colour sticks and grout colours

[jonnyc]

are the colour sticks that say mapei and ardex do the same colour as the dry grout in the bag before mixing.
i had always assumed they were but this question was posed this weekend about a job i am on.
designer wants me to mix the colour from bag and let it dry rather than being shown a colour stick or the dry grout in bag before mixed.
it will take days before grout dries and i do not have this time.
for most of my jobs I mix c2 base colours limestone/white/beige and grey strictly proportionally dry and can produce infinite shade variations that suit almost any stone we lay for approval before mixing wet.The finished grout after drying does come out same as dry mix even with ardion 101.
I know this c2 is old fashioned but it has always worked for me and i was able to offer a big range of colour stone shades
long before ardex extended thier range and strangely they said what i was doing was fine.
the reason i use c2 over fs is that the fs is far too strong/ sticky as are all the other single part flex grouts on open pored stones especially from uk that i speciallise in, when you have to grout the whole face of stone .
but now c2 has been fazed out and i am stuck with fs and i have had some strange results even when mixing this strictly proportionally .
mark from tilemaster has come to rescue and offers me a straight grout with no additive when i order in bulk and then i can mix from his base colours and do their equivalent of ardion 101 as required.
thats stone side sorted when clients understand what i am trying to do for them in giving the best colour to match to a particular stone but mixing myself .
however there are occasions when i have to specify a certain colour that is off the shelf.
we dont always have a colour stick box to hand but we might have a bag of grout that we could show the dry mix inside.
is this indicative of what to expect fom dried out grout and has anyone had problems.
no way i would start mixing mapei grout colours proportionally .

 

[Qwerty]

Mapei grouts dry a slightly different colour to the powder in the bag. Jasmine for example looks almost white as a powder but when cured it is a creamy white (if that makes any sense!)

 

[jonnyc]

Mapei grouts dry a slightly different colour to the powder in the bag. Jasmine for example looks almost white as a powder but when cured it is a creamy white (if that makes any sense!)

Your right .had forgotten about the dreaded jasmin.
this is truly awful grout.if you have this in a shower area and get it wet it looks orange till it dries out.

 

[On one]

''are the colour sticks that say mapei and ardex do the same colour as the dry grout in the bag before mixing''.....wouldn't like to guarantee it.
The first time I used Mapei UCP Limestone I nearly pooped me pants......when the powder is mixed with water it comes out grey!....all ends well though.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

The pigments that are added to Mapei means you have to mix the whole bag to get the required blend on completion and as with most grouts the final colour takes a good 3 days to cure - in my limited experience!
Jasmin is a great colour and Mapei a great grout, but the range of Ardex grouts is colourfully named (gunmetal etc) and apart from going off too fast have pretty good results.
As the sticks are plastic I doubt if the final colours are that close and it's only your experience that's getting the right results and customer satisfaction!

 

[Pebbs]

Funny you bought this subject up Jonny, because I had the same conversation last week, I dont trust the grout sticks anymore, so now I am running sample boards up with the stone, either that or risk a load of aggro down the line.

Pebbs

 

[White Room]

I just use sticks as a guide, to many batches of colour since the sticks were put together....

 

[jonnyc]

Funny you bought this subject up Jonny, because I had the same conversation last week, I dont trust the grout sticks anymore, so now I am running sample boards up with the stone, either that or risk a load of aggro down the line.

Pebbs

Pebbs something has definitely changed with the ardex fs sticks.they are nowhere near as accurate as the old c2.
what grout make re you using for stone.
with c2 being discontinued I will be doing trials with tilemaster in new year mixing colours dry ,then wetting up and seeing dried grout same as dry mix colours. Trouble is I use so many different combinations

 

[rainsco]

in germany ardex completly changed the groats. i don´t know what i do.
http://www.ardex.de/fileadmin/produkte/fuge_uebersetzung.jpg

i think i change to sopro. the DF10 is one of my favourite groats. expensive but suitable for natural stone and very very colourtrue in all colours. espacially the darker ones.

i use colour stiks but i always make a exemplary with the choosen groats for the customers. (shurly not on basic projekts, but on worthy yes)

 

[jonnyc]

Rainer.
it does not seem that anyone stocks sopro products in uk.
seems to be plenty in Poland.
is sopro big manufacturer in GermanyGermany

 

[rainsco]

about a few years ago sopro was together with dyckerhoff. and dyckerhoff is one of the biggest cement manufaturs in germany. they are the only ones in germany who make white cement. so all other brands like pci, ardex and so on bought their white cement from dyckerhoff. so all grouts were part of dyckerhoff.

i read at the moment on wiki:
from 2002 on sopro is part of mapei..

 

[Gazzer]

I dont use that much stone but when choosing a grout colour I cut grooves in a scrap tile or stone and try different colours, usually its just a choice of 4 possible colours. I then wait for it to dry and see which looks best. It works well for large jobs but smaller jobs dont leave enough time for grout to dry fully. Hope that makes sense.