Dried thinset on tile surface

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BrianZ

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Our builder's tile contractor left thinset on the tile surfaces of the shower floor (I thought it was just dirt back before I knew what thinset was...). So its had plenty of time to bond and its on there real good. There's also thinset mixed into the grout lines but I can scrape that out and regrout it, its the stuff on the surface I'm having issues with.

I don't know what kind of tile it is, looks like 'tumbled marble'? or 'river rock'? Anyways, scrubbing has not been able to remove the thinset and I'm not sure how much abrasion these tiles can withstand. Any ideas?
 

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All mortar is supposed to be EASILY wiped off with a damp rag before setting. Obviously that wasn't done.

Although cured thinset can usually be scratched off rather easily if your tiles were a typical smooth porcelain or glazed ceramic, thinset or grout must be removed mechanically from embedded porous surfaces.

You have to scrape away as much material, which includes the porous surface itself, until you are satisfied.
 

BrianZ

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Could you ask the builder?

I could, but he may not remember the details of this installation as it is not standard, he doesn't order the tile, and it was a while back. I just thought it may (potentially) be obvious to tile experts as to what kind of tile it is, but then materials can be deceptive these days. Maybe I can find the same design somewhere and match it that way.
 

Jadnashua

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Cement based grouts cure to get their strength. Drying prematurely will make them less strong as they incorporate the water into their chemical structure during curing. The longer it sits on the tile, the harder it gets, literally. You can remove it with some chemicals. You must follow the instructions very carefully and you need to spot check a tile to make sure it doesn't damage it. Are the tile ceramic or a stone? If it's stone, it's more likely a grout remover would damage it. Essentially, the grout remover is an acid that eats the calcium out of the cement (and some tiles like marble, limestone, etc.) which lets you scrub the remaining off.

This is a tedious task, but usually works.
 

BrianZ

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Since it looks like stone and not like ceramic, I started in on the abrasion method in a non conspicuous spot with course sandpaper and a random orbit sander. It seems to be tumbled marble by the look of it (dull finish with little pock marks like the surface of the moon). Sanding smooths it out and makes it look less interesting, but at least it gets the thinset and mortar off the surface, which is the larger issue given the thinset color stands out (grey on tan). Of course once I got in their with a lamp I could see that the thinset is splattered onto almost every tile to different degrees, so its a matter how how many little triangular stones I want to sand down.
 

Jadnashua

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Since it is not polished, you could try one of the chemical grout removers. On something like limestone, it would typically etch it and dull a polished finish, but since you're sanding it, it probably wouldn't matter.
 
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