Originally Posted by helphelpinghelped
Hello
This is my first post to this site.
I live in a 2 year old high rise (poured concrete) condo building.
In one bath I have brown spots in the grout that disappear when I apply bleach but return in 3 days to a week in the same spots.
I used a carbide grout scraper and removed as much of the grout I could get
out without breaking any tile loose then sealed and regrouted.
Stains came back again. I soaked thin strips of cloth in bleach and put them directly on the stained grout and kept the cloths wet with fresh 40% bleach/water mix for a week. Stains came back. The stains in the grout are more common toward the wall rather than the bathtub nearby.
There is a laundry room on the other side of the wall so I pulled out the washer and dryer to see there was any water leaks while the washer was being used. There were none it was as dry as a bone
The water exit hose for the washers empties into a stand pipe in the wall and the nozzle on the exit hose is wire tied securely to the fresh water inlet hose so it does not flop around.
We have owned the condo for two years and spend 6 months here during the winter.I would think if I had a mold problem in the wall it would have shown up in the drywall. There is no musty odor in the bath room either.
Is it possible that the stand pipe might have a leak at the bottom of the wall?
I do turn off the water when we leave for the summer/
Any help or advice you can give me would be appreciated.
Tom