Layin' It Down: Part 3 - Grout and Mistakes/Excuses

Finally! The grand finale that I've avoided for so long. In this post I'll take a quick look at grouting the tile we put down, then I'll talk about some of the mistakes we made along the way. So, let's get to it.

Looks deceivingly good, doesn't it?

The first thing I'll say about grouting a tile floor is that it was my favorite part of laying tile. It was a bit more strenuous than troweling mortar, but it's a simple technique and the grout itself is very forgiving. A simple wipe of a sponge or a finger and most imperfections disappear. One small suggestion I would make is to shell out a little extra for a good rubber float when you buy one. I thought about just getting the cheapest one and ended up going with a mid-priced float. I'm so glad I did because I (thankfully) can only imagine how badly the cheap one would have destroyed my hands. Even the more comfortable one I purchased roughed me up a bit, so knowing what I do now, I would definitely buy an even better one next time.

As for the actual process of grouting, I came across this Youtube video that showed a method I preferred. While packing the grout into the lines was pretty standard across the board, I liked this method because it was very quick and didn't use a big sweeping motion with the long side of the float, it was all done with the small side. It probably just boils down to personal preference, but you can avoid getting grout in the middle of some tiles, which helps with cleanup and preventing the haze you can end up with.

We essentially repeated the same path we took while laying the tile. After a couple rows of grout were in, we split up and one of us sponged off the excess and set the lines while the other continued grouting. Once we were finished, we let the floor set for 24 hours and then came back to scrub the layer of 'dust' or 'haze' that is left behind. This is where you can have problems if the grout film refuses to clean off. They make special cleaners, but luckily we didn't have this issue, so I can't comment on how well they work. Considering they all seem to be acids of some sort, I would bet they work pretty well. Health-wise... probably not the greatest stuff to handle, but don't quote me on that.

And my wife says I never clean...

After the grout has set for a two or three days, you should be good to walk on it, just don't forget to go back and treat it with some form of sealer to keep the grime out. We went with the cheap spray-bottle kind. You just treat the entire floor twice over the course of a couple hours and it's ready to rock.

OK, so now you want the dirty truth about how the floor actually turned out, don't you? Well, I feel like we had a couple issues compound into a perfect storm against us. They may sound like excuses, but being the first time either of us ever tried laying tile, I think they were understandable mistakes. First, we had the issue with the backer-board joints. When we jointed and taped them them we left too much mortar on top of them and it created humps that were uneven across the floor. Instead of stopping there I thought (like an idiot), "Oh, the mortar for the tile will make that level." It did, except for the last few tiles.

Don't buy it!!!

After running out of mortar, I ran to the store and bought a bucket of pre-mixed mortar to finish the job. That stuff was terrible. It was too thick and it only covered two-thirds of the area it said it would. That meant the humps from before weren't covered enough to level out. It also meant that a couple tiles didn't set properly. So, combined with weak mortar and being unbalanced, they now have a subtle yet unpleasant crunch when you step on them. If you look at the pictures above, where I am kneeling is the area I'm talking about and it's only two tiles in there that do this. Everywhere else is fine. Only trouble is that the slight motion of these tiles has ruined the grout around them as well.

I'm still happy with how well the rest turned out. I think in a year or so I'll go back and replace the bad tiles, but for now I can live with them. Besides, we have a ton of other projects to work on and this isn't an immediate issue.

Well, that finally wraps up the kitchen tile series. Now we can move on to some other fun projects around the house. We're putting some more work into the kitchen and Tracy recently tackled a small window/privacy project that she wants to share, so there is plenty going on to share with you guys.


Thanks for reading!