I thought I would pop out for a few hours in the middle of Wednesday, wipe the grout haze off the tiles, apply the grout sealant and maybe do a chunk of new grouting.

Imagine my disappointment when I found that a significant amount of grout would not just wipe off the tiles.

Ross visited briefly and told me I need to clean up a lot more with the sponge as I am applying the grouting.

Linda spoke to her brother, who is a professional tiler, and he said we need to clean up with a solution of dilute hydrochloric acid.

Either way, what was meant to be the first 3 minute job in a sequence of tasks, took up the entire visit and is still incomplete.

Apparently there are a few products around to deal with this situation. I will buy some before next Saturday and carry on.

I feel like I am wading through treacle at the moment - I really want to get on with completing the shower tiling, cementing in the toilet pan and installing the kitchen cabinets.

I cannot really do any of these until the grouting and grout sealing are completed.

Each step requires a 24 hour wait before the next step meaning delays of several more weekends.

To get around this, I was attempting to make a few quick visits during week days - but so far I have been stymied by this grout haze.

Hopefully on Saturday I can get everything moving again.