really gets my wall tiles clean) the grout renew doesn't etch the marble, but I've very quick about rinsing it. I've even tried a bit of clorox bathroom cleaner on the wall tiles. I scrub and wipe.

Hi Kari,
Did you end up resolving the issue with your tile? I have not gotten used to looking at ours and I continue to be angry every day as I look at the tile. I am frustrated that they are charging a premium price for a subpar product and am looking for recourse with the Tile Shop however the store seems to string me along. I would love to know how yours turned out. There are multiple reports of issues with the tile yet the store will not offer any resolution.

@Beth H. : I know this thread is old, but you mentioned a couple of times that you hate the Tile Shop. Can you elaborate? They have a very realistic subtle marble-look porcelain that I wanted to use as well as a marble. The latter is the "Victoria Grey Silhouette Hex Mosaic Wall and Floor Tile - 9 in." that looks like carrara but they don't ever say carrara and I don't know what Victoria Grey is. It makes me a little concerned.

Here is the link to the marble:

Victoria Grey Hex tile

Here is a link to the porcelain:

Lenci Bianco Polished Porcelain

I'd love to understand your concerns with this retailer before I make a mistake. Thank you!

ikalvaria,,,,,If it's not listed as Carrara, (and only marble quarried at the Carrara mines in Italy can technically be listed as Carrara marble) then you're probably getting a lower quality white marble, probably from china.

If you look up TileShop issues in the search bar on houzz, you'll see why.

I would NEVER use their thinset additive. many problems w/it on marble.

A lower quality marble will have more flaws, could be softer, could contain more minerals that will turn color over time.

Personally, I just don't like the company because of all the negative things I've seen and their inabilty to rectify complaints or warn cliets of possible problems.

So, why not go elsewhere where you get quality marble?

Each one of these are 9" and cost almost $48.

that's actually pretty cheap. these are also difficult to install and cut, so make sure you have an ace tile setter

are you putting these two tiles next to each other? I wouldn't.

have you ordered samples or seen the tiles in person? Real marble next to fake marble usually doesn't work. you best order some first.

Personally, I'd shop around for better quality. the porcelain is fine, but not the marble. IMO

@Beth H. :Thanks for your detailed response. My initial thought was to have real marble on the floor and then a very lightly veined and white/similarly colored large format porcelain tile on the wall. So they wouldn't be right next to each other, but still I get your point. I am wary of the upkeep required for marble and was hoping I could split the difference, in a sense, by not going full marble - especially in the shower. Perhaps it isn't a good idea, though I do think the Tile Shop Lenci porcelain tile looks pretty good (and is made in Spain which made me feel better). The marble that you posted above is gorgeous. Would you be willing to share the name, brand, and size? Thank you again for taking the time to answer my question. I really appreciate it.

@Beth H. : Sorry, one more thing. What are your thoughts on the Tile Club and the quality of their marble? Here they list carrara in the description. It's a nice simple hex: https://www.tileclub.com/products/selo-grand-hexagon-carrara-and-thassos-marble-mosaic

Thanks!

ikalvaria.

the porcelain tile is fine.

As for the Carrara, I'd want to know if it's actually true carrara from italy. They prob don't even know since theyre just the dealer.

just be careful w/marble. Real carrara on the floor is going to etch just w/regular water. I have it on my floor. I ordered it directly from China and had it shipped over here ( the price savings was thousands). Supposedly it was imported from italy. But I am seeing discoloration. It's just the nature of marble.

I have Calacatta in my kitchen and it's beautiful.

I‘m sorry，it looks like Chinese marble named Xingbai（Starwhite）from Guangxi...not real Carrara