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My husband and I are grouting our counter tops. We got the old grout removed now problem with moraitic acid (carbon filter face masks and gloves!) however, we keep screwing up the grout and having to redo it. The first time we both used too much water. The second time we used too little. I just found out that my husband wasn't stirring the grout for 5 minutes like it says on the package (the difference between a chemist and a physicist maybe). Is there anything else we should know so that we don't screw up?
Cheers,
Katy
Cheers,
Katy
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Re: How do you screw up grout?
Fri, September 25, 2009 - 12:47 PMLet it "slake" after you mix it (let it sit a little bit.)
Use diagonal motions with grouting trowel for finishing strokes.
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Re: How do you screw up grout?
Fri, September 25, 2009 - 1:01 PMI think you're over thinking it. It's pretty hard to make grout not work. I've accidentally mixed it thin enough to pour and still had it set up and work fine, it just took a few days to dry.
I mix grout the same way I do bread dough. I put the dry grout in the mixing bucket add a little water then mix, add a little water then mix. When it gets to the consistency of bread dough, or a little thicker, I put it on and in the tile with a rubber trowel.
I wipe everything the whole area with a wet sponge after all the grout is in, just to make it all consistent. Then after the grout dries, I wash the extra off the tile faces.
Finally, I apply the water proofing.
Remember, the two main purposes of grout is to fill the gaps and cracks and to make a water proof barrier, which you get after you apply the water proofing. The only other requirement is that, after it dries, the grout sticks to the tile edges and doesn't crack.
Good luck,
Randy Greysage
sites.google.com/site/obiencommune/ -
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Re: How do you screw up grout?
Fri, September 25, 2009 - 1:44 PMA couple other things you can do to get closer to success is
a) scrub out the acid residue from the tiles before grout application with weak soap solution and small scrub brush, so as to get better adhesion for the grout.
b) look into acrylic based grouts, or else get some latex additive to mix with your existing grout. Either of these remedies will plasticize your mix and help it stick, and keep it from loosening up from drying out too quickly.
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Re: How do you screw up grout?
Sat, September 26, 2009 - 6:02 AM***********I think you're over thinking it. It's pretty hard to make grout not work.*********************
What he said.
Twice~!!!
Grout is very easy to get right.
Very hard to screw up
Non Sanded Grout on the flip side is a bit (but just a bit) trickier. Too much water and it'll develop little cracks ( which you can re grout later and fill in.) .
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Re: How do you screw up grout?
Thu, November 5, 2009 - 12:16 PMMight be too late for Kathryn, but a tip for others (or for her, if she and her husband have to remove their new grout again): go with epoxy grout. This is great for kitchen and bathroom installations-- when it sets up its basically plastic, and no way that water is coming through. For kitchen counters, the other big advantage is that it's non-porous, so it won't absorb anything and it won't stain.
Mix it according to the package directions. The first time I used it I was a little freaked out because of prior experience with epoxies that set up quickly. But the grout turned out to have a pretty long working time and I had plenty of time to get it pushed into the joints. You can over-work the surface a bit, and as it starts curing you could possibly rip it out of the joint by dragging at the surface too much, but I think you'd have to try pretty hard to do that. All in all it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. And 3 years later it still looks great.
