Flooring Tile - Newbie Grout Q...

I'm about to grout my Kitchen/dinning room - the room is 10x20.

Do you think I'll have enough time to grout the whole thing, or should I break it up into sections?

Hi Rob,

I think if it's your first attempt grouting, you might do better to divide it into sections. It's such a large rectangle, that if you get all the way from one end to the other, you'll have to carry your rinse buckets over the fresh grout to the back of the room.

Also, it's important that all the joints be filled, and if you're rushing, trying to get all the grout in before it dries, you may miss some.

Don't forget to keep wringing your sponge out with clean water to get most of the grout up, then wait about an hour and go back with dry rags to buff off the haze. (Be careful around the fresh joints.)

Good Luck! Hope you're going to post an updated photo for us when you're done, and I'm glad your shower is fixed, too. That's just too much stress.

Rob you are looking at under two hours work.:)

Thanks for the posts all - I've spent a large part of today cleaning my grout lines (I thought I was doing a good job of cleaning as I went, but I was wrong :( )

Anyway, I'm about to grout it now. Thanks again for the posts. Should I ever finish any of this, I'll be sure to post up a picture. :)

Rob

Make sure you remove enough of the old grout to give the new grout enough to "bite". Remove the old grout to a depth of about 1/2 to 2/3 depth of the joint.:)

I had another question about the grouting....

According to the instructions on the bag, I was supposed to wipe off the tiles and remove the 'film' left behind. Anyway, talk about a pain in the butt - that white film isn't coming off very easily.

The film is a chalk white color, and I can wipe if off of my tiles; but my grout lines look white - because of the film. The actually color is more of a dark grey.

I'm guessing I need to get this white film off the grout before I can seal it (but I've got 3 days before it says I should do that) - does anyone have any advice on what I should do with the grout?

The white discoloration is grout haze. It appears after the tiles have been wiped and is best removed as soon as the grout is firm enough to withstand buffing. You can get a product in the tile section, called "grout haze remover". The longer you wait, the harder it will be to remove.

The white discoloration is grout haze. It appears after the tiles have been wiped and is best removed as soon as the grout is firm enough to withstand buffing. You can get a product in the tile section, called "grout haze remover". The longer you wait, the harder it will be to remove.

Thank you!

Can I use the haze remover on my tiles as well, or just on the grout?

You can use it for both, Rob.

I'm sorry for asking so many questions - but I just wanted to make sure that I'm doing this correctly.

When I first apply the cleaner my floor instantly looks perfect :) The tile is the right color the grout is the right color; I'm happy.

But as it drys, it turns back to white? Do I just need to repeat this several times, or am I doing something wrong? Could I use a mop for this?

Thanks in advance.

For what it is worth, I really like the floor now :)

Did you already apply the haze remover? I don't think your grout has had time to cure, has it?

Usually, after the grout is finished, you've been rinsing your sponge repeatedly, the grout is dry enough to handle, you buff it with clean dry rags. Did you do all that? Is that when your grout looks white?

OK, if that's correct so far, you want to keep spritzing the grout with water from a spray bottle or cover with plastic to keep the grout from drying too quickly. This is curing the grout.

Then, if you still have haze, you can try the haze remover.

If it's too late, you've already applied the haze remover, just keep the grout wet for a couple of days, then after curing, you can use a grout colorant.

I apologize if I wasn't specific enough. I know it's your first time doing this, and I'm sure it's all going to look great when you've finished. (And you will have learned so much the next time will be so much easier!)

Did you already apply the haze remover? I don't think your grout has had time to cure, has it?

Usually, after the grout is finished, you've been rinsing your sponge repeatedly, the grout is dry enough to handle, you buff it with clean dry rags. Did you do all that? Is that when your grout looks white?

OK, if that's correct so far, you want to keep spritzing the grout with water from a spray bottle or cover with plastic to keep the grout from drying too quickly. This is curing the grout.

Then, if you still have haze, you can try the haze remover.

If it's too late, you've already applied the haze remover, just keep the grout wet for a couple of days, then after curing, you can use a grout colorant.

I apologize if I wasn't specific enough. I know it's your first time doing this, and I'm sure it's all going to look great when you've finished. (And you will have learned so much the next time will be so much easier!)

Uh - Oh! :)

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it. I swear, I'd be even more lost without this forum.

First, I cleaned out the space between the tiles. Then I mixed up the grout and started spreading it over the floor.

After 15-20 minutes, I went back and using a slightly damp sponge removed any excess grout that I'd left.

After two hours, I went back using a dry sponge and buffed away the white haze that had formed on the tiles. This made the tiles look better, but still not 'clean'.

At this point, it was 2am and I was tired :) So I called it a night. When I woke up today, I noticed that the grout lines were white and not grey, and my tiles looked even more hazed than they were last night.

Rubbing the tiles with a cloth or dry sponge helps with the haze on the tile, but rubbing the grout does not.

The grout I purchased didn't say to do anything other than remove the excess grout after 15-20 minutes and to buff it after 2 hours. I haven't been spraying or covering to 'cure' grout. The grout has been down for ~12 hours.

I spoke with the local tile guy at my Home Depot and he sold me a grout haze cleaner solution. I took a wet sponge and dabbed my sponge with the cleaner stuff and went to down as soon as the tiles/grout are wet in the slightest the look great. But when it dried, it turned back to white.

I still have 1/2 of the bottle left. but my floor basically looks how it did before, lol :(

Rob

When the grout is dry, in an inconspicuous place, take a flat head screwdriver and scratch into the grout line. Is the color below the white surface the grey color that it should be?

Rob

When the grout is dry, in an inconspicuous place, take a flat head screwdriver and scratch into the grout line. Is the color below the white surface the grey color that it should be?

I tried scratching the surface - but it honestly didn't seem to change colors.

Here is a picture I took - the grey grout is the color the grout 'should be' the white is the color it keeps turning when it drys :(

http://img27.picoodle.com/img/img27/4/3/4/f_20131573965m_7d25de7.jpg

Rob brush on and wipe off a stone enhancer. That should return the grout to the color you want. Do a test in an incospicuous place first just to be sure.

By dry wiping the tiles you have obviously gotten some haze dust in the grout lines. A vacuum should have removed most of it but it's too late for that now.

I think you'll be able to fix it but it will take some elbow grease.:)

Rob brush on and wipe off a stone enhancer. That should return the grout to the color you want. Do a test in an incospicuous place first just to be sure.

By dry wiping the tiles you have obviously gotten some haze dust in the grout lines. A vacuum should have removed most of it but it's too late for that now.

I think you'll be able to fix it but it will take some elbow grease.:)

Thanks for the response. Is this something I should do ASAP or is not not time sensetive?

Not time sensitive.

Stone enhancers do just that. They enhance the natural internal beauty of stones. In the case of cement grouts they also tend to bring up the intended color of the grout and cause any surface dust to fade into the color. Like I said, test this first in some out of the way place.


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I hate it when that happens:)

It really looks good! It doesn't really matter that it's lighter...I think the lighter color actually looks better with the beige in those tiles.Just seal it sometime after a week or three, before it gets dirty.

I think the lighter color actually looks better with the beige in those tiles

Ok Rob. Who you gonna listen to Connie or your wife. Yeah I thought so.:)

Ok Rob. Who you gonna listen to Connie or your wife. Yeah I thought so.:)

Hahaha :)

I don't think it looks 'bad' nessecarily, but the truth is we wanted to stay away from something so light because we'd heard it would be difficult to keep clean. And yes, it was my better half that selected the color, lol.

http://img32.picoodle.com/img/img32/4/3/4/f_20133847027m_50e7729.jpg

Truthfully, if she is happy with the whiter shade, that's fine with me. Once she gets home I'll find out.

Kick back, open a beer and keep your fingers crossed.:)

Kick back, open a beer and keep your fingers crossed.:)

In all seriousness, if we were to 'seal' the grout as it is now (white) do you think it would be okay/stay white?

I'm guessin':

With the sealer you would get what you have now, lighter.

With the enhancer you get a darker result.

Test it somewhere out of the way.:D

I see you added a picture of the color from the grout bag-
It says "Quartz"

Quartz is very hard, which makes it ideal for gems. Pure quartz is white or colorless, but is commonly found in almost any color imaginable. Since quartz is naturally clear, any chemical impurities will allow the color to "shine" through. Amethyst, tiger eye, adventurine, and agates are all varieties of quartz with impurities in them to cause their distinctive color.

Tell me if I saved you.

So - I went to the Home Depot to pick up a stone enhancer for my floor. A nice gentleman approached me and asked me if he could help me find something. I briefly gave him a run-down of my problem and he told me....to just go ahead and seal the floor.

"The sealer will seal-in that wet look"

And, well, I really wanted to believe him, so I left with the bottle he recommended. I came home, applied the sealer to a tiny area and....

Sure enough, it dried as white as ever.

Very frustrating :(

Anyway, I'll be returning to get the stone enhancer, but I took a search on their website so that I'll know what to get - can someone tell me, is this the correct product? It's an enhancer/sealer.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?jspStoreDir=hdus&catalogId=10053&productId=100055353&navFlow=3&keyword=stone+enhancer&langId=-1&searchRedirect=stone+enhancer&storeId=10051&endecaDataBean=com.homedepot.sa.el.wc.catalog.beans.EndecaDataBean%4059b929d7&ddkey=Search

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImage/66e034ac-cca8-42cd-8bfd-7e57c9e4ef37_300.jpg