Grouting Tile
Tile contractor David Hart explains how to choose, mix, apply, and seal the messy stuff that goes between tiles.
Synopsis: After new tile goes down on the floor or in the shower, gaps between the tiles must be filled with grout. The author explains the process, with tips on the right tools and advice on what kind of grout is best.
If there’s one thing that most tile installers dislike, it’s grouting. A monotonous, shoulder-wrenching task, grouting is often delegated to the low man on the totem pole. That’s a big mistake. Nothing can ruin a top-notch tile installation quicker than a bad grout job. An inexperienced helper can leave shaded or splotchy grout, uneven joints or grout that can be scratched out of a joint with the stroke of a fingernail.
Years ago, white-wall grout was nothing more than Portland cement mixed with water; floor grout was mixed on the job by combining fine white sand with cement in a 1:1 ratio. Latex or polymer additives weren’t an option, so installers simply added water to the mix. It worked—tile that was installed 50 or more years ago remains intact in many homes—but it had its limitations. Color choices were usually limited to white, black or gray. These days, grout is available in a rainbow of colors.
现代水泥产品也越来越容易to use. The only factors that need concern tile installers are the type of grout to use, the proper consistency of the mix, even application and a thorough cleaning. And they shouldn’t forget additives and sealants.
The width of the joint determines the type of grout
There are two basic types of grout: sanded and unsanded. Which type of grout that you use is usually determined by the width of the joint between the tiles. Unsanded grout is the product of choice for any tile installation where the joints are less than 1/8- in. wide, even on floor tile. The finish is smooth, and it is relatively easy to clean.
Primarily used in joints wider than 1/8-in., sanded grout (also called floor grout or joint filler) provides the necessary strength for joints up to 1/2-in. and even wider. Although you might get away with unsanded grout in joints slightly wider than 1/8- in., it’s a poor bet. More than likely, tiny hairline cracks will form as a result of shrinkage, which is controlled by sand in the mixture.
As you might guess, the texture of sanded grout is rougher and a bit harder to clean. Although sanded grout is associated primarily with floor tile, it should be used on any tile with wider joints, no matter where it’s installed. However, be prepared for a long day if you plan to grout a wall with sanded grout. Unsanded grout readily clings to vertical surfaces, but sanded grout tends to roll down the wall and end up in little piles on the floor. It’s possible to use sanded grout in thin joints, too, but pushing the thicker mixture into tight grout joints can be a frustrating task that typically leaves small pinholes in the grout finish.
Unlike products of ten years ago, most grouts on the market now include a latex or polymer additive that strengthens the grout and helps it to resist staining. Although you can buy grout without admixes, I don’t bother; I’d rather have the extra protection that admixes offer.
To determine the amount of grout you willneed to buy, consult the chart on the back ofevery bag of grout, or ask the sales clerk atthe tile distributor. Measurements are typically based on the square-foot coverage perpound of grout, so you need to know howmany square feet the job is, how wide thejoints are and how big the tile is. One poundof grout might cover 5 sq. ft. of 6-in. by 6-in.tile with -in. joints; a 25-lb. bag of grouttypically covers about 100 sq. ft. of 8-in. by8-in. tile with -in. joints.
A 25-lb. bag of white-wall grout costsabout $10 or $12, and colored grouts cancost a few dollars more. I’ve used a half-dozen different brands, and all seemed towork well; none stood out as inferior or difficult to work.
Successful grouting depends on theright consistency
One of the most important aspects of groutis the mix. Nothing can make the process ofspreading grout more difficult than addingtoo little water to the powder. A stiff groutmixture can be nearly impossible to pushacross the tile and into the joints. Conversely, nothing can ruin grout faster than addingtoo much water.
I generally mix grout by hand with a mar-gin trowel in a clean 5-gal.bucket. When I need a largeamount, I save time by mixing with a paddlebit chucked into a variable-speed drill. Aword of caution here: Whipping the groutinto a froth can create air bubbles that willweaken the mix, so go slowly.
Generally, less water is better. As the waterevaporates from a typical mix, it leaves microscopic voids. Excess water takes up morespace; when the water evaporates, it createslarger voids and weak grout.
What’s the right water-to-grout ratio?Most contractors (me included) eyeball theright balance between powder and water.Grout manufacturers usually recommend aratio when mixing a whole bag (“mix 25 lb.of grout with qt. to 4 qt. of clean water,”for instance). But there are times when youwon’t use that much, so you have to estimate.
I always add less water than I think I need,and then add a little more if necessary.
Both sanded and unsanded grouts shouldhave a stiff, toothpastelike consistency whencompletely blended. Themix should be allowed to sit for about tenminutes and then be mixed again, an important step called slaking. Slaking allows theingredients to react and the color pigments to blend, creating a stronger grout with uni-form color.
Working the grout into place
Once I’ve mixed the grout a second time, Idump a pile of it onto the floor and startpushing it around with a float held up atabout a 45° angle. I want tomake sure the joints are full, so I bear downon the float as I sweep it diagonally acrossthe joints.
I grout a small area, as much as I can reacheasily, then go back and pull the float harddiagonally across the tile, holding the float atalmost a 90° angle. This step cleans off thelarge chunks of grout left behind and helpsto facilitate a quick cleanup later.
When I’m grouting walls, I usually load upa float with wall grout, start at the bottomand spread it up the wall,leaving plenty of grout on the face of the tile.I go back and clean off the excess grout byholding the float at a sharp angle and pullingit across the tile on a diagonal. As before, I push down on thefloat pretty hard as I pull it across the tile.
In average conditions, grout begins to setup in about 30 minutes, so I try not to spread more than I can work with in that time. If I’m working in hot rooms or with porous tile, I spread just enough so that I can start the initial cleanup in 15 minutes to 30 minutes. I’ve also found that grout will set faster if left in the bucket, so I dump the entire mix onto the floor and keep it moving until it’s gone.
Although cold joints aren’t an issue with grout, there is a chance of color variation from one batch to the next. If I have to stop, I try to end at a doorway or clear delineation and feather the next day’s work over the old.
Where not to grout
Grout won’t crack between wall tiles that are properly installed, except at the junction of the tile and an abutting structure like a tub or a countertop. If I’m working with large tiles, I try to minimize the amount of grout I pack into these expansion joints. Otherwise,I grout everything, use a margin trowel or utility knife to cut out the grout before it hardens and then run a bead of latex-silicone caulk into the joint. Latex-silicone is easy to use and easy to clean up. Although it doesn’t last as long as a pure silicone caulk, it does a fine job of protecting against water damage.
If you’re concerned about matching that mauve or orange grout, most manufacturers now sell caulks that are color-matched to their grouts.
Essentialgroutingtools
FLOATS:You can’tgrout without a float. They’reavailable in two varieties: floor floats andwall floats. Wall floats有一个柔软的橡胶垫,while floor floats aremuch stiffer. Althoughsome contractors useboth, I use a wall float forall my grouting; I’ve foundthat a floor float is too in-flexible to get into tightcorners. A good-qualityfloat can cost $20 ormore and should last upto a year for a full-timeinstaller. Eventually, theedges of the float weardown and won’t clean offthe face of the tile well.
MARGIN TROWEL:Thisspatula-shaped tool is essential for mixing groutand for scraping it out ofcorners and along baseboards. It’s also good forcleaning your other toolsat the end of theday.Atypical margin trowel willrun about $15 and will lastfor several years.
SPONGES:A good-quality grout sponge willcost $5 or more, but it’s anessential tool for whichthere is no cheap substitute. I always use largegrout sponges becausethey pick up and holdmore grout than smallerones, and that saves time.
GLOVES:Although sometile installers never wearrubber gloves when grouting, I won’t grout withoutthem. I don’t like to havewrinkled skin at the endof a long day and, inevitably, the dry, roughskin that follows. Frankly,there’s no reason not towear long rubber gloves.Although I have used grocery-store gloves, they’retoo thin and rip far tooeasily. I use a pair ofheavy gloves sold at tiledistributors that havelasted almost a year. Theycost about $8.
KNEE PADS:If you planto spend more than anhour on your knees on atile floor, you need kneepads. It’s foolish to workwithout them. A cheappair can cost as little as$5, but you get what youpay for. I have a pair ofplastic-capped, foam-lined knee pads from Alta(707-588-0230) that costabout $35, and they stillprotect me after threeyears of hard use.
Final cleanup needs less water
Cleaning up is as important as choosing and mixing the grout. The initial cleanup should accomplish two things: First, it should re-move the bulk of the residual grout on the face of the tile; and second, it should smooth the joints without pulling out the grout.
当灌浆关节敲定在哪儿e it isn’t soft to the touch, I start cleaning. How long should firming uptake? It varies with room temperature, humidity and the amount of water used in the mixture,but generally, it takes 15 to 30 minutes. If I wait too long, the grout will dry on the face of the tile, and I’ll have to spend time scraping it off. In hot weather or direct sunlight,grout can stick to tile within 15 minutes.
I start with two buckets of clean water, a couple of large sponges, a margin trowel and a grout float. After wetting a sponge and wringing it out, I wipe the face of the tile and the joints with a light circular motion, rinsing the sponge when the pores become clogged with grout. If the grout is pulling out of the joints, I wait a few more minutes. During this first pass, I want to loosen the grout that’s drying on the tile. To avoid splotchy color, I also make sure I don’t leave puddles of water on the joints. I use a margin trowel to scrape clumps of grout out of the corners, door casings and any other place where it doesn’t belong.
After I’ve smoothed the joints and loosened the grout stuck to the tile face, I goback with a bucket of clean water and re-move the light grout haze that remains.With a clean, lightly dampened sponge, Iwipe diagonally across the tileor about 2 ft. or 3 ft., taking care notto push down too hard. I then turn over thesponge, repeat and rinse the sponge. Thisprocess takes time, and if I try to rush it, Iend up smearing grout across the tile. Anystreaks of grout haze left after the secondwipe-down can be removed with a damp ragor mop when the grout has dried.
Cleaning and sealing tile
Clients often tell me they want a maintenance-free floor, but there really is no suchthing, at least not with tile, stone or marble.There is no substitute for general maintenance and upkeep; grout gets dirty, period.It’s important to clean grout on a regular basis with a plastic-bristle brush and a commercial grout cleaner or a solution of mildsoap and water. Make sure the soap isn’t oil-based; products such as Pine-Sol and Murphy’s Oil Soap will darken the grout.Sealers offer an optional way of protectinggrout from stains; I usually recommend asealer on floor installations. After trying several formulas available, I’ve found that theeasiest to use is a water-based penetratingsealer such as TEC’s Penetrating SiliconeSealer (800-323-7407) or Custom’s TileLabTile and Grout Sealer (800-272-8786),浸湿了浆液,然后干没有changing the appearance. (Sealer manufacturers recommend different waiting periods before sealer application, so consult the product literature first.) No matter what type of sealer I use, it’s often necessary to apply a fresh coat at least once a year, some-times more often. After first cleaning the grout joints, I paint the sealer onto the joint with a foam or bristle brush, allow a few minutes for it to soak in and then wipe off any remaining liquid. I try not to let the seal-er dry on the face of the tile, but if the sealer does dry, a quick scrub with a mild abrasive cleaner removes it. After I apply the first coat, I try applying a second coat, but often,it won’t soak in. That’s okay; it simply means the grout is properly sealed. If the second coat does soak in (the grout will turn dark asit would if it were wet), I simply continue with the rest of the wall or floor.
Other types of sealers include acrylic-based top coats that leave a shiny film on the surface of the grout and oil-based sealers that will permanently darken the color of the grout. They all work, but each variety leaves a different finish on the grout. Test the sealers in a hidden area before you seal the entire tile installation.
Water- and silicone-based sealers are the least expensive, running less than $20 for a quart. Oil and acrylic types can cost $40 a quart or more.
Epoxy groutis notfor everyone
关于ten years ago, the new buzz-word in the tile industry was epoxygrout. It still is the most stain-resistant grout you can find, whichmakes it a great choice for use onkitchen counters and in restaurantsand medical facilities.
It is, however, an unforgiving material to work. It’s sold as a two-part additive that’s mixed with regular groutor as a two-part ready mix that canalso be used as a setting compound;either way, you have to mix the en-tire batch at one time to maintainproper proportions. There’s no mixingby eye. It can be used only with ceramic tile and can’t be removed froma porous surface. Cleaning is often afrustrating experience that involvesremoving excess grout with nylonscrub pads and lots of water (epoxyisn’t water soluble). Here, timing isreally important. If you clean beforethe grout has set, the sticky epoxypulls out of the joints and smears allover; wait a few minutes too long,and you’ll be hard-pressed to removeit with a hammer and chisel.
Epoxy grout is also expensive. Atwo-part mix that’s added to a 25-lb.bag of grout costs about $100 and封面s about 100 sq. ft. of 8-in. by8-in. tile. A smaller batch of two-partready mix costs about $30 per quart.
If this material were just difficultand expensive, I still might use it, butmost regular grouts now include latex additives far superior to theircounterparts of ten years ago. Coupled with a good sealer, these newerfortified grouts are stain resistantand hold up well under normalhousehold abuse. Given the extra expense, time and elbow grease required by epoxy mixes, I can’t thinkof a good reason to use epoxy unlessa customer requests it. I certainlywouldn’t recommend it to any neophyte tilesetters.
From Fine Homebuilding #138
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