Grout Expectations

I didn't really know what to do with the grout, to be honest. The videos I'd watched on tile talked about it, but they had some kind of semi-magical technique they were using to get the grout to stick into the grooves. I think I ended up doing it pretty well, but I feel confident it will only get better as I go. On another note, I figured out why my camera kept running out of batteries. Apparently, when I plug it into the computer to pull pictures off of it, it will stay turned on, acting as a flash drive, until I unplug it. The power required to keep it in that state will drain the battery after a few hours. Now I know, and I won't be forced to use my cell phone as a camera again, like I unfortunately did last night. Thanks to my dad for taking pictures of me while I grouted.

Grout is an interesting thing. It's more or less just colored mortar and comes in two basic types. You have sanded grout and unsanded grout. Sanded grout is just grout with sand in it. The sand helps give it body and keep it from cracking and pulling away from whatever you're sticking it to. The same principle applies when making cob or various earth plasters. Sanded grout is for any grout lines that are 1/8" or wider. Since we were using 1/8" grout lines, sanded was the only way to go. Unsanded grout is only for very very small grout lines, but I get the feeling it doesn't get a lot of use.

Normally, you mix the grout (which comes in a bag as a powder, like most of these things) with water to get to the desired consistency. A trick we learned is to use distilled water in the mix to get the most accurate color. Another trick we learned (at Floor & Decor on County Line and University, where we got our tile and our wood floors because they are AWESOME) is to use a grout additive called "Grout Boost." Grout is a porous beast, being mostly cement. Normally, you have to seal your grout with a penetrating silicone sealer to keep water and other liquids from soaking in and staining it. With the Grout Boost, you just mix the grout powder with the Grout Boost and don't even use water. The idea is that the penetrating sealer is in the mix from the beginning and you never have to seal again. With 13x13 porcelain tiles with thin grout lines, a dark grout and this booster, we are hoping never to have to worry about stained grout ever again. Another nice thing with the grout boost is that the container is designed to mix with a 10-pound bag of grout powder. This ended up being way too much for the job we had to do, but I'd rather have too much than not enough. Getting a direct mix like that got me to the correct consistency without me really needing to know what the correct consistency looked like. If the thinset under the backer board was a milkshake and the thinset under the tile was peanut butter this was more like...slightly damp sand. Seriously. You basically want to mix it as dry as possible. It should be spreadable but not pourable. It should still have a gritty feel to it, unlike the other mixes which end up looking very smooth.

Now, you have some tools of the trade. One of these is a bucket of water and a sponge. I only used one sponge for this small floor, but a few extras are always a good idea. You also need a bucket in which to mix your grout. I suggest the 5-gal buckets from Lowe's or Home Depot. They're cheap (less than $2.50 each these days) and they're far more durable than lesser buckets. Both times I tried to use a cheaper bucket, I ended up punching a hole in it. Don't skimp on your bucket. Get the 5-gal and you can beat the snot out of it and get a few uses out of it at least. You can clean the grout or thinset out of your bucket if you take it out and hose it off relatively quickly. Next, you'll need a grout float. This is like a trowel in that it is a flat piece with a handle on the back. It is unlike a trowel in that the bottom of it is rubber or foam. This keeps it from scratching your tile, which is very good. A margin trowel is also handy for mixing the grout and for putting it onto the floor. Really, that's about it for tools. You'll want rubber gloves on for all of this, but you should probably be wearing gloves for most anything I discuss on this blog.

The technique is a little strange and I wish I had better pictures or even a video of it. Really, you're just using the float to shove the grout into the grooves between your tile. Before you begin, it's a good idea to check all your grooves and make sure they're clear. Ideally, this should be done when you lay the tile, but you can hit the edges with a plastic scraper or even a wooden paint stir stick, like I did. Anywhere you see thinset on the surface of the tile or the edges of the tile, clean it off with something that isn't metal and won't damage your tile. I was surprised at how well the stir stick worked and I think I'll use it again. After you do all this, take a shop-vac to the surface and clean out any dust or remaining particles of thinset. You want a clean surface so your grout can bond effectively. Now, use your margin trowel to drop some grout onto the tile. You won't need a lot and you'll get a feel for how much can cover what area as you go. Start in the far corner and work your way out of the room. Use your float to press the grout into the grooves. It's sort of a "push/pull" movement that's very hard to describe. Most any movement that gets the grout into the groove will work but I had some luck with the movement from the video. You're leaning the front edge (away from you) of the float up and pushing, then leaning the back edge up and pulling. As you go back and forth over the grooves, the grout will be pressed into them. You'll work up a sweat doing this, and you'll get into a rhythm before too long. Just keep an eye on your lines and fill in with extra grout anywhere that looks low. As you finish an area, tilt the back of the float up at about 45º and pull it towards you. You want to pull across your grout lines diagonally, never parallel or perpendicular to them. This is so that you don't pull more grout out of the lines you just filled. With a horizontal border and diagonal tiles, this is really tough. I ended up tilting the float on the vertical about 45º and angling it left or right about 15º to avoid pulling grout out of the lines. It takes a little getting used to, but it isn't bad. Finish the whole floor this way, and check to make sure you haven't missed any.

Now that you have grout in your grooves, you need to be very careful not to step on the grooves. Only step in the middle of the tiles. With my giant feet, this is easier said than done. This is where your sponge comes in. Your grout lines will likely be roughly even with the tops of the tiles and you need then to be recessed very slightly. You take your sponge, squeeze it out, and run it along each grout line. Run the sponge once and clean it out. I fudged a little with different corners and stuff, but really you want to be wiping with a clean sponge every time. If your sponge isn't clean, you'll end up pulling up more grout than you want or laying down new grout and making the lines messy. Each lines gets one swipe. It's just enough to smooth them out and recess them beneath the surface of the tile very slightly. Here's a picture of me doing this very thing:

This is pretty much your last step. You'll be left with something called "grout haze" on the faces of your tile, but don't worry about that now. You can take some cheesecloth to it in a few days and clean that off pretty well. Let your grout sit for at least 24-48 hours before you step on it, and let it dry for at least 72 hours before you put any penetrating sealer on it. It's also a good idea to treat it gently for a week or two so everything can be 100% cured and dry before you mop or do anything else that would potentially damage the grout lines you worked so hard to make. Our friends suggested misting the grout daily with distilled water to help make sure the top doesn't dry and crack before the bottom is all the way dry, so we're going to give that a go as well.

Well, there we have it. A tile floor all the way done. Total materials for this room were less than $100, I believe. The tools were probably $50 or so, but we can use them again on other tile jobs. Not too shabby at all for our first try at this whole thing, I think. Here's a picture of the finished product:

*Edit*
I went back tonight and took some better pictures of the floor with our actual camera. Here they are:

I had a bit of a scare with the white grout, thinking it had discolored somehow. Turns out it's jut part of the drying process and it's working out just fine. Woot!