New garden grouting issues

[Juststarting12]

8 weeks ago I got new patio slabs and grouting in my garden, after a few days I noticed the grouting was coming away and in parts of it was turning from a light / mid grey into a dirty / green grey. When I googled it said it may need some time to settle. It’s now been 8 weeks and most of my grout has changed colour, I gave it a sweep with warm water to check it wasn’t just dirty but the colour hasn’t changed.
The landscaper was working on another house a few doors down so I asked him to pop over if he had 5 minutes, when he came he said grout changes over time, it gets dirty, is to be expected and wait and see how it did over the winter as it’s a big job to change the grout but he’d come back and re grout where some had come away. A few days ago our neighbour tipped out their paddling pool, the water came under our fence and I noticed more of the grout was coming away, I ran my finger along it & it felt like the grout had gone soft, it had turned sandy & came away on my finger too.
I just want to check before I reach out that after 8 weeks this isn’t normal?

It isn’t normal, but neither is tipping a load of water from a pool on it. Do you always get run off from your neighbours garden, or did they just dump it out too near the fence? I’d be concerned about that if it was the case there was constant run off, but definitely get back in touch with the landscaper, it shouldn’t be coming away.

Is it proper grout or is it that powder stuff that they sprinkle/brush in and then water it? If it's the latter then it's absolutely crap and doesn't last 5 minutes. I speak from experience.

We had a patio/grouting done last year in summer. They covered it with sheets to 'help' stop the sun heating the grout too quickly which they said could cause it to crack easier. No idea if that's true, but ours hasn't crumbled and become soft. I'd either get a 2nd opinion or get him back. That doesnt sound right.

If it is the brush-in type then it is pretty awful, even if it is correctly compressed at installation (which often is not done). It is permeable and will discolour when wet.
Absolutely horrible stuff.

Flowpoint is the way to go.
Just had ours redone and it is a far better solution.

i think your neighbours are inadvertently damaging your patio.

i’d tell them and ask that they please dispose of their pool water elsewhere.

i wonder what was in the water, perhaps algae if it had been left in the sun for a few days?

Sorry, for the delay.

They used pro joint rapid flow. I emailed them last week to see if they could come back, they responded quickly & said it could be a bad batch or the fact it was raining when it was done so it didn’t cure properly, I’m hoping they’ll redo the whole patio but I’ve not heard back from them since the initial response.

I think the paddling pool is quite close to our fence, it’s pretty big and they just tipped it all out 🙈

ProJoint RapidFlow is similar to the product our people used.
They didn't compress it properly and it was falling out in weeks. My OH used a new (spare) tub, installed it correctly and it was ok for nearly 2yrs but being permeable changed colour when wet and when it was removed, came out easily in great long chunks.
Has now been replaced with Ultrascape Flowpoint and the finish is so different, a hard-wearing grout which should last for years. Wish our people had used from day-one it (but the brush-in is quicker for them).

@Nourishinghandcreamahh no, sorry to hear you had a similar issue. Did the colour change permanently? Ours is fully dry now & it’s definitely not the mid grey it was, it’s a greeny / yellow / brown colour now, looks horrible & really stands out

The areas that got wet changed permanently as the grout was dirty, when my OH flicked it out it was soft and just fell apart and the damp made it very dark.
The areas that stayed dry were better but it was still loose. The only areas that were firm and more resistant to being removed were where my OH had put it down himself (after the original stuff came out almost immediately), the grout still changed colour when wet though.

The Flowpoint is far better, hard and totally resistant to water.
Do a Google search and watch a video of how it is installed, I was very impressed when ours was done and it seems oddly satisfying watching it flow into all the nooks & crannies.
To save time, my OH cleaned out the old grout in preparation but although willing to tackle most jobs decided not to tackle the Flowpoint itself.

Thank you @NourishinghandcreamI’ll have a look at a video. I’m reluctant to do anything myself as I’m not the best at things like that but glad to hear there are better alternatives.