Ooze coming out of a tiled floor?

beeza

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Nov 2, 2006
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I recently visited a friend who is renovating a 20 year old house in Sosua. He is a Canadian and a builder by trade, so he knows a thing or two about construction.

However he showed me something that neither of us could figure out what it was.

It was in an upstairs bedroom that used to be an exterior sun-deck about nine or ten years ago, until it had the roof extended over it and became part of the main house. The flat roof (which is now the bedroom floor) had been tiled with regular 12in square ceramic tiles. In the grout lines of the tiles, there are patches of clear liquid that is oozing out. This liquid has the consistency and colour of glycerine, although odourless. If left to dry it becomes a white powder that stains the floor.

The house is a standard Dominican style of construction, ie rebar reinforced concrete blocks with a solid cement roof. Does anyone have any ideas what this ooze can be and how to treat it?
 

Anastacio

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Feb 22, 2010
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Any idea what they used to set the tiles? (probably not) could it possibly be that there were 2 different properties mixed to create the cement, if these aren't compatible for mixing then have broken down, or got wet and then broken down separating and the result is possibly a latex solution separating from the cement. It is not normal to use a latex additive unless laying on a floor that needs a little movement or expansion though, so not sure if that could be the case.
 

Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
Sounds like he's got some type of filtration problem. The water or moisture that is accumulating under the tiles is mixing with something and coming up through the tile joints. I would try to find the source. As far as the clear liquid it could be a reaction between the grout and the roof sealer as I doubt it was stripped before laying the tiles. At any rate if you fix the moisture problem it should resolve the issue. As far as the source, check that the roof corners and wall caps are well sealed otherwise raifall can make it's way in and run down the walls until it hits the floor where it can spread out and get under the tile. This happened at my house and ruind a bunch of tile on my second floor.
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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elizabetheames.blogspot.com
Although I am not an engineer like Chip, I have done five renovations of old (and I mean one from 1835) properties.

I stayed in one building in LT which actually had water comng in through the WALL.. right through the concrete.... This was not only because of poorly mixed concrete but also because there were no gutters on the roof and so when it rained, that wall would get soaked and never really dried out.

If I had this issue, I would have the tile taken up and watch the floor during rains.

Removing and replacing tile is a common and fairly easy job here.
 
The grout is efflorescencing caused by a chemical reaction between the tiles and the type of concrete that they have been laid on. This is for the most part is water-soluble salts that are leaching and drawing water in from below, when it dries it becomes a fine white powder.
Grout should be resealed with clear silcon to take away capillary action happening through the porous grout.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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This is an alien invasion, a precursor to the End of the World....one of the Seven Mysteries of the Bible according to .......Nay, do pay attention, you got some good advice here...this is a wonderful site!!

Hb
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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i would say there are bodies buried under the floor but this is not england...
 

jrhartley

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Sep 10, 2008
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i have this on ground floor tiles, I presumed they werent layed on a damp proof membrane - looks a bit like alien jelly eggs, actually seems to happen more when its dry, so I presume its sucking minerals upto the surface through capillary action
 
May 12, 2005
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Sounds like a moisture problem. As others have said, check the joints were the new construction meets the old. Make sure they are tight. Also you might consider taking up the tiles, putting down a vapor barrier or membrane then resetting your tile floor.
 

alt001

Newbie
Aug 16, 2016
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Hi, Sorry for digging up an old post. But did you ever figure out what it was? I have the same thing for a shower floor that is about 9 months old (new construction). I haven't used the shower for about 4 months and since then several tiny spots of oily like ooze with tiny holes have sprung up. If I wipe them down, some will come back. Thanks in advance.
 

drstock

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Oct 29, 2010
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Cabarete
Usually I hate ancient threads being resurrected, but in this case I'm glad, because I have this problem in an upstairs room and some of the solutions suggested here make sense. It would be useful to know if the OP ever solved the problem, and if so, how.