Grouting Tips

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Grouting tile can seem pretty intimidating to the DIY homeowner who is looking for a cheaper alternative to remodeling a bathroom than hiring a contractor. And if you make a mistake when you are laying tiles, then you could be simply adding more hours to the job. The bottom line is that the better the grouting job, the better your bathroom floors and walls will look. Do you know how to grout? Well, here are some grouting tips that will help you overcome your first grouting experience....

You may want to practice applying grout to a piece of cheap plywood first- This will prevent early mistakes and help you get over the awkwardness of apply the grout to the surface and then fixing the tile to the grout. Use some spare tile or purchase a little of the cheapest tile you can and practice a little before you go live.
Always follow the manufacturer's recommendations and directions- Most will be the same but when it comes to things like adding water, too much will make for a messy grout. Too little and you risk the possibility of the grout drying up before you can set it.
Make sure that the grout is free of lumps- Any presence of lumps in the grouting powder is a clear indicator that the grout has been ruined by water or some sort of water vapor. Lumpy grout is useless to you. If your grout package has lumps, simply replace it with a different package.
Grout in two stages...do not mix the two- You grout your tiles and then you shape the joints. The two are two different stages. You may decide that you should polish as you go. You don't want to do this. Set the grout then shape the joints and move to the next tile. If you are using a waterproof grout, you will want to make sure to remove any excess grout from the tiles before it dries.
There are different types of grout and they are used for different things. For instance, if the gap between the tiles is less than 1/8 inches, then you will use a wall tile grout. For larger spaces, you are going to want to use a different type of grout. A wall tile grout will potentially crack if the gaps between the tiles are too big.
Grout will dry quickly...only mix the amount of grout that you think you can use in thirty minutes- You may be tempted to go ahead and mix a large amount of grout to save time. But grout that sits will start to harden fairly quickly. The longer it sits, the more likely it may crack. Start with less and once you get moving, then start to try to accurately predict how much mix you may need.