If she's on a well, her filtration system is probably in need of maintenance. :-)

Happens here all the time.

In my house, ONE sink smells of rotten eggs before anything else does when I'm needing to change out the chemicals.

Her water is in a major US city water municipality. She poured bleach down the tub to see if that would flush out the smell.

Would it be safe to wash the walls with a bleach solution? They are crema marfil but have been sealed.

I'm probably just pointing out the obvious here, but how extensive was the renovation? There's been a problem recently with a rotten egg smell caused by some drywall produced in China.

It could be one of several things. I've never heard of crema marfil having any sulfur in it, but it's not completely out of the realm of possibility, either if she bought cheap stone. My first thing would be to have someone check the "stink pipe" from the toilet discharge, or even check to make sure the toilet's not leaking under the floor. The Chinese drywall problem is also another possibility. As for the stone, if your client's got any left over, you could take a piece to a local lab to be tested for sulfur and quickly target it or eliminate it as a possible source.

Thank you so much for all the help. I think the lab idea is great and at least can show my client (and me!) whether the tile is the source or not.

Bill is king!

My money's on the sheetrock or stinkpipe..

Could this be the adhesive used to attached the tile? Just another possibility.

Good luck!

It's a possibility, but that's really reaching, and only if mastic was used. Lets discount the stone, first and work from there.

Flash-- let us know how this one goes. I'm pretty interested in this.

Bill,
I agree it may be a far of possibility. I included it to find out if the OP knew what adhesive was used to adhere the tile to the wall? The answer could easily eliminate it from consideration.

Good luck!

thanks again for the help with this issue. I am going to contact a lab tomorrow to see about getting the stone tested. They are also going to take another look at the toilet.

The room in question is small and has a tub/shower and toilet. It is the only area where the mosaic is used. Hardibacker was used in the tub area and thin set and grout was used. I think all products came from H Depot. There was a small area of Sheetrock replaced in the room as well but there has been other Sheetrock replaced on the rest of the house with no smell.

Wish me luck as the homeowner is very upset with me (the designer). I want this resolved sooo bad!

What else was done in the room? Floors, cabinets, new cabinet shelf liner?

Assuming you have a few extra tiles, I'd put a tile or two in a ziplock bag and leave it sealed for a day. Then see what happens when you open the bag and put your nose to the crack.

Could someone have cracked the sewer pipe somehow when installing the toilet?

Was this problem ever resolved? If so, how? My curiosity is killing me!

Hi Flash,

I remember seeing your message on the ceramic tile forum about this problem, last October, just as I was considering Crema Marfil tiles for my bathroom.

So, four months later and it is still stinking, huh. Did you test the grout material? Someone was suggesting Polyblend sometimes does emit that odour.

I just finished having new ceramic tile installed. Installer put up tile with thinset and left it to cure for 3 days. No smell. when he came back and started grouting it was like the sewer had exploded. For a week now the bathroom smells like rotten eggs. It's the polyblend unsanded Pewter grout. The name should be Putrid grout. When will this go away?

I'd call the learned folks at Custom Building Products and as k their opinion.

My guess is the installer didn't use pure water to mix the grout.

I agree here. Well water has lots O' minerals and can easily produce a funky, sulpher kinda smell. On those homes, I always just buy distilled water from the local grocery store...

We have the exact same problem! We just had the tile that was brand new in Jan. 2015 ripped out due to this problem. Had it all replaced yesterday and once the grout was put on, the smell was back! So upset.

I read somewhere to smear baking soda/water mix on the tile and leave it for 12 hours. Yikes, the smell while doing that was horrendous. I'm hoping it will dissipate since its in the process of drying while I'm typing this. Any ideas on what else to do to get rid of this stench. Thanks.

Jean

I've got tumbled creama marfil going up soon. Sure hope we don't run into this!

After a while the smell was vague when the tile was dry. But reactivated after a shower. Smell lessened over time. The smell is gone now.

If the grout didn't smell bad before it was applied, is it possible that it reacted with the tile or thin set?

seems to me it's something in the grout itself activates in water. I took some of the leftover grout and mixed it with tap water and some with bottled water and it smelled of sulfur. The darker the color of the grout the more it smells. I opted for dark gray grout and it really stunk but after a while it dissipated.

Interesting. Was it worse that polluted clam flats? ;)

How long can you let the grout vent out before applying the sealer? Did you (or anyone) phone the grout manufacturer and if so, what did they have to say? Needavacation, had you sealed the grout? Or was it still unsealed by the time the sulfur smell dissipated? I wonder if the OP's tile guy sealed it before the odor dissipated but at the suggested time. I have a keen sense of smell (which allows me to smell mayflowers, scilla, delicious food I want to duplicate at home and so on). Maybe I should hire out my nose to A D Little. But some of the stuff the nose experts have to whiff give me great pause.

Starsplitter, My husband said I should be in product development of some sort but the thought of sniffing underarms and such gave me great pause as well. my husband says I smell things that are simply not there. He just can't smell anything but he could smell the grout. I'm not sure what a polluted clam flat smells like but I can imagine. Honestly when I came into the house while the tile guy was grouting I thought he must have used the bathroom and had terrible stomach problems. I did call the manufacturer and they acted like this was the first case of it's kind but searching the internet there were dozens of the same complaint. I could tell it was lessening or I would have torn the whole thing out. I never sealed the grout.

What brand/color was that grout?

did using distiller water make a difference?

The brand I used was PloyBlend non sanded grout # 19 PBG1910 Pewter (custom order Homedepot). I don't think distilled water would make a difference. I love my dark grout. I would try another brand next time.

for all of you trying to blame it on the well water, its not that. I have the same problem. My bathroom was remodeled in about 2011. They used polyblend grout. I did not want to use this shower immediately because the installer made it so flat that it drains not in the best way. I gave up and started using. I have tried bleach in the drain, I have tried a multi killer everycide and with no luck I can tell you that I have put my nose right down to the grout and that is where the smell is coming from. My nose is no where near the drain. I AM NOT ON A WELL. It is the grout. WE are looking for solutions to the damn stinky grout.