13,000 ppm lead – 1979 tile! [Original tile floors in a 1979 house.]
The amount of lead that is considered unsafe (and illegal) in a modern/newly manufactured item intended for children, is anything 90 ppm lead and higher. Floor tiles – while likely used and interacted with by children every day (especially crawling babies!) – are not considered “items intended for children.” Vintage items are not regulated for total lead content at all. While bathroom floor tiles may not present an immediate threat or hazard for your family – if a tile floor like this is demolished without using lead safe work practices (when a bathroom is being renovated, for example), it can present a significant hazard to the residents of the home.
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Tamara, with an XRF have you tested any tubs of grout powder that you can buy at hardware stores, before adding any water and stirring?
A piece of grout spontaneously dislodged from in-between two tiles on my bathroom floor (I guess I must have dropped something on it, or accidentally kicked it with my toenail or something!). I’d like to fill this in, rather than leave a gaping hole. I was wondering what brand of powdered grout I should get at the hardware store to do it myself. At a big-box hardware store in my city, I bought this one brand called “MAPEI” (mapei). This “unsanded grout” comes in a 1 pound round plastic tub and I just noticed now it says it’s white! The grout in my bathroom is grey, so maybe I’ll try returning it and buy some grey grout powder to mix up myself.
But I’ve also seen LePage brand at a tiny hardware store in a nearby city where I live. Those two are the only brands I’ve seen. It says “Poly filla” on the LePage square plastic tub, but I’ve also seen the words “Poly filla” on what appear to be different brands on Google Images, like Polycell.
It would be helpful if you could post the results of testing various brands of grout for all us DIY re-grouters out there. Just a suggestion, since I wonder if you’re looking for interesting ideas on new categories of things to test. Regular silicone caulk would be an interesting thing to test too, since most people use their bare finger wetted with some soap to smooth the caulk bead.
Thank you for your informative website!