S
sjohnstone
Hi all,
Just joined as I'm looking for some tips/advice for grouting.
I recently moved into a new house, and have just finished tiling the hall. I said I'd never buy another house off a builder but clearly I've not learned my lesson!
The tiling itself was fairly straight forward, however I ran into a problem with the grouting that I've seen before in the past. The grout (BAL superflex grey) went down okay, but once dried it's patchy in colour - varying from dark grey in some places to almost white in others :incazzato:. I've experienced this before in the kitchen of my last house with the same grout.
What am I doing wrong?
When grouting I generally mix in a bucket (small quantities - say 2m at a time), never re-use and always tend to aim for a consistency similar to toothpaste. I find this consistency is better to work with and makes cleaning with a float 'as you go' an easy job. I'm aware that a poor mix is likely to cause some colour variations, so I always make sure that the grout is well mixed (obviously I could improve this with a mech stir). When applying, I use a float to work the grout into the gaps, screeding off excess as I go. Once I've applied a batch (approx 20 mins) I start to clean the tiles - initially I use a damp sponge wiping in a diagonal direction to the grout lines, the intention being to remove heavy areas from the tile surface. This generally leaves a cloudy film over the tiles which I tend to clean approx 30 mins after the initial clean. For the second clean, I again go for a damp sponge, though possibly wetter than before, with the aim of cleaning the tile surface more thoroughly and smoothing the grout lines. Depending on the size of the job or time etc, I sometimes go for a final clean around an hour or so after grouting - especially if the tile has a mat finish as this tends to make the final rub-off easier the following day.
Anyway, here's the result of my last job...
Flickr Photo Download: dry
(Apologies for the link - unsure how to embed a pic?)
As you can see, the variation in colour is significant. Anyone got any tips on avoiding this in the future? The next job in the house is in the kitchen and I'm looking at installing grey coloured porcelain tiles, so I'm gonna have to use grey grout again, but if I get the same colour issues, the tile choice is likey to emphasise the problem.
Help please!
Just joined as I'm looking for some tips/advice for grouting.
I recently moved into a new house, and have just finished tiling the hall. I said I'd never buy another house off a builder but clearly I've not learned my lesson!
The tiling itself was fairly straight forward, however I ran into a problem with the grouting that I've seen before in the past. The grout (BAL superflex grey) went down okay, but once dried it's patchy in colour - varying from dark grey in some places to almost white in others :incazzato:. I've experienced this before in the kitchen of my last house with the same grout.
What am I doing wrong?
When grouting I generally mix in a bucket (small quantities - say 2m at a time), never re-use and always tend to aim for a consistency similar to toothpaste. I find this consistency is better to work with and makes cleaning with a float 'as you go' an easy job. I'm aware that a poor mix is likely to cause some colour variations, so I always make sure that the grout is well mixed (obviously I could improve this with a mech stir). When applying, I use a float to work the grout into the gaps, screeding off excess as I go. Once I've applied a batch (approx 20 mins) I start to clean the tiles - initially I use a damp sponge wiping in a diagonal direction to the grout lines, the intention being to remove heavy areas from the tile surface. This generally leaves a cloudy film over the tiles which I tend to clean approx 30 mins after the initial clean. For the second clean, I again go for a damp sponge, though possibly wetter than before, with the aim of cleaning the tile surface more thoroughly and smoothing the grout lines. Depending on the size of the job or time etc, I sometimes go for a final clean around an hour or so after grouting - especially if the tile has a mat finish as this tends to make the final rub-off easier the following day.
Anyway, here's the result of my last job...
Flickr Photo Download: dry
(Apologies for the link - unsure how to embed a pic?)
As you can see, the variation in colour is significant. Anyone got any tips on avoiding this in the future? The next job in the house is in the kitchen and I'm looking at installing grey coloured porcelain tiles, so I'm gonna have to use grey grout again, but if I get the same colour issues, the tile choice is likey to emphasise the problem.
Help please!