Sunday, April 8, 2012

Proper Tile Grout Use And Why

 
If you read the side of the package that contains the grout you will assume by the directions that non-sanded grout should "only" be used where you have 1/8 inch or less grout lines. And generally you would be correct. 
But, not always.  Also, there are grout colors from Home Depot "Custome's grout" and Lowe's "Mapi" that are named the same like "Bone" but they are vastly different real colors. So don't buy a Home Depot Bone Grout, then run out and buy a Mapi Bone Grout from Lowe's to finish the job. You will be in trouble.  




What if you have a very thick tile and you are trying to decide between sanded and non-sanded? Which do you use? I will  solve that dilemma for you here, why, and now.


If you have very narrow grout lines say 1/8th of an inch and a general 1/4 inch tile in thickness you will be OK with non-sanded. But, if you have a thicker tile that runs about 1/2 inch in thickness go with sanded and here is the why. If you use non-sanded you will most likely have to grout the tile twice. Once to grout the whole thing, then another to fill in the space after your non-sanded grout shrinks down about an 1/8 of an inch! 


Yes, use sanded grout with "deep" grout lines the same as you would with use sanded grout with wider grout lines!   


When in doubt, use sanded grout. Sanded has more grit and will not shrink like non-sanded. If you have ever done drywall work and used sheetrock mud to patch a hole you will understand what I mean. Non-sanded grout will shrink so much on deep grout lines it will require and second coat to fill the space left after the non-sanded grout shrinks. So don't do it. These words are the voice of experience. I don't give a damn what it says on the side of the box. Consider the directions, a suggestion only.  











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